AFGHANISTAN GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES FULL

These duhufu were located in the north, the south, the northwest, the central Bamiyan region, the northeast (toward the Vakhsh river region of modern Tajikistan), as well as the area north of today’s Kabul, in addition to one located at the east of Persia and within Afghan territory.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. To achieve effective rule and management of the Afghan region, the Tang adopted various governance measures and established seven administrative units known as duhufu, or frontier commands. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. As a result, the land of modern-day Afghanistan became part of the territory of Tang China. After the Tang conquered the Western Turks in 659, the Turkic king of Tokharistan became its vassal. To the north of Afghanistan were nomadic pastoral people like the Turks to the south were Indian polities to the west were roads leading toward Persia and Arabia. Hence, modern Afghanistan’s strategic position in the Silk Road was extremely crucial to China. The Tang Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties of China, and one with global vision. During its peak in the 7th century, almost all major Central Asian oases were controlled by the Tang, and its territories extended from Ha Tinh of today’s Vietnam in the south, the Angara River region of Russia in the north, Bukhara of Uzbekistan in the west, and Tonghua of China’s Jilin province in the east. The Tang period, by contrast, possessed territorial range of great strategic significance. While other periods like the Yuan (1271 to 1368) and Qing (1644 to 1912) eras possessed larger territories, these areas of territorial control had less strategic value. Less well known in the West is that China, too, has its own historical experiences with the crucial strategic importance of Afghanistan.įrom a global perspective, the era of the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907) was China’s most crucial period. Today, we are seeing the denouement of the tragic Afghan war, after the United States spent 20 years in the country, at the cost of over 2,300 American lives and more than $2 trillion. In 1989, the Soviet Army withdrew from Afghanistan, and two years later the Soviet Union dissolved. The British for instance, attempted three invasions. For this reason, Afghanistan was frequently invaded. In modern history, the world’s major powers have understood the extremely important strategic position of Afghanistan, in terms of its geographic significance and resources. As a country located in the heart of Asia, Afghanistan is linked to China and East Asia in the east, the ex-Soviet Union controlled region in the north, South Asia in the south, and the oil-producing Middle Eastern region in the west.

Afghanistan graveyard of empires