Prehistory and ancient period (3300–550 BCE) (present-day Afghanistan), 1700–1100 BCE , including the
Gandhara and
Kamboja regions By roughly 2000–1500 BCE,
Indo-Aryan inhabitants of the region (mainly in the eastern parts of present-day Afghanistan) were adherents of an ancient form of
Indo-Iranian religion. Notable among these were the
Gandharis and
Kambojas.
Persian, Greek, and Mauryan periods (550–150 BCE) of
Kanishka II, emperor of the
Kushan Empire, with Lord
Shiva (200–220 CE) Most historians maintain that Afghanistan was inhabited by ancient
Arians followed by the
Achaemenid before the arrival of
Alexander the Great and his
Greek army in 330 BC. It became part of the
Seleucid Empire after the departure of Alexander three years later. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire lost control of the territory south of the
Hindu Kush to the Indian Emperor "Sandrocottus" as a result of the
Seleucid-Mauryan War.
Classical period (150 BCE–650 CE) representing
Vishnu with a worshipper (probably
Mihirakula), 4th–6th century CE. The inscription in cursive
Bactrian reads: "
Mihira,
Yajna and
Oesho".
British Museum. When Chinese travelers
Faxian,
Song Yun, and
Xuanzang explored Afghanistan between the 5th and 7th centuries CE, they wrote numerous
travelogues in which reliable information on Afghanistan was stored. They stated that
Buddhism was practiced in different parts between the
Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the
Indus River. However, they did not mention much about Hinduism although Song Yun did state that the
Hephthalite rulers did not recognize Buddhism but "preached pseudo gods and killed animals for their meat". found in
Gardez,
Afghanistan, now at Dargah Pir Rattan Nath,
Kabul. The inscription says that this "great and beautiful image of " was consecrated by the
Hindu Shahi King "Khingala". The Kabul Shahi ruled north of the Zunbil territory, which included
Kabulistan and
Gandahara. The Arabs reached Kabul in 653–654 CE when
Abdur Rahman bin Samara, along with 6,000 Arab Muslims, penetrated the Zunbil territory and made their way to the shrine of
Zun in
Zamindawar, which was believed to be located about south of
Musa Qala in today's
Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The General of the Arab army "broke of a hand of the idol and plucked out the
rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." Though the early Arab invaders spread the message of Islam, they were not able to rule for long. Hence, many contemporary ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including the
Pashtuns,
Kalash,
Pashayi,
Nuristanis and
Hindkowans continued to practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The Kabul Shahis decided to build a giant wall around the city to prevent more Arab invasions; this wall still stands today.
Hindu Shahi (850–1000 CE) (
Shivalinga with one face),
Shahi Period, 9th century.
Royal Ontario Museum,
Toronto.
Willem Vogelsang in his 2002 book writes: "During the 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern territories of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims primarily regarded them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the
Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists. " In 870 AD the
Saffarids from medieval
Zaranj, located at the Nad-e Ali site of modern-day Iran (not to be confused with the similarly named modern city of
Zaranj in Afghanistan), conquered most of Afghanistan, establishing Muslim governors throughout the land. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side before the arrival of the
Ghaznavids in the 10th century. The first confirmed mention of a
Hindu in Afghanistan appears in the 982 AD
Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where it speaks of a king in "Ninhar" (
Nangarhar), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he had over 30 wives, which are described as "
Muslim,
Afghan, and Hindu" wives. These names were often used as geographical terms. For example,
Hindu (or
Hindustani) has been historically used as a
geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as
Hindustan (Indian subcontinent), and
Afghan as someone who was native from a region called
Afghanistan.
Decline (1000–1800 CE) against the Ghaznavid Empire, led by
Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 CE. When
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni began crossing the
Indus River into Hindustan (land of Hindus) in the 10th century, the Ghaznavid Muslims began bringing Hindu slaves to what is now Afghanistan.
Martin Ewans in his 2002 book writes:
Al-Idirisi testifies that until as late as the 12th century, a contract of investiture for every Shahi king was performed at Kabul and that here he was obliged to agree to certain ancient conditions which completed the contract. The Ghaznavid military incursions assured the domination of
Sunni Islam in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various historical sources such as Martin Ewans, E.J. Brill and Farishta have recorded the introduction of Islam to Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan to the conquests of and Mahmud: Mahmud used his plundered wealth to finance his armies which included mercenaries. The Indian soldiers, presumably Hindus, who were one of the components of the army with their commander called
sipahsalar-i-Hinduwan lived in their quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against a Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to
Baihaki. In his war on
Peshawar and Waihind says
al-Utbi, Mahmud acquired 500,000 slaves that included children and girls. Men were sold as slaves to even common merchants. The amount of slaves captured in Nardin plummeted their price and male slaves were even bought by common merchants. After raiding
Thanesar, he acquired 200,000 slaves. The renowned 14th-century Moroccan Muslim scholar
Ibn Battuta remarked that the
Hindu Kush meant the "slayer of Indians", because slaves brought from
India who had to pass through there died in large numbers due to the extreme cold and quantity of snow. The Ghaznavid Empire was further expanded by the
Ghurids. During the
Khalji dynasty, there was also free movement between people from India and Afghanistan. It continued this way until the
Mughals followed by the
Suris and the
Durranis. During the 18th century (1700s), Afghanistan was still home to a significant Hindu population as documented by British travelers
Jonas Hanway (1712-80) and
George Forster (1752-91). As noted by the travelers, the Hindu population had a dispersed geographic distribution across the country, with concentrations existing throughout both rural and urban regions.
Modern period During the 19th and 20th centuries, due to waves of violence and conflict, various migration waves eastwards to
British India, coupled with similar out-migration from rural regions of the country resulted in increased urbanization of the Hindu population of Afghanistan. This was especially noted in eastern regions of the country such as
Nangarhar Province and
Kunar Province where significant rural Hindu populations existed at the time. One such incident took place in 1931 when an attack by robbers—two of whom belonged to the Mangal Pashtun tribe—led to the deaths of two robbers and a Sikh, sparking ongoing enmity between the Mangal tribe and the Sikhs. In response, the government relocated Sikhs and Hindus to larger towns and cities for their safety, with most settling in Jalalabad, significantly increasing the city's population. Until the collapse of the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, there were several thousand Hindus living in the country but today their number is at under 100. and former
President Hamid Karzai's economic advisor, Sham Lal Bhatija was an Afghan Hindu. During the
Taliban 1996 to late 2001 rule, Hindus were forced to wear yellow badges in public to identify themselves as non-Muslims. Hindu women were forced to wear
burqas, a measure which was claimed to "protect" them from harassment. This was part of the Taliban's plan to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones. The decree was condemned by the Indian and U.S. governments as a violation of religious freedom. Widespread protests against the Taliban regime broke out in
Bhopal, India. In the United States,
Abraham Foxman, chairman of the
Anti-Defamation League, compared the decree to the practices of
Nazi Germany, where
Jews were required to wear labels identifying them as such. Several influential lawmakers in the United States wore yellow badges with the inscription "I am a Hindu", on the floor of the Senate during the debate as a demonstration of their solidarity with the Hindu minority in Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, many Afghan Hindus have fled the country, seeking asylum in countries such as
India,
Germany and United States. In July 2013, the Afghan parliament refused to reserve seats for the minority group as a bill reserving seats for the mentioned was voted against. The bill by the then president
Hamid Karzai, had tribal people and "women" as "vulnerable groups" who got reservation, but not religious minorities as per the religious equality article in the constitution. == Demographics ==