Asia

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Afghanistan

Indonesia

AFGHANISTAN

The war in Iraq may grab more headlines, but the war in Afghanistan isn't over either.

Squeezed between China, the Indian subcontinent, and Iran, Afghanistan has long been a geographic and cultural crossroads. For centuries, merchants, pilgrims, refugees, and soldiers have come from all directions, lugging their ethnic traditions over the mountain passes. Many of history's greatest conquerors came, too--and not for the flatbread. Here's a look back at Afghanistan's long history of conquest.

Prehistoric evidence suggests that some of the world's first farming communities cropped up in Afghanistan more than 6,000 years ago. But Afghanistan doesn't really show up in written history until around 550 BC, when the region became part of ancient Persia's Achaemenid Empire.

Based in what's now Iran, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Egypt to India, and reached its zenith under Darius the Great (522-486 BC). Darius tried to conquer ancient Greece, too, but his army famously failed to defeat a smaller but better armed Greek force at Marathon in 490 BC.

Marathon wasn't the last time Greeks gave the Persians fits. One hundred and fifty years later, with the Achaemenid Empire fraying, Alexander the Great carried Greek culture into central Asia. The mighty Macedonian pounded the Persians and swept through modern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in just three years, from 330 to 327 BC.

Four years later, Alexander died. Then his cavalry commander, Seleucus, seized control of the eastern part of his empire. Greek rulers would maintain control over most of Afghanistan until 150 BC, when Parthian nomads arrived.

The Parthians crashed the Greek party, but an Indo-European tribe called the Kushans got the next dynasty rolling. After arriving from the north around the time of Jesus, they conquered their way across central Asia, building an empire that stretched from Iran to Tibet.

The Kushans' glory days came under Kanishka, a 2nd-century patron of arts and religion. During Kanishka's reign, Buddhism boomed in Afghanistan, and it remained the dominant religion until the 8th century. (Many sacred Buddhist monuments, some dating back to Kushan times, remained much longer--until the Taliban destroyed them in 2001.)

In the mid-7th century, Islam's armies reached central Asia, making Muslim converts as they conquered. By the end of the 9th century, most of the people living in what's now Afghanistan were Muslims.

A hundred years later, Afghanistan's first major Muslim empire, the Ghaznavid, took shape. The most renowned Ghaznavid ruler, King Mahmud (971-1030), was also the first Muslim warrior to carry Islam into the heart of India. Mahmud's armies raided the subcontinent repeatedly, seeking booty from Hindu temples and converts among Hindu souls.

With the money they brought back, Mahmud built schools and mosques and turned his capital, Ghazna, into a great cultural center. He also helped ensure Sunni Islam's domination in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Muslim parts of India.

The Ghaznavid Empire fell apart almost as soon as Mahmud died, but other Muslims maintained control in Afghanistan until 1220, when the marauding Mongol Genghis Khan overran central Asia. Eventually, Genghis and his successors conquered everyone from Persia to Peking. Still, they never defeated Islam. In fact, a few generations after Genghis's death, his own descendants were Muslims.

The most fearsome heir to Genghis's Khanate rule was Timur (a.k.a. Tamerlane), who rose to prominence in the late 14th century and spread his unique brand of ruthless military rule from Moscow to Delhi. Timurid rulers would reign in Afghanistan until the turn of the 16th century.

Then, in 1504, a central Asian prince named Babur--a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur--conquered Kabul. Twenty-two years later, Babur invaded India, where he founded the Mogul dynasty, which ruled there until the 18th century.

At first, Afghanistan remained under Mogul control, though more as an imperial outpost than as a major Mogul thoroughfare. In time, the outpost became a contested border region, squeezed between the Moguls and the Iranian Safavid Empire--with a variety of smaller players scrambling for stakes in the game.

Finally, the "Persian Napoleon," Nadir Shah, swept through the region in 1738. Nadir Shah conquered Afghanistan, outmatched a Mogul army in India, plundered Delhi, and massacred thousands of Hindus before heading home to Iran. Then he died, just a few years later.

After Nadir Shah's death, Afghanistan fell to homegrown rulers. From 1747 to 1973, a long line of ethnic Pashtuns from the Abdali group of clans governed the land--though sometimes only nominally. The first Abdali Pashtun to seize control was Ahmad Shah, who adopted the title "Durr-I-Durrani," meaning "pearl of pearls." The Abdali Pashtuns have been known as the Durrani ever since.

The last Durrani king, Muhammad Zahir Shah, abdicated after a coup in 1973, then spent 28 years of exile in Rome. After he was gone, Afghanistan descended into factional violence. Conditions only got worse when the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to prop up a communist government. When the Soviets pulled out in 1989, Afghanistan slipped into civil war.

In 2002, the 87-year-old Zahir Shah finally returned home--not to assume his previous position, but to help Afghanistan move toward peace and democracy. Now that's a "Durr-I-Durrani" worth pursuing.

To put Afghanistan's present problems into perspective, let's take a timeline look at that history. First, Afghanistan from British interventions to the Soviet invasion, and then from the Soviet war to the Taliban's rise and beyond.

As our timeline begins, the British have achieved Pyrrhic victories in two Anglo-Afghan wars (1839-42 and 1878-80). They've taken charge of Afghan foreign policy, but they haven't conquered the country. Crucially, they can't subdue the fiercely independent Pashtun peoples living in the highlands along the disputed border between Afghanistan and British India (now the Afghanistan-Pakistan border).

1893 – Vexed by the Pashtuns, Britain's Sir Mortimer Durand meets with the emir of Kabul to decide who should control what turf. Durand draws a line on a map--since called the Durand Line--that cuts right through Pashtun tribes and villages. Though the Afghans dispute its legitimacy, the Durand Line effectively (or ineffectively) becomes the border between Afghanistan and British India.

1919 – A new emir, Amanullah Khan, leads his people in a third Anglo-Afghan war. The war ends in stalemate, but Britain cedes its control over Afghan foreign affairs. Having won full sovereignty, Afghanistan promptly signs a treaty of friendship with the new Soviet regime in Moscow. Over the next few years, Amanullah proclaims himself shah (king) and pursues economic, political, and social reforms that annoy conservatives in Afghanistan's military and mosques.

1929 – Faced with a string of revolts, Amanullah abdicates and flees. An ethnic Tajik named Bacha-i-Saqao ("son of a water carrier") briefly captures Kabul, but his rule is short-lived. Before the end of the year, Amanullah's cousin, Mohammed Nadir Shah, wins Kabul back for the family. Nadir Shah rules until 1933, rolling back many of Amanullah's reforms while still trying to modernize the country.

1933 – Nadir Shah is assassinated. His 19-year-old son, Mohammed Zahir Shah, ascends to the throne, which he will keep for 40 years. For the first 20 of them, Zahir Shah rules with help from two uncles, who each take a turn as prime minister. Afghanistan enjoys relative prosperity and peace, even remaining neutral during World War II.

1947 – The British depart from India, and the independent nation of Pakistan is born. Long-simmering tensions over the Durand Line heat up again--though the border dispute is now with the Pakistanis rather than the British.

1950 – Pakistan stops vital oil shipments to Afghanistan after a string of attacks by Pashtun tribesman near the border. To help relieve the resulting economic pressure, Moscow offers aid and a trade deal. Kabul says "Da!"

1953 – The king's cousin, Mohammad Daoud, becomes prime minister and implements economic and social reforms (which again annoy conservatives). He increases ties to the Soviet Union but tries to maintain U.S. economic aid. He also funnels money to anti-Pakistani Pashtuns on both sides of the border and calls for Pashtun self-determination.

1961 – Provoked by Daoud, Pakistan closes the border, putting a major crimp in Afghanistan's export economy. After a two-year standoff, the king asks for Daoud's resignation. He gets it, and trade relations with Pakistan resume.

1964 – A loya jirga ("great council") called by the king produces a new constitution, and Afghanistan becomes a constitutional monarchy (with the emphasis on monarchy). The constitution proclaims that Islam is "the sacred religion of Afghanistan," but worries conservative Muslims by elevating secular law above Islamic sharia law.

1965 – Afghans elect a parliament, and several political parties begin to emerge (though, technically, they're illegal). Among them: the People's Democratic Party of Afghanisstan (PDPA), a communist party. Over the next several years, parliament becomes increasingly polarized and ineffective, while ordinary Afghans become increasingly frustrated with it.

1973 – Daoud returns to power in a nearly bloodless coup. Out go the monarchy and the 1964 constitution. In comes a politically repressive single-party "republic," with Daoud at its head. Daoud cultivates ties with India, Iran, and others, and relations with the Soviet Union become strained--especially after he starts purging PDPA members, some of whom helped him to power. He also antagonizes Islamic conservatives.

1978 – Rival factions of the PDPA put aside their differences long enough to overthrow Daoud, who is shot in the presidential palace. The communists then announce economic and social reforms--including equal rights for women--that infuriate traditional ethnic leaders and conservative Muslims alike. Small-scale revolts flare up across the country, and religiously minded Afghans organize to resist the "infidel" communist regime. Meanwhile, infighting between the communist factions resumes.

1979 – As rebellion spreads, the Afghan army largely collapses. The government asks the Soviet Union for more military aid and gets it. Then it gets more than it bargained for. On December 25, the Soviets invade. Within days, they've captured Kabul and installed a new regime.

1980 - As the new, Soviet-installed regime takes charge in Kabul, fighting intensifies across much of the country. Soviet and Afghan government forces face a plethora of mujahedeen ("holy warrior") guerrillas, who receive weapons and support from Pakistan, the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and others. The Soviets have professional soldiers and control the skies. But the mujahedeen can disappear into the mountains and into Pakistan.

1985 - After five years of fierce fighting, the various resistance groups finally organize under one supreme council. Meanwhile, Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in Moscow and wants to bring more than 100,000 Soviet soldiers home. By now, millions of Afghans have fled their homes for refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran. These make fertile mujahedeen recruiting grounds.

1986 - After a leadership change in Kabul, the government makes overtures toward peace, but the mujahedeen reject them. Instead, they accept delivery of shoulder-fired Stinger missiles from the United States. These enable them to shoot down Soviet helicopters.

1988 - Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, and the United States sign peace accords, and Soviet soldiers start going home. But the fighting isn't over. For the next three years, Afghanistan's communist regime works hard to hang on to power, with continued support from the Soviets. Meanwhile, the mujahedeen work hard to topple the government, with continued support from the Americans.

1991 - The Soviets and Americans agree to stop aiding their allies, just as the Soviet Union starts to come unglued. More than 1 million people have been killed in the war (mostly Afghans), and more than 5 million have been displaced. More than 5 million landmines lie buried under Afghan soil.

1992 - Mujahedeen militias capture Kabul. With no common enemy left, the various resistance groups fall to fighting among themselves, dividing along ethnic, ideological, and devotional lines. An ethnic Tajik assumes the presidency the next year. But Afghanistan spirals toward anarchy, with militias and warlords effectively running their own fiefdoms.

1994 - The Taliban (meaning "students") arises under the leadership of a former mujahedeen fighter, Mohammad Omar. Drawing support from ultra-conservative Islamic schools, and composed primarily of Pashtuns (Afghanistan's largest ethnic group), the Taliban vows to bring Islamic law to the fractured nation. Many Afghans long for any law they can get.

1996 - The Taliban takes Kabul and establishes the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." Under Omar's leadership, they revive traditional punishments like stoning and amputation. They put limits on girls' education, refuse to let women work, and basically ban anything that might promote vice, including movies, cameras, television, and music. They also play host to a Saudi-born mujahedeen: Osama bin Laden.

1998 - The Taliban extends its reach by capturing Mazar-e Sharif, a northern city populated mainly by ethnic Uzbeks. The Taliban now controls most of Afghanistan, but still faces a fight from the "United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan"--a.k.a. the "Northern Alliance"--a coalition of mostly non-Pashtun militias. It also faces opposition from the United States, which uses cruise missiles to attack bin Laden's camps. The Taliban refuses to extradite bin Laden, and the U.N. imposes sanctions the following year.

2001 - On September 9, the Taliban assassinates Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance. Then comes September 11. After the attacks in America, the United States demands extradition of bin Laden. The Taliban refuses, and U.S. forces follow. By early December, American and Northern Alliance soldiers have toppled the Taliban. But Omar and other Taliban leaders escape. They regroup along the border with Pakistan--their original base--and fight on.

2004 - A loya jirga ("great council") produces a new constitution, signed into law by interim president Hamid Karzai. Presidential elections follow, and Karzai wins in a landslide. The following year, Afghanistan convenes its first democratically elected legislature in more than 30 years. Yet the government's control over many parts of the country remains weak, and Taliban attacks continue.

--Steve Sampson

INDONESIA

Stretched across the world's largest archipelago, Indonesia a crescent of more than 17,500 islands. But most of the land's 235 million people live on just five big islands: Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, Borneo, and Sulawesi.

At least 100 different languages are spoken across Indonesia (some say the number is more than 300), and the number of distinct tribal groups is probably even higher. So how did this diverse string of islands gather into the world's fourth most populous nation?

The archipelago's earliest people likely migrated from India or Burma. A wave of immigrants from China and Indochina joined those earliest islanders around 3000 BC. Over the next several thousand years, the islands' rich tapestry of social, cultural, and linguistic traditions took shape.

By the 2nd century AD, several small, independent coastal states had begun trading with India. The exchange was more than merely monetary. It brought Hinduism and Buddhism to the islands, which in turn stimulated the development of highly centralized societies.

By the mid-9th century, sophisticated Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms dominated both Java and Sumatra, and merchants from India and China were developing trade routes throughout the archipelago.

Among those merchants were Muslims from India, who brought Islam. Islam seems to have won converts slowly until the end of the 14th century, when the religion got a boost from the conversion of the rulers of Malacca, a rich port city in today's Malaysia.

Malacca was already an important stop on the trade route between the Moluccas (then called the Spice Islands) and Europe. Now the city became an export center for Islam as well, with merchants spreading Muhammad's message along with their spices. Portuguese traders captured Malacca in 1511, but Islam kept expanding. (Today, 86 percent of Indonesia is Muslim.)

The Portuguese (and the British) hungered to control the spice trade, but the Dutch East India Company eventually gobbled it up. Founded in 1602, the company was empowered by the Dutch government to build forts, make war, sign treaties, and administer justice to local peoples. Its main purpose, however, was simply to make money.

The Dutch East India Company used a combination of slick diplomacy and brute force to build a spice monopoly in 17th-century Indonesia. In the process, its leaders founded the city of Batavia (now Jakarta) and assumed control of much of the island of Java.

During the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company extended its economic efforts in the region, introducing new cash crops to the islands (including coffee on Java). Yet financial shenanigans brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy, and the Dutch government took over in 1799.

In the 19th century, the Dutch used military force to expand their control in the region--especially after a Javanese guerrilla revolt in the 1820s cost as many as 200,000 lives. Colonial wars on the various islands would continue into the early 20th century, when The Hague finally consolidated its control over "the Dutch East Indies," setting the boundaries of today's Indonesia.

In 1927, a colorful young leader named Sukarno and his compatriots founded the Indonesian Nationalist Party, dedicated to the principle of Indonesian independence. At first, the powers-that-be were less-than-impressed. During the 1930s, the Dutch simply banned the party and exiled Sukarno (twice). By 1940, however, the Dutch had a much bigger problem: Nazi Germany had overrun the Netherlands.

Japan moved in on Indonesia in 1942. Hoping to garner local support, the Japanese granted symbolic political autonomy to Sukarno and his party. After Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, Sukarno declared Indonesia an independent republic. The Dutch refused to let go until 1949, when a combination of stiff Indonesian resistance and international pressure forced them to abandon their claims on the former colony.

The colorful Sukarno--who once told the United States "to hell with your aid"--led the country until 1965, when a series of attempted coups and counter-coups finally caught up with him. In a still much-disputed series of events, a group of army officers attempted one last coup, ostensibly in cahoots with the Indonesian communist party.

In response, the head of the army, General Suharto, crushed the usurpers, assumed control of the government, and turned army units loose on the nation's communists. Between 250,000 and 1,000,000 people likely died in the ensuing crackdown. Suharto then maneuvered Sukarno out of the picture and instituted his so-called "New Order" regime, which looked a lot like a pro-western Cold War dictatorship.

Suharto clung to power until 1998, when he resigned in the face of popular protests. His successor left office two years later under a cloud of corruption. The next president also faced charges of corruption and was forced out in 2001. Vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of former president Sukarno, stepped up to assume the presidency.

In 2004, constitutional amendments providing for direct presidential elections went into effect for the first time. Megawati urged voters to "vote for the prettiest candidate" (she was the only woman in the race), but she could not persuade Indonesians to keep her in office. Indonesia's first-ever democratic presidential elections put retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyona in office instead.

--Steve Sampson

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