Hindu and Buddhist

heritage of
Afghanistan

Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan communities of various religious and ethnic
background lived in the land. South of the Hindu Kush was ruled by the Zunbil and Kabul Shahi
rulers. When the Chinese travellers (Faxian, Song Yun, Xuanzang, Wang-hiuon-tso, Huan-Tchao,
and Wou-Kong) visited Afghanistan between 399 and 751 AD, they mentioned that Buddhism
was practiced in different areas between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus
River in the south.[1] The land was ruled by the Kushans followed by the Hephthalites during
these visits. It is reported that the Hephthalites were fervent followers of the god Surya.[2]
Newly excavated

Taller, 55 meter Buddha in 1963 and in 2008 after destruction

Smaller, 38 meter Buddha, before and after destruction.

Buddhist stupa at Mes Aynak in Logar Province. Similar stupas have been discovered in neighboring Ghazni Province,
including in the northern Samangan Province.
The invading Muslim Arabs introduced Islam to a Zunbil king of Zamindawar (Helmand
Province) in 653-4 AD, then they took the same message to Kabul before returning to their
already Islamized city of Zaranj in the west. It is unknown how many accepted the new religion
but the Shahi rulers remained non-Muslim until they lost Kabul in 870 AD to the Saffarid Muslims
of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids from Bukhara in the north extended their Islamic influence into the
area. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side in Kabul before the
arrival of Ghaznavids from Ghazni.

"Kábul has a castle celebrated for its strength, accessible only by one
road. In it there are Musulmáns, and it has a town, in which are infidels
from Hind."[3]

— Istahkrí, 921 AD

The first 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.[4]
These names were often used as geographical terms by the Arabs. For example, Hindu (or
Hindustani) has been historically used as a geographical term to describe someone who was
native from the region known as India, and Afghan as someone who was native from a region
called Bactria.

Archeology
 Location Artifacts found Other information

Temple at
Marble statues of Surya, a Vedic
Khair Khaneh
solar deity.[5]
in Kabul.

They show, as per the Hindu religion, the

Statues of Durga/Anahita
Gardez
Mahishasuramardini.[5]
Goddess Durga, the consort of Shiva
slaying buffalo demon Mahishasura. The
similar Avestan version says that the
Bactrian goddess Nana, the consort of
Oesho slaying the buffalo demon.

Hindu Temple
at Chaghan
Saray in the
Temple complex
Kunar Valley
in eastern
Afghanistan.[5]

Remains of settlement dating to

Tapa Skandar
the second half of the first
31 km north
millennium AD. Marble statue of
of Kabul.[5]
Shiva/Osho and his wife Parvati.[5]

Statue of the Parinivana Buddha

Tapa Sadr
(Buddha lying down at the end of 8th century AD
near Ghazni.[5]
his cycle of rebirths).[5]

Śāradā script engraved on a

marble statue of an elephant deity
Gardez Ganesh brought by the Hindu 8th century AD
Shahis who occupied the Kabul
Valley.[5]

Nava Vihara
Balkh

A stone slab with a Bactrian

Airtam Near
inscription and a carved image of
Termez
Osho.[6]

Tepe Sardar, Large Buddhist monastery The main Stupa is surrounded by many
Ghazni complex[7] miniature stupas and shrines, ornamented
with clay bas reliefs. There were several
colossal statues of the Buddha, included
one seated and of the Buddha in Nirvana. In
one shrine which is in the Hindu style a clay
sculpture of Durga slaying a buffalo-demon
was found.[7]

Homay Qala Buddhist Cave Complex at Homay

in Ghazni Qalay.[8]

10th Century AD.[9] The cult of Nana was

Tepe Sardar popularised during the Kushan period as
Nana clay - 10th Century.[9]
Ghazni several images of this deity are found in
Afghanistan.[10]

650-1000 AD[12]
Coins of the Shahi rulers of Panjab
These coins were issued from at least eight
Various and Afghanistan have been
mint towns, which suggests a wider range
found.[11]
for their circulation[11]

Buddhas of
Bamyan
Bamyan Believed to be built in 507 AD, the larger in
Province 554 AD. Destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban.
Hazarajat
region

Khair Khana Hindu Temple,[11] two marble

Kabul[11] statues of Shiva[11]

Basawal is the site of a Buddhist

cave temple complex in eastern
Afghanistan. The caves, 150 in all,
are partly hewn out in two rows
Basawal
and arranged in seven groups,
which presumably correspond to
the seven monastic institutions of
Buddhist times.

Buddhist cave
complex at
Homay
Qala[13]

Table of pre-Islamic dynasties of Afghanistan

Dynasty Period Domain

By the mid ninth century the

Closing years of whole region from the fortress Gandhara
the 10th and the city of Kabul to at least (eastern
early 11th Udhabanadpura (Waihind or Afghanistan
century. and
Ohind) in the East was held by the
Jayapala was northwestern
Kabul dynasty called by later writers the
defeated by Pakistan) was
Shahi Shahis. In addition to the natural
Sultan Mahmud overrun by
of Ghazni.[14] in products of the Gandhara region, Sultan
1013 Kabul's the Shahi kings drew revenue Mahmud of
last Shahi ruler from the constant caravan trade Ghazni.[14]
[15]
passing through their (Kabul valley)
dominions.[16]

The Zunbils
were finally
deposed by
Ya'qub Saffari in
Zunbils Zabulistan (southern Afghanistan).[18]
870 AD, founder
of the Saffarid
dynasty in
Zaranj.[17][18]

Islamic conquest of Afghanistan

The region around Herat Province became Islamized in 642 AD, during the end of Muslim
conquest of Persia. In 653-4 AD, General Abdur Rahman bin Samara arrived from Zaranj to the
Zunbil capital Zamindawar with an army of around 6,000 Arab Muslims. The General "broke off 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."[19] He explained to the worshippers of the solar deity, "my
intention was to show you that this idol can do neither any harm nor good."[2] The people of
southern Afghanistan began accepting Islam from this date onward. The Arabs then proceeded
to Ghazni and Kabul to convert or conquer the Buddhist Shahi rulers. However, most historians
claim that the rulers of Ghazni and Kabul remained non-Muslim. There is no information on the
number of converts although the Arabs unsuccessfully continued their missions of invading the
land to spread Islam for the next 200 or so years. It was in 870 AD when Ya'qub bin Laith as-
Saffar finally conquered Afghanistan by establishing Muslim governors throughout the
provinces.

"Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat
the Sasanians in 642 AD and then they marched with confidence to the
east. On the western periphery of the Afghan area the princes of Herat
and Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the
mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily
converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The
harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest,
however, that once the waning power of the Caliphate became apparent,
native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among
these the Saffarids of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic
founder of this dynasty, the coppersmith's apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth
Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 AD and marched
through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamyan, Balkh and Herat,
conquering in the name of Islam.".[20]

— Nancy Dupree, 1971

By the 11th century, when the Ghaznavids were in power, the entire population of Afghanistan
was practicing Islam, except the Kafiristan region (Nuristan Province) which became Muslim in
the late 1800s.

See also

Ancient history of Afghanistan

 Pre-Islamic scripts in Afghanistan

Buddhism in Afghanistan

Hinduism in Afghanistan

Buddhas of Bamiyan

Gandhara Kingdom

Nava Vihara

Zabulistan

References

1. "Chinese Travelers in Afghanistan" (http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/E-Chinese_Traveler

s.htm) . Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. 1969. Retrieved August 9, 2012.

2. "Amir Kror and His pAncestry" (http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Amir_Kror_and_His_Anc

estry.htm) . Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.

3. "A.—The Hindu Kings of Kábul (p.3)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130726133107/http://persian.packh

um.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=100) . Sir H. M. Elliot. London: Packard Humanities Institute.
1867–1877. Archived from the original (http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=10
0) on July 26, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2010.

4. Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans (https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&lpg=PP1&

pg=PA18#v=onepage&q&f=false) . Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0-631-19841-5. Retrieved 2012-08-16.

5. The Afghans By Willem Vogelsang Page 184

. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 3 By Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ Page 427

7. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 3 By Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ Page 399

. South Asian archaeology 1975: papers from the third International Conference Edited By Johanna
Engelberta Lohuizen-De Leeuw Page 121 to 126 (https://books.google.com/books?id=H2GW1PTHQ1YC
&pg=PA119&dq=The+buddhist+cave+complex+of+Homay&hl=en&ei=yg9hTpzWBcjjrAeKjtkO&sa=X&oi=b
ook_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20buddhist%20cave%20com
plex%20of%20Homay&f=false)

9. History of Buddhism in Afghanistan By Sī. Esa Upāsaka, Kendrīya-Tibbatī-Ucca-Śikṣā-Saṃsthānam page

XX

10. History of Buddhism in Afghanistan By Sī. Esa Upāsaka, Kendrīya-Tibbatī-Ucca-Śikṣā-Saṃsthānam page

187

11. Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation By R.S. Sharma page 130
12. Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation By R.S. Sharma Page 130

13. https://books.google.com/books?
id=H2GW1PTHQ1YC&pg=PA119&dq=The+buddhist+cave+complex+of+Homay&hl=en&ei=yg9hTpzWBcjjr
AeKjtkO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20buddhi
st%20cave%20complex%20of%20Homay&f=false South Asian archaeology 1975: papers from the third
International Conference, By Johanna Engelberta Lohuizen-De LeeuwPage, Published By EJ Brill, Page
119

14. The races of Afghanistan Being a brief account of the principal nations inhabiting that country, by Henry
Walter Bellow Asian Educational services, Page 73

15. Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan By Rizwan Hussain page 17

1 . Encyclopaedia of Historiography By M.M. Rahman

17. Medieval India Part 1 by Satish Chandra Page 17

1 . Excavations at Kandahar 1974 & 1975 (Society for South Asian Studies Monograph) by Anthony McNicoll

19. André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990. p 120

20. Dupree, Nancy (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" An Historical Guide To Afghanistan Afghan
Tourist Organization, Kabul, OCLC 241390 (http://worldcat.org/oclc/241390)

External links

Professor Abdul Hai Habibi (http://www.alamahabibi.com) See article The Cultural, Social
And Intellectual State Of The People Of Afghanistan In The Era Just Before The Advent Of Islam
by eminent Afghan historian Abdul Hai Habibi

Shahi Coins in the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 By Colin R. Bruce, Thomas
Michael Page 35

Afghan caves contain world's first oil paintings (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Arts/Jan/

26/Afghan-caves-contain-worlds-first-oil-paintings-expert.ashx#axzz1WlVExuiE)

Buddhist Sites in Afghanistan and Central Asia (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/buddhis

m-iv)
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