Afghanistan is the source of an empire.
Afghanistan . The land also served as the source from which the Kushans , Hephthalites , Samanids , Saffarids , Ghaznavids , Ghorids , Khiljis , Mughals , Hotaks , Durranis , and others have risen to form major empires . Hephthalites ( or Ephthalites ) was the Latinised exonym for a people commonly known in Chinese sources by names such as Yada ( 嚈噠 , Yè dā ) .