Because of its area, Afghanistan has been a center of differing societies, inciting one student of history to name it the ‘indirect of the old world’. The individuals who settled incorporated the Persians, under Darius the Great (522-486 BCE); and the Greeks, driven by Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE). Many present-day towns are based on Greek establishments. Buddhist progress thrived from the late first century CE, its lords reigning in Bamiyan until the finish of the tenth century. An Arab assault on Kandahar in 699-700 brought Islam, reinforced as the Turks picked up power in Iran, Afghanistan, and India. The Mongolian Genghis Khan attacked in the thirteenth century. For the following couple of hundred years, Afghanistan was battled about by different Indian and Persian domains. At last, in the eighteenth century, a gathering of Pashtun clans under Durrani (otherwise known as Ahmad Shah Abdali) vanquished the Moghuls and the Persians and merged its own enormous yet shaky domain.
Kwa sababu ya eneo lake, Afghanistan imekuwa kitovu cha jamii tofauti, ikichochea mwanafunzi mmoja wa historia kuitaja 'indirect of the old world'. Watu walioishi walitia ndani Waajemi, chini ya Dario Mkuu (522-486 KK); na Wagiriki, wakiongozwa na Alexander Mkuu (356-323 KK). Miji mingi ya siku hizi inategemea uanzishwaji wa Ugiriki. Maendeleo ya Wabudha yalisitawi kuanzia mwishoni mwa karne ya kwanza WK, mabwana wake wakitawala huko Bamiyan hadi mwisho wa karne ya kumi. Shambulio la Waarabu dhidi ya Kandahar mnamo 699-700 lilileta Uislamu, uliimarishwa wakati Waturuki walipochukua mamlaka nchini Iran, Afghanistan, na India. Genghis Khan wa Kimongolia alishambulia katika karne ya kumi na tatu. Kwa miaka mia kadhaa iliyofuata, Afghanistan ilipigwa vita na maeneo tofauti ya India na Uajemi. Hatimaye, katika karne ya kumi na nane, mkusanyiko wa koo za Pashtun chini ya Durrani (ambaye kwa jina lingine alijulikana kama Ahmad Shah Abdali) uliwashinda Wamoghul na Waajemi na kuunganisha milki yake kubwa lakini iliyotikisika.