| Year |
Date |
Event |
| 1709 |
April 21 |
Mirwais Khan Hotak, the leader of the Ghilzai Afghans and mayor of Kandahar, killed the Persian-appointed governor Gurgin Khan and declared Kandahar independent. |
| 1715 |
|
Mirwais Khan died of natural causes. His son, Mir Mahmud Hotaki, took the throne. |
| 1722 |
|
The Afghan army captured the Persian capital, Isfahan. Mir Mahmud declared himself Shah of Persia. |
| 1725 |
April 22 |
Mir Mahmud was murdered. His cousin Ashraf Khan succeeded him. |
| 1729 |
September 29 |
Battle of Damghan: A Persian warlord, Nader Shah, defeated the forces of Ashraf Khan and forced them to retreat back into Afghanistan. |
| 1747 |
|
Nadir Shah was assassinated. His former general, Ahmad Shah Abdali, was appointed king by loya jirga. He established the Durrani Empire, an act which is considered by many historians to be the birth of the Afghan nation. |
| Year |
Date |
Event |
| 1901 |
October 1 |
Abdur Rahman died. His son, Habibullah Khan, became amir of Afghanistan. |
| 1919 |
February 20 |
Habibullah was assassinated on the initiative of his son, Amanullah Khan, who declared himself king. |
| May |
Amanullah led a surprise attack against the British, beginning the third Anglo-Afghan War. |
| August 19 |
Afghan Foreign Minister Mahmud Tarzi negotiated the Treaty of Rawalpindi, which fixed the Afghan-Indian border and secured Britain's recognition of Afghan independence. |
| 1929 |
|
Amanullah was forced to abdicate in the face of a popular uprising. |
|
The reactionary Mohammed Nadir Shah took control of Afghanistan. |
| 1933 |
November 8 |
Nadir Shah was assassinated. His son, Mohammed Zahir Shah, was proclaimed king at the age of nineteen. |
| 1964 |
|
A new constitution was ratified which instituted a democratic legislature. |
| 1965 |
January 1 |
The Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) held its first congress. |
| 1978 |
April 28 |
Saur Revolution: Military units loyal to the PDPA assaulted the Afghan Presidential palace, killing President Mohammed Daoud Khan. |
| May 1 |
Saur Revolution: The PDPA installed its leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, as President of Afghanistan. |
| July |
A rebellion against the new Afghan government began with an uprising in Nuristan. |
| December 5 |
A treaty was signed which permitted deployment of the Soviet military at the Afghan government's request. |
| 1979 |
September 14 |
Taraki was murdered by supporters of Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin. |
| December 24 |
Soviet war in Afghanistan: Fearing the collapse of the Amin regime, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan. |
| December 27 |
Operation Storm-333: Soviet troops occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including the Tajbeg Presidential Palace, and executed Prime Minister Amin. |
| 1988 |
April 14 |
Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet government signed the Geneva Accords, which included a timetable for withdrawing their armed forces. |
| 1989 |
February 15 |
Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet troops left the country. |
| 1992 |
June 28 |
Burhanuddin Rabbani was proclaimed president. Government excludes Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who launches massive rocket attacks on Kabul. |
| 1994 |
|
An estimated 25,000 people were killed in Kabul, victims of the faction fighting (Dostum and Hekmatyar against Rabbani government). Taliban movement started forming in a small village between Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. |
| 1996 |
September 27 |
The Taliban militia forced President Rabbani and his government out of Kabul. After the capture of Kabul, the Taliban executed Najibullah. |
| 1998 |
|
The Taliban take Mazar-e Sharif (August) and Bamyan. |
| 1999 |
October 15 |
United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Taliban regime. |
