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Afghanistan Research Paper

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Introduction Afghanistan’s history, as a formally recognized nation, can only be traced back to 1919 after the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War with the British, but the land has been settled for more than fifty thousand years (Saboory & Yassari, 2010). This extensive amount of time, coupled with the fact that the area was once crossed by one of the major trade routes in Southeast Asia has created an extensive and diverse cultural background. Art, music, cultural traditions, religion, and political transformation have all occurred in this historic land.
Ancient History The area that is known now as Afghanistan has been occupied by humanity for thousands of years, marking it out as one of the earliest settled lands. Due to its location almost directly in the center of southern Asia, Afghanistan has been a heavily trafficked area for millennia and has seen numerous cultures pass its borders throughout the years (Habibi, n.d.). This constant traffic through the region created a cultural diversity that was rarely seen in the ancient world, and still exists to some extent today. The network of trade routes that crisscrossed Afghanistan, dubbed the Silk Road, was a major part of the economies of Asia and the Middle Eastern lands at the time. It was only natural that settlements in Afghanistan began to spring …show more content…

Some of the earliest work that can still be found is of Greco-Buddhist origin as that was an extremely pervasive culture during Afghanistan’s past. The great Buddha’s of Bamiyan which stood up to 50 feet tall and tragically destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, were excellent examples (Levy, 2001). Other art from that era demonstrated the marriage of the Greek pantheon and the teachings of Buddhism as single pieces of artwork. Other statues, coins, and paintings have been uncovered depicting this somewhat unusual combination of belief

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