The area that is now Afghanistan has been ruled by many different empires over the years, but none of them lasted longer than 200 years until the Khorasan empire came along. The Khorasan ruled only the Western part of present-day Afghanistan, and they ruled it from 540 AD to about 1750 AD. During the early part of their reign, a group of tribes, called the Afghan tribes, settled in Eastern Afghanistan. They called themselves "Afghan," because they all trace their lines back to one ancestor, Afghana. So, Afghanistan means "land of Afghana."
In 1704, the Safavid ruler (the empire of Safavid controlled the rest of Afghanistan at this time) apointed George XI to rule the greater Kandhar region of Afghanistan. George was a ruthless ruler, and almost immediately started imprisoning the local Afghan tribes. One of the Afghans that was arrested was Mirwais Hotak. He was released from his charges by the king, but returned with a tribal army and overthrough the Safavid rule. He is viewed as the George Washington of Afghanistan. Southern Afghanistan split into it's own independant country.
In the 19th century, the growing British and Russian empires began to gain control over land in the region of Afghanistan. The armies of Southern Afghanistan started several wars to remove the Russians and British from Afghanistan. These wars were called the first and second Anglo-Afghan wars, and they were both easily won by the Afghans. About 30 years after the second war ended, World War 1 began. Afghanistan's borders had grown to where they are today, and they were neutral throught WW1. A third Anglo-Afghan war insued almost directly after WWI, and the Afghans again prevailed, driving the already depleted British forces out of Afghanistan. Soon after this war, the ruler of Afghanistan decided to end his country's isolation and started attempting diplomacy in many other countries.
It think Afghanistan is a country very much like our own, they gained their independence from a British ruler about the same time we did. However, there are differences: the climate, it took them three wars to gain independence and it only took us one, they were neutral in WWI. I think Afghanistan, despite it's faults, is still a good country.
This is Mirwais Hotak. 
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