Afghan history before the politically critical period that began in 1973 could be broken into five distinct time periods. Throughout this paper I will discuss the two earlier periods the area now referred to as Afghanistan had no name, the territory lied across the crossroads of many trading routes; silk and iron. Afghanistan's earliest sign of human history are rich in art, architecture, and archeological remains. These two earlier periods are commonly referred to as Pre-Islamic and Islamic.
             It was during the Islamic period, 700-1709 that Afghanistan began to assume its temporary form. The country began to appear during the eighteenth century and emerged at the end of the century as a budding empire spreading west and southward.
             In Afghanistan around 3000BCE-2000BCE the first true urban centers were founded, Mundigak and Deh Morassi Ghun. Mundigak (modern day Kandahar) had an economic base of wheat, barley, sheep and goat. With this evidence the idea that the original inhibitors of Afghanistan were from the Indus River Civilization is found. Ancient Afghanistan is believed to have been in the crossroads of the Mesopotamia and other civilizations. Information gathered about this area of the Middle East is found through the written scribes of oral legends, epics, and myths, these of which cast considerable light upon the early culture, and the politics.
             In 2000-1500 BCE the Aryan tribes came into Afghanistan they were originally a tribe of herders who spoke one language. The city of Kabul was established during this time.
             Beginning in the seventh century, the spread of Islam eastward local rulers and swept northeast into Central Asia and south toward the Indus River valley. Over the span of three centuries, the following of Islamic rule diffused from ruling classes into the classes of peasants, by the time of The Ghaznavids in the tenth century most of the middle East had become Muslim. The only exceptions to this ma...