Glossary
Abdullah Abdullah
Afghan presidential candidate in the 2009 election.
Abdur Rahman Khan
Afghan ruler after the Second Anglo Afghan War.
Achaemenid Empire
A Persian empire in from the 4th to 6th centuries BCE.
Afghani
Currency and monetary unit in Afghanistan.
Ahmad Shah Durrani
A ruler who many consider to be the founder of modern Afghanistan.
Ai Khanoum
An ancient city that was excavated in the mid-20th century to reveal great architectural and archaeological finds.
AK-47
A rifle. Also known as a Kalashnikov, named after its creator.
Ala-ud-din
A 12th century king that burned down the city of Ghazni; he has the nickname "The World Burner."
al-Biruni
A great scholar of the 11th century.
al Qaeda
A stateless terrorist network, known to operate in many countries.
Alexander the Great
A 4th century BCE conqueror from Macedonia, who brought Greek influence to Afghanistan.
Amu Darya River
Same as Oxus River, but modern usage.
Amanullah
A reform-minded Afghan king from the 1920s.
Aq Kupruk
An archaeological site in northern Afghanistan.
Ashoka
An Indian king who is widely credited for bringing Buddhism to Afghanistan in the 3rd century BCE.
Avesta
The sacred texts of the Zoroastrian religion.
Avicenna
A great 10th-11th century scholar. Also known as Ibn Sina.
Babur
The founder of the Mughal Dynasty of India. He built a garden in Kabul that still exists today.
Baburnama
The autobiography of Babur.
Bactria
An ancient kingdom of Central Asia.
Badakhshan
A province in Afghanistan.
Balkh
An ancient city that still exists in what is today northern Afghanistan.
Baluch
A person who is from Baluchistan.
Baluchistan
A region that encompasses southern Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Southeastern Iran.
Bamiyan
Fertile central valley in Afghanistan. The site of famous Buddhist caves.
BCE
"Before the Common Era," which correlates to the time before the year one.
Bihzad
A famous painter from the 15th-16th centuries who worked in the city of Herat.
Bronze Age
A prehistoric culture with bronze metallurgy technology that mysteriously disappeared.
Buddha
Diety in the Buddhist religion.
buffer zone
A region that provides distance between a homeland and potential invaders.
Bukhara
Once a capitol city and a center of trade, it is today a modern city in Uzbekistan.
burqa
A loose garment that covers all or most of the body of a woman who wears it. Also known as a chadri.
buzkashi
The national sport of Afghanistan.
call to prayer
A summon issued five times a day--from mosques--for Muslims to pray.
CE
The "Common Era," which correlates to the time after the year one.
courtiers
One who attends to governance at the service of a king or other powerful ruler.
Cyrus
Founder of the Achaemenid Empire.
Daoud Khan, Mohammad
The first president of Afghanistan.
Dari
A Persian language widely spoken in Afghanistan.
Darius
A ruler of the Achaemenid Empire.
Dost Mohammed
An 18th century Pashtun who ruled at a time of great regional upheaval.
Dostum, Abdul Rashid
A career soldier who went on to lead the Afghan National Army under Hamid Karzai.
Durand Line
The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Elphinstone, William
A 19th century British Officer stationed in Afghanistan.
emir
A high-ranking title.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
Seven traditionally very poor tribal area in northwestern Pakistan that juxtaposes Afghanistan.
Ferdowsi
Poet who penned the literary masterpiece, the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings).
Ferghana Valley
Fertile valley in Central Asia, which was also an important crossroads region. The Ferghana Valley was the source of the most sought-after horses.
First Anglo-Afghan War
A 19th century war fought between British India and Afghanistan in which the British suffered a humiliating defeat.
Gandhara
A kingdom in what is today western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Its trademark was a fusion of Greek and South Asian traditions.
Genghis Khan
A nomadic warrior who founded the Mongol Empire, the greatest land-based empire in world history.
Ghazni
A city and province in central Afghanistan.
Ghaznavids
Historically, a slave population that rose up and overthrew the Samanid Empire and helped Islam take root in the 12th century. Its capitol was at Ghazni.
Ghilzai
A major Pashtun tribe.
Ghor
A province in central Afghanistan. The former seat of government for the Ghorid Dynasty.
Ghorids
The people of a Muslim dynasty in the 12th - 13th centuries.
Great Game
A term that refers to the jockeying of power by British India and Russia for influence and buffer zones in Central Asia.
Greco-Bactrian
A 3rd century BCE kingdom in Central Asia.
Habibullah
An early 20th century king of Afghanistan.
Hazara
A large minority group in Afghanistan who mostly follow the Shia form of Islam.
Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin
An Afghan mujahideen ruler.
Helmand Province
A province in southwestern Afghanistan, and the site of a large American-built dam.
Helmand River
A river in Afghanistan that takes snow melt from the Hindu Kush range and irrigates the farmland throughout the south. There are several hydroelectric dams along this river.
Herat
A city in western Afghanistan that is historically important, and is today the nation's third largest urban area.
Herodotus
A Greek historian from the fifth century BCE. He recorded the history of the Persian empire.
heroin
An illegal opiate drug derived from the poppy plant. Afghanistan's cash crop.
Hindu Kush Mountains
A mountain range, whose peaks reach 25,000 feet, and that encompasses vast stretches of northern and central Afghanistan.
Hotaki, Mahmoud
Son of Mir Wais Hotak, and subsequently, a leader of the Hotaki Dynasty.
Hotak, Mir Wais
Founder of the Hotaki Dynasty.
Hotaki Dynasty
A Pashtun dynasty that, in the 18th century, succeeded the Safavid Dynasty.
Huns
A nomadic tribe that conquered vast stretches of Central Asia and northern Europe.
Ibn Sina
See Avicenna.
Indo-Iranian
A sub-group of the Indo-European language family, with an estimated one billion speakers today.
Indus Valley
An ancient and great civilization from more than 5,000 years ago that straddled the Indus River in present-day Pakistan.
Islam
A monotheistic religion whose teachings were revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.
Ismael Shah
Founder of the Safavid Dynasty, and who converted the Persian world to the Shia form of Islam.
Iran
A country to the west of Afghanistan.
Jalalabad
A major city in eastern Afghanistan.
jihad
A religious duty or struggle of Muslims to perfect faith.
jirga
A consensus-based decision-making process among Afghan leaders.
Kabul
The capitol of, and very old city in, Afghanistan.
Kajaki Dam
A massive hydroelectric dam along the Helmand River.
Kandahar
The name of a major city and also a province in southern Afghanistan.
Kanishka
A 2nd century Kushan Empire king.
kariz
See qanat.
Kalashnikov
See AK-47.
Karzai, Hamid
A president of Afghanistan, who first took office in 2004.
kaum
Loosely translates to "our group," or "our people," and can be used in many instances.
khan
A high-ranking title.
Khorasan
Refers to a region in northeastern Iran, but historically, encompassed parts of what is today Afghanistan.
Khyber
A mountain pass that links Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Koh-i-Noor
Once the largest diamond in the world. It passed through the hands of various ruler in Central and South Asia. Today, it is in Queen Elizabeth's crown.
Koran
The holy book of Islam.
kurgan
A burial mound.
Kushan
A 2nd-3rd century empire, whose trademark included a great intermingling of cultural traditions.
lapis lazuli
A blue stone mined exclusively in Afghanistan in ancient times. Grounded up, the blue mineral was the most expensive pigment in the world, after gold.
loya jirga
A grand jirga. See jirga.
Macedonia
In ancient times, a region of Greece.
madrasah
An school. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, it oftentimes referred to an Islamic school.
Mahmud of Ghazni
Ruler of the Ghaznavid Dynasty, centered in present-day Afghanistan.
Maiwand, Battle of
A turning point in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, where the British suffered an unexpected defeat.
Malalai
The heroine of the Battle of Maiwand, when she shamed troops into fighting harder and defeating the British.
Malalai Joya
Known as "the bravest woman in Afghanistan," a young female parliamentarian who speaks out against warlords, the Taliban, and governmental corruption.
Marxist
One who subscribes to the philosophy of Karl Marx.
Massoud, Ahmed Shah
A resistance fighter first against the Soviets, then the Taliban. The leader of the Northern Alliance.
Mauryan
An ancient Indian empire of the 5th - 2nd century BCE.
Mazar-i-Sharif
A major and ancient city in northern Afghanistan.
Mecca
Holiest pilgrimage site for Muslims.
Medes
An ancient nomadic people who invaded vast stretches of Central Asia in different waves throughout early history.
Mesopotamia
An ancient civilization that straddled the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers.
King Milinda
A (mythical?) king that famously discussed Greek versus Indian philosophies. Also known as Menander.
minaret
A tall tower often part of a mosque or mosque complex that is used for calls to prayers.
Mithraism
A form of Zoroastrianism that became popular in the first half of the first millennium.
Mongols
An nomadic tribe that took over vast stretches of Eurasia in the 13th century.
Mohammad
The messenger and prophet of God in the Islamic faith.
monotheism
The belief in one God.
mosaic
An art form, often covering buildings, comprised of many colored tiles. In Central Asia, patterns are typically geometric or floral.
mosque
House of worship for Muslims.
Mughals
An Indian empire, with Muslim rulers, in the 15th - 19th centuries.
mujahideen
One who struggles or fights. It is sometimes related to the concept of jihad. In contemporary Afghanistan, it is often used in reference to resistance or freedom fighters.
mullah
Islamic clerics.
Mullah Mohammad Omar
Taliban leaders.
Mundigak
An archaeological site in southern Afghanistan. Some objects lead to speculation that it is a northern capitol for the Indus Valley Civilization.
Muslim
One who practices the Islamic faith.
Nadir Shah
18th century Persian ruler.
Nagasena
A Buddhist sage who discussed religious philosophies with King Milinda. See Milinda.
Nestorian Christianity
Does this come up in the project?
NGO
Acronym for "non-governmental organization."
Nile River
An ancient Egyptian civilization that may have had indirect trade with Central and East Asia.
North West Frontier Province
A northwestern province in Pakistan that partially overlaps with FATA. See FATA.
Northern Alliance
A network of resistance and freedom fighters that battled the Taliban and al Qaeda.
opium
A drug derived from the poppy plan, Afghanistan's cash crop, and a highly sought-after drug both for medicinal use and for a worldwide trafficking of heroine.
Osama bin Laden
Head of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, and the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.
Ottoman
A Turkish Empire that ruled from the 13th to the 20th century.
Oxus River
An older term for (often used to describe ancient civilizations near) the Amu Darya River.
Pakistan
The country to Afghanistan's east. Many Pashtuns also live in Pakistan.
Paktia
A province in eastern Afghanistan.
Pashto
A language primarily spoken by the Pashtun people in Afghanistan.
Pashtun
The majority ethnic group in Afghanistan. Although their origins are largely unknown, they share common identity through language and Pashtunwali, a code of conduct.
Pashtunwali
An ethical code that, among other things, guides communal living protocols among Pashtuns.
Pax Mongolica
The peace that followed after the bloody Mongol conquests. Trade and economies flourished.
Peacock Throne
A bejeweled Indian throne, stolen by Nadir Shah in the 18th century.
Persia
An older, Western term for the Iran and the historical empires that centered around that part of the world.
Peshawar
City in western Pakistan, near the Afghan border. Many Afghans fled to Peshawar during various times of war in the last 30 years.
pharmakon
An ancient Greek word that can be translated into English as: remedy, poison, cure, drug, gift, antidote, toxin.
pigment
A natural coloring derived from plants or minerals.
Plutarch
A Greek historian who wrote about the life of Alexander the Great.
polytheism
The belief in multiple gods.
poppy
The plant from which opiates--medical morphine or heroin--is derived. The cash crop of Afghanistan.
Punjab
A region that stretches from central Pakistan to northern India.
Qais Abdur Rashid
All Pashtun tribes are believed to descent from this man, who lived during the 6th - 7th centuries.
qala
A type of walled settlement commonly found in Afghanistan.
qanat
An ancient irrigation system.
Registan
An architectual complex in Samarkand that consisted of three madrasahs.
RPG
An acronym for "rocket-propelled grenade."
Rustam
The hero protagonist in the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings).
Safavids
A 16th - 18th century dynasty, whose great legacy was the conversion of the Persian world to the Shia form of Islam. (Iran, today, remains majority Shia, but Afghanistan does not.)
Samanids
A 9th century empire, whose great legacy was the conversion of Iran to Islam, from Zoroastrianism. This conversion took several centuries.
Samarkand
Once a golden-age capitol of Central Asia, today remains an impressive destination in the country of Uzbekistan.
Sasanians
The last great pre-Islamic empire of the Persian world. The Sasanians flourished from the 3rd - 7th centuries.
Scythians
Nomadic conquerors from the northern steppes (2nd - 4th centuries BCE) who were known for their tremendous golden treasures.
Second Anglo-Afghan War
A war that resulted following the second time the British invaded Afghanistan.
Seleucids
An empire that was developed by one of Alexander's military commanders, who then swept his armies from Central Asia back to the East, bringing Persian influences with him.
shah
A king.
Shahnameh
The Book of Kings, written by the poet Ferdowsi around 1000 CE. The literary masterpiece is considered to be the epic of the Persian world.
Shariah law
Islamic law. Interpretations of Shariah vary between different schools of thought, and cultural traditions.
Shahrukh
Tamerlane's son, who moved the Timurid capitol from Samarkand to Herat.
Sher Ali Khan
An Afghan ruler and military strategist during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
Shia
An Islamic sect that rejects the first three caliphs of the Sunni sect, and who believes the Imam Ali, who was also the Prophet's cousin, is the Mohammad's rightful successor.
Shiite
See Shia.
Shuja Shah
A 19th century ruler of the Durrani Empire.
Sikhism
A monotheistic religion founded in 15th century India that follows the teaching of Guru Nanuk.
Soviet-Afghan War
A war that followed a Marxist overthrow of government and Soviet invasion. The war lasted nine years, from 1979 to early 1989. The United States backed the resistance fighters.
steppe
Grasslands that extend from northern Europe to Siberia.
Stinger missile
A surface-to-air missile the United States provided Afghan resistance fighters during the Afghan-Soviet War.
Strabo
A 1st century BCE - CE Greek geographer and historian.
Sufi
A mystical form of Islam.
sultan
A high-ranking ruler in the Muslim world.
Tajik
An ethnic group found in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan and China.
Tajikistan
A country that shares Afghanistan's northeastern border.
Taliban
An Islamic political group that governed Afghanistan under a particularly harsh interpretation of Sharia from 1996 - 2001. The Taliban have seen a resurgence since 2004.
Tamerlane
A 14th century conqueror, and founder of the Timurid Dynasty, a golden age in Central Asia.
Tepe Fullol
An ancient grave site in Afghanistan that features designs similar to the ones found in Mesopotamia.
Third Anglo-Afghan War
A short, three-month war in 1919 that is widely considered a war of independence in Afghanistan, although Afghanistan was never formerly colonized.
Tillya Tepe
A 1st century BCE grave site that contained great golden riches.
Timurids
A golden age in Central Asia in the 14th - 15th centuries.
Treaty of Gandamak
The treaty that ended the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It seceded certain territory to the British, but the British soon withdrew.
Turkmen
An ethnic group located in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Turkmenistan
A country to the north of Afghanistan.
Turquoise Mountain
The capitol of the Ghorid empire.
UNESCO
The acronym for the "United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization."
Uzbek
An ethnic group found in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and the greater Central Asian region.
Uzbekistan
A country that shares a very narrow border with northern Afghanistan.
war carpet
A traditional Afghan carpet that portray images of war. War carpets are made solely for tourist trade.
watan
Loosely translated to mean "homeland."
Xerxes
A 4th century BCE king of the Achaemenid Empire.
Xuanzang
A Chinese monk who traveled the Silk Roads en route to India to study Buddhism. Xuanzang's diaries provided first-person insight about life in Central Asia.
Yaqub Khan, Mohammad
Son of Sher Ali Khan, who signed the Treaty of Gandamak.
Zahir Shah, Mohammad
The last king of Afghanistan, who ruled peacefully for the better part of four decades in the mid-20th century.
Zoroaster
An ancient Iranian prophet, who lived in the 18th - 10th centuries (not a typo), and the founder of the Zoroastrian religion.
Zoroastrianism
A monotheistic religion based on the teachings of Zoroaster.
