Afghanistan (part 2)

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires,[27] the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires.[28] Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres,[29][30] the area was a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam.[31] The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century,[32] although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state.[33] Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established.