General of the Arab army "broke of a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." The Kabul Shahi ruled north of the Zunbil territory, which included Kabulistan and Gandahara. The Arabs reached Kabul with the message of Islam but were not able to rule for long. The Kabul Shahis decided to build a giant wall around the city to prevent more Arab invasions, this wall is still visible today. Willem Vogelsang in his 2002 book writes: "During the eighth and ninth centuries AD the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians, although many of the local rulers were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non Muslim population of Eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists." In 870 AD the Saffarids from Zaranj conquered most of Afghanistan, establishing Muslim governors throughout the land. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side before the arrival of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. If the Hepthalites were basically Indo- European, politically and culturally the realms of Zabul and Kabul were considered as a part of Al- Hind on the eve of Muslim conquest. The Chachnama for example contains numerous references to Zabul under the corrupt form of ‘Ramal’ or ‘Ranmal’ showing close contacts and marriage relationships between the rulers and subordinate chiefs of Sind and Kashmir and the King of Zabul in the seventh century. The relationships between these Indian rulers on the north- western frontier appear to have been in constant flux but it seems a safe conclusion that the King of Kashmir had established a claim of suzerainty over Zabul -as he had over other Indian Kings. See also Zabulistan Zunbils References Historical regions of Afghanistan Hinduism in Afghanistan History of Helmand Province