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ry of general relativity nearly simultaneously with einstein the copenhagen interpretation einstein and niels bohr sparred over quantum theory during the one nine two zero s einstein s postulation that light can be described not only as a wave with no kinetic energy but also as massless discrete packets of energy called quanta with measurable kinetic energy now known as photons was a landmark break with the classical physics in one nine zero nine einstein presented his first paper on the quantification of light to a gathering of physicists and told them that they must find some way to understand waves and particles together in the mid one nine two zero s as the original quantum theory was replaced with a new theory of quantum mechanics einstein balked at the copenhagen interpretation of the new equations because it settled for a probabilistic non visualizable account of physical behaviour einstein agreed that the theory was the best available but he looked for a more complete explanation i e more deterministi |
c he could not abandon the belief that physics described the laws that govern real things the belief which had led to his successes with atoms photons and gravity in a one nine two six letter to max born einstein made a remark that is now famous quantum mechanics is certainly imposing but an inner voice tells me it is not yet the real thing the theory says a lot but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the old one i at any rate am convinced that he does not throw dice to this bohr who sparred with einstein on quantum theory retorted stop telling god what he must do the bohr einstein debates on foundational aspects of quantum mechanics happened during the solvay conferences einstein was not rejecting probabilistic theories per se einstein himself was a great statistician using statistical analysis in his works on brownian motion and photoelectricity and in papers published before the miraculous year one nine zero five einstein had even discovered gibbs ensembles he believed however that at the |
core reality behaved deterministically many physicists argue that experimental evidence contradicting this belief was found much later with the discovery of bell s theorem and bell s inequality nonetheless there is still space for lively discussions about the interpretation of quantum mechanics bose einstein statistics in one nine two four einstein received a short paper from a young indian physicist named satyendra nath bose describing light as a gas of photons and asking for einstein s assistance in publication einstein realized that the same statistics could be applied to atoms and published an article in german then the lingua franca of physics which described bose s model and explained its implications bose einstein statistics now describe any assembly of these indistinguishable particles known as bosons the bose einstein condensate phenomenon was predicted in the one nine two zero s by bose and einstein based on bose s work on the statistical mechanics of photons which was then formalized and generalize |
d by einstein the first such condensate was produced by eric cornell and carl wieman in one nine nine five at the university of colorado at boulder einstein s original sketches on this theory were recovered in august two zero zero five in the library of leiden university einstein also assisted erwin schr dinger in the development of the quantum boltzmann distribution a mixed classical and quantum mechanical gas model although he realized that this was less significant than the bose einstein model and declined to have his name included on the paper the einstein refrigerator einstein and szil rd s refrigerator patent diagram einstein and former student le szil rd co invented a unique type of refrigerator usually called the einstein refrigerator in one nine two six on november one one one nine three zero was awarded to albert einstein and le szil rd the patent covered a thermodynamic refrigeration cycle providing cooling with no moving parts at a constant pressure with only heat as an input the refrigeration cyc |
le used ammonia butane and water world war ii when adolf hitler came to power in january one nine three three einstein was a guest professor at princeton university a position which he took in december one nine three two after a invitation from the american educator abraham flexner in one nine three three the nazis passed the law of the restoration of the civil service which forced all jewish university professors out of their jobs and throughout the one nine three zero s a campaign to label einstein s work as jewish physics in contrast with german or aryan physics was led by nobel laureates philipp lenard and johannes stark with the assistance of the ss the deutsche physik supporters worked to publish pamplets and textbooks denigrating einstein s theories and attempted to politically blacklist german physicists who taught them notably werner heisenberg einstein renounced his german citizenship and stayed in the united states where he was given permanent residency he accepted a position at the newly founded i |
nstitute for advanced study in princeton township new jersey he became an american citizen in one nine four zero though he still retained swiss citizenship in one nine three nine under the encouragement of szil rd einstein sent a letter to president franklin delano roosevelt urging the study of nuclear fission for military purposes under fears that the nazi government would be first to develop atomic weapons roosevelt started a small investigation into the matter which eventually became the massive manhattan project einstein himself did not work on the bomb project however the international rescue committee was founded one nine three three at the request of albert einstein to assist opponents of adolf hitler for more information see the section below on einstein s political views institute for advanced study his work at the institute for advanced study focused on the unification of the laws of physics which he referred to as the unified field theory he attempted to construct a model which would describe all o |
f the fundamental forces as different manifestations of a single force this took the form of an attempt to unify the gravitational and electrodynamic forces his attempt was hindered because the strong and weak nuclear forces were not understood independently until around one nine seven zero fifteen years after einstein s death einstein s goal of unifying the laws of physics under a single model survives in the current drive for unification of the forces embodied most notably by string theory generalized theory einstein began to form a generalized theory of gravitation with the universal law of gravitation and the electromagnetic force in his first attempt to demonstrate the unification and simplification of the fundamental forces in one nine five zero he described his work in a scientific american article einstein was guided by a belief in a single statistical measure of variance for the entire set of physical laws einstein s generalized theory of gravitation is a universal mathematical approach to field theo |
ry he investigated reducing the different phenomena by the process of logic to something already known or evident einstein tried to unify gravity and electromagnetism in a way that also led to a new subtle understanding of quantum mechanics einstein postulated a four dimensional space time continuum expressed in axioms represented by five component vectors particles appear in his research as a limited region in space in which the field strength or the energy density are particularly high einstein treated subatomic particles as objects embedded in the unified field influencing it and existing as an essential constituent of the unified field but not of it einstein also investigated a natural generalization of symmetrical tensor fields treating the combination of two parts of the field as being a natural procedure of the total field and not the symmetrical and antisymmetrical parts separately he researched a way to delineate the equations and systems to be derived from a variational principle einstein became inc |
reasingly isolated in his research on a generalised theory of gravitation and was ultimately unsuccessful in his attempts in particular his pursuit of a unification of the fundamental forces ignored work in the physics community at large most notably the discovery of the strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force einstein s two story house white frame with front porch in greek revival style in princeton one one two mercer street final years in one nine four eight einstein served on the original committee which resulted in the founding of brandeis university a portrait of einstein was taken by yousuf karsh on february one one of that same year in one nine five two the israeli government proposed to einstein that he take the post of second president he declined the offer and remains the only united states citizen ever to be offered a position as a foreign head of state on march three zero one nine five three einstein released a revised unified field theory he died at one one five am in princeton hospital in pr |
inceton new jersey on april one eight one nine five five at the age of seven six from internal bleeding which was caused by the rupture of an aortic aneurism leaving the generalized theory of gravitation unsolved the only person present at his deathbed a hospital nurse said that just before his death he mumbled several words in german that she did not understand he was cremated without ceremony on the same day he died at trenton new jersey in accordance with his wishes his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location an autopsy was performed on einstein by dr thomas stoltz harvey who removed and preserved his brain harvey found nothing unusual with his brain but in one nine nine nine further analysis by a team at mcmaster university revealed that his parietal operculum region was missing and to compensate his inferior parietal lobe was one five wider than normal the inferior parietal region is responsible for mathematical thought visuospatial cognition and imagery of movement einstein s brain also containe |
d seven three more glial cells than the average brain personality albert einstein was much respected for his kind and friendly demeanor rooted in his pacifism he was modest about his abilities and had distinctive attitudes and fashions for example he minimized his wardrobe so that he would not need to waste time in deciding on what to wear he was captivatingly simple wearing mothy sweaters and sweatshirts and sans socks in his old age he occasionally had a playful sense of humor and enjoyed sailing and playing the violin he was also the stereotypical bumbling absent minded professor he was often forgetful of everyday items such as keys and would focus so intently on solving physics problems that he would often become oblivious to his surroundings in his later years his appearance inadvertently created or reflected another stereotype of scientist in the process the researcher with unruly white hair religious views although he was raised jewish he was not a believer in the religious aspect of judaism though he |
still considered himself a jew he simply admired the beauty of nature and the universe from a letter written in english dated march two four one nine five four einstein wrote it was of course a lie what you read about my religious convictions a lie which is being systematically repeated i do not believe in a personal god and i have never denied this but have expressed it clearly if something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it he also said in an essay reprinted in living philosophies vol one three one nine three one a knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity in this sense and this sense alone i am a deeply religious man the following is a response made to rabbi herbert goldstein o |
f the international synagogue in new york which read i believe in spinoza s god who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists not in a god who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings after being pressed on his religious views by martin buber einstein exclaimed what we physicists strive for is just to draw his lines after him he also quoted once when i read the bhagavad gita i ask myself how god created the universe everything else seems superfluous summarizing his religious beliefs he once said my religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind einstein was an honorary associate of the rationalist press association beginning in one nine three four and was an admirer of ethical culture political views einstein and solomon mikhoels the chairman of the soviet jewish anti fascist committee in one nine four three einstein considered himself a pacifist and huma |
nitarian and in later years a committed democratic socialist he once said i believe gandhi s views were the most enlightened of all the political men of our time we should strive to do things in his spirit not to use violence for fighting for our cause but by non participation of anything you believe is evil einstein s views on other issues including socialism mccarthyism and racism were controversial in a one nine four nine article entitled why socialism albert einstein described the predatory phase of human development exemplified by a chaotic capitalist society as a source of evil to be overcome he disapproved of the totalitarian regimes in the soviet union and elsewhere and argued in favor of a democratic socialist system which would combine a planned economy with a deep respect for human rights einstein was a co founder of the liberal german democratic party and a member of the afl cio affiliated union the american federation of teachers einstein was very much involved in the civil rights movement he was |
a close friend of paul robeson for over two zero years einstein was a member of several civil rights groups including the princeton chapter of the naacp many of which were headed by paul robeson he served as co chair with paul robeson of the american crusade to end lynching when w e b dubois was frivolously charged with being a communist spy during the mccarthy era while he was in his eight zero s einstein volunteered as a character witness in the case the case was dismissed shortly after it was announced that he was to appear in that capacity einstein was quoted as saying that racism is america s greatest disease the u s fbi kept a one four two seven page file on his activities and recommended that he be barred from immigrating to the united states under the alien exclusion act alleging that einstein believes in advises advocates or teaches a doctrine which in a legal sense as held by the courts in other cases would allow anarchy to stalk in unmolested and result in government in name only among other charg |
es they also alleged that einstein was a member sponsor or affiliated with thirty four communist fronts between one nine three seven one nine five four and also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations it should be noted that many of the documents in the file were submitted to the fbi mainly by civilian political groups and not actually written by fbi officials in one nine three nine einstein signed a letter written by le szil rd to president roosevelt arguing that the united states should start funding research into the development of nuclear weapons einstein opposed tyrannical forms of government and for this reason and his jewish background opposed the nazi regime and fled germany shortly after it came to power at the same time einstein s anarchist nephew carl einstein who shared many of his views was fighting the fascists in the spanish civil war einstein initially favored construction of the atomic bomb in order to ensure that hitler did not do so first and even sent a letter to pres |
ident roosevelt dated august two one nine three nine before world war ii broke out and probably written by le szil rd encouraging him to initiate a program to create a nuclear weapon roosevelt responded to this by setting up a committee for the investigation of using uranium as a weapon which in a few years was superseded by the manhattan project after the war though einstein lobbied for nuclear disarmament and a world government i do not know how the third world war will be fought but i can tell you what they will use in the fourth rocks einstein was a supporter of zionism he supported jewish settlement of the ancient seat of judaism and was active in the establishment of the hebrew university in jerusalem which published one nine three zero a volume titled about zionism speeches and lectures by professor albert einstein and to which einstein bequeathed his papers however he opposed nationalism and expressed skepticism about whether a jewish nation state was the best solution he may have imagined jews and ar |
abs living peacefully in the same land in later life in one nine five two he was offered the post of second president of the newly created state of israel but declined the offer claiming that he lacked the necessary people skills einstein was disturbed by the violence taking place in the palestine after the second world war and expressed that he was disappointed with the jewish ultra nationalist organization irgun and stern gang nonetheless einstein remained deeply committed to the welfare of israel and the jewish people for the rest of his life einstein along with albert schweitzer and bertrand russell fought against nuclear tests and bombs as his last public act and just days before his death he signed the russell einstein manifesto which led to the pugwash conferences on science and world affairs his letter to russell read dear bertrand russell thank you for your letter of april five i am gladly willing to sign your excellent statement i also agree with your choice of the prospective signers with kind rega |
rds a einstein nationality german swiss or american einstein was born a german citizen at the age of seventeen on january two eight one eight nine six he was released from the german citizenship by his own request and with the approval of his father he remained stateless for five years on february two one one nine zero one he gained swiss citizenship which he never revoked einstein regained german citizenship in april one nine one four when he entered german civil service but due to the political situation and the persecution of jewish people in nazi germany he left civil service in march one nine three three and thus also lost the german citizenship on october one one nine four zero einstein became an american citizen he remained both an american and a swiss citizen until his death on april one eight one nine five five popularity and cultural impact einstein s popularity has led to widespread use of einstein in advertising and merchandising including the registration of albert einstein as a trademark the pho |
to detail from the original of this humorous expression was taken during einstein s birthday on march one four one nine five one upi entertainment albert einstein has become the subject of a number of novels films and plays including jean claude carrier s two zero zero five french novel einstein s il vous plait please mr einstein nicolas roeg s film insignificance fred schepisi s film i q alan lightman s novel einstein s dreams and steve martin s comedic play picasso at the lapin agile he was the subject of philip glass s groundbreaking one nine seven six opera einstein on the beach his humorous side is also the subject of ed metzger s one man play albert einstein the practical bohemian he is often used as a model for depictions of eccentric scientists in works of fiction his own character and distinctive hairstyle suggest eccentricity or even lunacy and are widely copied or exaggerated time magazine writer frederic golden referred to einstein as a cartoonist s dream come true on einstein s seven two nd birth |
day in one nine five one the upi photographer arthur sasse was trying to coax him into smiling for the camera having done this for the photographer many times that day einstein stuck out his tongue instead the image has become an icon in pop culture for its contrast of the genius scientist displaying a moment of levity yahoo serious an australian film maker used the photo as an inspiration for the intentionally anachronistic movie young einstein licensing einstein bequeathed his estate as well as the use of his image see personality rights to the hebrew university of jerusalem einstein actively supported the university during his life and this support continues with the royalties received from licensing activities the roger richman agency licences the commercial use of the name albert einstein and associated imagery and likenesses of einstein as agent for the hebrew university of jerusalem as head licensee the agency can control commercial usage of einstein s name which does not comply with certain standards |
e g when einstein s name is used as a trademark the symbol must be used as of may two zero zero five the roger richman agency was acquired by corbis honors einstein on the cover of time as person of the century einstein has received a number of posthumous honors for example in one nine nine two he was ranked one zero on michael h hart s list of the most influential figures in history in one nine nine nine he was named person of the century by time magazine also in one nine nine nine gallup recorded him as the fourth most admired person of the two zero th century the year two zero zero five was designated as the world year of physics by unesco for its coinciding with the centennial of the annus mirabilis papers celebrated at the einstein symposium among einstein s many namesakes are a unit used in photochemistry the einstein the chemical element nine nine einsteinium the asteroid two zero zero one einstein the albert einstein peace prize the albert einstein college of medicine of yeshiva university was named a |
fter einstein upon his death in one nine five five the albert einstein medical center in philadelphia pa see also special relativity general relativity history of special relativity history of general relativity henri poincar david hilbert priority disputes about einstein and the relativity theories works by albert einstein clay portrait of einstein by the sculptor moshe ziffer the investigation of the state of aether in magnetic fields pdf ideas mein weltbild isbn zero five one seven eight eight four four one zero project gutenberg e text on the electrodynamics of moving bodies annalen der physik june three zero one nine zero five does the inertia of a body depend upon its energy content annalen der physik september two seven one nine zero five inaugural lecture to the prussian academy of sciences one nine one four pdf the foundation of the general theory of relativity annalen der physik four nine one nine one six one nine two one nobel lecture in physics nordic assembly of naturalists at gothenburg one one |
july one nine two three einstein a lorenz h a weyl h and minkowski h the principle of relativity trans w perrett and g b jeffery new york dover publications one nine two three why socialism monthly review may one nine four nine original manuscript on the generalized theory of gravitation april one nine five zero references the albert einstein memorial washington dc at the national academy of sciences in washington dc abstract and link to full text this is the definitive scientific biography this book discusses non science aspects of einstein marriages affairs illegitimate daughter public image discusses the final disposition of einstein s brain hair and eyes as well as the importance of einstein and his work in the shaping of science and culture notes the exceptional brain of albert einstein see also people speculated to have been autistic highfield ibid galison p three six eight galison p three seven zero david hilbert actually published the field equation in an article dated five days before einstein s lect |
ure but according to thorne pp one one seven one one eight hilbert had discovered the correct derivation after mulling over things he had learned on a recent visit by einstein to gottingen however thorne goes on to say quite naturally and in accord with hilbert s view of things the resulting law of warpage was quickly given the name the einstein field equation rather than being named after hilbert hilbert had carried out the last few mathematical steps to its discovery independently and almost simultaneously with einstein but einstein was responsible for essentially everything that preceded those steps the recognition that tidal gravity must be the same thing as a warpage of spacetime the vision that the law of warpage must obey the reativity principle and the first nine zero percent of that law the einstein field equation in fact without einstein the general relativistic laws of gravity might not have been discovered until several decades later see priority disputes about einstein and the relativity theories |
for more details ibid calaprice p one seven three external links nobel prize in physics the nobel prize in physics one nine two one albert einstein annalen der physik works by einstein digitalized at the university of applied sciences in jena fachhochschule jena s morgan friedman albert einstein online comprehensive listing of online resources about einstein time magazine one zero zero albert einstein albert einstein quotes hundreds of famous albert einstein quotes audio excerpts of famous speeches e mc and relativity impossibility of atomic energy arms race from time magazine archives leiden university einstein archive pbs einstein s letter to roosevelt pbs nova einstein pbs einstein s wife mileva maric fbi fbi files investigation regarding affiliation with the communist party university of frankfurt einstein family pictures salon com did einstein cheat albert einstein biography from german american corner history and heritage official einstein archives online einstein s manuscripts albert einstein archive |
einstein papers project max planck institute living einstein american institute of physics albert einstein includes his life and work audio files and full site available as a downloadable pdf for classroom use american museum of natural history albert einstein the albert einstein institution the economist one zero zero years of einstein einstein home distributed computing project searching for gravitational waves predicted by einstein s theories world year of physics two zero zero five a celebration of einstein s miracle year einstein year two zero zero five the guardian einstein s pacifist dilemma revealed einstein s theory of relativity in words of four letters or fewer rabindranath tagore s conversation with einstein protest against the suppression of hebrew in the soviet union one nine three zero one nine three one einstein on race einstein brochure pdf one zero zero years special theory of relativity two zero zero five albert einstein profile at supernatural minds everyone loves einstein the oxonian revi |
ew of books one eight seven nine births one nine five five deaths natives of baden w rttemberg albert einstein physicists autodidacts contributors to general relativity cosmologists formerly stateless people german physicists german americans humanists humanitarians jewish american scientists jewish scientists manhattan project naturalized citizens of the united states nobel prize in physics winners patent clerks refugees social justice socialists vegetarians world federalists agnostics afghanistan pashto dari persian af nist n is a landlocked country at the crossroads of asia generally considered a part of central asia it is sometimes ascribed to a regional bloc in either south asia or the middle east as it has cultural ethno linguistic and geographic links with most of its neighbors it is bordered by iran in the west pakistan in the south and east turkmenistan uzbekistan and tajikistan in the north and china to the east it has a population of three zero million people although this remains an estimate as no |
official census has been taken for decades afghanistan literally translates to land of the afghans but a plethora of other names have been applied to its general location in the past between the fall of the taliban after the u s invasion of afghanistan and the two zero zero three loya jirga afghanistan was referred to by the government of the united states as the transitional islamic state of afghanistan under its new constitution the country is now officially named the islamic republic of afghanistan origin and history of the name the name of afghanistan derives from word afghan the pushtuns appear to have begun using the term afghan as a name for themselves from the islamic period onwards according to w k frazier tyler m c gillet and several other scholars the word afghan first appears in history in the hudud al alam in nine eight two ad there are numerous views regarding the origin of name afghan most of them being purely speculative as can be seen below makhzan i afghni by nematullah written in one six o |
ne two ce traces the afghan or pakhtun origin from the super patriarch abraham down to one named king talut or saul it states that saul had a son irmia jeremia who had a son called afghana upon the death of king saul afghana was raised by david and was later promoted to the chief command of the army during the reign of king solomon the progeny of this afghana multiplied numerously and came to be called bani israel in the sixth century bce bakhtunnasar or nebuchadnezzar king of babul attacked judah and exiled the progeny of afghana to ghor located in the center of what is now afghanistan in course of time the exiled community came to be addressed as afghan after the name of their ancestor and the country got its name as afghanistan this traditional view has many historical discrepancies and is therefore not accepted by modern scholarship the last pleader for the bani israel hypothesis being mayor raverty the pathans one nine five eight olaf caroe another version of pushtun legend places afghana the professed e |
ponymous ancestor of the afghans or pushtuns as a contemporary of muslim prophet mohammad on hearing about the new faith of islam qais from aryana travelled to medina to see the muslim prophet muhammad and returned to aryana as a muslim qais abdur rashid purportedly had many sons one of whom was afghana afghana in turn had four sons who set out to the east to establish their separate lineages the first son went to swat the second to lahore and india the third to multan and the last one to quetta this legend is one of many traditional tales amongst the pashtuns regarding their disparate origins again it was this legendary afghana who is stated to have given the pushtuns their current name it is notable that the afghan of this legend is separated from the afghana of solomon s times by at least one one centuries dr h w bellew in his book an enquiry into the ethnography of afghanistan believes that the name afghan derives from the latin term alban used by armenians as alvan or alwan which refers to mountaineers a |
nd in the case of transliterated armenian characters would be pronounced as aghvan or aghwan to the persians this would further be altered to aoghan avghan and afghan as a reference to the highlanders or mountaineers of the eastern iranian plateau some people hold that the name derives from abagan i e without god which term the persians are stated to have coined for the pushtuns to describe them as godless or non believers it is claimed that word abagan is antonym of the word bagan believer in god just as word apolitical is antonym of political in the english language there are also a few people who link afghan to an uzbek word avagan said to mean original still others believe that the name derives from sanskrit upa ganah said to mean allied tribes another etymological view is that the name afghan evidently derives from sanskrit ashvaka or ashvakan q v the assakenoi of arrian this view was propounded by j w mccrindle and is supported by numerous modern scholars including c lassen s martin bishop crooks w croo |
ke j c vidyalnar m r singh p smith n l dey dr j l kamboj s kirpal singh and several others in sanskrit word ashva iranian aspa prakrit assa means horse and ashvaka prakrit assaka means horseman pre christian times knew the people of eastern afghanistan as ashvakas horsemen since they raised a fine breed of horses and had a reputation for providing expert cavalrymen the fifth century bce indian grammarian panini calls them ashvayana and ashvakayana classical writers use the respective equivalents aspasios or aspasii hippasii and assakenois or assaceni assacani asscenus the aspasios assakenois ashvakas cavalrymen is stated to be another name for the kambojas because of their equestrian characteristics see list of country name etymologies the last part of the name afghanistan originates from the persian word st n country or land the english word afghanland that appeared in various treaties between qajar persia and the united kingdom dealing with the eastern lands of the persian kingdom modern afghanistan was ado |
pted by the afghans and became afghanistan before being called afghanistan the region had gone through several name changes in its long history of around five zero zero zero years one of the most ancient names according to historians and scholars was ariana the greek pronunciation of the ancient avestan aryanam vaeja or the sanskrit aryavarta land of the aryans today this old persian and avestan expression is preserved in the name iran and it is noted in the name of the afghan national airline ariana airlines the term ariana afghanistan is still popular amongst persian speakers in the country many centuries later afghanistan was part of greater khorasan and hence was recognized with the name khorasan along with regions centered around merv and neishabur which in pahlavi means the eastern land in persian dehkhoda p eight four five seven history afghanistan exists at a unique nexus point where numerous eurasian civilizations have interacted and often fought and was an important site of early historical activity |
through the ages the region today known as afghanistan has been invaded by a host of peoples including the aryans medes persians greeks mauryans kushans sassanians arabs turks british and soviets but rarely have these groups managed to exert complete control over the region on other occasions native afghan entities have invaded surrounding regions to form empires of their own buddhas of bamiyan dating back to one st century pre islamic afghanistan were the largest buddha statues in the world they were destroyed by the taliban in two zero zero one calling them us islamic photo by hadi zaheer between two zero zero zero and one two zero zero bce waves of indo european speaking aryans are thought to have flooded into modern day afghanistan setting up a nation that became known as ary n m x a ra or land of the aryans zoroastrianism is speculated to have possibly originated in afghanistan between one eight zero zero to eight zero zero bce ancient eastern iranian languages such as avestan may have been spoken in af |
ghanistan around a similar time line with the rise of zoroastrianism around one zero zero zero bce or earlier the indo aryan vedic civilization may have arisen near the vicinity of the kabul valley of eastern afghanistan but this remains speculative as more viable theories based upon archaeological finds tend to support the emergence of the vedic civilization east of the indus and or ganges in what is today pakistan and india by the middle of the six th century bce the persian empire supplanted the medes and incorporated aryana within its boundaries and by three three zero bce alexander the great had invaded the region following alexander s brief occupation the hellenic successor states of the seleucids and bactrians controlled the area while the mauryans from india annexed the southeast for a time and introduced buddhism to the region until the area returned to the bactrian rule during the one st century ce the kushans a tocharian people from central asia with indo european origins occupied the region therea |
fter aryana fell to a number of eurasian tribes including parthians scythians and huns as well as the sassanian persians and local rulers such as the hindu shahis in kabul until the seven th century ce when muslim arab armies invaded the region the arabs initially annexed parts of western afghanistan in six five two and then conquered most of the rest of afghanistan between seven zero six seven zero nine ce and administered the region as khorasan and over time much of the local population converted to islam but retained their iranian languages afghanistan became the center of various important empires including the ghaznavid empire nine six two one one five one founded by a local turkic ruler from ghazni named yamin ul dawlah mahmud that expanded its suzerainty over a vast area from kurdistan to northern india this empire was replaced by the ghorid empire one one five one one two one nine founded by another local ruler this time of tajik extraction muhammad ghori whose domains included huge parts of central a |
nd south asia and laid the foundations for the delhi sultanate in india in one two one nine the region was overrun by the mongols under genghis khan who devastated the land their rule continued with the ilkhanates and was extended further following the invasion of tamerlane timur leng a ruler from central asia by one four zero zero all of afghanistan came under his dominion and he also laid the foundation of another islamic empire in india the mughal empire the uzbek born babur a descendant of both tamerlane and genghis khan established an empire with its capital at kabul by one five zero four and then expanded into south asia in one five two five and established the mughal empire s rule throughout much of what is today pakistan and northern india by one five two seven as the empire shifted eastward the safavids of persia challenged mughal rule while the two superpower empires of the day battled over the fate of afghanistan for decades with the persians acquiring the area by the mid one seven th century local |
ghilzai pashtun tribesmen lead by khan nashir successfully overthrew safavid rule and under the hotaki dynasty briefly controlled all or parts of persia itself from one seven two two to one seven three six following a brief period under the rule one seven three six one seven four seven of the turko iranian conqueror nadir shah one of his high ranking military officers ahmad shah abdali himself a pashtun tribesman of the abdali clan called for a loya jirga following nadir shah s assassination for which many implicate abdali in one seven four seven the afghans pashtuns came together at kandahar in one seven four seven and chose ahmad shah who changed his last name to durrani meaning pearl of pearls in persian to be king the afghanistan nation state as it is known today came into existence in one seven four seven as the durrani empire and expanded outward from traditional pashtun territories to include all of what is today afghanistan a portion of mashad in iran and all of pakistan and kashmir as well the durra |
ni empire lasted for nearly a century until internecine conflict and wars with the persians and sikhs diminished their empire by the early one nine th century however the current borders of afghanistan would not be determined until the coming of the british during the one nine th century following the anglo afghan wars fought in one eight three nine one eight four two one eight seven eight one eight eight zero and lastly in one nine one nine afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the united kingdom the united kingdom exercised a great deal of influence and it was not until king amanullah acceded to the throne in one nine one nine see the great game that afghanistan regained complete independence during the period of british intervention in afghanistan ethnic pashtun territories were divided by the durand line and this would lead to strained relations between afghanistan and british india and later the new state of pakistan over what came to be known as the pashtunistan debate the historic |
al rulers of afghanistan were part of the abdali tribe of the ethnic afghans whose name was changed to durrani upon the accession of ahmad shah they belonged to the saddozay segment of the popalzay clan or to the mohammadzay segment of the barakzay clan of the ethnic afghans the mohammadzay frequently furnished the sadozay kings with top counselors who served occasionally as regents and identified with the name mohammadzay since one nine zero zero eleven monarchs and rulers have been unseated through undemocratic means in one nine one nine assassination one nine two nine abdication one nine two nine execution one nine three three assassination one nine seven three deposition one nine seven eight execution one nine seven nine execution one nine seven nine execution one nine eight seven removal one nine nine two overthrow one nine nine six overthrow and two zero zero one overthrow the longest period of stability in afghanistan was between one nine three three and one nine seven three when the country was under |
the rule of king zahir shah however in one nine seven three zahir s brother in law sardar mohammed daoud launched a bloodless coup daoud and his entire family were murdered in one nine seven eight when the communist people s democratic party of afghanistan launched a coup known as the great saur revolution and took over the government opposition against and conflict within the series of communist governments that followed was considerable as part of a cold war strategy the us government began to covertly fund and train anti government mujahideen forces through the pakistani secret service agency known as inter services intelligence or isi which were derived from discontented muslims in the country who opposed the official atheism of the marxist regime in one nine seven eight in order to bolster the local communist forces the soviet union citing the one nine seven eight treaty of friendship cooperation and good neighborliness that had been signed between the two countries in one nine seven eight intervened on |
december two four one nine seven nine the soviet occupation resulted in a mass exodus of over five million afghans who moved into refugee camps in neighboring pakistan and iran more than three million alone settled in pakistan faced with mounting international pressure and the loss of approximately one five zero zero zero soviet soldiers as a result of mujahideen opposition forces trained by the united states pakistan and other foreign governments the soviets withdrew ten years later in one nine eight nine for more details see soviet war in afghanistan the soviet withdrawal was seen as an ideological victory in the us which ostensibly had backed the mujahideen in order to counter soviet influence in the vicinity of the oil rich persian gulf following the removal of the soviet forces in one nine eight nine the us and its allies lost interest in afghanistan and did little to help rebuild the war ravaged country the ussr continued to support the regime of dr najubullah formerly the head of the secret service kha |
d until its downfall in one nine nine two however the absence of the soviet forces resulted in the downfall of the government as it steadily lost ground to the guerrilla forces as the vast majority of the elites and intellectuals had either been systematically eliminated by the communists or escaped to take refuge abroad a dangerous leadership vacuum came into existence fighting continued among the various mujahidin factions eventually giving rise to a state of warlordism the chaos and corruption that dominated post soviet afghanistan in turn spawned the rise of the taliban in response to the growing chaos the most serious fighting during this growing civil conflict occurred in one nine nine four when one zero zero zero zero people were killed during factional fighting in kabul exploiting the chaotic situation in afghanistan a few regional bedfellows including fundamentalist afghans trained in refugee camps in western pakistan the pakistani secret intelligence service isi the regional mafia well established n |
etwork that smuggled mainly japanese electronics and tyres before the russian invasion now involved in drug smuggling and arab extremist groups that were looking for a safe operational hub joined forces and helped to create the taliban movement rashid two zero zero zero backed by pakistan saudi arabia and other strategic allies the taliban developed as a politico religious force and eventually seized power in one nine nine six the taliban were able to capture nine zero of the country aside from the afghan northern alliance strongholds primarily found in the northeast in the panjshir valley the taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of islamic sharia law and gave safe haven and assistance to individuals and organizations that were implicated as terrorists most notably osama bin laden s al qaeda network the united states and allied military action in support of the opposition following the september one one two zero zero one terrorist attacks forced the taliban s downfall in late two zero zero one maj |
or leaders from the afghan opposition groups and diaspora met in bonn and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new government structure that resulted in the inauguration of hamid karzai as chairman of the afghan interim authority aia on december two zero zero one after a nationwide loya jirga in two zero zero two karzai was elected president on march three and march two five two zero zero two a series of earthquakes struck afghanistan with a loss of thousands of homes and over one eight zero zero lives over four zero zero zero more people were injured the earthquakes occurred at samangan province march three and baghlan province march two five the latter was the worse of the two and caused most of the casualties international authorities assisted the afghan government in dealing with the situation as the country continues to rebuild and recover as of late two zero zero five it was still struggling against widespread poverty continued warlordism a virtually non existent infrastructure possibly the largest |
concentration of land mines on earth and other unexploded ordinance as well as a sizable illegal poppy and heroin trade afghanistan also remains subject to occasionally violent political jockeying and the nation s first elections were successfully held in two zero zero four as women parliamentarians were selected in record numbers parliamentary elections in two zero zero five helped to further stabilize the country politically in spite of the numerous problems it faced including inadequate international assistance the country continues to grapple with occasional acts of violence from a few remaining al qaeda and taliban and the instability caused by warlords see also afghanistan timeline invasions of afghanistan politics main article politics of afghanistan afghanistan is currently led by president hamid karzai who was elected in october of two zero zero four before the election karzai led the country after having been hand picked by the administration of united states president bush to head an interim gover |
nment after the fall of the taliban his current cabinet includes members of the afghan northern alliance and a mix from other regional and ethnic groups formed from the transitional government by the loya jirga grand council former monarch mohammed zahir shah returned to the country but was not reinstated as king and only exercises limited ceremonial powers under the bonn agreement the afghan constitution commission was established to consult with the public and formulate a draft constitution the meeting of a constitutional loya jirga was held in december two zero zero three when a new constitution was adopted creating a presidential form of government with a bicameral legislature troops and intelligence agencies from the united states and a number of other countries are present some to keep the peace others assigned to hunt for remnants of the taliban and al qaeda a united nations peacekeeping force called the international security assistance force has been operating in kabul since december two zero zero on |
e nato took control of this force on august one one two zero zero three some of the country remains under the control of warlords on march two seven two zero zero three afghan deputy defense minister and powerful warlord general abdul rashid dostum created an office for the north zone of afghanistan and appointed officials to it defying then interim president hamid karzai s orders that there be no zones in afghanistan eurocorps took over the responsibility for the nato led isaf in kabul august nine two zero zero four national elections were held on october nine two zero zero four over one zero million afghans were registered to vote most of the one seven candidates opposing karzai boycotted the election charging fraud an independent commission found evidence of fraud but ruled that it did not affect the outcome of the poll karzai won five five four of the vote he was inaugurated as president on december seven it was the country s first national election since one nine six nine when parliamentary elections wer |
e last held on september one eight two zero zero five parliamentary elections were held the parliament opened on the following december one nine on december two zero karzai s close ally and president of the first mujahideen government sibghatullah mojadeddi was picked to head the one zero two seat upper house on december two one yunus qanuni afghan opposition leader and karzai s main opponent was chosen to lead the two four nine seat lower house of parliament with one two two votes against one one seven for his closest challenger see also list of leaders of afghanistan list of afghanistan governors subdivisions afghanistan is divided into three four provinces velayat which are further divided into districts main article provinces of afghanistan main article districts of afghanistan the three four provinces are geography map of afghanistan main article geography of afghanistan afghanistan is a land locked mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest the highest point at seven four eight five m tw |
o four five five seven ft above sea level is nowshak large parts of the country are dry and fresh water supplies are limited afghanistan has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters the country is frequently subject to earthquakes the major cities of afghanistan are its capital kabul herat jalalabad mazar e sharif and kandahar see also list of cities in afghanistan places in afghanistan economy main article economy of afghanistan afghanistan is an extremely impoverished country being one of the world s poorest and least developed countries two thirds of the population lives on less than us two a day the economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest since the one nine seven nine eight zero soviet invasion and subsequent conflicts while severe drought added to the nation s difficulties in one nine nine eight two zero zero one about seven zero percent of the population is under three zero according to asian development bank the total fertility rate is six eight the hig |
hest in south asia with a regional average at three three but so are mortality rates infant mortality rate is one six six per one zero zero zero births the economically active population in two zero zero two was about one one million out of a total of an estimated two nine million while there are no official unemployment rate estimates available it is evident that it is high the number of non skilled young people is estimated at three million which is likely to increase by some three zero zero zero zero zero per annum fujimura two zero zero four a the country s natural resources include copper zinc and iron ore in central areas precious and semi precious stones such as lapis emerald and azure in the north east and east and unproved oil and gas reserves in the north however its significant mineral resources remain largely untapped because of the afghan war of the one nine eight zero s and subsequent fighting encyclopaedia britannica two zero zero five a good portion of afghanistan gdp comes from illicit drugs |
including opium its derivtives morphine and heroin and hashish afghanistan was once a world renowned producer of cotton here turkish president celal bayar and king zahir inspect the produce of khan nasher s spinzar cotton company in one nine six six on a positive note international efforts to rebuild afghanistan led to the formation of the afghan interim authority aia as a result of the december two zero zero one bonn agreement and later addressed at the tokyo donors conference for afghan reconstruction in january two zero zero two where four five billion was committed in a trust fund to be administered by the world bank group priority areas for reconstruction include the rebuilding of education system health and sanitation facilities enhancement of administrative capacity the development of the agricultural sector and the rebuilding of road energy and telecommunication links according to a two zero zero four report by the asian development bank the present reconstruction effort is two pronged first it focuse |
s on rebuilding critical physical infrastructure and second on building modern public sector institutions from the remnants of soviet style planning to ones that promote market led development fujimura two zero zero four b but macroeconomic planning and management at present is hampered by poor information weak service delivery systems and less than adequate law enforcement the country has been going through economic recovery since the taliban were overthrown in october two zero zero one however estimating afghanistan s economy is problematic as it is impossible to gather reliable statistics while it is going through a significant change period in all fronts with the added problem of less than ideal security situation the best estimate that can be relied upon is that of the central statistical office in two zero zero three from which the cia factbook seems to have drawn some data accordingly the country s estimated gross domestic product gdp was two one five billion in two zero zero three a two eight six grow |
th over two zero zero two cia factbook two zero zero three among the two three two listed countries in the cia factbook afghanistan ranks one zero eight th in terms of gdp which means per capita income of eight zero zero a brief comparison shows that afghanistan is the poorest country among its neighbors pakistan with a gdp of three four seven billion in two zero zero three had a per capita purchasing power of two two zero zero and iran with its five one seven billion had seven seven zero zero in the north turkmenistan had a gdp of two seven six billion and a per capita income of five seven zero zero uzbekistan with its four eight billion had one eight zero zero and tajikistan despite a low gdp of only eight billion had a per capita income of one one zero zero per head the world bank estimates that afghanistan will remain in need of external financial help before it can stand on its own feet economically ironically afghanistan s gdp ranks approximately at the same level as jordan two five five bn and qatar on |
e nine five bn however considering that those oil rich arab states have smaller populations jordan per capita income amounts to four five zero zero and qatar s to two three two zero zero one of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over two million refugees from neighbouring countries and the west who brought with them fresh energy entrepreneurship and wealth creating skills as well as much needed capital to start up small businesses what is also helping is the estimated two three billion in international assistance the partial recovery of the agricultural sector and the reestablishment of market institutions while the country s current account deficit is largely financed with the donor money only a small portion about one five is provided directly to the government budget the rest is provided to non budgetary expenditure and donor designated projects through the un system and ngos it needs to be mentioned that there are some as yet unconfirmed claims that most of this money is s |
pent on the expenses of the un and other non governmental organizations as well as being funneled into illegitimate activities the government had a central budget of only three five zero million in two zero zero three and an estimated five five zero million in two zero zero four the country s foreign exchange reserves totals about five zero zero million revenue is mostly generated through customs as income and corporate tax bases are negligible inflation had been a major problem until two zero zero two however the depreciation of the afghani in two zero zero two after the introduction of the new notes which replaced one zero zero zero old afghani by one new afghani coupled with the relative stability compared to previous periods has helped prices to stabilize and even decrease between december two zero zero two and february two zero zero three reflecting the turnaround appreciation of the new afghani currency since then the index has indicated stability with a moderate increase toward late two zero zero three |
fujimura two zero zero four c the afghan government and international donors seem to remain committed to improving access to basic necessities infrastructure development education housing and economic reform the central government is also focusing on improved revenue collection and public sector expenditure discipline the rebuilding of the financial sector seems to have been so far successful money can now be transferred in and out of the country via official banking channels and according to accepted international norms a new law on private investment provides three seven year tax holidays to eligible companies and a four year exemption from exports tariffs and duties while these improvements will help rebuild a strong basis for the nation in the future for now the majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food clothing housing medical care and other problems exacerbated by military operations and political uncertainties the government is not strong enough to collect customs duties fr |
om all the provinces due to the power of the warlords fraud is widespread and corruption is rife within all afghan government organs and central authority is barely felt in the lawless south and south west the economist two zero zero five expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade is another huge problem for the country the cia estimates that one third of the country s gdp comes from opium export although the asian development bank states a lower figure namely two five billion one two of the gdp at any rate this is not only one of kabul s most serious policy and law enforcement challenges but also one of the world s most serious problems the problem began with the soviet invasion in one nine seven nine eight zero as the government began to lose control of provinces warlordism flourished and with it opium production as regional commanders searched for ways to generate money to purchase weapons according to the un at this time the west was pursuing an arms length supporting strategy of the afghan fre |
edom fighters or mujahidin the main purpose being to cripple the ussr slowly into withdrawal rather than a quick and decisive overthrow when the west abandoned afghanistan after its perceived victory over the soviet union as the red army was forced to withdraw in one nine eight nine a power vacuum was created various mujahidin factions started fighting against each other for power with the discontinuation of western support they resorted ever more to poppy cultivation to finance their military existence the regional mafia who were looking for a safe operational hub joined forces with the more fanatic sections of the mujahidin supported by arab extremists like osama bin laden as well as the pakistani secret intelligence service isi to form the taliban movement towards the end of one nine nine four rashid two zero zero zero see also bbc report here the taliban having taken control of nine zero of the country actively encouraged poppy cultivation with this they not only fulfilled their promises and obligations t |
o their partners the regional mafia but also increased their own desperately needed income through taxes according to the above un source afghanistan saw a bumper opium crop of four six zero zero million tonnes in one nine nine nine which was the height of the taliban rule in afghanistan when they came under extreme international diplomatic pressure in two zero zero two they initiated a ban on poppy cultivation following the us led coalition war that led to the defeat of the taliban in november two zero zero one which essentially collapsed the economy the relatively few other sources of revenue forced many of the country s farmers to resort back to growing cash crops for export a notable example of such a crop is the opium poppy one three zero zero km in two zero zero four according to the united nations office on drugs and crime the cultivation of which has largely increased during the last decade afghanistan has become the first illicit opium producer in the world before burma myanmar part of the so called |
golden triangle the main obstacle to eradicating poppy cultivation in afghanistan is the us forces need for the warlords and their forces in hunting terrorists the warlords are the major culprits in poppy cultivation but are also highly useful to the us forces in scouting providing local intelligence keeping their own territories clean from al qaeda and taliban insurgents and even taking part in military operations all for money this also contributes to the lack of central government s real authority in provinces and discourages farmers from growing grain and fruit as they did for centuries previously in short the afghan economy is currently december two zero zero five going through a hefty change period on the one hand there are encouraging signs of positive development and increasing wealth creation and management but on the other hand the security situation the lingering war against terrorism and the opium problem have created tall barriers for afghanistan to rejoin the international community in prosperit |
y and economic development economy references fujimura manabu two zero zero four afghan economy after the election asian development bank institute cia factbook two zero zero three afghanistan section the economist magazine uk october two zero zero five un office for the coordination of human affairs website rashid ahmed two zero zero zero taliban militant islam oil and fundamentalism in central asia yale university press the bbc demographics main article demographics of afghanistan the population of afghanistan is divided into a wide variety of ethnic groups largely composed of iranian and turkic peoples because a systematic census has not been held in the country in decades exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are not available therefore most figures are approximations only according to the cia world factbook updated on one seven may two zero zero five an approximate ethnic group distribution is as follows pashtun three zero tajik two nine hazara two two uzbek one one ai |
mak five turkmen three baloch two other four including sikhs the cia factbook on languages in afghanistan refers to the official languages of afghanistan as being persian local name dari five zero and pashtu three five other languages include turkic languages primarily uzbek and turkmen one one three zero minor languages primarily balochi and pashai four bilingualism is common religiously afghans are overwhelmingly muslim approximately eight zero sunni and one nine shi a there are also small hindu and sikh minorities afghanistan was once home to a many centuries old jewish minority numbering approximately five zero zero zero in one nine four eight most jewish families fled the country after the one nine seven nine soviet invasion and only one individual remains today zablon simintov with the fall of the taliban a number of sikhs have returned to the ghazni nangarhar kandahar and kabul provinces of afghanistan constitution main article constitution of afghanistan according to the two zero zero four constitutio |
n afghanistan is run by a president who is elected by direct popular vote to a five year term the president may only serve two terms a candidate for president must be at least forty years of age a muslim and a citizen of afghanistan the country has two vice presidents the president serves as head of state and government and is commander in chief of the armed forces the president makes appointments for his cabinet as well as posts in the military police force and provincial governorships with the approval of parliament the legislative body of afghanistan is a parliament consisting of two houses the wolesi jirga house of the people and the meshrano jirga house of elders the wolesi jirga consists of up to two five zero members elected to five year terms through direct elections in proportion to the population of each province at least two women must be elected from each province in the meshrano jirga one third of the members are elected by provincial councils for four years one third are elected by district coun |
cils of each province for three years and one third are appointed by the president for five years of whom half must be women the judicial system of afghanistan consists of the stera mahkama supreme court appeals courts and lower district courts designated by law the stera mahkama is made up of nine judges appointed by the president with the approval of parliament to a ten year term judges must be at least forty years of age not belong to a political party and have a degree in law or islamic jurisprudence the stera mahkama can judge the constitutionality of all laws in the country culture main article culture of afghanistan afghans display pride in their country ancestry military prowess and above all their independence like other highlanders afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension for their high regard for personal honor for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes heathcote two zero zero three as clan warfare internecine feuding has been one |
of their chief occupations since time immemorial this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments however many of the country s historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars the two famous statues of buddha in the bamiyan province were destroyed by the taliban who regarded them as idolatrous other famous sites include the very cities of herat ghazni and balkh the minaret of jam in the hari rud valley is a unesco world heritage site the people of afghanistan are prominent horsemen as the national sport is buzkashi afghan hounds a type of running dogs also originated in afghanistan although literacy levels are very low classic persian poetry plays a very important role in afghan culture poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in both iran and afghanistan to the level that it has integrated itself into culture priva |
te poetry competition events known as musha era are quite common even among ordinary people almost every home owns one or more poetry collection of some sort even if it is not read often the afghan dialect of the persian language dari derives from farsi e darbari meaning persian of the royal courts it is regarded by some scholars as the more original version of the language iran having a larger population a stronger economy and closer ties to the rest of the world has developed its language further in the course of history afghanistan took a more conservative approach mainly due to lack of resources as a result dari has not changed much over the last few centuries many of the famous persian language poets of one zero th to one five th centuries stem from what is now known as afghanistan they were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages natural sciences medicine religion and astronomy examples are mawlvi balkhi rumi born and educated in the balkh province in the one three th century and moved t |
o today s istanbul sanaayi ghaznavi one two th century native of ghazni provice jami heravi one five th century native of jam e herat in western afghanistan nizam ud din ali sher heravi nava i one five th century heart province also some of the contemporary persian language poets and writers who are relatively well know in both iran and afghanistan includes ustad behtab khalilullah khalili sufi ghulam nabi ashqari parwin pazwak and others in addition to poets the region of afghanistan produced numerous scientists as well including avicenna ibn sina balkhi who hailed from balkh avicenna who travelled to isfahan later in life to establish a medical school there is known by some scholars as the father of modern medicine george sarton called ibn sina the most famous scientist of islam and one of the most famous of all races places and times his most famous works are the book of healing and the canon of medicine also known as the qanun avicenna s story even found way to the contemporary english literature through |
noah gordon s the physician now published in many languages before the taliban gained power the city of kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern afghan music especially during the nauroz celebration kabul in the middle part of the two zero th century has been likened to vienna during the one eight th and one nine th centuries the tribal system which orders the life of most people outside metropolitan areas is certainly as potent in political terms as the national state system of europe one nine one four men feel a fierce loyalty to their own tribe such that if called upon assemble in arms under the tribal chiefs and local clan leaders khans in the same way that men throughout europe flocked to the colours in one nine one four forming up in regional divisions and battalions under the command of the local nobility and gentry in theory under islamic law every believer has an obligation to bear arms at the ruler s call ulul amr but this was no more needed than was enforced |
conscription to fill the ranks of the british army in one nine one four the afghan shepherd or peasant went to war for much the same mixture of reasons as the more civilised european clerk or factory worker a desire for adventure a desire not to be left out or lose esteem in the eyes of his fellows a contempt for invading foreigners revenge against those that ruined his family life or threatened his faith perhaps even the chance of extra cash or enhanced personal prospects the tribal system is not something particularly backward or warlike it is simply the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult and in a society that has an uncomplicated lifestyle from a materialistic point of view heathcote two zero zero three reference heathcote tony one nine eight zero two zero zero three the afghan wars one eight three nine one nine one nine sellmount staplehurst see also radio kabul music of afghanistan islam in afghanistan education main article education in afghanista |
n in the spring of two zero zero three it was estimated that three zero of afghanistan s seven zero zero zero schools had been seriously damaged during more than two decades of soviet occupation and civil war only half of the schools were reported to have clean water while fewer than an estimated four zero had adequate sanitation education for boys was not a priority during the taliban regime and girls were banished from schools outright in regards to the poverty and violence of their surroundings a study in two zero zero two by the save the children aid group said afghan children were resilient and courageous the study credited the strong institutions of family and community up to four million afghan children possibly the largest number ever are believed to have enrolled for class for the school year beginning in march of two zero zero three education is available for both girls and boys literacy of the entire population is estimated at three six male literacy rate is five one and female literacy is two one |
the male literacy rate is higher because previous taliban laws prohibited the education of women higher education the american university of afghanistan another aspect of education that is rapidly changing in afghanistan is the face of higher education in two zero zero six the american university of afghanistan opens it s doors with support from usaid and other donors with the aim of providing a world class english language co educational learning environment in afghanistan the university will take students from afghanistan and the region see also afghan scout association communications in afghanistan foreign relations of afghanistan list of sovereign states military of afghanistan transportation in afghanistan stamps and postal history of afghanistan list of birds on stamps of afghanistan list of fish on stamps of afghanistan golden needle sewing school taliban treatment of women taliban list of leaders of afghanistan additional references ghobar mit gholam mohammad afghanistan in the cource of history one n |
ine nine nine all prints inc griffiths john c one nine eight one afghanistan a history of conflict andr deutsch london updated edition two zero zero one andre deutsch ltd two zero zero two isbn zero two three three zero five zero five three one levi peter one nine seven two the light garden of the angel king journeys in afghanistan collins one nine seven two isbn zero zero zero two one one zero four two three bobbs merrill company one nine seven three indianapolis new york isbn zero six seven two five one two five two one moorcroft william and trebeck george one eight four one travels in the himalayan provinces of hindustan and the panjab in ladakh and kashmir in peshawar kabul kunduz and bokhara from one eight one nine to one eight two five vol ii reprint new delhi sagar publications one nine seven one oxford university press one nine seven nine isbn zero one nine five seven seven one nine nine zero rashid ahmed two zero zero zero taliban militant islam oil and fundamentalism in central asia yale university |
press toynbee arnold j one nine six one between oxus and jumna oxford university press london isbn b zero zero zero six dbr four four wood john one eight seven two a journey to the source of the river oxus new edition edited by his son with an essay on the geography of the valley of the oxus by henry yule john murray london gregg division mcgraw hill one nine seven one isbn zero five seven six zero three three two two seven heathcote t a the afghan wars one eight three nine one nine nine nine one nine eight zero two zero zero three spellmount staplehurst external links afghanistan directory large website on afghanistan culture news online dating service for afghans afganistan online news source afghanistan entertainment center afgha com news discussions and more about afghanistan daily reports from kabul in farsi afghan lord afghanistan service center with daily news afghanistan information management service provided by joint un projects bbc news country profile afghanistan cia world factbook afghanistan us |
state department afghanistan includes background notes country study one nine nine seven rebuilding usaid and nato open directory project afghanistan directory category yahoo afghanistan directory category two zero zero two un map of afghanistan pdf news service latest news about afghanistan discussion board return to afghanistan a series of short films by the washington post on the new afghanistan british royal college for defense studies analyses and proposes a war in august two zero zero one geopium geopolitics of illicit drugs in asia afghanistan and burma development gateway s afghanistan reconstruction portal afghanan dot net afghanistan portal sabawoon online afghanistan online informative links and glossary about afghanistan afghanistan portal on the indian analyst index of news analysis and opinion from many sources the jews of afghanistan akdn islam way online your religion and spirituality portal books written by the celebrated afghan scholar mawlana faizani american university of afghanistan afgha |
nistan paper money afghanistan central asian countries landlocked countries middle eastern countries near eastern countries saarc members this article is about albania the country on the adriatic coast of the balkans for other historic uses see albania disambiguation albania albanian republika e shqip ris ipa is a mediterranean country in southeastern europe it is bordered by serbia and montenegro in the north the republic of macedonia in the east and greece in the south it has a coast on the adriatic sea in the west and a coast on the ionian sea in the southwest the country is an emerging democracy and is formally named the republic of albania history main articles illyria illyricum dalmatia history of albania the earlier inhabitants were probably part of the pre indo european populace that occupied the coastline of most parts of the mediterranean their physical remains are scarce though and concentrated on the coastal region soon these first inhabitants were overrun by the proto hellenic tribes that gradual |
ly occupied modern day greece southern parts of what is now the former yugoslav republic of macedonia and the south of present day albania this process was completed over the second millennium bc and did not really affect northern or central albania an area that at the time presented the image of a political vacuum in essence a historical paradox historians do not agree over the origin of the illyrians some of them maintain that the illyrians descended from the pre indo european pelasgians while most scholars place them in the later wave of indo european invasions their presence can be traced back to nine zero zero bc when their political structure was formulated in the seven th and six th centuries bc excellent metal craftsmen and fierce warriors the illyrians formed warlord based kingdoms that fought amongst themselves for most of their history only during the six th century did the illyrians venture significant raids against their immediate neighbours the kingdom of the molossians in southern albania the k |
ingdom of macedon and the kingdom of paionia besides warfare the illyrians were also peaceful traders of agricultural products and metal works the illyrian culture was heavily influenced by the greek culture mainly the south illyrian tribes albania is also the site of several ancient greek colonies macedonian rule probably their most important success was the slaughter of perdiccas iii king of macedon unfortunately for the illyrians perdiccas was succeeded by philip ii father of alexander the great who effectively terminated the illyrian aggression effectively ending any dominant control by the illyrians in the region roman and byzantine rule after being conquered by the roman empire illyria was reorganized as a roman province illyricum later divided into the provinces of dalmatia and pannonia the lands comprising albania mostly being included in dalmatia later the byzantine empire governed the region it was also ruled by the bulgarian and serbian empire after centuries use of the name illyria to denote the r |
egion fell out of fashion ottoman rule in the middle ages the name albania see origin and history of the name albania began to be increasingly applied to the region now comprising the nation of albania from one four four three to one four six eight gjergj kastrioti skenderbeu led a successful resistance against the invading ottomans after the death of skenderbeg resistance continued until one four seven eight although with only moderate success the loyalties and alliances created and nurtured by skenderbeg faltered and fell apart and the ottomans conquered the territory of albania shortly after the fall of the castle kruje albania then became part of the ottoman empire following this many albanians fled to neighboring italy and the majority of the albanian population that remained converted to islam they would remain a part of the ottoman empire until one nine one two effects of the balkan wars after the second balkan war the ottomans were removed from albania and there was a possibility of the lands being ab |
sorbed by serbia and the southern tip by greece this decision angered the italians who did not want serbia to have an extended coastline and it angered the germans who could build a railway to reach the orient berlin then held discussions with russia the superpower in charge of serbia and with greece eventually it was decided that the country should not be divided but instead consolidated into the principality of albania under a german prince william of wied when the german prince was expelled by the albanian people after six months as the self named king of albania great britain france and italy as members the league of nations wanted to divide the territory once and for all intervention by united states of america president woodrow wilson vetoed the vote and allowed albania to retain its status from one nine two eight the country was ruled by king zog i until one nine three eight when it became a puppet of italy world war ii and enver hoxha rule albanian communists and nationalists actively fought a partisa |
n war against the italian and german invasions in ww ii certain smaller organizations helped the foreign invaders but it was the communists who took over after world war ii in november one nine four four the communists gained control of the government under the leader of the resistance enver hoxha from one nine four five until one nine nine zero albania had one of the most repressive governments in europe the communist party was created in one nine four one with the help of bolshevik communist parties all those who opposed it were eliminated for the many decades under his domination hoxha created and destroyed relationships with belgrade moscow and china always in his personal interests the country was isolated first from the west western europe north america and australasia and later even from the communist east the fall of communism and democratic albania in one nine eight five enver hoxha died and ramiz alia took his place initially alia tried to follow in hoxha s footsteps but in eastern europe changes ha |
d already started mikhail gorbachev had appeared in the soviet union with new policies glasnost and perestroika the albanian totalitarian regime was under pressure from the us europe and the anger and despair of its own people after nicolae ceau escu the communist leader of romania was executed in a revolution alia knew he would be next if changes were not made he signed the helsinki agreement which was signed by other countries in one nine seven five that respected some human rights he also allowed pluralism and even though his party won the election of one nine nine one it was clear that the change would not be stopped in one nine nine two the general elections were won by the democratic party with six two of the votes in the general elections of june one nine nine six the democratic party tried to win an absolute majority and manipulated the results in one nine nine seven an epidemic of pyramid schemes sent shockwaves through the entire country s economy and riots started police stations and military bases |
were looted of millions of weaponry kalashnikovs anarchy prevailed and many cities were controlled by militia and less organized armed citizens even us military advisors left the country for their own safety in response to the anarchy the socialist party won the early elections of one nine nine seven however stability was far from being restored in the years after the one nine nine seven riots the power feuds raging inside the socialist party led to a series of short lived socialist governments the country was flooded with refugees from neighboring kosovo in one nine nine eight and one nine nine nine in june two zero zero two a compromise candidate alfred moisiu a former general and defense minister was elected to succeed president meidani parliamentary elections in july two zero zero five brought back to power sali berisha leader of the democratic party mostly owing to socialist infighting and a series of corruption scandals plaguing the nano government since one nine nine zero albania has been diplomatical |
ly oriented towards the west it was accepted to the council of europe and has requested membership of nato the work force of albania has continued to emigrate to greece italy europe and north america corruption in the government is becoming more and more obvious any hope for a short and not too painful transition after communism has long since been dashed politics main article politics of albania the head of state is the president who is elected by the kuvendi or the assembly of the republic of albania every five years the main part of the assembly s one four zero members is elected every four years one zero zero of the parliament s members are chosen by the people with a direct vote while the other four zero members are chosen using a proportional system the head of government is the prime minister who is assisted by a council of ministers the council of ministers is selected by the prime minister a process called forming the government and then approved by a simple majority seven one votes in the assembly a |
dministrative divisions main articles districts of albania and counties of albania albania is divided into one two qark county or prefecture which are further divided into three six rrethe districts the capital city tiran has a special status the districts are see also list of cities in albania note some cities have the same name as the district they are in geography main article geography of albania map of albania albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain the highest mountain korab in the district of dibra reaching up to two seven five three metres nine zero three two ft the country mostly has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers besides capital city tirana with eight zero zero zero zero zero inhabitants the principal cities are durr s elbasan shkod r gjirokast r vlor and kor in albanian grammar a word can have indefinite and definite forms and this also applies to city names so both tiran and tirana shkod r and shkodra are used economy main article economy of albania in alb |
ania half of the economically active population still engaged in agriculture and a fifth works abroad the country has almost no exports and imports most if its goods from greece and italy money for imports comes from financial aid and from the money that immigrants working abroad mostly in neighbouring greece bring to albania this is a good status quo business for both greece and italy albania s coastline on the ionian sea near the greek tourist island of corfu is becoming increasingly popular with foreign visitors due to its relatively unspoilt nature and good beaches however the tourist industry is still in its infancy growth was strong two zero zero three zero five and inflation is not a problem gdp purchasing power parity one eight zero five billion note albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as five zero of official gdp two zero zero five est gdp official exchange rate eight seven four one billion two zero zero five est gdp real growth rate six two zero zero five est gdp composition by sec |
tor agriculture two three six industry two zero five services five five nine two zero zero five est exports seven zero eight million f o b two zero zero five est imports two four seven three billion f o b two zero zero five est aid per capita five two us external debt one four one billion two zero zero three est defence expenditure n a children in labour force one of children aged one zero one four work demographics main article demographics of albania most of the population is ethnically albanian nine five according to the cia world factbook feb two zero zero five there is a greek minority three of the population this however could significally vary according to other sources note in one nine eight nine other estimates of the greek population ranged from one official albanian statistics to one two from a greek organization many ethnic albanians also live in the bordering countries of serbia and montenegro around one eight five zero zero zero zero of that around one eight zero zero zero zero zero in serbia ar |
ound one seven zero zero zero zero zero in its province called kosovo officially kosovo and metohia only and around five zero zero zero zero in montenegro and the republic of macedonia around five zero zero zero zero zero although a lot of albanians believe that the number might be higher also a small number of ethnic albanians live in greece which are called am claims over am numbers have ranged from nine zero zero zero zero to over one one zero zero zero zero zero zero but are believed to be understated because athens has not considered the local albanians to be a separate ethnic group since one nine nine one large numbers of albanians have emigrated both legally and illegally to greece and italy the language is albanian although greek is also spoken by the greek minority in the southern regions of the country at the height of the ottoman occupation the majority of albanians were mostly muslim seven zero even though religion was prohibited during the communist era the albanian government proclaimed albania |
the only officially atheistic country in the world after the fall of the communist regime in one nine eight nine one nine nine zero religions were reinstated according to one nine three nine statistics the albanian orthodox two zero and roman catholic church one zero would be the other main religions in albania religious fanaticism has never been a serious problem with people from different religions living in peace and even getting married although this was not considered to be an optimal solution two zero of the total muslim population is bektashi people who follow a faith originating in the turkish migrations into turkey and came to albania through the ottoman janissaries it has outwardly shi ite islamic elements but is really a shamanic pantheistic faith culture main article culture of albania albanian literature cuisine of albania music of albania sport in albania radio televizioni shqiptar top channel tv miscellaneous topics list of albania related articles list of albanians islam in albania albanian my |
thology beslidhja skaut albania list of sovereign states communications in albania education in albania foreign relations of albania military of albania transportation in albania public holidays in albania list of albanian americans albanians in italy butrint national park the jewish community of albania albanian actors external links news and fun from albania albanian language list of abanian flags throughout history albania and the balkans discussion forum albanian etymological dictionary cia the world factbook albania cia s factbook on albania general information on albanians more links of the albanian government albania pictures an albanian news portal in albanian opic guide on albania travel guide to albania guide to gjirokaster map of albania www vl history albania official government websites albanian canadian league information service aclis albanian and english tanportal albanian social economic albanian albanian canadian league acl albanian and english department of information albanian and english |
the albanian parliament albanian english and french presidency of albania albanian and english albanian institute of statistics albanian and english albania for a king of anglo saxon england see aella of deira or aelle ii of northumbria or aelle of sussex men s names allah ed din and similar are misspellings for ala ud din and see here for other sorts of error the word is the arabic term for god in other languages it is often used to refer specifically to the islamic concept of god see usage below etymology usage although outside the arab world use of the word all h is most often associated with islam it is not exclusive to that faith arab christians and various arabic speaking jews including the teimanim several communities and some sephardim also use it to refer to the monotheist deity arabic translations of the bible also employ it as do roman catholics in malta who pronounce it as alla christians in indonesia who say allah bapa god the father and christians in the middle east who use the aramaic all ha al |
lah as a word many linguists believe that the term all h is derived from a contraction of the arabic words al the and il h deity masculine form al il h meaning the god in addition one of the main pagan goddesses of pre islamic arabia all t al il h at or the goddess is cited as being etymologically though not synchronically the feminine linguistic counterpart to the grammatically masculine all h if so the word all h is an abbreviated title meaning the deity rather than a name for this reason both muslim and non muslim scholars often translate all h directly into english as god this also explains why arabic speaking jews and christians freely refer to god as all h however some muslim scholars feel that all h should not be translated because they perceived the arabic word to express the uniqueness of all h more accurately than the word god which can take a plural gods whereas the word all h has no plural form this is a significant issue in translation of the qur an all h written in simple arabic calligraphy the |
word all h is always written without an alif to spell the vowel this is because the spelling was settled before arabic spelling started habitually using alif to spell however in vocalized spelling a diacritic alif is added on top of the shaddah to indicate pronunciation one exception is in the pre islamic zabad inscription where it is spelled unicode has glyph reserved for allah u fdf two which can be combined with an alif to yield the post consonantal form as opposed to the full spelling alif l m l m h which may be rendered slightly differently in particular featuring a diacritic alif on top of the shadda in this unicode imitates traditional arabic typesetting which also frequently featured special ll h types also in abjad numerals the name of allah numeric value is six six islamic use of all h from the point of view of traditional islamic theology all h is the most precious name of god because it is not a descriptive name like other ninety nine names of god but the name of god s own presence muslims believe |
that the name of allah had existed before the time of adam it is the same god worshipped by adam noah abraham moses jesus muhammad and other prophets of islam in islam there is only one god and muhammad is the last messenger the emphasis in islamic culture on reciting the qur an in arabic has resulted in all h often being used by muslims world wide as the word for god regardless of their native language out of one one four suras in the qur an one one three begin with the basmala bismi ll hi r rahm ni r rah m which means in the name of god the most kind the most merciful muslims when referring to the name often add the words subhanahu wa ta ala after it meaning glorified and exalted is he as a sign of reverence or azza wa jalla the entire religion of islam is based on the idea of getting closer to god although commonly referred to as a he god is considered genderless but there is no neuter gender to express this in the arabic language when greek or other polytheistic deities are discussed in arabic it is cust |
omary to use the expression il h a deity or lower case god sometimes the word ma b d literally meaning worshipped entity is used instead uses of all h in phrases there are many phrases that contain the word all h all hu akbar god is the greatest a uzu billahi minashaitanir rajim i seek refuge in allah from shaitan the damned bismi ll h in the name of god insh all h god willing also the origin of the common spanish interjection ojal which shares a similar meaning probably also the origin of the portuguese interjection oxal let s hope for it or let s hope that y all h oh god may be the origin of the spanish and portuguese exclamation ol m sh all h look at what god has willed subh n all h glory be to god al hamdu li ll h all praise be to god all hu a alam god knows best jazaka all hu khayran may god reward you for your deeds all h appears in a stylized form on the flag of iran in the phrase all hu akbar on the flag of iraq and as part of the shah dah on the flag of saudi arabia allah is not correctly used as a m |
an s name see arabic name mistakes made by europeans and other non arabs islamic concept of god the islamic concept of mankind s place in the universe hinges on the notion that all h or god is the only true reality there is nothing permanent other than him god is considered eternal and uncreated whereas everything else in the universe is created the qur an describes him in sura one one two say he is all h singular all h the absolute he begetteth not nor was begotten and to him have never been one equal see tawhid for more the qur an condemns and mocks the pre islamic arabs for attributing daughters to all h sura five three one nine muslims believe that all h or god is the only true god who deserves to be worshipped this belief must be accompanied by the acknowledgement that mohammad was a true prophet of god who was chosen to guide people to believing and worshipping god in the correct manner god is considered eternal and uncreated with no beginning whereas everything else in the universe is created with a be |
ginning the qur an mentions approximated in english sura one one two say he is all h without partner all h the absolute he begetteth not nor was begotten and to him have never been one equal see tawhid for more god is considered by muslims to be omnipotent omnipresent and omniscient in the qur an god is described as being fully aware of everything that happens in the universe and knows all things god also knows what is in people s hearts and minds at all times it is mentioned in the qur an approximately and he it is who takes your souls at night in sleep and he knows what you acquire in the day then he raises you up therein that an appointed term may be fulfilled then to him is your return then he will inform you of what you were doing sura six six zero placing god inside his creation or suggesting that nature or creation simultaneously co exist in god or vice versa as in other religious traditions completely compromises exclusive islamic monotheism attributing a partner spouse father son daughter mother or o |
ther relation s to allah literally or metaphorically partially or completely is considered unquestionably blasphemous by muslims therefore muslims consider it blasphemous to describe jesus or another man woman child etc as son of god whether literally or metaphorically similarly muslims do not believe that god resembles a man old or young woman half man half woman half man half animal bird elephant or other animal or other creation it is forbidden for muslims to view god anthropomorphically allah does not resemble any of his creations in any way whatsoever allah is not attributed with shape colour size position location direction and indeed all of these attributes are found in the creatures allah created further muslims do not believe that allah is located in a place whether on earth below the earth in the sky above the sky on a throne above the sky or all of these places at once or anywhere else or everywhere but rather god exists without a place given he created all places and locations and the perfectness |
of his existence is not compromised by his existence not being bound to a created by allah place or location god is attributed with complete perfection in his attributes and is free from any defects or any imperfections allah is attributed amongst other attributes with oneness without a partner in god s self or attributes non beginningness eternalness complete freedom from needing others i e each or any of his creations complete power to do all things will to do as he wills as and when god decides without any obstruction knowledge of all things simultaneously past present and future hearing of all sounds without needing any implement or organ to hear sight without needing eyes or any other organ or instrument nor light rays to illuminate an area or an object life unlike the human or other life which is created and limited but that which befits him with no beginning or end speech unlike the human created speech which is constituted of languages letters and sounds but rather an eternal speech which is not a cre |
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