In the entire military history, there are Five Regions where people barely submit to any foreign rule. Tactically and strategically, these regions are extremely difficult for any army to conquer, rule, and to subjugate its population. The people of those regions fiercely resisted any invader over the course of its history. These five areas are the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbijian, Georgia, and Ciscaucasia), Mien Bac (Northern Vietnam), Philippines, Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia), and Great Afghanistan.
Caucasus:
The Caucasian region is divided into two parts; North and South Caucasia (355,000 km2 land area). North Caucasia comprised of Russian lands and South Caucasia consists of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
The rigid mountainous regions of the Caucasus and its people gave a tough challenge to every great army from the time of Persian domination until the arrivals of Russians. Among the people of Caucasus; Chechens, Avars, and Georgians are the toughest ones; Chechens successfully defended themselves from the Arabs (during Khazar-Arab Wars), Mongol invasions, Persian invasion of Nader Shah and gave furious resistance to Russians, even won the First Chechen War (1994-1996) and then lose in the Second Chechan War (1999-2009) which resulted in the annexation of Chechnya by the Russians. Like Chechens, Avars also holds the martial-oriented status; they successfully fight against the Arab invasion along with Khazars during the 7th and 8th centuries, survive the Mongol's atrocities and remained relatively autonomous during the rule of Turkic-Mongol dynasty, Golden Horde. On the other hand, Georgians also bear the unique distinction for having remained autonomous despite several onslaughts by the Iranians (Medians) but their territory was completely absorbed by the Achaemenid Persians. They also retain their state of balance between the Roman-Iranian rivalry in which neither sides gain a permanent foothold in this area. Later, it fells to the Arab and Mongol invasions but they loosely controlled over Georgia. However, Georgians under King David IV the Builder, captured Tbilisi and ending the 400 years of Arab rule at the Battle of Didgori (1122 AD) and George V the Brilliant defeated and drove the Mongols out of the country from century-long Mongol rule. But invasions from Tartar warlord Tamerlane devastated the kingdom of Georgia thoroughly and made them a tributary state until his death. After that Georgia remained indepedent.
Mien Bac (Northern Vietnam):
The Vietnamese nation rose from the original homeland of North Vietnam (Nam Viet) to cover south Vietnam from the declining Khmer kingdom. It covers a very small land area (110,000 km2 landmass of entire northern Vietnam, this region is known as Mien Bac). Vietnam is almost entirely composed of wetlands, mountainous terrains, and densely forested highlands, with level land covering no more than 20% of the area.
From the 3rd millennium BC until now, the wars play an instrumental role in shaping the cultural history of Vietnam. Vietnamese repulsed most of the great powers from their country (Nam Viet) since medieval times until the Vietnam War (1955-1975 AD). From 938-1407 AD, Vietnamese faced invasions from all sorts of corners from the neighboring kingdoms of Dali, Khmer, Champa, and the Song Empires to the Great Yuan dynasty of the Mongol Empire, even the Ming Empire of China also invaded it, Vietnamese defeated all of these invasions except the invasion from Ming Chinese. It was the Vietnamese who saved Southeast Asia from the Mongol conquest by defeating them thrice times. However, Vietnam was not entirely an invincible land, for ten centuries their inhabitant part of the region (North Vietnam) was subjected to continuous colonization and occupation by the Chinese in four different eras (111 BC-39 AD, 43-544 AD, 602-938 AD, 1407-1427 AD). These 4 periods were called as Chinese domination of Vietnam. During the colonial period, the French able to colonize southern Vietnam and inflicted many defeats on the Nguyen Tri Phuong dynasty. During World War II, the Japanese invaded French Indochina as part of his campaign to isolate and surround China. Viet Minh (an anti-imperialist united front) successfully launched guerilla warfare first against the Japanese during World War II and then against the French army who try to re-occupy Vietnam. American intervention as part of the Vietnam War to support the US-allied South Vietnam against Soviet-led North Vietnam leads to a bloody war, in which Communist-led North Vietnam prevailed. The United States suffered a major defeat and withdraw from this country, after losing 58,000 soldiers. No doubt, the Vietnamese have a long history and spirit of freedom fighters that not easily submit.
Philippines:
Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands. It covers land area of around 300,000 km2 .
People of this region is also famous for resistance against the foreign invaders; first against the Spanish and then against the Americans. From 1565 to 1898 CE, Filipinos resisted the Spanish invaders for 333 long years during the Spanish-Moro conflict. Conflict was generally inconclusive, Spain conquers most of the Philippines but failed to completely subjugate the Moros. This conflict was ended with the United States intervention in the Philippine Island which started the Spanish-American War (1898) and the subsequent defeat of the Spanish and the formation of the First Philippine Republic.
Afterwards, Filipinos fight against the Americans during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) and Moro Rebellion (1899-1913), both wars ended up with American victory and the complete annexation of the Philippines by the United States (US). However, they were unable to liberate their country from the American occupation (even previously against the Spanish in most parts) but they fight very hard against those invaders for a long period and inflict significant amount of casualities on them.
Horn of Africa:
The Horn of Africa, known in the ancient and medieval times as the land of Barbara (Somalia) and Habesha (Ethiopia). It nearly covers 2 million km2 land area and contains two major countries Ethiopia and Somalia besides two other small countries i.e. Djibouti and Eritrea.
Ethiopian and Somalian people have been part of an active resistance since the Medieval period. Ethiopia was the only country in Africa that never colonized by any European colonial Empires during the Scramble of Africa but later on, Ethiopia was occupied by the Italians (under the military leadership of the Benito Mussolini) in 1936 AD and became a part of the Italian colonies of Northeast Africa. After five years (1941), Ethiopians defeated and drove the Italians out of the country and gained independence. On the other side, Somalis have also the same fierce resistance against any such kind of occupation from the outside. During the late middle ages and early modern era, Somalia (under the Sultanate of Ifat & Adal) had engaged in continuous military conflict with the Solomonic kingdom of Ethiopia, both sides show the relentless armed struggle to beat each other in which whole results were generally unfavorable for both. Somalis under the leadership of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan (leader of the Dervish movement) defeated the British Empire four times before finally been defeated by the British air power (1920). American armed forces too faced the gruesome resistance of the Somalis during the United Nation's peacekeeping mission in Somalia (1993). After failed to killed the Somali warlord Farrah Aidid, American-led forces withdraw from Somalia. Currently, Somalia is in a position of an ongoing civil war that started in 1991 involving number of Western and African countries against Al-Shabaab militant group who control substantial portion of that country.
Great Afghanistan: Afghanistan! A country in South Central Asia. It covers an area of 1,101,795 km2 . Home to the majority of Pushtuns that lived in the southern parts of that region. This region has a long and unprecedented history of stubborn resistance, from the time of Alexander the Great until the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. First, Alexander's army bogged down in that region and only can get away from this mess by allying with one of the powerful Sogdian chieftains in the form of his daughter's marriage, named Roxana. Frank Holt, professor of history and author of the book "Into the Land of Bones, Alexander the Great in Afghanistan" is one of the world's leading authority on Alexander, a king of Macedon. He said when initially Alexander the Great faced major battles every year; he topples the Persian Empire and conquered everything from modern-day Albania to Afghanistan but it took him longer to conquer single area of Afghanistan than took him to conquer the entire rest of his empire. He suffered far greater casualities even suffered personal injuries. Despite being a sopisticated army, best of his time, invasion that he started in 330 BC turn into a long quagmire, worse period of his life. Furthermore, he also mentions that when Alexander the Great initially entered into Afghanistan, he swept through the Afghanistan and defeated the opposition easily but then insurgency arose. By the second and third (329-328 BC) year, he faced the situation which is in modern term called "Surge". Frank Holt describes that in the first year he invaded Afghanistan with 37,000 troops and in the second year he brought a second army of 22,000 more troops in order to faciliate his military campaign. Despite all of these factors, Alexander faced spiral casualities and logistical nightmare which he never faced before. He lost more men fighting in that region than anywhere else in the course of his campaign. Moreover, the first area that revolted against his empire after his death in 320 BC was Bactria (currently Afghanistan). Even though they were unable to defeat the insurgency completely, Greeks loosely ruled over Afghanistan under the Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms after Alexander's death.
It is often thought that the Pushtuns are the descendants of Pactyans who originated between 2nd and 1st millennium BC as one of the Aryan tribes. Generally accepted theory about the Aryans is that they originated from the proto-Indo-European homeland in the Pontic-Caspian steppe around 4000 BC. This region comprises today southern Ukraine, southern European Russia, and western Kazakhstan and then from this region, they spread towards the east and west. Those who migrated towards the west form the proto western societies while those who migrated towards the east mixed with the existing Central and South Asian societies. Among those central and south Asian societies, Pushtuns arose as one of the Aryan tribes that dominate present day Afghanistan. However, Pushtuns are primarily composed of mixed Aryan races that predominately migrated from the north between the 2nd century BC as Scythians (who displace the Greco-Bactrian kingdom) until the 5th to 8th centuries as Hephthalites. These events were occurred after the invasion and settlement of East Iranian tribes such as Eastern Sakas (Scythians), Kushans, Chionites (White Huns), Kidara Huns (Red Huns), Alchon Huns (Red Huns), Nezak Huns and Hephthalites (white Huns) in Central Asia and South Asia before the rise of Islam, ultimately fused to form a new nation called Pashtun, historically referred to as Afghan until 1970s, when the term's meaning evolved into that of a denonym for all residents of Afghanistan (outside of the Pushtun ethncity). The history of Pashtuns was now going to start and takes his roots primarily over the southern Afghanistan and northwest regions of Pakistan. Persians under the Sassanid dynasty try to assert dominance over this region but unable to effectively control, ended up with either temporary nominal suzerainty or alliance. Persians always face challenges from its easternmost side of his border, nomads pouring down from the north and create further havoc when they settle down on those regions. Same as for the Indians who faced challenges from the westernmost side of his border. For example, in the end of the reign of Shapur II, the Sasanians lost the control of parts of Afghanistan (Bactria) to invaders from the north: first the kidarites, then the Hephthalites and finally the Alchon Huns all of whom were the ancestors of modern Pushtuns (Afghans). Later, these Aryan tribes infiltrate northwest and central Indian territories, even several times invade eastern portions of the Sassanid Empire. However, both Indians and Iranians push back those hunnic invasions despite being temporarily dominated by them. There was a famous military engagement that took place in 484 AC between an invading force of the Sasanian Empire under the command of its king Peroz I and a smaller army of the Hephthalite Empire under the command of its leader Khushnavaz. The battle was a catastrophic defeat for the Sasanian forces who were almost completely wiped out. Sassanian king Peroz was killed, his four sons and brothers had also died, his entire army was nearly wiped out, main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan-Nishapur, Herat, and Marv were now under Hephthalite rule. Much of the Persian land was pillaged repeatedly for a period of two years until Balash, a new king of the Sassanid Empire restore some order. It is the single most humiliating defeat for the Sassanid Persians. The Hunnic menace to the Sassanid lands continued until the reign of Khosrau I when he decisively defeated the Hephthalite with the help of an alliance from the Gokturks, effectively crippling the power of white huns in bactria (most of the Afghanistan), eventually their territory north of the Oxus river ceded by the First Turkic Khagnate (Gokturks) and territory south of the Oxus ceded by Sasanian Empire (Persians). White huns were fierce fighters. That's why in order to avoid their repeated incursions, Persians build the Great Wall of Gorgan around their eastern frontier regions. It is second only to Great Wall of China as the longest defensive wall in existence, larger than Hadrian's Wall and Antonine Wall together, more solid than the early forms of the Great Wall. Despite the significant loss of territory during the aftermath of Battle of Bukhara (557) and fragmentation of the Great Hephthalite Empire, White Huns remains a potent force in Afghanistan with semi-independent principalities. Even the Perso-Turkic alliance didn't stop them from invading the Sasanian land or rebeling against their rule. One such prime example is the Circa 600 in which they raiding the Sasanian land and reaches as far as Ispahan in central Iran. In 625 CE, the territory of Hephthalites from Tokharistan to Kabulistan was taken over by the Western Turks as the vassal state with some smaller polities surviving in Badakhshan until 758. However, Western Turkic Khagnate soon collasped in 630 after gaining temporary control over the Hephthalites. However, the Turks did not permanently occupy the territory south of the Oxus river, even their territory immediately collapsed after temporary occupation and the remnants of those Turkic people who settle in Hephthalites regions then intermix with local population to form new dynasties such as Turk Shahis and the Zunbils which were the Turkic-Hephthalite origins. Mahmud Ghaznavi, a famous Muslim conqueror was also the product of those Turkic-Hephthalite ancestry. In India, Alchon (Alkhan) huns were defeated by an alliance of various Indian principalities led by Yasodharman, the Aulikara king of Malwa, in the Battle of Sondani in Central India, which resulted in a loss of Alchon territories in northern India (542) after their brief rule. After these setbacks, Alchon retreat to Gandhara and Kashmir. Historically, it has been widely thought that Kashmiris are very likely descendents of those Alchon Huns. However, both Pushtuns and Kashmiris shared a common Hunnic and Saka ancestry of Indo-Iranian people. In the 6th century, Alchons resettled in Kabulistan under the leadership of Toramana II where they mix with Nezak Huns.
In the early 7th century, Arabs brought Islam into the region and successfully conquered all of the Sasanian lands. Afterward, they occupied northwestern and central Afghanistan except the southeastern regions where Kabul Shahi and Zunbils (contemporary ancestors of Pushtuns) remained unconquered and fiercely resisted against the Umayyad and Abbasid armies until the arrivals of the indigenous dynasties of Afghanistan i.e. Saffarids (Tajik origin) and Ghaznavids (Turkic-Hephthalite origin) emerged who occupied their land. From the 10th to 12th century, Pushtuns fully converted to Islam and effectively came under the influence of that religion. Arab conquest largely confined to northern and central regions of Afghanistan while southeastern regions remained independent despite nominal overlordship of the Arab Umayyads in 711. According to the Nancy Dupree, advancing Arab armies also face oppositions when they entered Afghanistan even though they able to conquer Herat and Sistan easily but whenever they withdrew from Afghanistan, tribes often revolted and converted back to old faiths. According to Historian Cameron A. Petrie, Arab expansion had both religious and social motives but it was extraction of taxes from the subjugated people that invited the numerous local rebellions. Moreover, there is another writer under the Andre Wink states that "In southern and eastern Afghanistan, the regions of Zamindawar and Zabulistan and kabul, the Arabs were effectively opposed for more than two centuries, from 643 to 870 AD, by the indigenous rulers the Zunbils and the related Kabul-Shahs of the dynasty which became known as the Buddhist-Shahi". Similar kind of information also came from C. E. Bosword, "the early Arab governers of sistan had at times penetrated as far as Ghazni and Kabul, but these had been little more than slave and plunder raids. There was fierce resistance from the local rulers of these regions, above all from the line of Zunbils who ruled in Zamindavar and Zabulistan".
Medieval Islamic scholars divided modern-day Afghanistan into two regions - the provinces of Khorasan and Sistan. Khorasan was the eastern satrapy of the Sassanid Empire, containing Balkh and Herat while Sistan included a number of Afghan cities and regions including Ghazni, Zarang, Bost, Qandahar, Kabul, Kabulistan, and Zabulistan. Arab easily prevailed over the Khorasan region within few years while they were unable to establish an effective rule over the eastern regions of Afghanistan (sistan). Many times, Arab forces invaded Afghanistan in order to claim nominal rule over this region and to extract tribute. Rashidun Caliphate start the conquest of Afghanistan in 643 and reached the domain of Zabulistan in 653 and successfully established suzerainty in this region in 656 but this same year, third Rashidun caliph Usman ibn Affan was assassinated and the First Muslim Civil War (657-661) erupted within the caliphate that coincided with the lose of Zabulistan region to locals. After the Rashidun caliphate, Umayyad caliphate was established over the Muslim world that invades Afghanistan several times. At its zenith in 720 CE under the caliph Umar II, it was the longest empire in terms of its contiguous length of the landmass that spread from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) in the west to Transoxiana (Uzbekistan) in the east. In 665 CE, the region once again conquered by the Arabs under the first Umayyad caliph Muawiyah who reappointed Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura as the governer of Sistan again. Samura defeated the Zabulistan whose people had broken the earlier agreement but five years later Zabul once again rebelled. Al-Baladhuri records that under Muawiyah, Sistan's governer Abbad bin Ziyad bin Abihi raided and captured the city of Qandahar after the bitter fighting but again Arab rule was topple and by 698 there was no Arab controlled east of Bost (Lashkar Gah). In 681, second Umayyad caliph Yazid appointed a new governer in Khorasan and Sistan name Salm bin Ziyad. He appointed his brother Yazid bin Ziyad to lead a military expedition against the Zunbil of Zabulistan. The expedition was however disastrous, with Yazid being killed, his brother Abu-Ubayda captured, while Arabs received heavy casualities. Salm sent an expedition by Talha bin Abdullah al-Khuzai to rescue his brother and pacifiy the region. The Arab captives were ransomed for half million dirhams and the region was pacified more through diplomacy than force. Even after the death of Talha (683-684), a virtual anarchy was unleashed amongst Sistan's Arabs. Arabs left Zarang without any in-charge. This prompted the Zunbil and his allies took advantage of that situation and intervene in the Arab affairs at Sistan and Bust. During the Second Civil War of the Muslims (680), the Zunbils attacked Sistan in 685 but was defeated by the Arabs. Abdul Malik, a fifth Umayyad caliph appointed Umayya bin Abdullah as governer of Khorasan in 693-694 with Sistan included under his governership. Umayya sent his son Abdullah as head of the expedition against the Zunbils. Although initially successful but Zunbils were able to defeat them. In some accounts, it is also mentioned that he was killed in action while fighting against them. Umayya was dismissed and Sistan was added to the governership of al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf. Hajjaj, a governer of Iraq and East (697-98) appointed Ubaidallah. Hajjaj ordered the Ubaidallah to lead an expedition against the Zunbils. Hajjaj bin Yusuf ordered the Ubaidallah to "attack until laid waste to Zunbil's territories, destroyed his strongholds, killed all his fighting men and enslaved his progeny". The ensuing campaign was called the "Army of Extermination" (Jaish al-Fana). However, it also ended disastrously for the Arabs. This campaign had extensively recorded by the Muslim scholars. Baladhuri reported that the army consisted of Iraqis from Busra and Kufa with some Syrians. They marched to Zamindawar but found it barren and foodless. Their advance probably happened in summer of 698 under the scorching heat. In Zabulistan's region of Ghazni and Gardiz, they plundered a significant amount of cattle and other animals while destroying several strongholds. The Zunbils, who were devastating the countryside whilst retreating were luring the Arabs into a trap to an inhospitable and foodless terrain. The plan of the Zunbils worked and they trapped the Arabs into a valley. Ubaidallah realized the situation, offered 500,000 or 700,000 dirhams as well as his three sons along with some Arab leaders as hostages while promising not to raid again during his tenure as Sistan's governer. During the course of withdrawal many died from the starvation and thrist, only 5000 survive. Ubaidallah also died during the withdrawal process. Al-Hajjaj prepared another military expedition in 699, roughly 40,000 from Kufa and Basra under the command of Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin al-Ash'ath. Although, it disguised as a military expedition but actually it was a forced migration of the elements from the two Iraqi cities troublesome to Hajjaj. It also ended in failure. Muslim military commander named Qutayba bin Muslim, a conqueror of Transoxiana called the Sijistan an "ill-omened front". Khalid al-Qasri in Iraq appointed Yazid bin al-Ghurayf al-Hamdani as Sistan's governer, a Syrian from Jund al-Urdunn (Jordan) in 725. Yazid resumed the military campaign against the Zunbils to forced them to pay tribute but did not obtain anything. Another new governor appeared on the scene, al-Asfah bin Abd Allah al-Kalbi, a Syrian descent, embarked on an ambitious policy of campaigning against the Zunbils. The first one was carried out in 726 and second one in late 727-728, he was warned by the Sijistanis who were with him to not campaign in winter, especially in mountain defiles. Per Ya'qubi, his army was completely anniliated by the Zunbils. Al-Asfah managed to get back to Sistan where he died. Abbasid campaigns were relatively successful as compared to Umayyad. Zunbils irregularly paid tribute to them. However, they also unable to eliminate them. After the Arab intervention, it was the Saffarids who ended the rule of Zubils in Zabulistan while Hindu Shahis were conquered by Ghaznavids. Both Saffarid and Ghaznavid were indigeous Afghan dynasties. So, it's a clear message; "Afghans can only conquer Afghans".
Under Saffarids, Ghaznavids, and Khwarazmids, most of the Khorasan region blossomed until it falls to the Mongol invasion who completely occupied it. Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in history that ruled over almost half of the known world, founded by Temujin, famously known as Genghis Khan. Afghans were the first people who broke the invincibility of the Mongol war machine by defeating them at the Battle of Parwan (1221) near Kabul. After this defeat, many revolts were occurred around Central Asia. Defeat of the Mongolian army in the Battle of Parwan was a serious blow back to its fearsome reputation. Afghan's victory inspire the Kush Tegin Pahlawan lead a revolt in Merv and seized it successfully. After capturing the city of Merv back, Kush Tegin Pahlawan made a successful attack on Bukhara, too. People in herat also rebelled and disposed the Mongol vassal leadership.
An insurgency leader named Muhammad the Marghani twice attacked the camp of Genghis Khan accommodated at Baghlan and returned with some loots. Cities that peacefully surrendered rose up in arms, Genghis Khan and his son Tolui spend extra months trying to subdue revolts. Genghis Khan, appointed Yelu Ahai to restore Mongol sovereignty in Samarkand and Bukhara, he managed to restore the order in the cities in 1223. Afghans offered a stiff resistance to the Mongol occupation. One such prime example is that Genghis Khan in order to avenge the defeat of Parwan, he laid seige to the Bamiyan. His grandson name Mutugen was killed in war which infuriating the Genghis Khan and he ordered to kill all the living being when he captured the citadel. His fury didn't stop the resistance of the Afghans and he withdraw from Afghanistan (only Balkh and its surrounding regions were occupied by the Genghis Khan). Imagine at this time, when Genghis Khan's hordes swept across the whole of Central Asia and northwestern parts of China even after made a successful onslaught into southern Russia to defeat Cuman-Kapchak confederation and Russian Principalities without losing any of his major battles, finally got his first significant defeat by the hands of Afghans. However, Ilkhanate dynasty of Mongol origin continues to rule northwest and central Afghanistan while Khalji dynasty (an Afghan Pashtun dynasty) ruled south of the hindu kush regions defeated the several mongol invasions from its capital at Delhi, Northern India, hold them permanently at bay. In the Battle of Parwan half of the Mongol army was killed by the Afghans. According to Ibn Al-Athir's account, after the defeat, Genghis Khan sent a large army, larger than the one in Parwan, under the leadership of his son Tolui, Jalal al-Din's Afghan forces defeated him near Kabul. Jalal ad-Din khwarezmi was an able turkic military cammander but lack the political leadership. Afghans left him due to his injustice over the spoils of war. After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his vast empire fell to pieces. In Afghanistan, some local chiefs succeeded in establishing independent principalities, and others acknowledged Mongol princes as suzerains. This state of affairs continued until the end of the 14th century, when Tartar warlord Timur conquered a large part of the country.
During the late 14th to the early 16th centuries, Timurid dynasty restores the former glory of Khorasan and marked in the history of that region as one of the most brilliant artistic and scientific eras, like Ghaznavids before. The decline of the Timurid Empire gave rise to new lasting gunpowder empires over the Islamic world i.e. Ottomans of Turkey, Safavids of Persia, and Mughals of India. Afghans resist both the Mughals and the Safavids simultaneously as part of the regional conflict. They didn't only successfully resist those invasions but also conquered their empires; first from the Hotaki Pashtuns who dethrone the last Safavid sultan Hussian (1722) and captured Isfahan, capital of Safavid Empire. Moreover, Afghans again conquered Persia, this time by Ahmed Shah Abdali founder of the modern state of Afghanistan. He captured the Mashhad (1751), capital of Nader Shah's Afsharid Empire and even invades northern India to defeat the armies of the Sikhs, Marathas, and Mughals, captured the Mughal capital, Dehli (for a brief period) in 1757. Even the vast Ottoman army cannot be able to defeat the small army of Hotaki Pashtuns during the Ottoman-Hotaki War (1726-1727), finally Afghan forces overwhelmed all three great Muslim empires at the final phase of its military confrontation with them. Right from the beginning of the rule of Mughals, Pushtuns resisted their invasion. For example, in the Baburnama, an autobiography of the first Mughal king Babur in which he explicitly mentioned the Pushtun tribe name Yusufzai.
By judging the martial oriented status of this tribe, Babur made a peace treaty with them in order to avoid a war. He married Bibi Mubarika, daughter of the Yusufzai chief Shah Mansur, on 30th January 1519. In the 1580s, many Yusufzais fight against the Mughals and joined the Roshani movement of Pir Roshan. In late 1585, Mughal king Akber sent Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed near the Karakar Pass between Swat and Buner by the Yusufzai lashkar (army) led by Kalu Khan. This was the greatest disaster faced by the Mughal Army during Akbar's reign. However, Mughal rule was consistently challenged by Pushtuns over its westernmost parts of the region. Mughals always try to subdue those regions but ended up with not quite favorable results. The greatest Mughal king Aurangzeb who ruled over almost one-quarter of the world's population and its wealth even almost entire South Asia unable to subdue the Yusufzais in Swat. However, he able to make some gains in the southern Yusufzai plains within the northern kabul valley but he failed to wrest Swat and the adjoining valleys from the control of the Yusufzai. Due to the extensive resistance from the Pushtuns, Akber shifted his capital from Fatehpur Sikri to Lahore for logistical purpose. With regard to Safavid, Sultan Hosein tried to forcibly convert his Afghan subjects in Qandahar from Sunni to Twelverism (Shia sect). In response, a Ghilzai Afghan chieftain named Mirwais revolted and killed Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor of Georgian descent that ruled Qandahar, along with his army in 1709. Afghans subsequently took control over Qandahar, and massacred its Georgian garrison. Sultan Hoseyn then responded by selecting Gurgin Khan's nephew Khosrow Khan as the cammander of the Afghan expedition. He fought with Ghilzai for two years and then finally besieged Qandahar with Abdali tribe. Two months later, Ghilzai appealed for peace. However, Iranian forces demand their total surrender in that Ghilzai rejected the offer and continuously fought. In october 1711, Iranians were forced to withdraw, due to summer heat, illness, shortages of supplies, and attacks by the Baluchi, who had joined the Afghans. Khosrow and many of his troops were killed by the pursuing Afghan soldiers, who took their military equipment. Safavids sent two military expeditions to subdue Afghans which also ended in failure. After the death of Mir Ways in 1717, Mahmud Hotak (1717-1725) swore to get his revenge against the Iranians. He beseiged the Safavid capital Isfahan for eight months and capitulate the Iranians into submission. It is estimated that 80,000 of its inhabitants died during the seige. On 23th October 1722, Sultan Hoseyn abdicated and acknowledged Mahmud as the new shah of Iran. Hotaki rule was ended by Nader Shah of Persia who drove them back to Afghanistan and later captured their territory. However, after the assasination of Nader Shah his short lived empire broke apart and his Pushtun general named Ahmed Shah Abdali captured Mashhad (1751) and took the crown of Nader Shah. After the death of Ahmed Shah Abdali's son Timur Shah, the Durrani Empire start to decline and lose much of his territory to the Sikh Empire. Sikhs captured Kashmir, Punjab, and northwestern parts of the frontier land (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions) from the Afghans, but even the Sikhs under the command of his most famous and powerful king Maharaja Ranjit Singh didn't able to capture the city of Kabul (after the Battle of Nowshera in 1823) and withdraw from the Afghan area.
Afghanistan was never been colonized by any other European power during the colonial era. This was the most striking achievement of the Afghans (Pashtuns) at that time when most of the world was colonized by the European powers. British Empire, the largest empire in history that ruled over one-quarter of total landmass of the earth and its population invaded Afghanistan three times (1839–42; 1878–80; 1919). In which three different times, three different results were common among all of these three wars; (1) British (along with his Indian troops) suffered heavy casualties (both men and material), (2) Internal sovereignty of Afghanistan permanently remains in the hands of Afghans, (3) British withdraw from Afghanistan without colonizing it.
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842) is also famously known as Disaster in Afghanistan by the British in which 4,700 British and Indian soldiers plus 12,000 of their camp followers were killed by the Afghan tribal fighters while loss of the Afghans were 1500 tribal fighters. It is the single biggest defeat of the British Empire in war and the single most disastrous military event after the Battle of Singapore (1942). During the war, when British cammander William Elphinstone withdraw from Afghanistan after establishing the Shah Shuja as the puppet ruler, they were attacked by Pushtun warriors as they struggle through the snowbound passes. The evacuees were killed in huge numbers as they made their way down the 30 miles (48 km) of treacherous gorges and passes lying along the Kabul River between Kabul and Gandamak and were massacred at the Gandamak pass before survivor reached the beseiged garrison at Jalalabad. During the course of withdrawal, forty men were survive with miserable condition; ground was frozen, the men had no shelter, little food for weeks, and with fewer weapons. The entire 44th Regiment of the British battalion was killed except Captain James Souter, Sergeant Fair, and seven soldiers who were taken prisoner. The only Briton to reach Jalalabad was Dr. William Brydon. William Hay Macnaghten, Britain's chief representative in Kabul along with three officers were also killed by Afghans and their bodies were dragged through the streets of Kabul Bazaar (market).
British again invaded Afghanistan and start a Second Anglo-Afghan War; again British forces suffered heavy casualities, nearly 10,000 of their soldiers died while Afghan forces suffered 5,000+ casualities. However, in this war British able to wrest the foreign policy of the Afghans during an agreement but it is based on huge subsidy that should be given to Afghan government while British unable to obtain the objective of diplomatic presence/British residents in Kabul. This war is generally regarded as an inconclusive or sometimes as an Afghan victory.
Afterwards, the Third Anglo-Afghan was started in 1919 and it remains for three months and ended up with an armistice. The war ended in a victory for the Afghans with full sovereignty in foreign affairs and the complete withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan. However, it is also thought that it is a minor tactical victory for the British because of the reaffirmation of the Durand Line as border between Afghanistan and British India while subsequent retreat of the Afghan forces to their homeland from the British India. However, even this so-called minor tactical victory is also dubious in a sense that Afghans never accepted or at least respected the Durand Line and repeated incursions from Afghan side of the border always remain a contentious issue among British and even right now among the Pakistanis. Moreover, British also faced the insurgency from the northwestern frontier regions where Ghazi Mirzali Khan (1897-1960), famously known as Faqir of Ipi launched a guerilla campaign against the British forces until the end of the british raj (rule) in India (1947). After that he fought against the new government of Pakistan and didn't surrendered to them until he reached his death (1960). Again just like previous two wars, British suffered massive casualities during the Third Anglo-Afghan War. According to their own estimate, 1,751 soldiers died in this war from the Briton side while ill-equipped and ill-trained Afghan soldiers suffered approximately 1,000 casualities.
Like the British, Soviets were also met the same fate on the Afghan's soil during 9 years of the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989). Approximately 15,000 Soviet soldiers died in this war. Afterwards, another superpower came i.e. United States of America (USA) who invaded Afghanistan and stayed their for nearly two decades. They were too defeated and forced to abandoned the Afghan soil by the Taliban Mujahadeen (Afghan freedom fighters) during the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021). Despite being ill-equipped and outnumbered by its advaseries, Afghan Mujahadeen able to defeat the US-led coalition in its longest war. Fifty two nations (1 US + 50 allies + 1 puppet Afghan government that installed in Kabul by US) are participated in this war. In military history, there is no such example to be found in which 52 countries joined together to fight against its common foe. Allied forces lost nearly 4,000 soldiers and contractors in this war while US-backed Afghan defense forces (ADF) lost 75,000 of its security forces (as per the Watson Institute).
History is bear witness to this fact that Afghans never bow down to any foreign occupation or rule over the course of its history. No foreign or regional power ever able to perfectly pacify this region. It always remains in the form of highly decentralized patches of tribal confederation that consistently resist any foreign occupation. They put up stiff resistance to every hyperpower/superpower/middle power whosoever they encounter within their geographical parameter i.e. Southern Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, and Northern Balochistan where Pashtuns primarily lived. That's why, it is called "Graveyard of Empires". Although, the term itself is a misnomer. Afghanistan had never responsible for the collaspe of any empire, even the Soviet Union which collapsed based upon its policies, not war. It was the policies of the last Soviet dictater Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022) that responsible for the collapse of Soviet union i.e. glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring"). However, in order way you can say that this term is correct in a sense that every foreign or regional forces when it came to Afghanistan suffered heavy casualities then finally withdraw and left the graves of their soldiers.
In history, no military power able to subdued this Pushtun nation in its entirety. Every superpower who invade Afghanistan failed to subjugate its population (Pushtuns), eventually either withdraw, abandoning their hope of annexation and objectives at a certain level or at least unable to curb the indigenous opposition completely and to bring Afghanistan under one cohesive centralized administration. For two millennium, many superpowers invade Afghanistan such as Sassanid, Gokturk, Ummayad, Abbasid, Mongol, Safavid, Mughal, Afsharid, British, Soviet, and American Empires; all of them failed to subdue or atleast unable to pacify this region perfectly. Even before the common era, Alexander the Great also unable to quell this resistance perfectly.
No nation in his entire history acquired such a unique military feat, it clearly reflect their marshal oriented status or clannish based warrior culture.
There are several factors that plays a key role in this account; local terrain that comprised of 800-kilometre-long tough mountain range called Hindu Kush that hosts a lot of dangers for any possible invader. Whenever any invader came into Afghanistan, first they have to encounter the difficult mountainous terrain, harsh climatic conditions, and logistical issues (especially for those armies who fight in an organized manner) before the fierce resistance from the locals. One such example is the British forces when they invade Afghanistan thrice times. During the military campaign, they died more from the diseases or accidents rather than from the military actions by the Afghans. In addition to it, Pushtun tribal fighters also perfectly knows how to use their geography against any aggressor as they had already lived in those regions. Hence, difficult terrain to cross for large armies, lack of resources needed for long campaigns, military capabilites of the Pushtuns and most importantly Afghan culture i.e. Pashtunwali (code of conduct) are the few reasons due to which Afghanistan is impossible for any invader to subjugate. Islam is the heart of that culture and plays a catalyst role in accelerating the pace of the spirit of the Pushtun tribal culture. Under this umbrella, one of those such principles states that "a Pashtun is obliged to protect the land of the Pashtuns" and "a Pashtun must defend his land, property, and family from incursions. Death can follow if anyone offends this principle." That's why, there is an enormous social cohesion exist among the Pushtuns. Definitively, no one can and ever will able to subdued this nation whose DNA is encoded with such principles.
Oljei Temur Khan: 
