Kingdom of Afghanistan

State · 1926–1972 CE · at its largest around 1927 CE

The Afghan monarchy under the Barakzai dynasty, whose ruler Amanullah Khan took the title of king in 1926. Its last king, Zahir Shah, reigned for four decades until his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan abolished the monarchy in 1973.

On its lands while it lasted

Muhammad Iqbal (1877 CE – 1938 CE): Poet and philosopher writing in Urdu and Persian whose 1930 address helped inspire the idea of Pakistan.
Bhagat Singh (1907 CE – 1931 CE): Revolutionary executed by the British in Lahore at the age of 23, celebrated as a martyr of the independence movement.
Lahore Resolution (1940 CE): Muslim League resolution calling for independent states in Muslim-majority areas, seen as the founding demand for Pakistan.
Partition of India (1947 CE): British India was divided into India and Pakistan in August 1947, followed by communal violence and the displacement of some 15 million people.
Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948 (1947–1948 CE): First war between India and Pakistan, over Kashmir, which left the region divided along a ceasefire line.
Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953 CE – 2001 CE): Afghan commander from the Panjshir Valley who fought the Soviets and later the Taliban; he was assassinated two days before 11 September 2001.
Rawalpindi (c. 1959 CE): Capital of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1959–1967).
Islamabad (1961 CE): Planned capital of Pakistan, built from 1961 to replace Karachi.
Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 (1965 CE): Conflict over Kashmir that ended in a UN-mandated ceasefire and the Tashkent Declaration.