HISTORY bears solemn testimony that for nearly a millennium, the mountains of Afghanistan produced Sultans and Conquerors who altered the civilizational map of the Sub-Continent. From the eleventh century onward, Afghan and Turkic commanders descended upon the Hindu Kingdoms of India, shattering idols, restructuring power and reshaping religious demography. Among these figures, Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori and Zahiruddin Babur stand unmatched. They were not merely warriors; they were state-builders whose campaigns paved the way for enduring Islamic polities across northern India. Their victories transformed societies. With them came Sufis, Jurists, Theologians and Bearers of spiritual learning who settled in Hindustan, erecting Khanqahs, Madaaris and centres of scholarship. Under their guidance, the call of “Allah Akbar” echoed across a land once steeped in idolatry and multitudes entered Islam not by the sword, but by persuasion, example and the magnetism of spiritual truth.

For centuries thereafter, Afghanistan remained a crucible of Muslim authority and its rulers—whether from Ghazni, Ghor, the Lodis or the Durranis—cherished the legacy of those early conquests. To follow in the footsteps of their ancestors was considered a badge of honour, a duty owed to their history. Yet time has a cruel way of unsettling the certainties of nations. Today, the heirs of these mighty conquerors, the very descendants of those who once smashed idols and........

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