The Coup of 1973. In 1973, Mohammed Zahir Shah's 40 year rule over Afghanistan was put to an abrupt stop by his cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan, who overthrew him in a coup and declared himself president. Saur Revolution. Daoud Khan and his family were killed in 1978 by the Soviet-backed PDPA. They installed their leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, who was thought to better reflect the party's communist values.
Soviet-Afghan War. With a weak and unstable government, Afghanistan was invaded by the 80,000 Soviet troops on Christmas Eve of 1979. Tribal warlords were pushed out of the cities and the Mujahideen was soon created in an effort to combat the invasion. The United States found this a good opportunity to combat the spread of communism so they began funneling weapons through Pakistan to aid the Mujahideen.
Under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Mujahideen and other freedom fighters fought Soviet troops using guerilla warfare techinques. Despite the USSR having a clear advantage, the Mujahideen prevailed and successfully drove off Soviet troops. Ussr Withdraws. By 1988, the Geneva Accords were signed and the USSR agreed to withdraw all their troops from Afghanistan without further intervention. By February 15, 1989, the last of the Soviet army withdrew.
Effects of the Soviet-Afghan War. 2,000,000 Civilian Deaths. 5-10 Million Fled Afghanistan. 2 Million Afghans Internally Displaced
The Fight for power. The Soviet Union continued to aid Afghanistan's government and support Mohammad Najibullah's presidency until 1991. Once support ended, the Mujahideen sucessfully captured Kabul in 1992. Disagreements between how Afghanistan was to be governed ensued and war broke out mostly between Massoud's alliance and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Pakistani-backed army.

Transcript: 100 Years of Beauty in Afghanistan
We made a quick overview of what 100 years of beauty in Afghanistan looks like. Thank you to @avizeh for making the original video that this post was based off of. Click here to watch.

18th Century:
Afghan women dressed in traditional attire with jewelry after King Durrani emphasized their status in society. Before marriage, young women got facial tattoos (Khaal) which was considered a sign of beauty.

1930s:
Soraya (Wife of King Amanullah Khan) was known for her fashion. The French describe her appearance from one of her visits in the following passage: “the evening gowns she wore to state dinner left her shoulders bare, and the little veil she was wearing now, covering only the lower half of her face, was just a film of transparent gauze…simultaneously exotic and sophisticated, modern and mysterious.

1960s:
Before 1959, women were required to wear chadari (veil). That changed in the 60’s when the stigma around traditional and kept women was broken. This gave women many opportunities, allowing them to be delegates, students, and airline hostess. Women freely walked around in western fashion.

1970s:
In the 70’s, the Civil War broke out and many women were violated and killed. Women during this time slowly moved away from the Western influenced fashion. The constant mistreatment of women during this time birthed a women’s right organization called Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). They fought for the equality of women and involvement in society

1980s-90s:
During Taliban era , Afghan women were deprived of their rights and forced to wear chadari (veil) in public. There were many instances where women were beaten or even killed because their ankle showed or because they did not wear their chadari properly. It was strongly enforced and created an era where fashion was almost non-existent.

2000s:
During the 2000’s, Afghanistan became better established in international affairs. The heavy westernization influenced women’s fashion and lifestyle which sparked a new era of accepted “beauty”.

2005:
This year brought constitutional changes that guaranteed equal rights/duties for women and even reserved seats for them in the national assembly. Business professional attire became the norm and widely accepted in women’s fashion.

2016:
With more freedom, Afghan women started to dress freely and to their choice. Many broke the stigma around working women and being in the media. Many activists continue to break gender roles and help to better the future for Afghan women.

Disclaimer:
Unfortunately we could not condense every aspect of Afghan Beauty in this one post. This post is not meant to exclude or offend any particular form of Afghan Fashion found in various regions of Afghanistan. The drawings depict popular fashion trends in many Urban regions of Afghanistan such as Kabul. We based this post off of a video created by @avizeh that can be found on YouTube – 100 years of Beauty: Afghanistan

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Blog post and drawings by @sabrinayasamine.