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os_kaiserwilhelm t1_iu2ufw7 wrote

It was literally the seat of Ahmad Shah Durrani's empire. Before that it had been the seat of Timur's heir, and later the base for Babur for his invasion of India.

Does that mean every valley had state presence? But the cities and surrounding countryside were under a loose system of fealty not too dissimilar to feudalism.

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Trav3lingman t1_iu2xj7m wrote

IIRC Alexander had full control but he also retired troops there with land grants. Veteran soldiers flat out living in a region probably helped a lot. My memory could be faulty though. It's been 10+ years since I got a curiosity bug on Afghanistan.

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