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death of Bessus, and reaching the natural boundary between Central Asia and the sub-continent of India—the Indus River—crossed it near Attock. The invasion of the Aryan land took Alexander more than four years to complete. He left his generals behind him as rulers of various parts. These generals, in turn, were responsible for the establishment, after the death of Alexander, of the Greco-Bactrian rule in Afghanistan which lasted for two centuries. Meanwhile the Maurya dynasty, founded in India, acquired some areas to the south of Hindukush, bringing with it Buddhist culture and religion. Asoka (273-232 B.C.), the most important king of the dynasty, accepted Buddhism and established great centres of the religion in Afghanistan. It was from here that Buddhism spread to all parts of Asia and it was here that the Buddhist culture and tradition developed and flourished for more than a thousand years. The Indian rule, however, was short, as the Greco-Bactrian rulers soon expanded their influence and territory into India (220-20 B.C.). Balkh, during all this time, remained the centre of the government and was known as "The Mother of Cities". Around 50-20 B.C., however, the influence of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty had declined considerably and the regions north of the Hindukush were lost by them to the Parthans, Askas who gave their name to Seistan in south-eastern Afghanistan, Pahlevas and Kushanis. In time the Kushanis, coming down from across the Oxus, spread over the entire country and conquered a greater part of India. Kadphisus and Kanishka are two of the most famous Kushani rulers. The latter, also known as the Prince of Gandahara (today's eastern Afghanistan), ruled over an empire extending into the valleys of the four rivers—Oxus, Ganges, Indus and Tarum—and even beyond that into Sinkiang and Kashgar. His summer and winter capitals were both in the heart of Aryana up to this time, that is Kapisa (present Gagram, north of Kabul) and Purashapura (present Peshawar). Kanishka ruled between 120-160 A.D. and was followed by other Kushani rulers whose dynasty ended around 220 A.D. Feudal rule of smaller Kushanis took over parts of the country, but they were faced with Sassanians from the west and Ephthalites from the north-east, and eventually left the scene to the latter. Around 420 A.D. the Ephthalites were faced with, and, in turn, broke down the influence of the Sassanians on the one hand, and of the Indian Guptas on the other. The beginning of the sixth century A.D. saw the decline of the Ephthalites and their breakdown to feudalism all over Aryana. A wave of Mongolian tribes, under the name of Tokios, came into the picture around 560 A.D. and took over areas on both sides of the Oxus and later made Kunduz, north of the Hindukush, their centre. Kapissa, south of Hindukush, which was in the hands of the Kushani and Ephthalite descendants had by this time created a strong and united kingdom in the area, which spread eastwards to Texala on the opposite banks of the Indus, southwards to Kuram valley, the present Dera Ismail Khan, and westwards to Seistan. The rulers of this kingdom were known as Ratbil. Their reign saw the beginnings of the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan in the 7th century A.D. The last dynasty of Kings prior to Islam, however, were Kabulshahan, known also as Brahmanshahan. They made Kabul their capital. The struggle of these rulers against Islam lasted over two centuries and when they were finally defeated, a significant part of the conqueror's army consisted of forces recruited from amongst the original residents of Afghanistan of that day, Yaqublais and Amrlais Saffarid and their followers, who, finding in Islam a religion compatible with their spirit of indepen- 62