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Zahir Shah gains control of Afghan anf Baba is born
Amir states that, "In 1933, the year Baba was born and the year Zahir Shah begane his forty-year reign of Afghanistan"(Hosseini 24). Shah's rule dictated and influenced Baba's life and his generation. -
Baba builds an orphange
Amir talks about Baba's succes, "in the late 1960s when [he] was five or six, Baba decided to build an orphanage" (Hosseini 13). Everyone told him he was being foolish and,"shook their heads in dismay at his obstinate ways. Than Baba succeeded and everyone shook their heads in awe at his triumphant ways"(Hosseini 13). Despite everyoone's doubts, Baba became a powerful andrich man. -
Hassan's birth
Amir explain to the reader, "It was there, in that little shack, that Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, just one year after my mother died giving birth to me"(Hosseini 6). Hassan and Amir were very close in age and grew up as brothers. -
The hydro plant
Amir explains how he overlooked, "a high summit witha preciptous drop overlooking the hydro plant the germans had built for Afghanistan 1967"(Hosseini 111). As Amir overlooked the plant he thought back to his house and everything her was leaving behind. -
The old man's lecture
An old man tells amir how he was a, "guest lecturer in Tehran,1971 [...] but you saw those young men in the truck. What value do you think see in Sufism?"(Hosseini 249). The Taliban have opressed Afghan. Education is no longer valued, and a man that would once be respected for his knowledge, is laying in the streets and forgotten. -
President replaces Shah
The morning after the shootings, Amir found out that through eavesdropping, "the monarchy was a thing of the past. The king, Zahir Shah, was away in Italy. In absence, his cousin Daoud Khan had ended the king's forty-yeat reign witha bloodless coup"(Hosseini 36). In Shah's place was a president. This was a major power shift in Afghan. -
Amir plays a trick on Hassan
Amir was a lot smarter than Hassan and, "one day, in July 1973, [he] played another little trick on Hassan. Hassan, of course, was oblivious to this"(Hosseini 30). Amir felt superior and powerful because he could trick Hassan so easily. Despite their relationship being so close, Amir would always be better than Hassan because of his social class and the benifits it provided him, like a good education. -
Hassan's special birthday present
On Hassan's birthday, Baba called him into his office and said,"meet you birthday present [...] Dr. Kumar is a plastic surgeon"(Hosseini 45). Baba had asked Dr. Kumar to fix Hassan's cleft lip. Hassan's deformed lip was a clear symbol of his social class and showed that he did not have the money to get it fixed. -
Hassan's Rape
Amir tells us, "I became what I am today at the age if twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975"(Hosseini 1). Amir is reffering to the moment he witnessed Hassan being raped. This event haunted Amir for the rest of his life. -
The overthrow of the communist
Amir expalins how at the time he did not realize how major the power shift was and that, "the official end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup d'etat"(Hosseini 36). The government had changed into a republic and had a big influence on the live of the afghanistans. -
The Russians in Kabul
Amir recals how, "the Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting"(Hosseini 36). Amir and Hassan grew up in the middle of a very violent time in Afghan, and were exposed and corrupted at an early age. -
soviet troops parachuted
The prologoned invasion started when, "the first soviet troops parachuted into Kabul on Dec. 27,1979 to assist Babrak Karmal, who had become president in a coup within the Afghan Communist leadership. Moscow insited that the troops came in response to a plea for help from a legitamatley constitued Karmal Government. .....[but really] the soviet engineered the coup as a pretext to replace Hafizullah Amin, the Afhgan leader, who lost their trust"((Afghanistan- An Overview)). -
Baba gives the house to Rahim
Amir explains how, "Baba had 'sold' [his] house to Rahim Khan shortly before he and I fled Kabul"(Hoseeini 199). Rahim took care of the house, and eventually Hassan and his family moved in too. Baba assumed that Afghan's troubles were temporary and that he would return to Kabul soon. -
the war in Kabul
After the invasion,the, "Soviet stayed in the country for more than 9 years, ... cost them roughly 15,000 lives and undisclosd billons of rubles, while undermining the cherished image of an invincible Soviet Army"(Afghanistan- An Overview). -
soviet leaves
After much discussion and an intervention from the UN, "the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan"(Afghanistan-An Overview). The Soviet troops were in Afghan for more than 9 years, and left it completley destroyed . -
Kabul is split
Rahim explains to Amir that, "between 1992 and 1996, different factions claimed different parts of Kabul"(Hosseini 199). Kabul was divided and it was practically impossible to travel between neighborhoods. -
Pakistani funnel supplies
The Pakistani supported the Taliban by providing,"arms, money, and supplies to Mullah Omar's men as well as military advisores to help guide them in battle"(Afghanistan-An Overview). Without the Pakistani's support, the Taliban could have diminished. -
power divided
After the soviet union forces left, "power was anarchially divided among competing warlords adn individual fiefdoms"(Afghanistan- An Overview). Everybody was fighting for power, but only one group could gain control. -
Mullah Omar
After Omar's attack, he had created a movement with,"12,000 follower and was rolling up the warlords to the north and east. With his promise of restoring th ecentrality of Islam to daily life"(Afghanistan-An Overview). In a corrupt country, this movement became very popular and gave the people hope. -
Taliban provide for Bin laden
The Taliban had control of Afghanistan and inaddition was,"providing a haven for Mr. Bin Laden"(Afghanistan-An Overview). Despite bribes and ultimatems given to them, the Taliban were able to protect Bin Laden. -
Amir visits Rahim
In June of 2001, Amir found out that, "Rahim Khan [was] very sick,"(Hoseeini 191) and that he would have to go to Pakistan. Amir's trip to Pakistan not only ended up being benifitial to Rahim, but also to Amir. Amir was able to atone fot his actions towards Hassan and have some peace. -
9-11
One of the most devastating events in in history is the,"attack on the world trade center in New York" Afghanistan-an overview). Many lives were killed and effected by this attack. Since this day the US hasnot had a good relationship with Afghan. -
Hamid KArzai
After the "remants of alqueda and the taliban"(Afghanistan-An Overview) retreated, "Hamid KArzai, a supporter and realtive of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king of Afhganistan, was named chairman of an interi government that replace the defeated taliban...."(Afghanistan-An Overview). -
Harmid takes office
Harmid Karzai later,"took office as interim president... hoped to secure peace for Afhganistan and win the country much-neeeded international aid" (Afghanistan- An Overview). Mr. Karzai was very well liked, but eventually his country blamed him for the lack of economic progress. -
after 9-11 The Ultimatum
After 9-11, "President George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule"(Afghanistan- An Overview). They took action and were able to kick out the Taliban from major cities. The Taliban were forced to retreat into the mountains.