The history of writing in Afghanistan starts in the pre-Islamic era with the earliest forms of literature being traced back to the Zoroastrian texts of the Avesta peoples written in their language, roughly around 5th century BCE.

After the Islamic conquest around the 7th century, Arabic became the prevalent language, however, Persian influence was also a major factor, producing one of the most famous Persian poets, known as Rudaki, considered “the father of Persian poetry.”

Jumping to the modern period, Pashto is one of the major languages in Afghanistan, this period starting around the 18th century produced significant literary works of Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba who wrote about things like love and philosophy. 

Like many Middle Eastern and Asian countries, Afghanistan’s modern history is mired by foreign influence, colonialism, and war. This has produced a plethora of works tackling war, genocide, politics, and many other series topics in both fiction and nonfiction.