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(Photo : Zahid Mohammadi)

As a country, Afghanistan has one of the most complex stories. The Afghan people have been deeply affected by religion, politics and war. Although many have suffered incredible pain and loss, they continue to persevere in search of their dreams - hopeful that they can help to give the next generation a more fruitful and peaceful life.

For Zahid Mohammadi, Afghanistan is a place that he will always consider home. However, after years of hard work and building his digital marketing business from scratch, he was forced to move it to a place where it could not only survive, but thrive.

During his childhood, Mohammadi's family was barely scraping by. He recognized early on that education was his best hope for a bright future, and so he poured all of his efforts into his studies. When he received a scholarship to attend the University of Pune, he decided to complete his BA in Political Science. It was an opportunity that he could not afford to waste.

At the same time, with nobody supporting him during his studies, it was imperative for him to work as well. He was a very busy man but, as luck would have it, the position that he found actually sparked his own entrepreneurial spirit. Working with SP Technologies opened Zahid's mind to the concept of B2B, as it was something not really present in Afghanistan.

As he continued his studies, he felt it was important to gain broader knowledge of the B2B market. He was able to work with both Vsynergize and SM Technomine before graduating, diversifying his skills and networking with others in the industry. His time in India brought incredible growth and helped to set his sights clearly on his goals.

Upon returning to Afghanistan, Mohammadi had focus, determination and passion. On his own dime, he began to lay the groundwork of his business - Pivotal B2B. As one of the very first B2B companies in the country, they worked online to serve international media and technology customers. Thanks to his efforts and digital marketing expertise, Pivotal B2B generated over 900% of the initial capital invested in the first year alone.

Of course, the life of an entrepreneur is full of highs and lows, and the Covid-19 pandemic was a definite low for Zahid. Although the business already operated in the digital world with customers, moving his employees online and shifting all operations online was a huge challenge. The first three months were by far the most difficult but, thanks to Mohammadi's strong leadership and efficient communication, eventually things started to flow once again.

Business was busier than ever, and Zahid was finally able to reflect on his success. He was so proud to be in a position to give opportunity to other Afghan people - in particular for the youth. Furthermore, his digital media company was helping to boost the tech industry within the country, and to put Afghans in the global market by working online for top media and software companies. However, his times of challenge were not over yet.

Sadly, in August 2021, the circumstances in Afghanistan took a dramatic turn for the worst. After announcing plans at the end of 2020 to scale down their military presence, the US began to withdraw their troops in May 2021. As was expected, the Taliban saw this window of opportunity, and began to take action with what is now known as the 2021 Taliban Offensive. According to The New York Times, "In a lightning offensive, the Taliban swallowed dozens of cities in a matter of days." By August 15th, they had taken the capital city of Kabul, completely overthrowing the Afghan government.

With the Taliban quickly implementing massive societal and legal changes, operating as an Afghan business was no longer an option for Pivotal B2B Media. Being the smart business man that he is, Mohammadi decided to move the operations of his company to the US, where Pivotal B2B is now headquartered, with an active branch in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He was quickly reassured that this was the right move, as his knowledge and understanding of the industry started to grow immediately. Since relocating to the US, the company has successfully launched several new products, including their Demand Generation for Technology and Content Syndication. By having access to, and implementing, advanced marketing technologies they have seen a steady and significant increase in revenue. Pivotal is a new model of modern media company, with a data-driven approach and marketing services that accelerate purchasing and deepen engagement. They have worked with highly esteemed tech and media companies in both the US and Europe, such as Freshworks, Nextiva, Argyle Executive Forum, Microsoft, and Oracle.

In closing, Mohammadi explains that: "We're here to assist tech companies in locating their target audience, publishing their content, and creating efficient lead generation programs that can boost their RIO. Our top-funnel initiatives are tailored in a way that can help our tech partners raise brand recognition, build interest, and target the types of prospects who will eventually fill their sales pipeline. We evaluate our leads for quality and back them up with a quick replacement policy. To us, it's not just work - we take pride in the solutions we deliver."

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The Story Of Zahid Mohammadi: A Digital Marketing Expert Who Was Forced To Take His Business Out Of Afghanistan - Tech Times

Another deadly traffic accident occurred on the Jawzjan-Balkh highway when a car overturned in the Jawzjan province of northern Afghanistan, killing one person and injuring two more, according to local health officials.

According to the Director of the public relations office of Jawzjan provincial administration, Hamidullah Darzabi, this incident took place along the Jawzjan-Balkh highway in the Hadbakhshi region, where a Corolla-type car overturned and caused injuries and fatality.

The official stated that the car was traveling from Faryab to Balkh when the accident occurred.

According to the health officials, the injured were taken to the nearest hospital, Jawzjan Provincial Hospital, and the condition of one of the injured is said to be critical.

In a recent accident In Zabul province, in southern Afghanistan, flooding caused a passenger bus to tip over, resulting in the deaths of four persons and the injuries of forty-eight more.

The health officials said that three women and one man lost their lives while women and children were no exceptions in getting wounded as a result of the fatal accident.

In Afghanistan, drivers negligence has caused a significant number of fatalities, and in recent months, the number of traffic accidents involving driver error has increased.

In Afghanistan, drivers negligence has caused a significant number of fatalities, and in recent months, the number of traffic accidents involving driver error has increased.

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Vehicle Topples Over in Northern Afghanistan, Leaving Three Killed & Injured - The Khaama Press News Agency - The Khaama Press News Agency

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, Afghanistan has the third-largest refugee population and the regions largest displaced population after the Taliban took control, with 2.7 million refugees scattered across 98 countries.

Following Syrian and Venezuelan refugees, Afghanistan has the largest displaced population, displaced internally or forced across the border, per UNHCRs report.

Pakistan and Iran continue to shelter more than 1.3 million and 780,000 registered Afghan refugees, respectively and are host to the majority of Afghan refugees.

The UNHCR report quoted UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi saying, Afghanistans displacement crisis is one of the largest and most protracted in UNHCRs seven-decade history. Were now seeing a third generation of Afghan children born in exile.

This report indicates that in the year 2021 alone, 108,000 Afghans fled to Pakistan, 59,000 to Europe, 27,000 to Iran, and 6,000 fled to Asia and the Pacific.

A minimum of 24 million Afghans require humanitarian relief as a result of hunger, the countrys economic meltdown, natural disasters including floods, earthquakes, droughts and famine, a lack of development aid, and the brutally cold winters.

Afghans and their host communities capacity for resilience is being tested to the breaking point as the humanitarian crisis persists.

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With 'Third Generation of Afghan Children Born in Exile'; Afghanistan Becomes the Third-Largest Displaced Population - The Khaama Press News Agency -...

According to local Taliban officials in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, a father tortured and killed his six-year-old child.

The Talibans director of the Information and Culture Department in Helmand province, Hafiz Rashid Helmandi, stated that the child succumbed on Tuesday, July 26, under the fathers torture in the village of Qala Naw in the Khanashin district.

Taliban officials claimed that Siddiqullah, a man, occasionally tortured his children and that he had also allegedly killed another of his sons.

The offender has been detained and will be charged with the crime and put on trial, he continued.

With a significant increase in family violence and personal enmity, reports of domestic violence leading to homicides have soared in number.

Only about a month ago, a man killed nine members of his family including his pregnant wife and four children, in southwestern Afghanistan.

In addition, according to provincial Taliban officials in the province of Faryab, in northern Afghanistan, recently, a pregnant woman was fatally stabbed by her husband in Maimana.

Moreover, a man in the same province of Helmand used a knife to behead both his wife and their three-month-old infant.

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Child, 6, Tortured to Death by Father in Southern Afghanistan - The Khaama Press News Agency - The Khaama Press News Agency

The peoples that were under the influence of or ruled by the Hindu Sahi dynasty belonged to the territories of Kabulistan, Gandhara and parts of Northern Punjab. Kabulistan was what is currently known as the province of Kabul in present-day Afghanistan. Gandhara is the ancient name for the country that includes the valley of Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan. The parts of Punjab that were under Sahi influence are now a part of Punjab that currently belongs to Pakistan.

One country that was never conquered by the Sahis but was to play a big part in their history was Zabulistan. Zabulistan included the areas of modern-day Zabul and Ghazni provinces, located now in present-day Afghanistan.

The history of these lands is the stories of men and women that were destined to rule these lands, if not in their own name, then in the name of more powerful kings, these men were responsible for providing security, order and supporting local culture.

The history of these lands is a story of countless invasions, sometimes by generals and armies and at other times by the migration of whole tribes, migrating masses of men, women and children. The history of these lands is also one of competing religions, first Hinduism and then Buddhism. It is here that Buddhism, a native of India thrived, prospered and spread to other parts of the world. Then, after the decline of Buddhism, there was a resurgence of Hinduism under the Hindu Sahis before the arrival of Islam.

Though the history of these lands is ancient, for me, a good starting point would be a quick background and summary of the history of the lands before the Hindu Sahis. I choose to begin with the most famous of the conquerors of these lands, another childhood hero of mine, the great conqueror, Alexander.

A young Alexander the Great succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20 in 336 BCE. Alexander commenced a great campaign to conquer the territories of the Persian empires. He began with Asia Minor, across the sea from Greece, continuing to campaign through the Levant and Syria, then west until he took Egypt. After this conquest he marched to the east and took the provinces of Assyria and Babylonia. After defeating the Persian king Darius III in the battle of Guagamela in 331 BCE, the whole of Persiaand the East fell to him.

Alexander then campaigned in central Asia, founding new cities, all named Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate (The Furthest) in modern-day Tajikistan. The campaign took Alexander through Media, Parthia, Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana, Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan) and Scythia.

He then turned to the Indian subcontinent. He invited the chieftains of the former satrapy of Gandhara to submit to his authority. The ruler of Taxila complied, but other chieftains of the hill tribes refused to submit.

Alexander himself campaigned in the Kunar Valley (Afghanistan), the Panjkora Valley in Upper Dir (modern-day Pakistan) and the Swat and Buner valleys.

Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won the epic battle of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) in 326 BCE against King Porus, who ruled a region lying between the Jhelum and the Chenab. East of Porus kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the Nanda Empire of Magadha. The struggle with Porus had an impact on the courage of the Macedonians. Exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexanders army mutinied at the Hyphasis River (Beas) and refused to march further east.

Reluctantly, Alexander agreed and turned south, marching along the Indus. Most of the army marched with General Craterus into Iran. Alexanders admiral, Nearchus, took a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf while he led the rest back to Persia through the more difficult southern route, along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran.

When Alexander died, his son was still an infant. His generals and former companions wanted a bigger say in how the territories would be divided. This, inevitably, led to a civil war. The fate of the empire was decided at the Battle of Gaza in 312 BCE. When the spoils were divided, a young officer named Seleucus managed to obtain Persia and the east as his share, with his capital at Babylon.

Seleucus Nicator (358281 BCE) had been successful in his military career. He was reputed to have fought with distinction, though he had only fought in a junior role under Alexander and was not considered one of his close companions. By 302 BCE he had established his authority over the territories Alexander had conquered all the way up until the Jaxartes (modern-day Syr Arya river in Central Asia).

He was known to the Greeks as Sandracottus and was said to have met Alexander while the latter was in India in 326325 BCE. Under the guidance of his wily preceptor, Vishnugupta, better known as Chanakya or Kautilya, Chandragupta attacked the Macedonian garrison in the Indus Basin after the death of Alexander. After havingexterminated and overthrown the Nanda dynasty, he took the throne of Pataliputra (modern-day Patna).

Seleucus now set his designs to take back these territories in India. He marched against Chandragupta with the intention of attacking him, but he later reasoned against this and negotiated a treaty in 302 BCE. It is more likely that the Greeks were defeated as the subsequent treaty was quite one-sided, favouring the Indians. This treaty led to peace and terms that included a matrimonial alliance between the two kings.

Some believe that this meant Chandragupta marrying the daughter of Seleucus. Others interpret it to mean that the treaty may have recognised marriages between the subjects of the two kingdoms. Whether the marriage did take place or not, we do not read of the Mauryans and Greeks in conflict after this. The treaty also recognised Mauryan suzerainty over Paropamisadae and Arachosia. What the Greeks received in return were 500 elephants and a large amount of gold.

The elephants obtained from the Indian king were a valuable weapon that Seleucus could now use in his continued wars against the remaining successors.

The improved relations allowed Seleucus to send an envoy called Megasthenes to the court of the Mauryas in Pataliputra. Megasthenes subsequently became a great source of information for the history of India.

Asoka expanded the Mauryan empire to its greatest extent. It included modern-day Afghanistan in the west and stretched all the way east to include what is now Bangladesh. In fact, for one of the few times in Indias history, nearly the whole of the subcontinent of India was united as one political entity (excluding parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala). The capital continued to be Pataliputra, but Asoka maintained provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.

Excerpted with permission from Forgotten Kings: The Story of the Hindu Sahi Dynasty, Changez Jan, Simon & Schuster India,

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This book recounts the near-forgotten tale of the Hindu Sahi kingdom in present day Afghanistan - Scroll.in