[3][4] Some countries use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.
[6] An announced revision to the constitution was planned for 2022,[7] but lack of assurances for governance that complies with the needs and rights of all Afghan people has resulted in no international recognition of the Taliban regime.
[5] According to Abdullah Athayi, an attorney and the program coordinator of Foreign/Security Policies and Democratization for the Heinrich Böll Foundation,[10] the Afghan law on nationality is based upon Sharia jurisprudence.
Per Athayi, because of stipulations in the Afghan Civil Code, children who are not legitimate or whose parents were not married under Islamic law cannot obtain either citizenship or nationality.
[11] Afghans are allowed to renounce their nationality, provided that they comply with the application process and confirm that they have no outstanding civic, financial, or penal obligations to the government of Afghanistan or private corporations or persons.
[21] Persons who have previously lost nationality may apply for repatriation, which may be granted at the discretion of the Commission charged with review for the Ministry of Justice and the President of Afghanistan.
[26][27] From at least the tenth century BC, governance of tribal people in the form of jirgas, public assemblies, were held to encourage participation in self-rule, though the area was constantly in conflict with foreign powers who asserted efforts to take over the state.
[30] The hierarchical structures of the Indo-Persian, Turko-Persian, and Turko-Mongolian conquerors ruled the major population and trade centers and left the less strategic areas to fend for themselves.
Legitimating rule typically meant that a religious proclamation was followed by issuance of currency[32] and the obligation of the ruler to protect the subjects from other invaders in exchange for their obedience and payment of taxes.
In the fourth century BC it was annexed by Alexander the Great, and within a hundred years became a province of the Maurya Empire, under the governance of Ashoka.
[37] Though the Mongols left troops in the region, they soon lost interest in it and the Il Khanate assigned the rule to a vassal state of Tajik people known as the Karts, who became dominant in Herat in the mid-thirteenth century.
[38] By the end of the thirteenth century, the Jagatai and Il Khanates were in conflict and the territory experienced growth under powerful warlords who carved out local domains from the former empire.
Britain, France, and Russia, each accelerated their plans of imperial conquest and in an effort to curb the expansion of their rivals, from 1809 Afghanistan became a buffer zone between the colonial powers.
[49][50][51] Internally, after a struggle between the Barakzai and Mohammadzai clans, the Durrani Empire collapsed in 1823 and the Emirate of Afghanistan was founded by Dost Mohammad Khan.
In exchange, Britain would provide protection and assistance, in the form of money and weapons to prevent aggression or challenge to the rule of Abdul Rahman Khan.
Princes were no longer allowed to head provincial governments, local autonomy was ended in favor of centralized rule, and the military was reformed as a regular army, rather than being organized as feudal levies.
Abdul Rahman Khan reconquered territory that had previously broken away and enforced a policy of expelling or killing nobles who refused to comply with his new type of administration.
[49] He declared that his rule stemmed from the divine right of kings rather than consensus of the jirga; brought the Waqf, religious endowments, under state authority and subjected mullahs and priests to examinations to verify their credential and control their power; and unified the Sharia court system.
[68] The war lasted for less than a month and resulted in a treaty granting the Afghans control of their foreign affairs, recognition of the Emirate's independence, and acknowledgement of the Durand Line as the border between Afghanistan and British India.
[72][73] It defined in Article 8, subjects of the kingdom as residents in the territory without regard to their religious affiliation and called for the drafting of a nationality law.
[75] In 1926, a royal decree changed the government from an emirate to a monarchy, but continued efforts at reform and secularization pushed the country into civil war.
[75] The law reaffirmed that married women followed the status of their husbands, but was modified to allow divorcées, as well as widows, who could prove the termination of their marriage to reacquire their original nationality.
In the midst of the turmoil caused by the Soviet withdrawal, and the civil conflict which began in 1989, the constitution was amended in 1990, but failed to gain public support.
[87][90] That month, Peshawar Accord was drafted in an attempt to draw an end to the hostilities and provide stability through the creation of an interim government for the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
[94] Though it failed to gain international recognition, the Taliban established an administrative structure and issued policy decrees based upon religious law.
[9] Of particular concern to the international community are the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and girls, and religious and ethnic minorities under Taliban policies.