Sparks Like Stars: A Novel

As Sparks Like Stars explores, Afghan culture has absorbed the influences of several historic empires, including those of Persia, India, and Hellenistic Greece. Ai-Khanoum (which translates to Lady Moon) was a city in the northeast that thrived as part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom that emerged during the Hellenistic period following the conquest of Alexander the Great. The city was rediscovered by the Afghan king in 1961 and excavations unearthed a palace and several artifacts before work was halted by the Soviet-Afghan war. Under the Mughal Empire, which stretched across South Asia and lasted from 1526 to 1827, Kabul was a center of art and education. There were rich traditions in cloth-making, architecture, and literature.

In the modern era, Afghanistan has repeatedly been caught in conflicts between Western imperial powers. In the 19th century, Afghanistan came to the attention of new empires as the Russians supported Persian efforts to expand into the country, while the British wanted to control Afghanistan as a route into India. The British invaded in 1839 to set up the shah (king) of their choice but withdrew after a few years. They continued to grapple with the Russians for influence over the country, going so far as to draw the outlines of the country’s current borders.

In the mid-20th century, economic modernization was aided by the Soviet Union and the United States, the two world superpowers whose struggle for global hegemony was known as the Cold War. Under the reign of Mohammad Zahir Shah (1933-1973), Daoud Khan, who was prime minister between 1953 and 1963, invited aid from both the US and USSR to help strengthen the economy. He also promoted educational reforms and more freedoms for women. The regime was harshly repressive to dissidents, however, and after a quick succession of prime ministers, in 1973 Daoud Khan replaced his cousin, the Shah, in a bloodless coup and became president of the new Republic of Afghanistan.

Rival parties were dissatisfied with Daoud’s rule. In 1978, in another coup known as the Saur Revolution, supporters of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan attacked the palace in Kabul and killed Daoud Khan, his family, and his chief ministers. This is the coup the protagonist Sitara’s family dies in. The new government intended to set up Communist rule and pressed reforms by force, enacting a wave of mass executions that became known as the Red Terror. Many targets of the new regime were rural religious leaders, which sparked the organization of the mujahideen, a militia of Islamist resistance fighters. Revolts against the new government began in October 1978 and spread across the country, which prompted the Soviets to invade in December 1979. Communist rule limited economic development and agricultural resources. Because they opposed the USSR-backed Communists, the mujahideen resistance received military support from outside sources including Pakistan and the US, leading to a 10-year war.

After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the country fell into a round of civil wars that caused more devastation and displaced up to a third of the Afghan population. As many as 1.5 million people fled Kabul. A new government poised to take effect in 1992 was immediately challenged by different mujahideen groups, leading to further civil war. The economy of Afghanistan collapsed, leaving the population dependent on outside agencies and foreign groups for basic humanitarian needs.

An extremely conservative group calling themselves the Taliban gradually gained ground and effectively took over the government in 1996, installing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban limited public education, arts and culture, health care, and rights for women, and were unable to revive a prosperous economy. The country’s largest export became opium produced by growing poppies. In addition to imposing rules such as coverings for women in public, the Taliban destroyed cultural and religious icons that they did not deem Islamic, including the ancient statues of Buddha carved into the caves at Bamiyan. The Taliban gave refuge to Islamic fighters forced out of other countries, including Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the leader of the militant Islamic group al-Qaeda, who coordinated a series of terrorist attacks on the United States that took place on September 11, 2001.

After 9/11, the US launched attacks in Afghanistan to capture bin Laden, quell al-Qaeda, and disrupt the Taliban. The Taliban eventually relinquished control over the government, and a new democratic republic was established under President Hamad Karzai. At the time the novel is set, 2008, decades of war had left deep marks on Afghanistan, though reconstruction projects were underway. The Taliban continued their resistance, waging efforts to reclaim control of parts of Afghanistan, this time calling themselves ISIS or fighters for an Islamic state. In 2021, in an attempt to end the violence, US President Joe Biden announced that the US would withdraw troops from the country. The Taliban swiftly retook control, reinstituting an Islamic Emirate, this time promising more inclusion of ethnic minorities and women.