
The Medes, an Iranian people, arrived around the 700s BCE and established dominance over most of ancient Afghanistan, marking an early presence of Iranian tribes in the region.[4] As one of the first tribes to establish an empire on the Iranian plateau, the Medes had a significant influence and initially held sway over the Persians in the province of Fars to the south. Their control over parts of distant Afghanistan continued until the rise of Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire, signaling a shift in power dynamics in the area.