The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan (642–870) began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja, al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand. The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 captured the city, Herat. By 667, the Afghan area was under invasion by the Arabs but in 683 Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan fought with resistance and completely routed the invading army which was led by the Governor of Seistan. The near-complete conversion of Afghans to Islam was during the period of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century with Kafiristan holding out until Emir Abdur Rahman Khan conquered and forcibly converted them in the 1890s. Ethnic Arabs who have settled