The Making of Modern Afghanistan (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series)

Examines the evolution of the modern Afghan state in the shadow of Britain’s imperial presence in South Asia during the first half of the nineteenth century, and challenges the staid assumptions that the Afghans were little more than pawns in a larger Anglo-Russian imperial rivalry known as the ‘Great Game’. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Note on Transliteration......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 List of Maps......Page 12 I. Afghanistan imagined......Page 22 II. Situating Afghanistan......Page 23 III. The argument......Page 27 I. Introduction......Page 32 II. British imaginings......Page 34 III. Elphinstone’s legacy......Page 44 IV. Conclusion......Page 53 I. Introduction......Page 55 II. The ‘Great Game’......Page 56 III. The Indus Scheme......Page 68 IV. British policy west of the Indus......Page 71 V. Conclusion......Page 80 I. Introduction......Page 82 II. The failure of British strategy......Page 83 III. The Punjab and the ‘military labour market’......Page 91 IV. The Afghan-Sikh conflict......Page 96 V. Conclusion......Page 99 I. Introduction......Page 103 II. The contours of Afghanistan’s social ecology......Page 105 III. A tribal kingdom: The evolution of the Afghan proto-state......Page 108 IV. Afghanistan’s plundering polity model......Page 111 V. Afghanistan’s Islamic moral landscape......Page 119 VI. ‘Royalism’ in an egalitarian society......Page 123 VII. Conclusion......Page 128 I. Introduction......Page 131 II. The Afghan transit economy......Page 134 III. Exogenous factors affecting the Afghan economy......Page 144 IV. Conclusion......Page 154 I. Introduction......Page 157 II. Typology of caravan corridor cities......Page 158 III. Corridor cities of Central Asian caravan commerce......Page 160 IV. Conclusion......Page 180 I. The creation of ‘Afghanistan’......Page 184 II. The argument revisited......Page 186 III. Implications......Page 188 IV. The colonial legacy......Page 191 Epilogue......Page 195 Notes......Page 197 K......Page 249 Z......Page 250 Unpublished Sources......Page 251 Bibliography......Page 254 B......Page 270 D......Page 271 G......Page 272 J......Page 273 M......Page 274 N......Page 275 R......Page 276 S......Page 277 T......Page 278 Z......Page 279 "This book examines the evolution of the modern Afghan state in the shadow of Britain's imperial presence in South Asia during the first half of the nineteenth century. It challenges the staid assumptions that the Afghans were little more than pawns in a larger Anglo-Russian imperial rivalry known as the 'Great Came'. Instead, it argues that the way the East India Company related to the Afghan kingdom was definitional of both, and explains many of the unresolved issues central to the region today. The book considers the underlying causes of the failure of British policies and imagination with regard to Afghanistan and its consequences for the region and its inhabitants. In particular, it looks at the pressures shaping British strategic policies and vision beyond its northwest frontier. Rather than being fearful of the far-removed forces of the Tsar, they were more concerned with indigenous competitors for power on the sub-continent."--Jacket. "Through their copious published writings, missionaries conveyed their experiences and anxieties about people and cultures they encountered in a much-consumed strand of colonial discourse, that allowed the British public to imagine the remote countries they inhabited. Using research that draws on these writings from missionaries in southern Africa and India, Missionary Discourses of Difference is organised into three important themes of imperial and postcolonial scholarship and major missionary concern: family, sickness and violence. Each thematic section considers both how missionaries represented race, religion, gender and culture and how their thinking was shaped by anxieties about their own experiences. This two-pronged approach allows for a sustained interrogation of the interplay between self and other in missionary writing and probes the limits of inclusion beneath the missionary commitment to universalism."--Publisher's description This book examines the evolution of the modern Afghan state in the shadow of Britain2s imperial presence in South Asia during the first half of the nineteenth century. It challenges the staid assumptions that the Afghans were little more than pawns in a larger Anglo-Russian imperial rivalry known as the 1Great Game2. Instead, it argues the way the East India Company related to the Afghan kingdom was definitional of both, and explains many of the unresolved issues central to the region today. The book considers the underlying causes of the failure of British policies and imagination with regards to Afghanistan and its consequences for the region and its inhabitants. In particular, it looks at the pressures shaping British strategic policies and vision beyond its north west frontier. Rather than being fearful of the far-removed forces of the Tsar, they were more concerned with indigenous competitors for power on the sub-continent Informal empire is a key mechanism of control that explains much of the configuration of the modern world as it is today. This book traces the broad and undeniable outline of westernization through elite formations around the world in the modern era. It explains why the world is western and how formal empire describes only the tip of the iceberg of British and American power. Barton examines how the imperial web of influence can justly be said to have revolutionized human thought and culture at every level and in every location. He concludes by warning that the open elites that characterized the Victorian age have given way to closed elites that manipulate the levers of the imperial web to the detriment of meaningful culture and human liberty This is the undisputed best introduction to the history of the world-wide pattern of British activity in the nineteenth century, embracing its expansive spirit as well as its formal territorial empire. The dynamics of this extraordinary enterprise are considered broadly: the high-political concerns of strategy and international geopolitics are analyzed, as well as the economic dimension, missionary activity, and racial attitudes, together with a wide range of cultural aspects, including sport and the pursuit of sexual opportunity. Nor is the personal contribution of some of the leading Victorian figures neglected "A new interpretation of imperialism and environmental change, and the anxieties imperialism generated through environmental transformation and interaction with unknown landscapes. Tying together South Asia and Australasia, this book demonstrates how environmental anxieties led to increasing state resource management, conservation, and urban reform."--Publisher's description The Idea Of An Aryan Race Became An Important Feature Of Imperial Culture In The 19th Century, Feeding Into Debates In Britain, Ireland, India, And The Pacific. This Study Traces The Emergence And Dissemination Of Aryanism Within The British Empire.