Debunking conventional narratives of Afghanistan as a perennial war zone or marginal frontier, Faiz Ahmed presents a vibrant account of the first Muslim-majority country to gain independence from the British Empire, form a fully sovereign government, and promulgate an original constitution after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Far from a landlocked wilderness, turn-of-the-twentieth-century Afghanistan was a magnet for itinerant scholars and emissaries shuttling between Ottoman and British imperial domains. Tracing Afghans’ longstanding but seldom examined scholastic ties to Istanbul, Damascus, and Baghdad, as well as greater Delhi and Lahore, Ahmed vividly describes how the Kabul court recruited jurists to craft a modern state within the interpretive traditions of Islamic law and ethics, or shariʿa, and international legal norms. Beginning with the first Ottoman mission to Kabul in 1877, and culminating with parallel independence struggles in Afghanistan, India, and Turkey after World War I, this rich narrative explores encounters between diverse streams of Muslim thought and politics—from Young Turk lawyers to Pashtun clerics; Ottoman Arab officers to British Raj bureaucrats; and the last caliphs to a remarkable dynasty of Afghan kings and queens. By unearthing a lost history behind Afghanistan’s independence and first constitution, Ahmed shows how debates today on Islam, governance, and the rule of law have deep roots in a beleaguered land. Based on research in six countries and as many languages, Afghanistan Rising rediscovers a time when Kabul stood proudly for anticolonial coalitions, self-determination, and contested visions of reform in the Global South and Islamicate world.

Analyzes the long-term impact of the fall of the Taliban not only on Afghanistan, but also on the South and West Asia regions.

History of Afghanistan from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878 is a political and military history of Afghanistan that was published in London in 1879, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80). The author, George Bruce Malleson, was a British army officer and military historian who had served in India and who wrote prolifically on the history of India and Afghanistan. The central theme of the book is the strategic importance to the British Empire of Afghanistan as a buffer against Russian expansion toward India. Malleson explains why Afghanistan, a mountainous "country of rocks and stones," has an importance "far beyond its territorial value." Following an opening chapter on the physical features of the country and the ethnic composition of its population, Malleson recounts the succession of dynasties and leaders through the centuries, from the Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186) to the reign of Dōst Moḥammad Khān (1826-39 and 1842-63). As the narrative approaches Malleson's own day, it becomes unabashedly nationalistic and partisan. The book argues for a forceful policy in which the protection of India against possible Russian threats should take precedence over the views of independence-minded Afghan rulers. Malleson criticizes the policy of Prime Minister William Gladstone and Thomas Baring, Earl of Northbrook, viceroy of India from 1872 to 1876, for attempting to pursue by diplomatic means agreements that would have prevented the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The work was translated into Pushto and published in Peshawar in 1930.

It's 2014. Afghanistan's biggest watershed since 2001, the year the war on terror began, is upon it. American forces are in themiddle of a pullout that is likely to result in a much smaller US military foorprint after this year. On the face of it, the stage is set for India-a regional power with global aspirations-to rise to the occasion, bank on its goodwill, and help rebuild the nation. But presented with a golden opportunity, India has been found wanting. This book examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy owards Afghanistan and argues that New Delhi has beenresponding to a strategic environment shaped by other actors, without developing an autonomous posture. By refusing to be proactive, India has lost the initiative and done some long-term damage to its vital interests, the least of which is gaining access to the energy-rich central Asian region while the biggest is to foil Pakistan and the Taliban's designs of once again rising to prominence in Afghanistan.The way in which India's foreign policy shapes up this year-or if it does at all-will determine the consequences for Indian security once Western forces depart. As Afghanistan braces for the most important year in its political history since 2001, India's Afghan Muddle sets the terms for the debate on why2014 is no less important for India as well.

This timely book examines the resurgence of the major civilizations of the Middle East, India, and China as they claim their historic places of power and prestige. This book explores the history, culture, religion, ethnic composition, and experience with the West of each of these world regions.