The Emirate of Afghanistan (1823-1926) was an emirate in Central Asia centered around Kabul. Located between the Russian Empire and British India (part of the United Kingdom), the country was subject to immense pressure from both sides during the mid-1800s Great Game.
History[]
Location of Afghanistan, 1840
The Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1823 by Dost Mohammed Khan after the Durrani Empire was overthrown by the brothers of Wazir Fateh Khan, who was rewarded by the Durrani government for defeating the Sikhs alongside Mohammed at the 1813 Battle of Attock alongside Mohammed by being killed. In 1823, Dost received Ghazni as his share of the split-up Durrani empire by Khan's brothers as payment for his role in the revolution against Mahmud Shah Durrani, and in 1826 Dost added the richest province of Kabul to his emirate.
Afghanistan started out in a poor position as, with the Age of Imperialism ongoing, other powers (namely the Russian Empire, the United Kingdom, and Qing Dynasty) competed over control of Asia. Russia came in from the north and conquered Bukhara, Khiva, and Kokand from the 1850s to 1870s, while the British India colony expanded northwards against the Sikh Empire and other Indian states. China vamped up its army, which was the strongest in the world at the time, although they later fell into the sphere of Britain and effectively became a puppet. Afghanistan was therefore caught in between two-and-a-half/three powers that were warring for influence.
Afghanistan became hostile to Britain after the Sikhs conquered Peshawar, their second capital, and the British refused to send aid to them to help them recapture it. Tensions grew as Afghanistan asked for help from Russia, and the British, fearing that Russia would take Afghanistan into their sphere of influence, invaded Afghanistan in 1839. The British set their war goal as overthrowing Dost Mohammed and making Afghanistan a pro-British country. General John Keane defeated Hyder Khan's Afghan army at the Battle of Ghazni on 23 July 1839 and William Elphinstone occupied Kabul and captured Dost Mohammed, but as the British (4,500 troops and 12,000 civilians) left Kabul for Jalalabad following an Afghan revolt in the city, Akbar Khan and 30,000 Afghan troops massacred the British. Only one British soldier and a few Indian sepoys reached Jalalabad, with almost all of the civilians and troops dying of attrition or Afghan attacks. Despite this, the British defeated Akbar Khan at the Battle of Jellalabad on 13 April 1842, defending the city against ferocious Afghan attacks. The British made peace with Afghanistan shortly after, and Dost Mohammed remained emir until his death in 1863.
Afghanistan remained at peace until 1878, when Russia sent an uninvited diplomatic mission to Kabul to try to make Sher Ali Khan join their sphere of influence. The Afghans failed to keep them out, and the British demanded that they send a mission as well. Sher Ali threatened to stop the British mission if it was sent, and when it was dispatched, the Afghans turned it back at the Khyber Pass. As a result, the Second Anglo-Afghan War began. The British won at Maiwand and Kandahar in 1880, and they forced the Afghans to make peace. Britain was allowed to take over Afghanistan's foreign relations, and Russia was again thwarted.
Afghanistan had great relations with the British for 40 years, but after the 1901 death of British-friendly Abdur Rahman Khan, his successor Habibullah Khan sold his loyalty to whomever paid more: Britain or Russia. During World War I, the Afghans remained neutral, although many wanted to join the Ottoman Empire's jihad against the British, and they accepted a Turco-German mission in Kandahar. The Central Powers convinced Habibullah that Afghanistan was an independent nation and was not beholden to anyone, and Habibullah demanded representation at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 to look for British recognition of the independence of Afghanistan. However, he was shot while hunting in Kalagosh on 20 February 1919 before talks could begin, and a power struggle broke out. Amanullah Khan, Habibullah's third son, seized power and imprisoned his uncle Nasrullah Khan, but he had no way to placate his conservatives. In April 1919, hoping to appease the warmongers of Afghanistan and to take advantage of the Amritsar Massacre, he ordered an invasion of British India. The British won a tactical victory, and the Afghan-British India Border (Durand Line) was reaffirmed. Afghan independence, however, was guaranteed, and they had full sovereignty in foreign affairs. In 1926, Amanullah was made Padshah (King), an upgrade from Emir, and he founded the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
Culture[]
Population of Afghanistan in 1836
At the start of 1836, Afghanistan had a population of 874,610 people. 45.6% of these were Pashtuns, 40.9% of these were Tajiks, and 12.8% of these were Hazaras. The majority of the population adhered to Sunni Islam (89.3%), while the minority (mainly the Hazaras) adhered to the smaller Shia Islam sect (10.7%). Most of the population (63.3%) were farmers and the second-largest workforce was laborers (24.7%) - Afghanistan was an uncivilized country that relied on agriculture to drive its economy.
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