The making of modern Afghanistan
By: B.D. Hopkins.
Series: Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9780230554214
Subjects: East India Company -- History; Afghanistan -- History -- 19th century
Description: "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.
Notes: Based on the author's doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge.

Includes bibliographical references.