Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and PoliticsA fascinating chronicle of a nation's turbulent history. Reaching back to earliest times, Martin Ewans examines the historical evolution of one of today's most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism. After a succession of early dynasties and the emergence of an Afghan empire during the eighteenth century, the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fierce power struggle between Russia and Britain for supremacy in Afghanistan that was ended by the nation's proclamation of independence in 1919. A communist coup in the late 1970s overthrew the established regime and led to the invasion of Soviet troops in 1979. Roughly a decade later, the Soviet Union withdrew, condemning Afghanistan to a civil war that tore apart the nation's last remnants of religious, ethnic, and political unity. It was into this climate that the Taliban was born. Today, war-torn and economically destitute, Afghanistan faces unique challenges as it looks toward an uncertain future. Martin Ewans carefully weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at Afghanistan's prospects and the international resonances of the nation's immense task of total political and economic reconstruction. |
From inside the book
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... groups and more than fifty in all . While a majority can speak at least one of the two official languages , Pushtu ... group , who have been reckoned to account for about half of the nation . Writing early in the sixteenth century , for ...
... group and is related to Persian . Their tradition is that their descent can be traced from a common ancestor , Qais , a companion of the Prophet Mohammed , whose descendants ... Groups Kabul AFGHANISTAN Qandahar 5 The Land and the People.
... Groups Kabul AFGHANISTAN Qandahar Quetta BALUCHISTAN AREAS Peshawar FRONTIER PROVINCE KISTAN km 200 Islamabad Pashtun Pashtun - Farsiwan Farsiwan Almaq Turkoman Uzbek Uzbek - Tajik Tajik Hazara Baluch among them the Wazirs , the ...
... groups . The Qadiriyya order was founded in Baghdad in the twelfth century and in the nineteenth became influential among the Pushtoons , while the Naqshbandiyya order was founded in Bokhara in the fourteenth century and became ...
... group share the aggressive instincts of their Pushtoon compatriots . The Usbek language is one of the Turkic group , as is that of the other main peoples of northern Afghanistan , the Turkmen and the Khirgiz , both of whom are also ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
29 | |
The Rise of Dost Mohammed | 45 |
The First AngloAfghan War | 59 |
Dost Mohammed and Sher Ali | 71 |
The Second AngloAfghan War | 86 |
Abdur Rahman The Iron Amir | 98 |
King Zahir and Cautious Constitutionalism | 164 |
The Return of Daoud and the Saur Revolution | 176 |
Khalq Rule and Soviet Invasion | 189 |
Occupation and Resistance | 206 |
Humiliation and Withdrawal | 226 |
Enter the Taliban | 249 |
Oil Drugs and International Terrorism | 272 |
The Fall of the Taliban | 284 |
Habibullah and the Politics of Neutrality | 110 |
Amanullah and the Drive for Modernization | 118 |
The Rule of the Brothers | 136 |
The First Decade | 152 |
Notes | 301 |
Bibliography | 317 |