Abdur Rahman
also paid attention to technological advancement. He brought foreign
physicians, engineers (especially for mining), geologists, and printers
to Afghanistan. He imported European machinery and encouraged the
establishment of small factories to manufacture soap, candles, and
leather goods. He sought European technical advice on communications,
transport, and irrigation. Nonetheless, despite these sweeping internal
policies, Abdur Rahman's foreign policy was completely in foreign hands.
The first important frontier dispute was the Panjdeh crisis of 1885,
precipitated by Russian encroachment into Central Asia. Having seized
the Merv (now Mary) Oasis by 1884, Russian forces were directly adjacent
to Afghanistan. Claims to the Panjdeh Oasis were in debate, with the
Russians keen to take over all the region's Turkoman domains. After
battling Afghan forces in the spring of 1885, the Russians seized the
oasis. Russian and British troops were quickly alerted, but the two
powers reached a compromise; Russia was in possession of the oasis, and
Britain believed it could keep the Russians from advancing any farther.
Without an Afghan say in the matter, the Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary
Commission agreed the Russians would relinquish the farthest territory
captured in their advance but retain Panjdeh. This agreement on these
border sections delineated for Afghanistan a permanent northern frontier
at the Amu Darya but also the loss of much territory, especially around
Panjdeh.
The second section of Afghan border demarcated during Abdur Rahman's
reign was in the Wakhan Corridor. The British insisted Abdur Rahman
accept sovereignty over this remote region where unruly Kirghiz held
sway, he had no choice but to accept Britain's compromise. In 1895 and
1896 another Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission agreed on the
frontier boundary to the far northeast of Afghanistan, which bordered
Chinese territory (although the Chinese did not formally accept this as
on a boundary between the two countries until 1964.)
For Abdur Rahman, delineating the boundary with India (through the
Pashtun area) was far more significant, and it was during his reign that
the Durand Line was drawn. Under pressure, Abdur Rahman agreed in 1893
to accept a mission headed by the British Indian foreign secretary, Sir
Mortimer Durand, to define the limits of British and Afghan control in
the Pashtun territories. Boundary limits were agreed on by Durand and
Abdur Rahman before the end of 1893, but there is some question about
the degree to which Abdur Rahman willingly ceded certain regions. There
were indications that he regarded the Durand Line as a delimitation of
separate areas of political responsibility, not a permanent
international frontier, and that he did not explicitly cede control over
certain parts (such as Kurram and Chitral) that were already in British
control under the Treaty of Gandamak.
The Durand Line cut through both tribes and villages and bore little
relation to the realities of topography, demography, or even military
strategy. The line laid the foundation, not for peace between the border
regions, but for heated disagreement between the governments of
Afghanistan and British India, and later, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The clearest manifestation that Abdur Rahman's had established
control in Afghanistan was the peaceful successor of his eldest son,
Habibullah, to the throne on his father's death in October 1901.
Although Abdur Rahman had fathered many children, he groomed Habibullah
to succeed him, and he made it difficult for his other sons to contest
the succession by keeping power from them and sequestering them in Kabul
under his control.THE REIGN OF KING HABIBULLAH,
1901-1919
Habibullah, Abdur
Rahman's eldest son but child of a slave mother, kept a close watch on
the palace intrigues revolving around his father's more distinguished
wife (a granddaughter of Dost Mohammad), who sought the throne for her
own son. Although made secure in his position as ruler by virtue of
support from the army which was created by his father, Habibullah was
not as domineering as Abdur Rahman. Consequently, the influence of
religious leaders as well as that of Mahmoud Beg Tarzi, a cousin of the
king, increased during his reign. Tarzi, a highly educated,
well-traveled poet and journalist, founded an Afghan nationalist
newspaper with Abdur Rahman's agreement, and until 1919 he used the
newspaper as a platform for rebutting clerical criticism of
Western-influenced changes in government and society, for espousing full
Afghan independence, and for other reforms. Tarzi's passionate Afghan
nationalism influenced a future generation of Asian reformers.
The
boundary with Iran was firmly delineated in 1904, replacing the
ambiguous line made by a British commission in 1872. Agreement could not
be reached, however, on sharing the waters of the Helmand River.
Like all foreign policy developments of this period affecting
Afghanistan, the conclusion of the "Great Game" between Russia and
Britain occurred without the Afghan ruler's participation. The 1907
Anglo-Russian Convention (Entente) not only divided the region into
separate areas of Russian and British influence but also established
foundations for Afghan neutrality. The convention provided for Russian
acquiescence that Afghanistan was now outside this sphere of influence,
and for Russia to consult directly with Britain on matters relating to
Russian-Afghan relations. Britain, for its part, would not occupy or
annex Afghan territory, or interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
During World War I, Afghanistan remained neutral despite pressure to
support Turkey when its sultan proclaimed his nation's participation in
what it considered a holy war. Habibullah did, however, entertain a
Turco-German mission in Kabul in 1915. After much procrastination, he
won an agreement from the Central Powers for a huge payment and arms
provision in exchange for attacking British India. But the crafty Afghan
ruler clearly viewed the war as an opportunity to play one side off
against the other, for he also offered the British to resist a Central
Powers from an attack on India in exchange for an end to British control
of Afghan foreign policy.
THE REIGN OF KING AMANULLAH, 1919-29
On
February 20, 1919, Habibullah was assassinated on a hunting trip. He had not declared
a succession, but left his third son, Amanullah, in charge in Kabul.
Because Amanullah controlled both the national treasury and the army, he
was well situated to seize power. Army support allowed Amanullah to
suppress other claims and imprison those relatives who would not swear
loyalty to him. Within a few months, the new amir had gained the
allegiance of most tribal leaders and established control over the
cities.
Third Anglo-Afghan War and Independence
Amanullah's ten years of reign initiated a period of dramatic change
in Afghanistan in both foreign and domestic politics. Starting in May
1919 when he won complete independence in the month-long Third
Anglo-Afghan War with Britain, Amanullah altered foreign policy in his
new relations with external powers and transformed domestic politics
with his social, political, and economic reforms. Although his reign
ended abruptly, he achieved some notable successes, and his efforts
failed as much due to the centripetal forces of tribal Afghanistan and
the machinations of Russia and Britain as to any political folly on his
part.
Amanullah came to power just as the entente between Russia and
Britain broke down following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Once again
Afghanistan provided a stage on which the great powers played out their
schemes against one another. Amanullah attacked the British in May 1919
in two thrusts, taking them by surprise. Afghan forces achieved success
in the early days of the war as Pashtun tribesmen on both sides of the
border joined forces with them.
The military skirmishes soon ended in a stalemate as the British
recovered from their initial surprise. Britain virtually dictated the
terms of the 1919 Rawalpindi Agreement, a temporary armistice that
provided, somewhat ambiguously, for Afghan self-determination in foreign
affairs. Before final negotiations were concluded in 1921, however,
Afghanistan had already begun to establish its own foreign policy,
including diplomatic relations with the new government in the Soviet
Union in 1919. During the 1920s, Afghanistan established diplomatic
relations with most major countries, and Amanullah became king in 1923.
The second round of Anglo-Afghan negotiations for final peace were
inconclusive. Both sides were prepared to agree on Afghan independence
in foreign affairs, as provided for in the previous agreement. The two
nations disagreed, however, on the issue that had plagued Anglo-Afghan
relations for decades and would continue to cause friction for many
more--authority over Pashtun tribes on both sides of the Durand Line.
The British refused to concede Afghan control over the tribes on the
British side of the line while the Afghans insisted on it. The Afghans
regarded the 1921 agreement as only an informal one.
The rivalry of the great powers in the region might have remained
subdued had it not been for the dramatic change in government in Moscow
brought about by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In their efforts to
placate Muslims within their borders, the new Soviet leaders were eager
to establish cordial relations with neighboring Muslim states. In the
case of Afghanistan, the Soviets could achieve a dual purpose: by
strengthening relations with the leadership in Kabul, they could also
threaten Britain, which was one of the Western states supporting
counterrevolution in the Soviet Union. In his attempts to unclench
British control of Afghan foreign policy, Amanullah sent an emissary to
Moscow in 1919; Lenin received the envoy warmly and responded by sending
a Soviet representative to Kabul to offer aid to Amanullah's government.
Throughout Amanullah's reign, Soviet-Afghan relations fluctuated
according Afghanistan's value to the Soviet leadership at a given time;
Afghanistan was either viewed as a tool for dealing with Soviet Muslim
minorities or for threatening the British. Whereas the Soviets sought
Amanullah's assistance in suppressing anti-Bolshevik elements in Central
Asia in return for help against the British, the Afghans were more
interested in regaining lands across the Amu Darya lost to Russia in the
nineteenth century. Afghan attempts to regain the oases of Merv and
Panjdeh were easily subdued by the Soviet Red Army.
In May 1921, the Afghans and the Soviets signed a Treaty of
Friendship, Afghanistan's first international agreement since gaining
full independence in 1919. The Soviets provided Amanullah with aid in
the form of cash, technology, and military equipment. Despite this,
Amanullah grew increasingly disillusioned with the Soviets, especially
as he witnessed the widening oppression of his fellow Muslims across the
border.
Anglo-Afghan relations soured over British fear of an Afghan-Soviet
friendship, especially with the introduction of a few Soviet planes into
Afghanistan. British unease increased when Amanullah maintained contacts
with Indian nationalists and gave them asylum in Kabul, and also when he
sought to stir up unrest among the Pashtun tribes across the border. The
British responded by refusing to address Amanullah as "Your Majesty,"
and imposing restrictions on the transit of goods through India.
