Durrand Conference

[randolph85]

i dont think the durand line was a very big deal back then, contrary to its importance today. this agreement was signed in a time when the notion of a nation state was unfamiliar to most people. today we see it as the state of afghanistan signing away a large part of its territory to a foreign entity, but back then it was just giving away guarantee of sovereignty over a piece of land that wasnt really under afghan control to begin with for other guarantees. at this time, many parts of afghanistan as we know it wasnt really under control of the state. the decades before abdur rahman khan were probably the most fragmented times in afghanistans history since 1747.

if u read rahmans autobiography, he barely mentions the durand agreement. although he does mention the british wanted to seperate kandahar from afghanistan into its own state, but rahman declined because in his own words he says kandahar is the heart of afg, or something like that.

[roadrunner]

i dont think the durand line was a very big deal back then, contrary to its importance today. this agreement was signed in a time when the notion of a nation state was unfamiliar to most people. today we see it as the state of afghanistan signing away a large part of its territory to a foreign entity, but back then it was just giving away guarantee of sovereignty over a piece of land that wasnt really under afghan control to begin with for other guarantees. at this time, many parts of afghanistan as we know it wasnt really under control of the state. the decades before abdur rahman khan were probably the most fragmented times in afghanistans history since 1747.

if u read rahmans autobiography, he barely mentions the durand agreement. although he does mention the british wanted to seperate kandahar from afghanistan into its own state, but rahman declined because in his own words he says kandahar is the heart of afg, or something like that.

No country is really a nation state. Afghanistan was a nation since 1747 though. I'm sure Abdur Rehman knew what Afghanistan's borders were in 1893.

Why would Abdur Rehman want to create a border dividing the same people, if it was not due to coercion?

[randolph85]

No country is really a nation state. Afghanistan was a nation since 1747 though. I'm sure Abdur Rehman knew what Afghanistan's borders were in 1893.

Why would Abdur Rehman want to create a border dividing the same people, if it was not due to coercion?

well of course it was due to coercion, as someone who agrees to cede claim over a large territory to another party obviously is the weaker of the 2.


the concept of afghanistan was alive and well since 1747 as a nation but i would hardly call it a state since that time. this was a political entity with changing borders which won some land and lost some land. nor would i call its neighbors states either. i see states as fixed entities with perminent or semi perminent borders and consistent leadership.

ethnic nationalism was not a large factor in those days, we are far more emotional about ours bonds today than people were back then. if only because we know what seperation has done to us since then. this was when persia was ruled by turks and hindustan by mughals and they still thrived.

abdur rahmans political and military hold on the lands east of the durand line were almost non existent prior to the signing of the agreement so unlike our modern perceptions, he didnt just sign away these lands, only his pride.