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This work is a chronological account of the struggle between the Afghan Amirs of Kabul and the Manghit Dynasty of Bukhara for Balkh province (wilayat) during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Drawing extensively on India Office Records, Persian and native oral sources, the book provides a unique insight into an important, but little-studied Central Asian region. Structured around the history of Maimana's Mingid dynasty, the book details the various military campaigns, whilst also examining critically Britain and Russia's role in the 'Afghanisation' of Balkh during the period of the 'Great Game'. The work is especially significant to historians since it questions conventional perceptions of Central Asia during the era of European imperialism. It examines too Balkh's social and economic situation. It includes numerous maps, charts, photographs and dynastic charts.
The First Anglo-Afghan War began in early 1839 when the British undertook an invasion of Afghanistan from India with the aim of overthrowing the Afghan ruler, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan, and replacing him with the supposedly pro-British former ruler, Shah Shujaʻ. The British were at first successful. They installed Shah Shujaʻ as ruler in Jalalabad and forced Dost Mohammad to flee the country. But in 1841 Dost Mohammad returned to Afghanistan to lead an uprising against the invaders and Shah Shujaʻ. In one of the most disastrous defeats in British military history, in January 1842 an Anglo-Indian force of 4,500 men and thousands of followers was routed by Afghan tribesmen. The British then s...
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