Afghanistan Emerges from the Mists of History

The story of Afghanistan in the nineteenth century is influenced by the convergence of two disparate, and often conflicting, plot lines – the attempt by Britain to retain and strengthen its empire, and the rise of Russia. For the lands sandwiched ominously between these northern empires and their jealously pursued southern prizes of Persia and India, this often meant trouble. Forebodingly, in the 1800s Afghanistan shared borders with both India and Persia, while a newly confident Russia loomed above it like a storm cloud. Afghanistan was, unsurprisingly, to become embroiled in a competitive jostle between Britain and Russia, referred to by the British as the ‘Great Game’. In Afghanistan this played out at first as a gentlemanly and somewhat restrained attempt by both powers to win over the Emir, Dost Mohammad Khan, but eventually descended into conflict.