Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (RLE Iran D)


Book Description

In 1978 and 1979 revolutions in Afghanistan and Iran marked a shift in the balance of power in South West Asia and the world. Then, as now, the world is once more aware that tribalism is no anachronism in a struggle for political and cultural self-determination. This books provides historical and anthropological perspectives necessary to the eventual understanding of the events surrounding the revolutions.




Swat


Book Description

Extrait de la couverture : "The Pukhtun society of the Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, is at the crossroads of social transformation and change. The Mghan Yusafzai tribe, which migrated from Kabul more than five hundred years ago and settled in the Swat valley, has retained its particular tribal culture and characteristics to this day. It was during the last century that the culture of Yusufzai Pukhtuns, residing on this side of the Durand Line, began to be influenced by the regional historical and geo-political forces. From a rural tribal society, governed by the centuries old tribal code - Pukhtunwali - the Pukhtuns have been gradually urbanising, responding to the emerging socio-economic and historical changes. The transformation is not without its ramifications - social conflicts, breakdown of old tribal social structures and values, unplanned economic growth and its adverse effects on the natural resource base of the lush green valley, often compared with Switzerland for its scenic beauty. This book chronicles the process of urbanisation and change in the broader context, embracing the history, geography, agriculture and economics, demography and migration, culture and politics of the Swat valley. It analyses the impact of abolition of the traditional Wesh system of land distribution, merger of the State of Swat within the nation-state of Pakistan, the increasing influence of religious groups subsequent to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the advent and decline of the Taliban, the remittance economy and tourism, and the donor-funded development projects that have a bearing on the process of urbanisation. What emerges is an insightful picture of the contemporary Swat valley, leading to a better understanding of the complex forces that are transforming its tribal Pukhtun society."




The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, c. 1710-1780


Book Description

The Rise of The Indo-Afghan Empire, c. 1710-1780 deals with the magnificent world of Afghan nomads, horse-dealers and mercenaries bridging the frontiers between the old metropolitan centres of India, Iran and Central Asia. During the eighteenth century they succeeded in establishing a vigorous new system of Indo-Afghan states. In Central Asia, the Afghans created an imperial tradition on the basis of long-standing Perso-Islamic ideals. In India, along the caravan routes with Turkistan and Tibet, they carved out thriving principalities in association with military service and the breeding and trade in war-horses. By fully incorporating this Afghan ascendancy into the fabric of Islamic and world history the author challenges the widely held notion of a gloomy Afghan past.




Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World


Book Description

The first part of the long-awaited fourth volume of André Wink’s monumental Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World introduces a new perspective on the rise of the dynasty of the Great Mughals and the transition of the Indo-Islamic world from the medieval to the early modern centuries. Eschewing the conventional military and technological explanations, the book adopts an institutional explanation that emphasizes the Central and Inner Asian post-nomadic heritage of the dynasty and, in the context of persistent rivalry with the Indo-Afghans, its successful politics of incorporation and accommodation of Muslim and non-Muslim constituencies alike.




Mughal Warfare


Book Description

This work offers a survey of the military history of Mughal India during the age of imperial splendour from 1500 to 1700.




Afghanistan


Book Description

Traces the political history of Afghanistan from the sixteenth century to the present, looking at what has united the people as well as the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them.




Afghanistan's Islam


Book Description

"This book provides the first ever overview of the history and development of Islam in Afghanistan. It covers every era from the conversion of Afghanistan through the medieval and early modern periods to the present day. Based on primary sources in Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Urdu and Uzbek, its depth and scope of coverage is unrivalled by any existing publication on Afghanistan. As well as state-sponsored religion, the chapters cover such issues as the rise of Sufism, Sharia, women's religiosity, transnational Islamism and the Taliban. Islam has been one of the most influential social and political forces in Afghan history. Providing idioms and organizations for both anti-state and anti-foreign mobilization, Islam has proven to be a vital socio-political resource in modern Afghanistan. Even as it has been deployed as the national cement of a multi-ethnic 'Emirate' and then 'Islamic Republic,' Islam has been no less a destabilizing force in dividing Afghan society. Yet despite the universal scholarly recognition of the centrality of Islam to Afghan history, its developmental trajectories have received relatively little sustained attention outside monographs and essays devoted to particular moments or movements. To help develop a more comprehensive, comparative and developmental picture of Afghanistan's Islam from the eighth century to the present, this edited volume brings together specialists on different periods, regions and languages. Each chapter forms a case study 'snapshot' of the Islamic beliefs, practices, institutions and authorities of a particular time and place in Afghanistan"--Provided by publishe




Connecting Histories in Afghanistan


Book Description

Most histories of nineteenth-century Afghanistan argue that the country remained immune to the colonialism emanating from British India because, militarily, Afghan defenders were successful in keeping out British imperial invaders. However, despite these military victories, colonial influences still made their way into Afghanistan. Looking closely at commerce in and between Kabul, Peshawar, and Qandahar, this book reveals how local Afghan nomads and Indian bankers responded to state policies on trade. British colonial political emphasis on Kabul had significant commercial consequences both for the city itself and for the cities it displaced to become the capital of the emerging Afghan state. Focused on routing between three key markets, Connecting Histories in Afghanistan challenges the overtly political tone and Orientalist bias that characterize classic colonialism and much contemporary discussion of Afghanistan.




The Making of the Indo-Islamic World


Book Description

In a new accessible narrative, Andre Wink presents his major reinterpretation of the long-term history of India and the Indian Ocean region from the perspective of world history and geography. Situating the history of the Indianized territories of South Asia and Southeast Asia within the wider history of the Islamic world, he argues that the long-term development and transformation of Indo-Islamic history is best understood as the outcome of a major shift in the relationship between the sedentary peasant societies of the river plains, the nomads of the great Saharasian arid zone and the seafaring populations of the Indian Ocean. This revisionist work redraws the Asian past as the outcome of the fusion of these different types of settled and mobile societies, placing geography and environment at the centre of human history.