Afghanistan in the Process of Shrinking!
(Part 5)
The Mohammadzai Amirs:
In the First Afghan – British War, the British were able to easily occupy the provinces and the center of the country and brought the brave king into power under its protection and domination; But they did not know that keeping Afghanistan under occupation is not an easy job. The Mujahidin, whom were led by Minister Mohammad Akbar Khan, forced the occupying army to leave the country.
During the reign of Amir Shir Ali Khan and with the British intervention in favor of Qajar Iran, catastrophically another part of the homeland was separated from the main body of Afghanistan and our country was disintegrated again. At this time, a war between Afghanistan and Qajar Iran was about to start that by Britain intervened and divided Sistan ( which was a part of Afghanistan) between Iran and Afghanistan. After the death of Amir Shir Ali Khan, his son Yaqub Khan came to power and with the signing of the infamous Treaty of Gandomak under the British pressure, he was forced to cede another part of the country (areas: Khyber, Karam, Pish and Sialkot) (a group of Authors, 1398: 43-44).
At the same time, with the killing of the British representative in Kabul, the British army launched its second invasion to Afghanistan. Like their last time, they easily captured Kabul and the Kandahar. But the Mujahedeen nation did not just sit quietly against the occupation of the country, but waged, made an uprising, fought and announced jihad against the occupation and the invaders, and stood together. The people of the west and south of the country, especially the Mujahidin of Herat, under the leadership of Yaqub Khan, headed toward Kandahar to defend their country against the aggressors. The British prepared to fight the heroes of Herat in order to prevent the army of Sardar Mohammad Ayub Khan in Kashk Nakhod. But in that battle, the foreign army suffered heavy casualties and was defeated, and later they fled Kandahar.
During the reign of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, the Russian army invaded the Merv region to seize five villages and decompose it from the main body of the country and annexed to the territory of present-day Turkmenistan. At the time of the Durand Treaty, between Britain and Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, it was signed with the conditions that Amir had to surrender the areas of Sounds, Chitral, Bajaur, Wazirestan, Chaman, and some others.
The proclamation of Afghanistan’s independence during the reign of Amir Amanullah Khan forced Britain to invade Afghanistan for the third time; Because they could not tolerate an independent Afghanistan, and attacked the country from various directions, for instance, Kandahar, Paktia and Jalalabad, and after the defeat, Britain was forced to accept the independence of the country.
The British invaded Afghanistan three times during almost 81(eighty one) years, and each time they were forced to leave the country, after enduring a heavy defeat, of course. This victory did not happen with the wisdom of the rich and the political elites, but with the courage of the heroic and poor people of this country. The political elites throughout this period, often endangered and disintegrated their country with irrational behavior and internal divisions. The British, the Russians and the Qajars knew very well that they could not face this nation on the battlefield; But in the field of political relations and diplomacy, they have always been victorious against our elites.
The British intelligence, diplomacy, military and financial aid were absolutely effective in changing the views of many Afghan kings and keeping them obedient to the demands of their countries. Some of the self-proclaimed kings were willing to make any shameful deal with the enemies of the region in order to seize power and victory over their brothers, which the history of this soil has been the eye witness of this catastrophe. (Ghobar History, 1368, pages 509-836)
The Un-Successful Plan to Partition Afghanistan
