Afghanistan

Afghanistan in 1993 - click to enlarge the image.

Locations

• Cities, towns and villages in Afghanistan

Wars involving British India

• 1st Afghan War - 1839-42
• 2nd Afghan War - 1878-80
• 3rd Afghan War - 1919

External links

Encyclopedia entries

• History of Afghanistan Wikipedia
• European influence in Afghanistan Wikipedia

Archives

• The Library of Congress Afghanistan Project. World Digital Library. Click on "Narrow results", top left hand side of webpage, to filter by various criteria, or the criteria may be displayed.
• Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Catalogue to 1998. Online books to download, by year of being digitised.

• Historical maps from the University of Texas Austin, including some relating to the First and Second Afghan Wars

• An article Historical Sources for Afghanistan In the British Library, 2005 by Richard Scott Morel, page 26 of this pdf link

• Phototheca Afghanica Historical Images
 of Afghanistan. A project of Foundation Bibliotheca Afghanica, CH-4416 Bubendorf.

Historical books online

• Online books from The Library of Congress Afghanistan Project World Digital Library. Also include publications in respect of the surrounding countries.
• Online books to download from Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, by year of publication.
• PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset includes a category Books: Afghanistan, listed by year of publication, some of which are linked below.
• Gazetteers
  • Gazetteer of the Countries Adjacent to India on the Northwest including Sinde Afghanistan Beloochistan The Punjab and the Neighbouring States by Edward Thornton, 1844 Volume 1, A-K, Volume 2, L-Z, together with an Appendix containing 'Routes' and an Index (A-Z) Google Books
  • Gazetteer of Afghanistan Part 1 Badakhshan 1914 5th edition by General Staff India. Note catalogued as Badakshan. Archive.org.
  • Historical and political gazetteer of Afghanistan. Updated editions 1972-1985 of Gazetteer of Afghanistan, compiled 1914. Edited by Ludwig W Adamec.

  Volume 1 Badakhshan Province and Northeastern Afghanistan 1972

  Volume 2 Farah and Southwestern Afghanistan 1973

  Volume 3 Herat and Northwestern Afghanistan 1975

  Volume 4 Mazar-I-Sharif and North-Central Afghanistan 1979

  Volume 5 Kandahar and South-Central Afghanistan 1980

  Volume 6 Kabul and Southeastern Afghanistan 1985

• History of Afghanistan : from the earliest period to the outbreak of the war of 1878 by Colonel G B Malleson 1878. Archive.org
• Afghanistan and the Afghans: being a brief review of the history of the country, and account of its people, with a special reference to the present crisis and war with the Amir Sher Ali Khan by H W Bellew 1879 Archive.org
• Afghanistan from Darius to Amanullah (catalogued Amasullah) by Lt Gen. Sir George MacMunn 1929. Archive.org. Lacks map at end.
• A History of Afghanistan by Brig-Gen Sir Percy Sykes 1940. Volume I Volume II. Archive.org
• Afghanistan : a study of political developments in Central and Southern Asia by W K Fraser-Tytler, formerly of the Indian Army and the External Affairs Department of the Government Of India. 1962 reprint of 2nd edition 1953, first published 1950. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Afghanistan Affairs, 1871 Qatar Digital Library. British Library IOR/L/PS/5/268, ff 78-91, part of a larger document.

Search the Qatar Digital Library for other items.

Précis of the principal correspondence, &c., showing the policy and relations of the British Government toward Afghanistan, April 1872-May 1879 Calcutta : Printed at the Foreign Dept. Press, 1879. Variant Title: Afghanistan précis, 1872-1879. PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Afghanistan

Afghanistan (1881) No.1. Further Correspondence Relating to the Affairs of Afghanistan including the recognition of Sirdar Abdul Rahman Khan as Amir of Kabul Presented to both Houses of Parliament. HMSO 1881 Archive.org

A Precis on Afghan Affairs from February 1919 to September 1927 by R R Maconachie, Foreign and Political Department, Government of India. 1928. Archive.org

Precis on Afghan Affairs, Volume II: from the middle of 1927 to the end of 1936 by ADF Dundas, Foreign and Political Department , Government of India. 1938. Archive.org

Other official publications, not known to be available online: Memorandum on Afghanistan affairs. From AD 1700 by J Talboys Wheeler, Assistant Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department Calcutta: [Govt of India Foreign Dept] 1869. Available at the British Library IOR/L/PS/20/B10. Recent events in Afghanistan [1866-1868]. Continuation of Mr Wyllie's precis by H L Wynne, Under-Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department [Simla: Govt of India Foreign Dept, 1868]. BL IOR/L/PS/20/B11. Precis on Afghan affairs by Lt-Col C J Windham Calcutta: Govt of India, 1914 [May 1879 to November 1893] BL IOR/L/PS/20/B258

• "Papers Descriptive of the Countries on the North-West Frontier of India:-The Thurr, or Desert; Joodpoor and Jaysulmeer" by Alex. Burnes, an article from Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 4. 1834. With maps. Archive.org
• Travels into Bokhara; being the account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; also, Narrative of a voyage on the Indus, from the sea to Lahore, with presents from the king of Great Britain; performed under the orders of the supreme government of India, in the years 1831, 1832, and 1833 by Lieutenant Alexander Burnes 1834 Volume I, Volume II, Volume III Archive.org
• Journey to the North of India: Overland from England, Through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistan by Lieut. Arthur Conolly 1834. 2nd edition revised 1838 Volume I 1834, Volume II 1834; Volume I, 1838, Volume II 1838 Google Books
• Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, and the Panjab: including a Residence in Those Countries from 1826 to 1838 by Charles Masson 1842 Google Books Volume1, Volume 2, Volume 3

Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, the Panjab, and Kalât, During a Residence in Those Countries: To which is Added an Account of the Insurrection at Kalât, and a Memoir on Eastern Balochistan by Charles Masson 1844 Google Books Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4

• Central Asia Part II: A contribution towards the better knowledge of the topography, ethnology, resources, & history of Afghanistan complied (for political and military reference) by C.M. MacGregor. 1871 HathiTrust Digital Library. Also available PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset as a pdf download. If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Afghanistan.

Narrative of a journey through the province of Khorassan and on the N.W. Frontier of Afghanistan in 1875, by Colonel C.M. MacGregor. 1879. Volume I HathiTrust Digital Library Archive.org mirror version, originally from the Digital Library of India; Volume II HathiTrust Digital Library, Archive.org mirror version, originally from the Digital Library of India.

• Russian Advances in Asia Prepared at the Topographical and Statistical Department, War Office. (The first portion reprinted from a paper prepared by Colonel Cooke.) Great Britain. War Office. Intelligence Division. [London], 1873. British Library Digital. "For Official Circulation Only"
• Routes
  • Routes in Asia. Variant Title: Routes in Central Asia. Calcutta : Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1877-1878. "Compiled under the direction of Major General Fred. S. Roberts, C.B., V.C., Quarter Master General in India ...". Section 2. Routes in Afghanistan compiled ... by F.J.N. Mackenzie Google Books
  • 1890 Military Routes to the Indo-Afghan Frontier by Lessar (secret)] Notes: At head of title: Secret. "From Russian official "records" of geographical, topographical and statistical materials on Asia. Collected by the Military Scientific Committee of the Headquarters Staff, 1890. Translated for the Intelligence Division of the War Office". HMSO. Author: P. M. Lessar, (Pavel Mikhailovich) Pdf download, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.
  • 1893 Routes from Russian Territory toward Afghanistan and India - the Pamir line of Advance by Robertson (confidential). Full title: Routes from Russian Territory in Central Asia towards Afghanistan and India. Section 1, The Pamir line of advance compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General's Department in India by W.R. Robertson. 1893. Contents: pt. 1. Short military report on the Ferghana province, Kashgar, the Pamirs and Upper Oxus Afghan provinces ... - pt. 2. Includes all routes leading from the Chimkend Kuldja postal road to the Hindu Kush between the Dorah and the Karakorum Passes. Pdf download, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.
  • Routes in Afghanistan – South-East by General Staff 1912. Archive.org mirror version.

  1913 Index Map to Routes in S.E. Afghanistan by Quartermaster General, Pdf downloads, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

• Notes on Afghanistan and part of Baluchistan by Major H G Raverty, Bombay Native Infantry (Retired) 1880 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Archive.org mirror version 1888, originally from the Digital Library of India.
• India's Danger, and England's Duty with reference to Russia's Advance into the territory upon the borders of Afghanistan by Richard Russell 1885. PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download link does not display, locate under Books /Afghanistan. Archive.org mirror version.
• England and Russia face to face in Asia: travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission by Lieutenant Arthur Campbell Yate, Bombay Staff Corps 1887 Archive.org
• Northern Afghanistan or, Letters from the Afghan Boundary Commission by Major Charles Edward Yate, Bombay Staff Corps 1888 Archive.org
• 1893 The Military Geography of Afghanistan Part 1 Badakhshan by Barrow (secret)

1893 The Military Geography of Afghanistan Part 2 Afghan Turkistan by Barrow (secret)

1893 The Military Geography of Afghanistan Part 3 Herat by Barrow (secret)

1893 The Military Geography of Afghanistan Part 4 Kabul by Mason (secret)

1893 The Military Geography of Afghanistan Part 5 Farah and Kandahar by Elles (secret)

Pdf downloads, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror versions, Parts 1-5. Issued by the Intelligence Branch, Q.M.G.'s Department. Published Calcutta. Secret. Contents: pt. 1. Badakhshan by E.G. Barrow - pt. 2. Afghan Turkistan by E.G. Barrow - pt. 3. Herat by E.G. Barrow - pt. 4. Kabul by A.H. Mason - pt. 5. Farah and Kandahar by E.R. Elles.

• Lights & Shades of Hill Life in the Afghan and Hindu Highlands of the Punjab, a Contrast by F St J Gore 1895 Archive.org. With photographs by the author. Part I Kulu. Part II Kuram.
• Report on the proceedings of the Pamir Boundary Commission (1897) "Afghanistan: The Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha"
• A Short History of India and of the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899. Printed in London. Archive.org

India and the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899 Printed in New York. Volume I, Volume II. Includes a supplementary chapter in Volume II, but otherwise the text is probably the same.

• "The Russo- Afghan Boundary Commission", page 94 The Indian Borderland, 1880-1900 by Colonel Sir T. Hungerford Holdich, late of the Indian Survey Department 1901 Archive.org

India by Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich 1904 Archive.org

The Gates of India, being an Historical Narrative by Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich 1910

Political Frontiers and Boundary Making by Col. Sir Thomas H Holdich 1916

"Between the Tigris and the Indus" by Colonel Sir Thomas H Holdich The Geographical Review Volume IV September 1, 1917 Archive.org

• "Chapter XXVIII - Afghanistan" page 512, British documents on the origins of the war, 1898-1914, Volume IV: The Anglo-Russian Rapprochment, 1903-7 edited by G P Gooch and Harold Temperley 1929. Archive.org
• "Russian Railways towards India" by Colonel C E de la Poer Beresford Proceedings of the Central Asian Society December 1905 Archive.org
• The Imperial Gazetteer of India: Afghanistan And Nepal 1908 Archive.org mirror version, originally from the Digital Library of India. Contents: Afghanistan digital page 7, Nepal dp 10, Index dp 141. It is also available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.
• The Frontiers Of Baluchistan by G P Tate 1909. Full title: The Frontiers of Baluchistan : Travels on the Borders of Persia and Afghanistan [Seistan (Sistan) Arbitration Mission, 1903-1905]. Archive.org mirror version, originally from the Digital Library of India.
• Leaves from an Afghan Scrapbook: The Experiences of an English Official and his Wife in Kabul by Ernest and Annie Thornton 1910. Archive.org.
• An American Engineer in Afghanistan from the Letters and Notes of A C Jewett, edited by Marjorie Jewett Bell 1948. Archive.org, mirror from Pahar: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. A C Jewett was chief engineer of the Amir from 1911 to 1919 in charge of installing a hydroelectric plant for Kabul.
• Beyond Khyber Pass by Lowell Thomas. First published 1925. Some editions were titled Beyond Khyber Pass into Forbidden Afghanistan. Archive.org mirror version, originally from the Digital Library of India. Lowell Thomas (Wikipedia) American writer and broadcaster.
• Pedalling Through The Afghan Wilds. Being the Experiences of K.J. Kharas, R.D. Ghandhi, and R.D. Shroff 1935. Link to a pdf download Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.

Across The Highways Of The World by K J Kharas, R D Gandhi, R D Shroff. Second edition 1941, first published 1939. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

• Khyber Caravan: Through Kashmir, Waziristan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Northern India by Gordon Sinclair 1936. Archive.org. Also available PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download button does not display, locate in Books/Indian Subcontinent/1936.
• The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk 1992. Book File 1. Book File 2 Archive.org Lending Library. Published in the UK with title The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. “The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia… When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to twenty miles at some points.”

Tournament of Shadows : the Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac 1999. Archive.org Lending Library. Also available as a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download link does not display, locate under Books/Central Asia.

• The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire c. 1710-1780 by Jos J. L. Gommans 1995. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download link does not display locate in Books/Indian Subcontinent /1995; Sample pages Google Books
• Afghan Frontier : at the Crossroads of Conflict by Victoria Schofield 2010 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• View the FIBIS Google Books Library and click on the categories Afghanistan and Afghan Wars

Other

• Afghanistan Old Photosafghanistan-photos.com
• Andrew Grantham’s Railways of Afghanistan
• "Prayer Rugs of the Timuri and Their Neighbors" by Robert Pittenger 1994 briefly mentions the Afghan Border Commission, including a section in the endnotes. "In 1884-85, the Afghan Border Commission was sent to the area north of Herat to delineate the Afghan-Russian border. The staff included a number of British officers, especially surveyors and intelligence officers"
• Maps of Afghanistan wdl.org
  • Map: Letts's Bird's Eye View of the Approaches to India [Afghanistan] catalogued c 1920. Click on the map to enlarge. Although catalogued c 1920s, the scarlet uniforms of the soldiers suggest an earlier date, and elsewhere this map is dated 1900.