Afghanistan between Britain and Russia

In the 1870s Afghanistan became a contested area in the rivalry between Britain and Russia. When Amir Sher Ali refused in 1878 to receive a British mission, Britain began war (the Second Anglo-Afghan War). Under the 1879 Treaty of Gandamak Afghanistan placed its foreign policy under British control and a British residency opened in Kabul, but an uprising in the city and Afghan resistance prolonged the war; in 1880 Abdur Rahman was recognised as amir and the British withdrew their troops, though foreign relations stayed in British hands. Amir Abdur Rahman (1880–1901) centralised the country, introduced a single currency, standard measures and an administrative apparatus, kept strict order and followed a “closed” policy, limiting foreigners’ entry into the country. In 1887 the northern border with Russia was fixed and in 1893 a border agreement was made with British India along the Durand Line, which cut through lands inhabited by tribes. Under Amir Habibullah (1901–1919) the 1907 Anglo-Russian agreement recognised Afghanistan as a British sphere of interest. The “Young Afghans” led by Mahmud Tarzi campaigned for schools, technology and a constitution; their hopes were set on Habibullah’s son Amanullah.