Published in Pakistan Today 21st April 2013
Aamir Riaz
In the
early twentieth century, the visionary poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal timely
criticized the Nation State phenomenon and said:
ان زندہ خداؤں میں بڑا سب سے وطن ہے
جو پیرہن ہے اس کا وہ مذہب کا کفن ہے
The first
sentence had prime importance as it deconstructed the myth of Nation State
phenomenon based on the enemy construction theory. Yet due to the obvious
biases, Iqbal’s secular opponents and religious supporters both, emphasized
more on the second line of his verse.
Generally
speaking, modern nation states were carved from empires of these last 200 years
and the majority of the Nation States were created after WWI and WWII, without
toeing into the ideas of common language, common ethnicity or common geographic
continuity. They were carved primarily to renegotiate the trade interests of
powerful Nation States of those times. In order to secure their trade interests
powerful Nation States use wars as a defensive or offensive weapon. If you read
the historical documents & accounts from the last 200 years, powerful
Nation States used hot, cold and proxy wars extensively against each other not
only in Asia & Africa but also in Europe and elsewhere. Smaller nations use
the weapon of war against their neighbors while the super powers launch Great
Games.
The book
under review, “The Return of the King,” also talks of a great game being plays
in our region for more than 200 years. William Dalrymple, a British Historian
and author of the many other books, recently expanded his authorship by writing
on Afghan King & deserter Shah Shuja (1785-1842), grandson of Ahmad Shah
Abdali. Shuja got a chance to capture the throne when Kabul was burning in
sectarian flames during 1803, but he failed to sustain and was defeated by Shah
Mahmud, his half-brother in the Battle of Nimla during 1809. From 1809 till
1842, Shuja tried his luck, unconditionally supported the British forces, and
pleased the Maharaja of the Punjab, but to no avail, as he failed to
reestablished Sadozai pride of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Barakzai, Sadozai & Hazara
tribal infighting along with diverse interests of Qandahar, Herat and Siah-posh
Kafirs Afghan society ruined from within during last 200 years. Dalrymple
ridiculed the Pathan Punjabi rulers by using minor details as usual and gave
selected pieces from valuable Archives. His over emphasis on minor social
details & court intrigues would have been justified if he had also used
this method while talking about British officers.
There is no
doubt that the list of archival records he used is extensive and smartly
arranged, but he failed to mention some basic shifts in Afghan politics during
the first half of the 19th Century. It was Taimur Shah, the son of
Ahmad Shah Abdali who shifted the capital of the empire from Qandahar to Kabul;
this shift, lead not only to the gradual fall of the Sadozai, but also
strengthened the Qizalbash and Barakzai tribes. Dost Muhammad Khan, son of a
Qizalbash lady was the product of that new nexus.
A major
part of the book covers the unsuccessful British Campaign of 1839-42 in
Afghanistan. As an unofficial diplomat, Dalrymple tries to compare that defeat
with the post 9/11 Afghanistan.
‘The parallels between the two invasions I came
to realise were not just anecdotal, they were substantive. The same tribal
rivalries and the same battles were continuing to be fought out in the same
places 170 years later under the guise of new flags, new ideologies and new
political perspectives’
By
comparing characters and forces involved in both wars we can easily dismiss
this novel idea.
|
1839
|
2001
|
Foreign
Forces
|
British Forces
:
|
Nato Forces (consist of 30 countries)
|
Ruler
of Kabul
|
Amir Dost Khan
|
Mulah Umar
|
Replacement
|
Shah Shuja
|
Hamid Karaizai
|
Strong
Neighboring State
|
The Punjab
(neutralized state)
|
Pakistan
Frontline state)
|
By reading
this table, readers can easily determine the difference by themselves.
On the 7th
of August 1839, British forces annexed Kabul and installed Shuja as the head.
From this day till his planned killing by the Barakzais in April 1942, even
Dost Muhammad had escaped but Kabul became more tense and fragile. No one
considered regional strategic considerations before launching a war. Even
though the supply line of the British forces was from the Punjab it often faced
ambushes. There was news that Rawalpindi and Lahore were actively sheltering
rebel Barakzais, meaning that the Punjab was not supporting Shuja and British
forces at that time. As par Maharaja’s
legacy, Punjab had no interest in regime change politics at Kabul nor
Britishers engaged Lhore Darbar properly, primarily due to a divided opinion
regarding support of Shuja at London. If
Britishers had clear understanding of regional strategic reservations, they did
not launch a war. But a group of security personals like Major Claude Wade was
heavily involved in Russo -phobia campaign especially after Waterloo (1815).
Even Lord Macaulay in his famous minutes of 1835 mentioned rise of Russia yet
in our typical anti-colonial syndrome south Asian historians and intellectuals still
fails to analyze his minutes. Unlike Lawrence like balanced British
officers, camp followers of Russo -phobia wanted to capture the Punjab and
Afghanistan at any cost. For this they use ethnicity and religion extensively. After
the death of Punjabi Maharaja, Ranjit Singh (27 June 1839), they launched the
war in haste. They captured Kabul in August 1839. The writer mentioned the
policy rift at London yet as usual remains reluctant to analyses it.
Till 1840,
Iran had also joined the Anti-Shuja/Anti-Britain nexus. There were intense
rebellions in Herat and Qandhar against Shuja. Finally Shuja was killed in 1842
and in the summer of 1844 Amir Dost Muhammad Khan became the ruler of Kabul
again, but this time with the help of the British Punjabi support. He was in
British custody but in the post-Shuja scenario he got a chance, after which he
stayed at Lahore from where he went to Kabul.
The Book is
written in the background of a great game between the Tsarist Russia (Soviet
Union) and Great Britain, which according to author started in 1823 when a
British officer interpreted a letter from a Russian foreign minister to the
Maharaja of the Punjab. The author however, failed to mention Charles Metcalfe
who wanted to take the logistic support from Punjab against Kabul in 1809, much
earlier, but was smartly denied by the Punjabi Maharaja. From 1803 till 1880s Britishers wanted to
annexed the Punjab and Afghanistan due to historic land trade routes yet after
rise of Germany and Tsarist Russia in early 1890s, they postponed it and to abandoned land trade
routes they carved Durand line which virtually baron road to Europe .
Our region
has been the victim of great games for more than two centuries due to the strategic
trade links and the book reminds us of it again. Without peace, friendship,
modernity & regional trade vision we cannot revive & exploit those
trade links nor will anyone rescue us because every State has its own interests
and game plans. Keeping in view that NATO forces are to leave in 2014, we need
a clear policy which has been discussed and approved by the parliament, for
only in a situation where the people and the State act in consensus, no outer
force can dictate. That is the lesson and it is a nut shell which needs little care and vision.
Book Return
of a King The battle for Afghanistan
Author William
Dalrymple
Date of
publication 2013
Publisher Bloomsbury,
London
Pages 618
Reading
price 1395
