peoples have fiercely resisted alien conquerors. In particular, Afghanistan is "one of the few Muslim states never to be subjugated by a non-Islamic power" (Nydrop & Seekins, 1986, p. xxii). Urban (1988) characterized Afghanistan as "one of the world's most unruly states . . . [possessing] an independence born of geographical remoteness and of loyalties incompatible with the centralized state" (p. 1). As Rashid (1987) has pointed out, "the historical traits that inspired the rising of the Afghan people against the Communist government in Kabul and the Soviet invasion . . . have also been disruptive of the unity of the Afghan resistance" (The Afghan, p. 203)
According to Rashid (1987), "geography and history have combined to create in Afghanistan a decentralized and fiercely individualistic society" (The Afghan, p. 204). Political fragmentation has been encouraged by the topography and the evolution over time of a hodgepodge of distinct and often warring tribal groups, including the Pashtuns, which have provided most of Afghanistan's leadership class and which constitute roughly 40 percent of the population, the Persian-influenced Hazaras, the Central Asian Tajiks and Uzbeks, Turkic peoples and others. Communal, tribal and village allegiances and codes have for centuries taken precedence over a sense of nationhood. Such sense of national unity which existed prior to the 20th century was due to the efforts of unifying kings who arose to meet foreign threats from 1747 onward, the Durrani shahs, such as Ahmad Shah in the mid-18th century and King Amanullah Khan (1919-1929), and the common allegiance of almost all Afghans to Islam and its concept of a community of believing Muslims or umma.
During most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Afghanistan was a buffer state juxtaposed between the conflicting imperialist ambitions of Tsarist Russia and British India, both of which constantly interfered in Afghan politics. Meyer & Brysac ...