Dalrymple recreates Afghan war
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KOLKATA: He felt compelled to write the story of the Afghan war when he learnt about the diplomacy with which the West gave Hamid Karzai,
the current Afghan president who belongs to the Popalzai tribe like
Shah Shuja, the position of power 170 years after the historic battle,
said historian and author William Dalrymple.
In the city to launch his book 'Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42' at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Dalrymple revealed that he had travelled to the strife-torn country twice to research for the book and got hold of information that could throw light on the war and unveil unknown facts.
"A lot has been written about the war. But in Afghanistan, I discovered some Persian writings on the war which have never been translated," said the author who took five years to put the book together.
"What the freedom movement led by Gandhi means to India, the Anglo-Afghan War means to Afghanistan. It is their own freedom struggle. What surprises us is this history's extraordinary parallels with the contemporary scenario in Afghanistan where history has repeated itself," said Dalrymple.
The book has revealed several facts about the war that were unheard of. The "new history" could re-define the Anglo-Afghan War, regarded as Britain's greatest imperial disaster in the 19th century.
The narrative history unfolds the details of Britain's disastrous adventure in the country and how Britain marched in with a troop of 18,000 sepoys from Bengal, Bihar and Awadh and only one came out alive to tell the story of the war. It also tries to trace the intricate web of tribal alliances and the difficult terrain which remain unchanged till this day.
The war is analysed through the account of some unforgettable characters - the shahs, amirs, sepoys, British generals and Russian ambassadors. The book also analyses the war, told through the lives of some unforgettable characters on all sides - the shahs, amirs, sepoys, British generals and Russian ambassadors. Besides
Apart from the 'never-heard' contemporary Afghan accounts of the conflict, the book also dissects the circumstances under which the British army was humiliated and forced to retreat after making Shah Shuja the king of Afghanistan. The book elucidates on how the West's first disastrous entanglement in Afghanistan has clear and relevant parallels with the current deepening crisis in the region today.
In the spring of 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed shakos, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established Shah Shuja ul-Mulk on the throne. On the way, the British faced little resistance.
But after two years of occupation, the Afghan people rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into a violent rebellion. The First Anglo-Afghan War ended in Britain's greatest military humiliation of the nineteenth century: an entire army of the then most powerful nation in the world ambushed in retreat and utterly routed by poorly equipped tribesmen.
"We are the roof of the world. From here, you an control the world. Afghanistan is like the crossroads of every nation that has come to power. But we do not have the power to control our own destiny. Our fate is determined by our neighbours...These are the last days of America in Afghanistan, next it will be China," says an Afghani national in the book whom Dalrymple met during the course of his research.
Through his book, published by Bloomsbury India, the author wants the West to learn something from history and stop meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan and other countries. If the diplomatic threat and China's interference into the region continue, then India will also be dragged into the problem, he feels.
In the city to launch his book 'Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42' at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Dalrymple revealed that he had travelled to the strife-torn country twice to research for the book and got hold of information that could throw light on the war and unveil unknown facts.
"A lot has been written about the war. But in Afghanistan, I discovered some Persian writings on the war which have never been translated," said the author who took five years to put the book together.
"What the freedom movement led by Gandhi means to India, the Anglo-Afghan War means to Afghanistan. It is their own freedom struggle. What surprises us is this history's extraordinary parallels with the contemporary scenario in Afghanistan where history has repeated itself," said Dalrymple.
The book has revealed several facts about the war that were unheard of. The "new history" could re-define the Anglo-Afghan War, regarded as Britain's greatest imperial disaster in the 19th century.
The narrative history unfolds the details of Britain's disastrous adventure in the country and how Britain marched in with a troop of 18,000 sepoys from Bengal, Bihar and Awadh and only one came out alive to tell the story of the war. It also tries to trace the intricate web of tribal alliances and the difficult terrain which remain unchanged till this day.
The war is analysed through the account of some unforgettable characters - the shahs, amirs, sepoys, British generals and Russian ambassadors. The book also analyses the war, told through the lives of some unforgettable characters on all sides - the shahs, amirs, sepoys, British generals and Russian ambassadors. Besides
Apart from the 'never-heard' contemporary Afghan accounts of the conflict, the book also dissects the circumstances under which the British army was humiliated and forced to retreat after making Shah Shuja the king of Afghanistan. The book elucidates on how the West's first disastrous entanglement in Afghanistan has clear and relevant parallels with the current deepening crisis in the region today.
In the spring of 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed shakos, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established Shah Shuja ul-Mulk on the throne. On the way, the British faced little resistance.
But after two years of occupation, the Afghan people rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into a violent rebellion. The First Anglo-Afghan War ended in Britain's greatest military humiliation of the nineteenth century: an entire army of the then most powerful nation in the world ambushed in retreat and utterly routed by poorly equipped tribesmen.
"We are the roof of the world. From here, you an control the world. Afghanistan is like the crossroads of every nation that has come to power. But we do not have the power to control our own destiny. Our fate is determined by our neighbours...These are the last days of America in Afghanistan, next it will be China," says an Afghani national in the book whom Dalrymple met during the course of his research.
Through his book, published by Bloomsbury India, the author wants the West to learn something from history and stop meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan and other countries. If the diplomatic threat and China's interference into the region continue, then India will also be dragged into the problem, he feels.
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