England In the History of Afghanistan

The transition of capitalism to the imperialist stage was marked by new attempts by Britain to establish itself in Afghanistan. Rejecting Russia's proposal in 1873 to regard Afghanistan as a "neutral zone" between Russian possessions in Central Asia and British India and to act as guarantors of Afghanistan's independence, British imperialism once again began to prepare for war. In 1878, a new invasion of the British in Afghanistan. Occupying a large part of its territory, England in May 1879 concluded with the Emir Yakub the bondage Gandamak Treaty, which caused an outburst of outrage in the country. The peoples of Afghanistan once again rose to the liberation struggle. In the famous battle of Mayvanda (July 27, 1879) and the subsequent blockade of British troops in Kandahar, in the battles for Kabul and Ghazni, the British suffered heavy losses and in 1880 were forced to evacuate their troops. Under these conditions, the British colonialists failed to fully obtain recognition from Afghanistan of all articles of the Gandamak Treaty. In domestic politics, Afghan rulers remained independent, but Afghanistan's foreign policy ties were to be carried out only through the vice-king of British India.

The wars imposed by Britain on the peoples of Afghanistan cost enormous human and material losses, undermined the country's productive forces , seriously damaged agriculture, crafts, and internal trade, and slowed down the socio-economic and cultural development of the country as a whole.

In the last two decades of the XIX century. In Afghanistan, a system of measures was carried out, aimed at creating the foundations of a centralized state of the absolutist type. Putting the task of strengthening the central authority and subordinating the recalcitrant, the emir Abdurrahman Khan (1880-1901) widely practiced the resettlement of Afghans to the North into the oasis areas of the Bal-ha, Mazar-i-Sharif, Baghlan, Kunduz, Khazarajat, Khazaragh, Charaimaks, Turkmens, Uzbeks - in the southern regions; The Nuristani nobility was also resettled. The resettlers received land - either free of charge or on preferential terms. As a result of these resettlements, the local administration was replaced by a centralized administrative apparatus headed by the provincial governors appointed by the emir, who relied on the regular army created by him, the police, the gendarmerie. The Emir was recognized as the head of all Muslims of the country and an unlimited monarch, although he could not essentially undermine the influence and position of the aristocracy of the Afghan tribes. Many of them still enjoyed benefits, fully or partially exempted from paying taxes. The social support of the emir's power was made up of military and bureaucratic bureaucracy and feudal lords who, possessing land on the rights of private property and not having military militias, needed a strong centralized power and a regular army. They exploited the Afghan and non-Afghan tributary population, which paid numerous taxes, collected mainly in kind, and collected.