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Bazaar Politics

Bazaar Politics. A Brief Overview of Afghan History The Building Blocks of Power: Kinship, Religion, Economy Politics, Violence, & the State Agency and Structure. A Timeline of Afghan History.

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Bazaar Politics

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  1. Bazaar Politics A Brief Overview of Afghan History The Building Blocks of Power: Kinship, Religion, Economy Politics, Violence, & the State Agency and Structure

  2. A Timeline of Afghan History • Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago. • Farming communities in Afghanistan were one of the first in the world • What is grown around Istalif? • Urban areas in Afghanistan developed as early as 3000 BCE (5,000 years ago). • Intensive agriculture is associated with rise of cities and the state, occupational diversity, and social stratification. • Why?

  3. Main street of Istalif

  4. Pictures from Istalif

  5. Collected money from farmers to pay laborers to maintain irrigation channels Resolved conflicts over water Supposed to be an impartial judge No longer as powerful as in the past: politicized during jihad against Soviets, less conflict over water because of masterly inactivity, and turning to NGOs to fix irrigation channels Example of social and political hierarchy created by farmers’ needs for cooperation, but also not from the state The mir aw, p.172ff

  6. Painting of the Mughal Emperor Babur supervising work on an irrigation channel in Istalif, c. 1590 CE

  7. Afghan History, cont. • Nexus point of many civilizations • Introduction of Islam: Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat (w. Afghanistan) in 642 CE.

  8. The “Great Game” to control Asia between Britain and Russia throughout 19th cent: Istalif destroyed by British in 1842 During the “Cold War,” after independence of India in 1947, between Britain/America and USSR 1979-1989/1992: war between Soviet-backed Afghan government and US-backed mujahideen (known as a jihad); 1m Afghan dead, mainly civilians; 6m as refugees in Iran and Pakistan (out of pop of 15.5m) Reagan meeting mujahideen in the White House Afghanistan caught between Superpowers

  9. Kabul, 1993

  10. 1992: fall of Soviet-backed Afghan gov. and “the civil war” period began Resulted in: Rise of militias fighting to fill the vacuum (each backed by different forces: Pakistani, Iranian, Saudi) Kabul very unsafe and chaotic Areas of Afganistan under the control of different warlords Atrocities against civilians, many civilian deaths, rapes, many refugees Ahmed Shah Massoud, “The Lion of Panjshir” (1953-2001) Afghan History, 1992-1996

  11. Rise of the Taliban: took Kabul easily in 1996 Greeted happily in Kabul as source of potential stability but less happily in Istalif Massoud and Dostom organized against the Taliban Defeat of Taliban by international forces in December 2001, Hamid Karzai made leader Afghan History, 1996-2001

  12. Flood of foreign aid and NGOs, some through Karzai’s government and some not Continued insecurity: bombs in civilian areas, assasinations of political leaders, drone attacks, and skirmishes 5m refugees repatriated Due to the years of war, an incredibly poor country Expected NATO withdrawal in 2014 Kabul today Afghan History, 2002-

  13. Census 1830s: 15,000-18,00 1979: 36,000 1999: 75,000 2002: 8,500 2006: 29,800 Istalif

  14. Knowledge of Salafism (more conservative strains of Islam), p. 120-121 Weavers got connections to sell their rugs and wares Skin sewers become more wealthy and gained political power, p. 115 New marriage ties to fellow refugees from other parts of Afghanistan, p. 93 The Eshan Sahib shrine above town What changes did the refugees bring with them from Kabul and Peshawar, Pakistan?

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