Durand Line Agreement 1893: Myths and Reality

This paper attempts to analyse the myths about the Durand Line Agreement between the British India and Afghanistan in 1893. Nineteenth century is considered as the century of imperialism. The two great powers i.e Great Britain and Russia were in competition to fulfill their imperialistic designs. Great Britain succeeded in taking full control of India and Russia annexed Khiva, Bokhara and Khokand currently Central Asian republics until 1870. Afghanistan was the only state left between the two giants. The British India tested its muscles in Afghanistan in 1839 and 1878 but failed to consolidate. The fear of Russian advancement during the Great Game compelled the British India to declare Afghanistan a buffer state and demarcate its boundaries. They started working on it immediately after the second Anglo-Afghan war in 1885. Resultantly the western boundaries of India were secured through the famous Durand Line Agreement in 1893 between Afghanistan and British India. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947 a lot of myths emerged related to this agreement. This paper focuses on those myths and its reality in order to clarify the misunderstanding related to this much debated agreement