ABSTRACT
The identity of the modern state of Afghanistan began to be formed byAhmed Shah in the eighteenth century after the assassination of Nadir Shah of Iran, whose empire had extended over Pathans, Turkomans, Uzbeks and Hazars (descendants of the Mongols) who lived between the deserts of eastern Iran and what was to become the north-west frontier of the British in India. In the nineteenth century the British, after defeating the Sikhs, extended their rule westward and came into collision with Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan who, having consolidated his position after a time of troubles, was moving in the opposite direction. In 1893 the Durand line, named after the foreign minister of India and running through Pathan country, was drawn but the nature of this line was not precisely defined and successive Afghan governments denied that it was ever meant to be an international frontier.
