Introduction

The Great Game of the nineteenth century, which resulted in the creation of Afghanistan and the formation of Central Asian states in east and northeastern territories of the old Persian federation, is the overall focus of investigation in this book. The detailed study, however, includes changes and modifications that this game of geopolitics caused in shaping the political geography of South, Central and West Asia – changes and modifications which ended in the creation of a number of new and independent countries in territories that previously belonged to the Persian federative system, generally known as the ‘Persian Empire’. ^*