Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan FrontierMuch of the political turmoil that has occurred in Afghanistan since the Marxist revolution of 1978 has been attributed to the dispute between Soviet-aligned Marxists and the religious extremists inspired by Egyptian and Pakistani brands of "fundamentalist" Islam. In a significant departure from this view, David B. Edwards contends that—though Marxism and radical Islam have undoubtedly played a significant role in the conflict—Afghanistan's troubles derive less from foreign forces and the ideological divisions between groups than they do from the moral incoherence of Afghanistan itself. Seeking the historical and cultural roots of the conflict, Edwards examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth century—a tribal khan, a Muslim saint, and a prince who became king of the newly created state. He explores the ambiguities and contradictions of these lives and the stories that surround them, arguing that conflicting values within an artificially-created state are at the root of Afghanistan's current instability. Building on this foundation, Edwards examines conflicting narratives of a tribal uprising against the British Raj that broke out in the summer of 1897. Through an analysis of both colonial and native accounts, Edwards investigates the saint's role in this conflict, his relationship to the Afghan state and the tribal groups that followed him, and the larger issue of how Islam traditionally functions as an encompassing framework of political association in frontier society. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
Beginnings | 6 |
Recollecting the Past | 14 |
Contested Domains | 28 |
THE MAKING OF SULTAN MUHAMMAD KHAN | 33 |
Myth and History | 43 |
Fathers and Sons | 50 |
Men and Women | 56 |
Discipline and Power | 142 |
Benefit and Gratitude | 146 |
Purity and Politics | 155 |
Pirs and Princes | 158 |
The Journey to Kohi Qaf | 167 |
MAD MULLAS AND ENGLISHMEN | 172 |
A Passage to India | 175 |
The Events of 1897 and Their Explanation | 176 |
Friends and Enemies | 63 |
Jandads Punishment | 73 |
THE REIGN OF THE IRON AMIR | 78 |
Mapping the State | 82 |
The Once and Future King | 88 |
The Armature of Royal Rule | 94 |
Kingship and Honor | 112 |
The Death of the Kind | 123 |
THE LIVES OF AN AFGHAN SAINT | 126 |
TwiceTold Tales | 128 |
Fathers and Sons | 133 |
Identity and Place | 138 |
Waging Jihad | 181 |
The Fault Lines of Authority | 196 |
Tales of Jarobi Glen | 201 |
Conclusion | 216 |
EPILOGUE | 220 |
Posting on the Internet | 221 |
Embedded Codes | 227 |
Notes | 235 |
Glossary | 271 |
279 | |
297 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul Baqi Abdur Rahman Khan actions Afghan Afghanistan Akhund of Swat Akhundzada Amir Abdur Rahman Amir's appears army authority British Chakdara Churchill Churchill's claim cousin cultural deputies disciples Durand Line enemies events of 1897 fact faqir father feud frontier Ghairat ghan grandfather Hadda Sahib Hazrat Sahib honor Ibid identity India individual infidel Islam Jarobi jihad Kabul killed king kinship langar lived Mad Fakir Malakand Maulavi miracles Mohmand moral Muhammad Afzal Mulla of Hadda Muslim Najmuddin narrative Paindo Pakhtun Pakistan Pech person Peshawar political prayer proclamation Prophet punishment Qur'an refugees religious leaders response revenge role ruler Safi Safi's Saidullah saint sense significance social spiritual status story of Sultan subjects Sufi Sultan Muhammad Khan Talabuddin tell tion told tribal tribe tribesmen University Press uprising Valley village violence women zikr این که