How the Research Is Empirically Examined 133
domestic calm. The northwestern border had to serve not only as a protec-
tive wall but as a ring wall. The strategy that the British preferred reflected
their position toward Turkey in the 1830s that broad protective measures
had to be maintained for India by replacing the Russian influence in
Persia with British influence. Two missions in Persia, in 1835–1836 and
1836–1837, in search for a commerce agreement and renewal of a political
agreement, ended in success. The obstacles appeared to be less important
when a Persian expedition against Turkmen tribes in northern Afghani-
stan failed. This convinced British Minister John McNeill that Persia was
not a threat. But McNeill’s optimism was challenged when the dispute
between Persia and Afghanistan concerning the city Herat arose again in
- McNeill could not broker the crisis, and Persia, under the encourage-
ment of Simonich, the Russian minister for Persia, conquered Herat. This
move pushed Britain to its alternative strategy: turning Afghanistan into a
safe buffer state for India against Persia and Russia.^163
This strategy was not new. Britain had already tried, unsuccessfully, to
turn Afghanistan into a strong supporting country by supporting a certain
candidate for the Afghan throne in 1809–1810 and 1833–1834. Afghanistan
was part of two broad, interrelated plans that were intended to protect the
security of northwestern India. One was possible British territorial expan-
sion and political and economic penetration of the nearby regions Sindh
and Panjab. The other was building of a balance of power in northeast
India (Afghanistan, Sindh, and Panjab) in particular and southwest Asia
in general. The British thought of a system of stable independent coun-
tries with recognized nonviolated borders with British general supremacy.
While that position was generally defensive, there were British govern-
ment figures who started to think of its expansion to British control of
Afghanistan to prevent Russia from penetrating central Asia and to repre-
sent British assets and influence in the region.^164
Afghanistan is the gateway to India. Within it lies the only quick route
for transferring military forces and starting a war despite the difficult
topography of northwest Asia—the Hindu-Kush region reaches a height
of 20,000 feet. The city Herat is on the way from the plains of northern
Iran to the cities Kabul and Kandahar and from there to India. Because of
its central location at the crossroads of central Asia, Afghanistan played
an important role in Asia’s long military history. In 327 BCE, Alexander
the Great passed through it on his way from western India. Five hundred
years later, Genghis Khan arrived from the east and ordered one of his
people to conquer Herat as a prelude to conquering Persia.^165
THE FIRST ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR (1838–1842)
In the 19th century, the great imperial adversity between Russia and Great
Britain covering territory from the Balkans to Afghanistan occurred.^166