Heroes of the Age

by Edwards, David B.

• ISBN13: 9780520200647
• ISBN10: 0520200640
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Much 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.

Table of Contents

List of Maps
Acknowledgments
List of Significant Persons
Introduction	p. 1
Beginnings	p. 6
Recollecting the Past	p. 14
Contested Domains	p. 28
The Making of Sultan Muhammad Khan	p. 33
Myth and History	p. 43
Fathers and Sons	p. 50
Men and Women	p. 56
Friends and Enemies	p. 63
Coda: Jandad's Punishment	p. 73
The Reign of the Iron Amir	p. 78
Mapping the State	p. 82
The Once and Future King	p. 88
The Armature of Royal Rule	p. 94
Kingship and Honor	p. 112
Coda: The Death of the King	p. 123
The Lives of an Afghan Saint	p. 126
Twice-Told Tales	p. 128
Fathers and Sons	p. 133
Identity and Place	p. 138
Discipline and Power	p. 142
Benefit and Gratitude	p. 146
Purity and Politics	p. 155
Pirs and Princes	p. 158
Coda: The Journey to Koh-i Qaf	p. 167
Mad Mullas and Englishmen	p. 172
A Passage to India	p. 175
The Events of 1897 and Their Explanation	p. 176
Waging Jihad	p. 181
The Fault Lines of Authority	p. 196
Tales of Jarobi Glen	p. 201
Conclusion	p. 216
Epilogue	p. 220
Re: Posting on the Internet	p. 221
Embedded Codes	p. 227
Notes	p. 235
Glossary	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 279
Index	p. 297
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