Niaz Muhammad Khan
The Durand Line Agreement signed between Shah Shujah and the British stands disputed between Pakistan and Afghanistan today. The origins of the disputes can be traced back to events that occurred before Mortimer Durand and Abdur Rahmen signed the agreement in 1893. It was the result of power politics between different parties in the area.
Duran Line was a product of the great game. A nineteenth century rivalry between the British and the Russian empire over establishing their influence in Central Asia. British wanted Afghanistan as a buffer state to protect India from a possible Russian advance. This strategic context strongly shaped the British push for defined borders.
In 1893, Mortimer Durand held a meeting with Abdur Rahman Khan in Kabul to mark the boundaries between Afghanistan and Russia to protect Afghanistan against advancing Russia. Durand’s objective was to delineate the spheres of influence between Afghanistan and Britain, while also providing protection against the expansion of the Russian Empire. During the meeting, he cleverly produced a document signed between Shah Shujah, Emir of Afghanistan and Ranjeet Sing, testifying that Dera Ismail Khan, Abaseen, Mingora, Khyber Peshawar and Kohat are the areas handed over to British by Sikhs, sixty years ago. But this was a document signed between Shah Shujah and Ranjeet Singh – handing over the mentioned areas to Ranjeet Sing, in return of the Sikh’s support in restoring his lost rule over Afghanistan. Eventually Abdur Rahman under duress, signed an agreement delineating areas under British and Afghanistan’s control. The agreement was only one page long – brief and drawn up rapidly, reflecting strategic calculations. The line itself was marked in a joint survey between 1994 – 1996. The original copy is not available.
Shah Shuaj was deposed by his brother in 1809. Around 1812, Shah Shuja sought protection from Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire in Lahore. Sources suggest that doing so he came under Ranjit Singh’s control and was politically marginalized. He lost access to much of his wealth. It is claimed that Ranjeet Sing snatched the Kohi-E-Noor diamond from him. But the claim that he lost the Kohinoor diamond at that time is partly misleading. He escaped out of Sikhs control to join hands with British paving way for the tripartite agreement.
In 1833, Shah Shuja Durrani — who was then a deposed Afghan ruler living in exile — made an agreement with Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire. Under the treaty both the parties agreed that Sikh will assist Shah Shuja to regain the Afghan throne. In return, Shah Shuja agreed to acknowledge Ranjit Singh’s control over border regions like Peshawar after regaining his position. Ranjit Singh assisted politically and logistically, though the alliance did not quickly succeed in restoring Shah Shuja at that time.
In 1939 Ranjeet died. British enthroned Shah Shujah in Kabul. The same agreement signed between Sikhs and Shah Shujah was used by British to justify their authority on these areas and later used in 1893 for drawing the line.
After escaping control of Ranjeet Singh, Shah Shaja joined hands with the British. He made a Tripartite Treaty signed on 26 June 1838 with Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and the British East India Company. This treaty aimed to restore Shah Shuja to the Afghan throne with British and Sikh support and formalized cooperation against the then-ruler Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan. Shah Shuja agreed not to enter into foreign negotiations without British and Sikh consent. The British agreed to fund and lead the restoration campaign, which was part of what became the First Anglo-Afghan War. The British agreed to pay a grant of £5,000 to Shah Shuja as part of the arrangements to restore him to the throne of Afghanistan. In return British influence in Afghanistan was promised.
Abdur Rahman captured powers in Kabul in 1880 with British Assistance and remained in power till 1901, but his foreign policy remained in British hands. In 1883, the Amir visited Jalalabad to meet the British and an aid of £1.2 million promised for Amir for security of the triable areas.
During the same period, Russia was nearing Afghan borders but borders between Afghanistan and India were not defined. Therefore, in November 1893 Mortimer Durand visited Kabul to hold a meeting with Amir Abdur Rahman. The meeting was initially scheduled to discuss setting the border between Russia and Afghanistan; however, Mortimer skilfully presented the agreement between Ranjeet Singh and Shah Shujah and urged Abdur Rahman to sign a short-term agreement. It was a big achievement for the British Govt those days. After these negotiations, Abdur Rahman wrote to the tribals that he was forced to surrender Pushtun areas to British. It resulted into uprising and burning of British cantonments.
Amir Abdur Rahman passed in 1901 and was succeeded by Amanullah Khan . He wrote to Lord Curzon to continue the financial assistance and that all agreements signed with Amir were on person-to-person basis. Several negations did not yield.
World War-I ended in 1919. Amanullah Khan died the same year. His son, Habibullah Khan, took over after him. He declared Afghanistan as a sovereign state. This resulted in British attack on Afghanistan and consequent negotiation in Rawalpindi for a month. Afghanistan was declared a sovereign state, and it was noted that all previous agreements had been signed with individuals rather than with the state itself. Onward all such agreements would be signed with the state. However, the future of the captured Pushtun regions remained unresolved.
Zahir Shah convened a Loya Jiga in 1947 and denounced the Duran Line. The dispute continues.
Afghanistan disputed the agreement on the grounds that it was signed between persons (Shah Shujah and Ranjeet Sing), and was a line of influence as per the Durand agreement, not an agreement accepting boundaries between the two. The treaty itself was signed under duress. While on the other hand Pakistan claims that it inherits agreement made with the British India and will prevail with the same effect. Afghanistan challenges this claim by arguing that treaties established by the British cannot be inherited, since Pakistan only gained independence after the end of British rule.
By signing the Duran Line agreement and the agreements before it, the concerned parties did achieve their goals, but left the region bleeding.