Britain's Afghanistan policy in the second half of the 19th century

In this study, the process in which Afghanistan was trapped between England and Russia in the second half of the 19th century and the conditions of the Afghan State were determined. How Afghan rulers played a role in determining the borders and the balance policy that the Afghan State pursued between the two great powers are the main topics that the study focuses on. The British, who set foot in the Indian continent at the beginning of the 17th century, preferred to use the geography of Afghanistan as a buffer zone to ensure the security of India against the Russian threat that appeared in the north in the 19th century. Russia, which has been pursuing Central Asia policy steadily since the beginning of the 16th century, surrounded the northern borders of Afghanistan as a result of southern occupation movements. The Afghan Court, which entered the 19th century under these conditions, was constantly visited by representatives of both states. Against Britain, which promises to solve the northwest interests of the Afghan State and its problems on the Iranian border, in the south there was Russia, which promised to solve border problems with Sikhs, especially in Punjab. There was a tight race of diplomacy between the two states. Afghan rulers, on the other hand, took advantage of this situation and tried to deal with the problems at their borders with the least damage. Throughout the depressed century called "The Great Game", where diplomacy and war took place over Afghanistan geography, the achievements of the Afghan State were not much, given their losses. Therefore, the Afghan rulers mentioned in the history of Afghanistan were declared as a national hero by some, while others were accused of impudent rulers. In this century when diplomacy and war took place on the territory of Afghanistan, which is located in the center of the Central Asian geography; the developments in England and Russia competition were discussed in the light of archive sources and printed archive works. In addition to printed works compiling personal notes of diplomats, civil and military personnel operating in this period, autobiographies of Afghan rulers, British, Afghan and Indian archives, British and Russian sources were used as much as possible. In this way, it was tried to look at the causes of historical events that occurred.