Tag Archive: Afghanistan

Afghanistan or the land of the Afghans, also called Kabulistan, Kandahar, and Eastern Persia — ancient Drangiana and Ariana — has a population of about 12,000 geographic miles, some 14, by others 5 or 6 million. is estimated. They spend the summer in the mountainous countries, in the autumn they descend to the Penshab of India, where they leave their families and camels, to pass on to Bengal or Bombay, and return in the autumn with Indian wares for Afghanistan. The main routes are: 1) from India to Kabul through the Khaibar Pass and Jalalabad; 2) from India to Ghazni and Kandahar over the Gomal Pass; 3) from Bukhara along the Oxus to Kabul; 4) from Bukhara past Merw to Herat; 5) from Persia through Meshed to Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. Railways are still completely missing. Russia, however, stands on a branch line of the Transcaspian Railway from Merw, while Great Britain has reached the frontier from Peshawar and Quetta to the east and south. It is anxiously awaited which of today’s allies, who are each other’s competitors in East Asia, dares Afghanistan to penetrate first. Thus the country demands our attention not only because it may become a more important trading area than it has hitherto been, but also because it is the place where the two great Asian powers meet and perhaps clash. See youremailverifier for Afghanistan social condition facts.