The Afghan Boundary Commission (or Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission) was a joint effort by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

to determine the northern border of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

The Boundary Commission traveled and documented the northern border area during 1884, 1885, and 1886. Yate, Charles Edward.
Northern Afghanistan; Or, Letters from the Afghan Boundary Commission
' Edinburgh & London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1888. The commission was accompanied by Kazi Saad-ud-Din as the representative of the

Amir of Afghanistan This article lists the heads of state of Afghanistan since the foundation of the first modern Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709. History The Hotak Empire was formed after a successful uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan trib ...

, but the Afghans did not have a real say in the matter. Tensions between Britain, Russia and Afghanistan grew in 1885, especially in the aftermath of the

Panjdeh incident The Panjdeh Incident (known in Russian historiography as the Battle of Kushka) was an armed engagement between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between the British Empire and the Russian ...

, in which several hundred Afghans were killed by a Russian army, witnessed by several members of the commission. From March until September, it seemed likely that this would lead to war between Russia and Britain, with the Commission at the epicentre (Britain controlled Afghanistan's foreign affairs following the

Treaty of Gandamak The Treaty of Gandamak (Dari: معاهده گندمک, Pashto: د گندمک تړون) officially ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Mohammad Yaqub Khan ceded various frontier areas to Britain while retaining full control of ...

). However, war was eventually averted. Between 1885 and 1888, the Afghan Boundary Commission agreed the Russians would relinquish the most remote territory captured in their military advances but they would retain Panjdeh. The agreement delineated a permanent northern Afghan frontier at the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

, with the loss of a large amount of territory, especially around Panjdeh. Some letters compiled by Charles Edward Yate "describe the sojourn of the British Commission around

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

during the summer of 1885; the subsequent meeting of the joint British and Russian Commissions in November of that year, and the progress of the demarcation of the frontier up to the time of their separation in September 1886; the return of the British Commission through

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

to India in October 1886; the negotiations at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

during the summer of 1887; the final settlement and demarcation of the frontier during the winter of 1887, and return through Russian Trans-Caspian territory in February 1888".

Members of the Commission

* Peter Lumsden *

Joseph West Ridgeway Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, (16 May 1844 – 16 April 1930) was a British civil servant and colonial governor. He was known as "Sir West Ridgeway". He was involved in the sodomy and child molestation charges against Hector Archibald MacDonald, com ...

Alexander Condie Stephen Sir Alexander Condie Stephen (20 July 1850 – 10 May 1908) was a British diplomat and translator from Russian and Persian. He was the first translator of Lermontov's long poem "The Demon" into English, in 1875. He translated "Fairy Tales of ...

* Edward Law Durand * Charles Yate *

William Merk William Rudolph Henry Merk served as the Chief Commissioner of the North-West Frontier Province of British India from 1909 to 1910. Biography William Merk was born in Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) ...

* Thomas Holdich *

St George Corbet Gore Colonel St George Corbet Gore, (24 February 1849 – 1913) was an English army officer and Surveyor General of India from 1899 to 1904. Gore was born on 24 February 1849, the son of Rev. William Francis Gore, a male-line descendant of the Gore ...

* Pelham James Maitland * Milo Talbot *

William Hope Meiklejohn Brigadier-General Sir William Hope Meiklejohn, KCB, CMG (; 1845 – 1909) was a British military commander of the British Indian Army, who was in charge of the British garrison during the siege of Malakand in 1897. Military career Meiklej ...

* James Aitchison *

Carl Ludolf Griesbach Carl Ludolf Griesbach (1847–1907), was an Austrian paleontologist and geologist who worked in East Africa and India. Life Carl was born in Vienna on 11 December 1847 to George Ludolph Griesbach. He studied at the University of Vienna and w ...

* William Simpson *

Havelock Charles Major-General Sir Richard Henry Havelock Charles, 1st Baronet, (10 March 1858 – 27 October 1934) was a British medical doctor, and Serjeant Surgeon to King George V. Early life and medical career Charles was born in Cookstown, County ...

Publications

*''18 plates of ornamental tiles from the Afghan Boundary Commission'' (1884)

References

* Holdrich, T.H. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society
Afghan Boundary Commission, Geographical Notes
III, New Series vol. 7, 1885, p. 282.

External links

Photographs from the Afghan Boundary Commission, 1885-1887
Phototheca Afghanica
18 Plates of Ornamental Tiles from the Afghan Boundary Commission
1880s in Afghanistan Russia–United Kingdom relations Afghanistan–Russia relations The Great Game Afghanistan–United Kingdom relations {{Afghanistan-geo-stub

Members of the Commission

Publications

See also

References

External links