St Petersburg International Conference of Afghan Studies

20 Санкт-Петербургская международная конференция по афганистике Aziz Arjanfar (Afghanistan; Center for Afghanistan Studies and Research, Frankfurt amMain, Germany) Understudied Problems of Afghan History In the modern history ofAfghanistan, there are many “white spots” or problems, which for various reasons still remain a mystery or have not been studied enough. They require additional systematic studies. Due to the availability of original documents on these subjects both in Russia and in other countries, this task is feasible even with minimal support from the relevant state bodies and other interested institutions. Below is the list of understudied problems that from the modern point of view are of particular importance for Afghan history: 1. When and in what European sources — both Russian and European — was the word “Afghan” or “Afghanistan” used for the first time; 2. Whether the meeting of Mirwais Khan (1673–1715), the chief of the Ghilzai Afghan tribe and the representative of Afghan tribes at the Isfahan court, with representatives of Peter the Great in Isfahan on the eve of the fall of the Safavid empire and Peter the Great’s Caucasian campaign took place. If such a meeting really happened, can it be considered the first meeting of Afghans with Russian envoys? It is known that the emissary of Peter the Great Israel the Jew, a native of Armenia, arrived in Persia in the autumn of 1718 with a large delegation. His tasks included inciting local khans and tribal chiefs against the Isfahan court. But the question, whether he or one of his colleagues met with the followers of Mirwais СЕКЦИЯ 1 Историография и источниковедение Афганистана и трансграничных регионов афганской культурно-лингвистической ойкумены PANEL ONE Historiography and Sources on Afghanistan and the Liminal Areas of the Afghan Linguistic and Cultural Oecumene