St Petersburg International Conference of Afghan Studies

St Petersburg International Conference of Afghan Studies 31 Panel One. Historiography and Sources on Afghanistan... Lessons for the future Through a pragmatic approach the ABC led to a carefully demarcated boundary and internationally recognized border between Russia and Afghanistan, from the Hari Rud to the Amur Darya. Since Alexander the Great’s campaign no other mission has added so much to our knowledge of the areas north of the Hindukush. For already more than a century, every study of this part of the world has to refer to the commission’s well documented experiences. By sharing its unique library, archive and photo collection with a wider public, the Swiss Afghanistan Institute hopes to contribute to a better understanding of Afghanistan’s highly complex history and current problems. Zarine Dzhandosova (Faculty of Asian and African Studies, St Petersburg State University, St Petersburg, Russia) The Persian Work Bada’i‘ al-Аkhbar by Shaykh al-Islam Bihbahani as a Source on the History of the Afghan Conquest of Iran in the 1720’s Bada’i‘ al-Аkhbar by ‘Abd an-Nabi Shaykh al-IslamBihbahani is one of the sources on the history of the conquest of Iran by the Afghans at the end of the Safavid era Fig. 3. The Russian and British Commissioners at Zulfikar, Nov. 12, 1885: Fixing the Site of the First Boundary Post. Based on a Sketch by Major Edward Law Durand, Assistant Commissioner