St Petersburg International Conference of Afghan Studies

46 Санкт-Петербургская международная конференция по афганистике Секция 1. Историография и источниковедение Афганистана... In the early 1900’s, more than 30 officers of the General Staff served in the TurkestanMilitary Command Region. Having a good command of foreign languages and possessing extensive special and natural science knowledge, they made lengthy reconnaissance trips to Afghanistan, Persia, India and East Turkestan. The findings of these trips were reflected in fundamental military statistical works, with many of them still remaining unique academic sources on geography, socio-political history and armed forces of these states. Suffice it to name such officers with an expert knowledge of Afghanistan, who authored numerous studies, as L. K. Artamonov, G. A. Arendarenko, B. L. Grombchevsky, M. V. Grulev,A. V. Komarov, V.A. Oranovsky,A. K. Razgonov, P. A. Rittikh, B. L. Tageev, I. L. Yavorsky, A. E. Snesarev. An invaluable contribution to the study of Afghanistan can be found in the materials of expeditions and missions of the Russian officers: N. G. Stoletov, N. I. Grodekov, P. Matveev, L. G. Kornilov, I. Strelbitsky, A. E. Snesarev, P. A. Rittikh, B. N. Kastalsky, A. I. Krustilevsky, P. V. Cherkasov and V. V. Losev. A separate topic is the study of the Pashto language by the military. In addition to the training of military orientalists at the Officer Courses of Oriental Languages at the Asiatic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, language training was organized at the Tashkent Officer School of Oriental Languages. Here a thorough academic and methodical work was done that included the publication of training materials. For years I. D. Yagello was in charge of training well-qualified officers with an expert knowledge of Afghanistan in Tashkent and Ashkhabad. A closer look at the Russian military study of Afghanistan reveals its enduring relevance since geographical information, description of the peoples inhabiting Afghanistan, their daily life, customs and ethnicity examined during their numerous missions and expeditions are least affected by time. The source-study of the legacy of Russian military experts on Afghanistan is not yet completed; thus it may considerably expand the scope of further study of Afghanistan. А. А. Колесников (СПб РИАЦ РИСИ, Санкт-Петербург, Россия) Изучение Афганистана в военном ведомстве Российской Империи (вторая половина ХIХ — начало ХХ вв.) Вторая половина ХIХ—начало ХХ вв. для Генерального штаба Российской Империи характеризовались активным противодействием усилиям Вели- кобритании по установлению своего влияния в Центральной Азии. В 1867 году с образованием Туркестанского военного округа началась реализация комплекса мероприятий по укреплению новой границы России с Персией, Афганистаном, и Восточным Туркестаном. Этот процесс, прежде всего,