The British Legation in Kabul: the coloniality of diplomacy in independent Afghanistan, 1922–1948

This thesis investigates the history of the British Legation in Kabul between 1922 and1948. Afghanistan gained independence in 1919 from British suzerainty. The Legation in Kabul was set up in 1922 in recognition of Afghanistan’s status as an independent, sovereign and territorial power, which now possessed the right to conduct its own international relations. As the primary conduit of British–Afghan relations until 1948, the Legation was located between Britain’s metropolitan and India’s colonial and imperial centres. Due to geographical circumstances, India held a high stake in British–Afghan relations until the disappearance of the colonial state in 1947. On paper, the Legation in Kabul was an institution of the British Foreign Office in London. But, the colonial state in India modelled the Legation according to its own ambitions, objectives and experiences. Colonial officers of the Raj staffed the Legation and transferred colonial practices to Kabul. The thesis interrogates the ensuing tensions and ambiguities in British diplomacy in Afghanistan. [Continues.]