The Ismailis and Kirghiz of the Upper Amu Darya and Pamirs in Afghanistan: A micro-history of delineating international borders

This thesis investigates the Afghan occupation of the Upper Amu Darya and Pamirs and the effect that creating international borders in 1895 had on the Ismaili and Kirghiz communities of the region. Specific focus is placed on the degree that these new borders impacted trade, migration, and the standing of local political elites. The temporal scope of this paper is the eve of the imperialist division of the Upper Amu Darya and Pamirs in the mid-nineteenth century to the closure of Afghanistan's border with the Soviet Union and China in the 1940s.;Thematically and chronologically this study is divided into three parts. The first section focuses on the era before imperialist powers forced the division of the Upper Amu Darya and Pamirs. During this period, the region was of minor concern to officials in St. Petersburg and London, and local Ismaili and Kirghiz elites ruled with significant autonomy. The second section examines events from the 1870s to the 1890s that led up to the 1895 accord that divided the region between Russia and Afghanistan. The last section explores the repercussions that international borders had on Ismaili and Kirghiz communities and their impact on Afghanistan's relationship with the Soviet Union and China.