{"product_id":"the-pashtun-borderlands","title":"The Pashtun Borderlands","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the mid-twentieth century, the high valleys and rugged frontiers between the burgeoning states of Pakistan and Afghanistan became a crucible for a new kind of postcolonial politics, one defined as much by the absence of state authority as by its imposition. In \u003ci\u003eThe Pashtun Borderlands\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Robert Nichols offers a definitive account of this critical period, tracing the region's journey from the final years of the British Raj to the precipice of the Soviet-Afghan War.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMoving beyond reductive tribal tropes, Nichols examines the Pashtun borderlands as a space of active political agency and \"not being governed.\" He reveals how local communities navigated the traumas of the 1947 Partition, resisted centralized state-building efforts, and negotiated with the forces of global capital. From the failed promises of American-funded development schemes in the 1950s to the enduring nonviolent legacy of Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), this monograph illuminates the complex social and political hierarchies that shaped the periphery.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this vital contribution to global borderland studies, Nichols demonstrates that the regional instability of the late twentieth century was not an accident of geography but a consequence of specific historical failures in governance and the production of knowledge. This work is essential reading for scholars of South and Central Asian history, postcolonial state-building, and the enduring friction between central authorities and the fringes of empire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507834102133,"sku":"9781682833278","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781682833278.jpg?v=1787042974","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/the-pashtun-borderlands","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}