Page 21

8 Kashmir, and from the Oxus to the Satlej and the Arabian Sea. The country suffered great diminution, first when the grandsons of Ahmad Shah Durrani contested for supremacy, and secondly when it came into conflict with the two great rival imperialistic European powers—England and Tsarist Russia. The existing boundaries, especially those in the south and east, are mostly artificial, and have been forced upon the country from time to time, irrespective of geographical, historical or ethnical con- siderations. The present boundary line between Afghanistan and Russia (USSR) is over seven hundred miles long. Starting from the north-east corner of Afghanistan, where the Oxus leaves its high mountain cradle in the Pamir, it follows the course of the Oxus or Amu Derya as far as the post of Kham-i-Ab (River Bend) in the extreme north. From here the boundary leaves the Oxus and takes a south-westerly direction till it reaches the post of Tor- Ghundi opposite Kushkinski, the terminus of the Russian Trans- Caspian Railway. From this point the border line takes a north- westerly direction until it reaches the Zulfikar Pass, the trijunc- tion point between Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmanistan. From Kham-i-Ab to Zulfikar the boundary is laid through an open and sparsely populated desert with occasional pasturage. It follows no natural features and would be undefinable but for the pillars set up by the boundary commissions. From the Zulfikar Pass down to Siah Koh, the border line between Afghanistan and Iran remained uncertain for many years and was always the cause of friction and complaint between the two neighbouring countries. Finally in 1934, a Turkish General of repute, Fakhruddin Altai, was appointed arbitrator by the countries concerned. His decisions were accepted by the Governments of Afghanistan and Iran.