India-Afghanistan: From Common Inheritance to Contested Histories

This book is a searing history of Indo-Afghan relations. It looks at how Afghanistan, once the heartland of India, has now been reduced to a troubled cousin in the contemporary era. Drawing on archival records, as well as ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Persian literature, the book traces the history of Afghanistan from ancient times up to the recent Taliban takeover of the country in 2020. It presents an analytical history of race, culture, and belonging in a world shaken and transformed by colonization. The author provides a new interpretation of the region and discusses South Asia’s courteous racial etiquette.

An indispensable read, the book will be useful for students and researchers of history, Middle East and Central Asian studies, international relations, politics, development studies, and Asian studies.

Saroj Kumar Rath has written extensively on the history of Afghanistan’s responses to the world. His prize-winning history Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks (2014) has been used as course material at leading universities in Europe, Asia, and America. A specialist in South Asia’s security history, he teaches at the University of Delhi.