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Editing the Past: Colonial Production of Hegemony Through the “Loya Jerga” in Afghanistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

M. Jamil Hanifi
M. Jamil Hanifi*
Affiliation:
Anthropology and independent scholar of anthropology and the history of Afghanistan
*
[email protected]
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Iranian Studies , Volume 37 , Issue 2: Special Issue on Afghanistan , June 2004 , pp. 295 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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Footnotes

1

This essay has benefited from the generous comments and suggestions of David W. Akin and Shah Mahmoud Hanifi. I thank them for this. However, I alone am responsible for its contents.

References

2 Bonn Agreement, Chapter 1, APA infonet, http://www.afghanistanpeace.com/infonet.htm (January 14, 2002), emphasis added.

3 Interview with Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar, NewsHour with Jim L. Lehrer, November 13, 2003.

4 Abdul Samad Zazi, Problemi Vneshina Politiki v Postanovbleniyakh Bolshoia Dzhirgi Afganistana [soziibii 1941, 1955 i 1964 gg.] (Russian, Problems of Foreign Politics and the Staging of Afghanistan's Loya Jerga During the Years 1941, 1955 and 1964). Dissertation for Candidate in Historical Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences (Moscow, USSR, 1977).

5 Gramsci, Antonio, Selections from the Prison Notebook, hereafter SPN (New York, 1971), 9,Google Scholar 57, 55–60, 160–161, 261–263.

6 Buci-Glucksmann, Christine, Gramsci and the State (London, 1980), 48Google Scholar.

7 Gramsci, SPN, 328.

8 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana (Proceedings of the Capital City Loya Jerga) (Kabul, 1924), 410Google Scholar.

9 There are three major phonetic variation of the noun Paxtun: Generally, Pakhtun, Pukhtun is used in the highlands straddling the Durand Line (language, Pakhtu, Pukhtu); Pashtun, Pushtun is used in the flatlands of Southwestern Afghanistan (language, Pashtu, Pushtu); Paxtun (the phone x is located between the units of sound kh and sh) in the foothills of Eastern and Southeastern Afghanistan (language, Paxtu). I am a Paxtun and speak Paxtu and have ethnographic familiarity with the Paxtu-speaking communities.

10 The problematic of the concept “tribe” in anthropology is not pursued here. I use the label merely as a reference to Paxtu speakers of rural Afghanistan.

11 Caroe, Olaf, The Pathans: 550 B. C.-A. D. 1957 (New York, 1958), 401–402Google Scholar.

12 Elphinstone, Mountstuart, An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, 2 volumes (New York, 1839 [1815]), I, 215Google Scholar, 222–226, II, 41.

13 Raverty, Henry George, A Dictionary of Pukhto, Pushto or Language of the Afghans (London, 1860)Google Scholar; Bellew, Henry Walter, A Dictionary of the Pukkhto or Pukshto Language (London, 1867)Google Scholar; Lorimer, J. G., Grammar and Vocabulary of Waziri Pashto (Calcutta, 1902)Google Scholar.

14 J. S. Broadfoot, “Reports on Parts of the Ghilzi Country,” Royal Geographical Society (Supplementary Papers), Volume I (1882–1885); Oliver, Edward E., Across the Border or Pathan and Baluch (London, 1890)Google Scholar; Bruce, Richard Isaac, The Forward Policy (London, 1900)Google Scholar; Wylly, H. C., From the Black Mountain to Waziristan (London, 1912)Google Scholar; Pennell, T. L., Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier (London, 1914)Google Scholar.

15 The following time periods are used in this essay: Precolonial, 1747–1809; Colonial, 1809–1919; Postcolonial, 1919–2001; Neocolonial, 2001–present.

16 Ahmed, Akbar S., Pukhtun Economy and Society (London, 1980)Google Scholar, Religion and Politics in Muslim Society (London, 1983)Google Scholar; Barth, Fredrik, Political Leadership among Swat Pathans (London, 1959)Google Scholar; Beattie, Hugh, Imperial Frontier: Tribe and State in Waziristan (London, 2002)Google Scholar; Evans-von Krbek, Jeffrey H. P., “The Social Structure and Organization of a Pakhto Speaking Community in Afghanistan” (Ph. D. thesis, University of Durham, 1977)Google Scholar; Glatzer, B., “Political Organization of Pashtun Nomads and the State,” in The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan, ed. Tapper, Richard (New York, 1983), 212–232Google Scholar; Tapper, Richard, “Introduction,” in The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan, ed. Tapper, Richard (New York, 1983), 1–82Google Scholar; Yapp, M., “Tribes and States in the Khyber, 1838–42,” in The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan, ed. Tapper, Richard (New York, 1983), 150–191Google Scholar; Zadran, Alef-Shah, “Socio-Economic and Legal-Political Processes in a Pashtun Village, Southeastern Afghanistan,” (Ph. D. diss., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1977)Google Scholar.

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19 Faiz-zad, Mohammad 'Alam, Jergaha-ye Buzurg-e Meli-ye Afghanistan (The Great National Jergas of Afghanistan) (Lahore, 1990)Google Scholar.

20 G. Rauf Roashan, “Loya Jirga: One of the Last Political Tools for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan,” www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org, June 30, 2001.

21 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 595.

22 Khafi, Mirza Ya'qub Ali Khan, Padshahan-e Muta'akher-e Afghanistan, 2 Volumes (The Recent Kings of Afghanistan) (Kabul, 1953), I, 95Google Scholar.

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27 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 739.

28 Mahmud al-Hosaini al-Munshi ibn Ibrahem al-Jami, Tarikh-e Ahmad Shahi (History of Ahmad Shah) 2 Volumes (Moscow. 1974 [1753–1774]).

29 Hosaini, Tarikh-e Ahmad Shahi, I, 23a.

30 Hosaini, Tarikh-e Ahmad Shahi, I, 30a–330b.

31 See for example these Persian chronicles: Gholam Hosain Tabatabai, Siyar al-Mutakherin, (Calcutta,1789 reprint of 1780–1781 publication); Abol Hasan bin Mohammad Amin Golestana, Mojmal al-Tawarikh (Tehran,1965 reprint of 1782 publication); Imam al-Din Hosaini, Tarikh-e Hosain Shahi (1793); Boukhari, 'Abdul Kerim, Afghanistan, Boukhara, Khiva, Khoqand (Paris, 1876 reprint of 1818 publication)Google Scholar; 'Abd al-Karim 'Alawi, Tarikh-e Shahan-e Dorani (1826); Khales, Sultan Mohammad, Tarikh-e Sultani (Bombay, 1881 reprint of 1865 publication)Google Scholar; Gandapur, Sher Mohammad Khan, Tawarikh-e Khorshaid-e Jahan (Lahore, 1904, first written in 1894)Google Scholar; Haravi, Mohammad Yusuf Riyazi, ‘Ain al-Waqayi’ (Tehran, 1990, first written in 1904)Google Scholar; Kateb, Fayz Mohammad, Seraj al-Tawarikh (Kabul, 1913–1915)Google Scholar.

32 Elphinstone, An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, II, 281.

33 Fraser, James B., Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia (New York, 1852), 325Google Scholar.

34 Ferrier, J. P., History of the Afghans (London, 1858), 69–70Google Scholar.

35 Raverty, Henry George, Selections from the Poetry of the Afghans (London, 1867), 288Google Scholar.

36 Malleson, G. B., History of Afghanistan From the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878 (London, 1879), 272Google Scholar.

37 Tate, G. P., The Kingdom of Afghanistan (Calcutta, 1911), 67–69Google Scholar.

38 Singh, Ganda, Ahmad Shah Durrani: Father of Modern Afghanistan (Bombay, 1959), 25–27Google Scholar.

39 Dupree, Afghanistan, 333n.

40 Roidadha-ye Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 410.

41 Louis, Dupree, “The Marxist Regimes and the Soviet Presence in Afghanistan,” in Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan, ed. Shahrani, M. Nazif and Canfield, Robert L. (Berkeley, 1984), 58–73Google Scholar.

42 Poullada, Leon, Reform and rebellion in Afghanistan, 1919–1929 (Ithaca, 1973), 69Google Scholar.

43 Shahrani, M. Nazif, “Introduction: Marxist ‘Revolution’ and Islamic Resistance in Afghanistan,” in Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan, ed. Shahrani, M. Nazif and Canfield, Robert L. (Berkeley, 1984), 3–57Google Scholar.

44 A. Ghani, “Afghanistan: Administration,” Encyclopaedia Iranica I: 561.

45 Tapper, , “Introduction,” in The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan, ed. Tapper, Richard (New York, 1983), 13Google Scholar.

46 Canfield, Robert L., “Symbol and Sentiment in Motivated Action,” in Language and Life: Essays in Memory of Kenneth L. Pike, ed. Headland, Tom et al. (Dallas, 2003), 345–346Google Scholar.

47 Roy, Olivier, Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan (London, 1985), 13Google Scholar.

48 Ibid.

49 D. Balland, “Afghanistan: Political History,” Encyclopaedia Iranica I: 547, emphasis added.

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51 Gankovsky, Yu. V., The People of Pakistan (Moscow, 1971)Google Scholar.

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53 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 51.

54 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 72.

55 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 73.

56 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 75.

57 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 193.

58 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 268.

59 Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, 193.

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63 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 716, 718–719.

64 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 716–717.

65 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 797.

66 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 797.

67 Yunas, S. Fida, The Constitutions of Afghanistan, 1923–1990 (Peshawar, 2001), 1–15Google Scholar.

68 Poullada, Reform and Rebellion, 93, n1.

69 Ghani, “Afghanistan: Administration,” 564.

70 Untitled typecript of the 1964 Loya Jerga. To my knowledge only one copy of this document is in circulation at the library of Bochum University, Germany. I purchased a copy through the facilitation of Mir Mohammad Amin Farhang.

71 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303.

72 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 420.

73 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 9.

74 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 11.

75 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 46, 422–427.

76 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 422–451. (Further analysis to be published elsewhere).

77 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 28–30.

78 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 359.

79 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 30–35.

80 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 24.

81 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 48–49.

82 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 378–418.

83 Roidad-e Loya Jerga-ye Dar al-Saltana, 1303, 412.

84 For a biographical sketch of Ghubar see Habibi, Junbesh-e Mashtutiyat dar Afghanistan, 193–196.

85 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 810.

86 Ghobar, Afghanistan dar Maseer-e Tarikh, 813.

87 Faiz-zad, Jergaha-ye Buzurg-e Melli-ye Afghanistan, 143–144.

88 N. A., “Maram-e Mujala” (Persian, purpose of the journal), Kabul, 1 (1931): 5–6.

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97 Sayid Qasem Reshtiya, Khaterat-e Siyasi-ye Sayid Qasem Reshtiya, 1932–1992 (Persian: The Political Memoirs of Sayid Qasem Reshtiya) (Printed by American Speedy Printing in Virginia, USA, 1997), 177–210.

98 Montreal Gazette, June 20, 2002.

99 Washington Post, June 16, 2002.

100 Financial Times (London), June 13, 2002.

101 The Times (London), June 12, 2002.

102 Washington Times, May 30, 2002.

103 www.Afghaniyat-Yahoogroup.com, May 19, 2002.

104 New York Times, April 28, 2002.

105 www.wsws.org, January 8, 2004.

106 The Constitution of Afghanistan (www.Afghaniyat-Yahoogroup.com, January 5, 2004), section 6, articles 110–115.

107 Financial Times (London), December 23, 2003.

108 www.wsws.org, December 18, 2003.

109 www.Afghaniyat-Yahoogroup.com, January 28, 2004.

110 The Kabul Times, January 28, 2004.

111 www.Afghaniyat-Yahoogroup.com, January 28, 2004.

112 www.wsws.org, January 8, 2004.

113 Gramsci, SPN, 263.