Russo-Afghan Conflict of 1885

an armed conflict centering on a clash in Pendjeh, or Tashkepri, on March 18. Actually, the conflict was between Great Britain and Russia caused by the Russo-Afghan demarcation of the 1880’s.

Having established control over Afghan foreign policy as a result of the war of 1878–80 (seeANGLO-AFGHAN WARS), Great Britain was doing everything possible to expand its sphere of influence to the north of Afghanistan and to prevent the strengthening of Russian positions in Central Asia. To this end, Great Britain made constant attempts to provoke a war between Afghanistan and Russia. The British military diplomatic mission headed by General P. Lumsden had participated in the establishment of the frontiers between Afghanistan and Russia and now endeavored to seize from Russia the strategically important territory in the region of Kushka (the Pendjeh Oasis). Under pressure from Great Britain, a detachment of Afghan troops led by British officers invaded Turkmenia in the summer of 1884 and occupied the Pendjeh Oasis. As a result of the armed conflict at Tashkepri, the detachment of Afghan troops left the region.

The Russo-Afghan conflict caused a sharp deterioration in Anglo-Russian relations. Russia, in the words of V. I. Lenin, was “on the verge of war with Britain” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 28, p. 668). The international situation, which was unfavorable for Great Britain, and the official statement by the emir, Abder-Rahman Khan, that Afghanistan had no claims whatsoever on the disputed territory forced the British government to yield and seek agreement with Russia. This agreement, concluded on Sept. 10, 1885, defined the frontier between Russia and Afghanistan in general terms from the Persian-Afghan frontier to the Amu Darya River. As a result of the work of the Anglo-Russian Demarcation Commission, a Russo-English protocol on the establishment of the Russo-Afghan frontier was signed on June 22,1887.