1827 Vandermaelen map of Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush

This is the 1827 Vandermaelen map of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Hindu Kush. It is the first large-scale atlas map to focus on the area, and the first to be executed in lithography. The map's detail - drawn from the first-hand exploration of John Macdonald Kinneir on behalf of the British East India Company - was not superseded until the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838 - 1842).

The Theatre of the Anglo-Afghan War

This mountainous region of Afghanistan became the focal point of 'The Disaster in Afghanistan'. All the major cities where actions occurred are shown, with the roads connecting them detailed: Quetta, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul (Cabul), and Jalalabad appear, along with the neighboring villages, passes, and roads. The Indus River Valley is shown with numerous cities in what is modern-day Pakistan, including Peshawar and Multan (Moulton). No earlier map focuses so specifically on this region with comparable detail.

Afghanistan's Tribal Divisions

European explorers, diplomats, and historians alike were baffled by the multiplicity of Afghan tribes, to the great detriment of their efforts to exploit them. Kinneir, exploring the region for the East India Company and distressed at the expansion of Russian influence so close to the British sphere in India, recorded many of these, and his data is presented on Vandermaelen's map. The Durrani, the principal power in the region at the time of the Afghan War, are here represented by their mixed tributaries (Tributs Melees de Dooranees). The Ghilji, now considered the most powerful of the Pashtuns, are shown as well (Gilzye). Other named tribes include the Populzyes, Barakzai (Baruckzyes), and Bungeesh.

Dost Mohammad Khan

The map shows a territory, along the course of the Indus River, marked 'Pays de Mahomet Khan'. This refers to Dost Mohammed Khan, who in 1826 would become Emir of Afghanistan, and would be the principal ruler of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. The base of his power is apparent. His father was chief of the Barakzai tribe and a civil servant under the Durrani. This map shows the positions of the most powerful tribal forces just prior to the 'The Great Game.'

The Great Game

'The Great Game' was a diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires over Afghanistan and other territories in Central and Southern Asia. The conflict, rooted in long-standing animosity between Russia and Britain, revolved around Afghanistan, which, while lacking significant resources of its own, was strategically situated. For its part, Russia feared Britain was making commercial and military inroads into Central Asia, an area long within the sphere of influence of St. Petersburg. Britain, conversely, feared Russia making gains in India, 'the jewel in the crown' of British Asia. The escalating tensions led to several wars and proxy wars: The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 - 1842), the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845 - 1846), the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848 - 1849), and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 - 1880), along with the Russian annexations of Khiva, Bukhara, and Kokand. Then as now, Afghanistan proved a grinding stone upon which the world's great empires diminished themselves, none achieving a definitive victory despite committing staggering resources. The Great Game 'ended' on September 10, 1895, with the signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission Protocols, which stabilized the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire - but in truth, the conflict persisted well into the 20th century. Regarding the attitude of Afghans toward the British and Russians, the general assumption of the British was that 'Some will fight for us, some against us, but all will fight.'

Publication History

This map appeared in the second part, 'Asie,' of Vandermaelen's Atlas universel de géographie physique, politique, statistique et minéralogique. The atlas was produced in one edition in 1827; only 810 complete sets were sold. The full set of six volumes appears in 11 institutional collections in OCLC; the 2nd volume alone is listed in 12. This separate map does not appear physically in any listing in OCLC.