Background Information
To better understand an appreciate the context of The
Kite Runner, a basic understanding of Afghan history,
politics, and culture is necessary.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
►For majority of its history, Afghanistan was at a crossroad
of many civilizations and empires
►EMERGENCE OF AFGHANISTAN
►The nation of Afghanistan began to
take shape in 1747, after centuries of
fragmentation and rule by invaders.
►Ahmad Khan was crowned king
Ahmad Shah Baba
►Afghan historians have called him the
founder of the Afghan nation
►Afghans refer to him as Ahmad Shah Baba, Shah=King
and Baba = Father of Nation
►Ahmad Shah belonged to the Saddozai clan (a Pashtun
ethnic group)
►Saddozais ruled Afghanistan
from 1747-1826
►The Mohammadzai clan ruled
Afghanistan from 1826-1978.
Dost Mohammad
Daoud
►President Mohammad Daoud was the last
ruler.
►He was the Prime Minister from 1953-1963
►Took power from the last Afghan king in
1973 in a coup with the help of Afghan
communists and changed Afghanistan to a
Republic, 1973-1978
►deposed by the Afghan communists in a
bloody coup in April 1978
INTRODUCTION
►Afghan rulers tried to build a strong state
►Strong central government would be able to initiate
economic development and modernization of the
Afghanistan.
►However, several factors made the above task difficult
THE GREAT GAME
►Rivalry between British India and Russia for
control of Afghanistan throughout the 19th and parts of
the 20th centuries
►Russia perceived Afghanistan as prime invasion route to
wealthy British Indian Colony and warm waters of
Indian Ocean.
►The British also concluded that whoever controlled
Afghanistan could potentially dictate India’s future
Shah Shuja
►The presence of Russia envoy convinced
British that Afghan king was friendlier
to Russians
►Thus, the British invaded Afghanistan
in 1839 and replaced the
ruler, Shah Shuja.
►Eventually Shah Shuja was killed by Afghans and the
exiled.
A BUFFER STATE
►Toward the end of the 19th century, Afghanistan became
a buffer state between Russia and Britain.
►Both Britain and Russia agreed to transform the country
into a state and use it as a buffer.
►The imperial powers separated Afghanistan’s borders
and searched for a new Afghan king.
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“Hassan and I looked at each other. Cracked
up. The Hindi kid would soon learn what the
British learned earlier in the century and what
the Russians would eventually learn by the
later 1980s: that Afghans are independent
people. Afghans cherish customs but dislike
rules.” (55)
►The Soviet Union and United States became the dominant
powers after World War II.
►The two world powers sought influence around the world,
including Afghanistan
►COMPETITION BEARS ARMS
►Afghan government needed to modernize its armed
forces to:
►Maintain internal security
►Gain control of independent tribes
► Strengthen central government to foster
political and economic development
►When the U.S. government rejected Afghan request for
arms, Afghans turned to the Soviet Union
►The Soviet Union not only provided Afghanistan military
hardware, but also built several airports and thousands of
Afghans went to the Soviet Union for military training.
►Most of the officers either joined the Afghan Communist
Party or became sympathetic to it.
ORIGIN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
►The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
was formed in 1965
►The PDPA split and remained divided until July 1977
►The world Taliban is the plural of and Arabic word, Talib
or someone who seeks religious knowledge before he
becomes a preacher in a mosque.
►They were the sons of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and
attended Pakistani schools of theology
►Became active in October 1994 in Qandahar and
continued there advances in the country with help of
Pakistan
►By 1997 they held about 90 percent of the Afghan
territory, including Kabul.
SOCIAL REFORMS
►Land reform: limited land ownership by a family to
14.3 acres of land.
►Prohibiting arranged marriages
►Prohibiting marriage for women under 16 years and for men
under 18 years of age.
OPPOSITION AND RESISTENCE TO REFORMS
►These reforms challenged the prevailing traditional and
Islamic values and sentiments of Afghans.
►Restored law and order but through rigorous enforcement
of Islamic punishment: public beating, flogging,
amputation of hands, and stoning to death.
.
►The ministry issued strict religious rules that denied
people the right to freedom of expression, association,
the right to work, and the right to education
►They prohibited games such as kite flying, chess, music,
►Only three countries recognized the Taliban government:
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan
►CONCLUSION
►The Cold War, between the U.S.A. and the
former Soviet Union brought death and utter destruction to
the country.
►Over 5 million Afghans abandoned their homes and went
into exile in other countries.
►Close to 1.5 million lost their lives
►Many left their homes for secured areas of the country.
A DIVERSE NATION
►Afghanistan is nation of groups with disparate ethnic,
religious, and tribal traditions.
.
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1996 - Taliban seize control of Kabul, banning women
from work, and introducing Islamic punishments, which
include stoning to death and amputations.
1997- Taliban recognized as legitimate rulers by
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Taliban now control about
two-thirds of country.
1998 - US launches missile strikes at suspected bases
of militant Osama bin Laden, accused of bombing US
embassies in Africa.
1999 - UN financial sanctions to force Afghanistan to
hand over Osama bin Laden for trial.
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May - Taliban order
religious minorities to wear
tags identifying themselves
as non-Muslims, and Hindu
women to veil themselves
like other Afghan women.
October - US, Britain launch
air strikes against
Afghanistan after Taliban
refuse to hand over Osama
bin Laden, held responsible
for the September 11
attacks on America.
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May - Violent anti-US
protests in Kabul, the worst
since the fall of the Taliban
in 2001, erupt after a US
military vehicle crashes and
kills several people.
October - NATO assumes
responsibility for security
across the whole of
Afghanistan, taking
command in the east from
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Afghanistan is an ethnically
diverse country. Its
inhabitants form a complex
mosaic of ethnic and
linguistic groups, a history
of frequent external
occupiers.
As of July 2007, there are
approximately 32 million
people estimated to live in
Afghanistan.
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Pashtu and Dari are considered the official
languages of Afghanistan, and are spoken by 85%
of the people.
Thirty other minor languages are also spoken in
Afghanistan, representing the last 4% of
the population.
There is also a large degree of bilingualism
amongst the inhabitants of the country.
About 99% of the population is Muslim, and of
these Muslims, 84% belong to the Sunni sect.
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There has been a long history of an ethnic
hierarchy within Afghanistan. It has created
imbalances in wealth, influence and education
within its society.
Traditionally, Pashtuns have dominated the country
because they are the presumed majority of the
population.
As a result, many of the other ethnic groups have
not had a strong voice within the society.
Tajiks
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Tajiks account for
about 27% of the
population of
Afghanistan
They are the second
largest ethnic
community within
Afghanistan
They are identified
with agriculture and
town life
Hazaras
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The Hazara ethnic group
resides mainly in the central
Afghanistan mountain
region called ‘Hazarajat’
They make up
approximately 9% of
Afghanistan’s population
Historically, the Hazara
seem to have Mongolian
origins, as evidenced by
physical attributes
They are a group that is
considered to have low
income
In Afghanistan, socioeconomic status was highly correlated with
ethnicity. Income inequality was vast as most of the upper class
came from the royal tribal clan, while the lower class was
comprised of the likes of Hassan's family of The Kite Runner.
The Taliban were Pashtun-based but not all Pashtuns
supported the Taliban ideology as evident in The Kite Runner
characters of Baba, Rahim Khan and Amir who were opposed
to religious extremists.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Get into groups of 4-6 people
Review the notes taken in class today
Skim through chapters 1-12 and find
references from the novel that relate back to
the information on Afghanistan provided
today (there is a lot of evidence in chapters
11-12)
You will present this information to the rest
of your peers
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Important Quotations
Why are these quotes significant?
“But better to get hurt than comforted with a
lie”
“In the end, the world always wins. That’s
just the way of things”
“Not a word passes between us, not because
we have nothing to say, but because we don’t
have to say anything- that’s how it is
between people who are each other’s first
memories”
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Who is Karim?
Why are Amir and his father fleeing Afghanistan?
Why does Baba challenge the Russian officer?
Chapter 11 has a new setting, what is it?
In chapter 11 who is Soraya?
Baba observes that “It may be unfair, but what happens in a
single day can change the course of a whole lifetime.” Whom is
he speaking about? Why? What else might be significant of this
quote?
What is Baba diagnosed with? How does he decide to treat it?
What disappointments do Soraya and Amir face? Do you think
Amir should have told Soraya about his betrayal of Hassan before
they were married? Why or why not? What does this do to a
relationship?
In 1989, what is going on in Afghanistan? Who is in charge?