Akhila Mullapudi
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Anthony Marcum
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Program in International and Comparative Studies / LSA
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 3 – 1:40pm – 2:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Akhila Mullapudi, Anthony Marcum
Presenter: 1
Abstract
The process of this project is to understand specifically if there was an occupation during the Russo-Afghan War in 1855. The process begins by finding as much information concerning the conflict and its participants. The biggest issue is that first off, this happened centuries ago. So, understanding what happened, not a biased account written by a defeated general or a war-mongering colonist was hard. This included digging through Russian journals, Afghani accounts as well as British sources. It is important to note that Afghanistan was a strategic geographical location between two global superpowers, Russia and Britain. By combing through numerous documents ranging from letters, official statements, journals, and commentaries, I was able to determine that this war was not an occupation. In some ways, there was an occupation, but it did not match all aspects of what an occupation is as described by Dr. Marcum. There was an advancement in territory and demands were made – it is unsure as to whether they were met, however, no government was instituted and it appears that Afghanistan still controlled the Panjdeh region despite ongoing negotiations about the boundary. All in all, Russia did not occupy Afghanistan.
Interdisciplinary, Social Sciences
