The Sewing Circles of Herat

by Christina Lamb

  Lamb’s writing is passionate, powerful and poetic, transforming reportage into literature. Through the stories she tells and her own development from a self-confessed war junkie’ to a devoted mother Lamb attempts to comprehend the human consequences of conflict in the countries she has come to know.

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  A powerful and intensely human insight into the civil war in Zimbabwe, focusing on a white farmer and his maid who find themselves on opposing sides.

  One bright morning Nigel Hough, one of the few remaining white farmers in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, received the news he was dreading a crowd were at the gate demanding he surrender his home and land. To his horror, his family's much-loved nanny Aqui was at the head of the violent mob that then stole his homestead and imprisoned him in an outhouse.

  By tracing the intertwined lives of Nigel and Aqui rich and poor, white and black, master and maid through intimate and moving interviews, Christina Lamb captures not just the source of a terrible conflict, but also her own conviction that there is still hope for one of Africa’s most beautiful countries.

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  From the award-winning co-author of ‘I Am Malala’, this book asks just how the might of NATO, with 48 countries and 140,000 troops on the ground, failed to defeat a group of religious students and farmers? How did it go so wrong?

  Farewell Kabul tells how success was turned into defeat in the longest war fought by the United States in its history and by Britain since the Hundred Years War. It has been a fiasco which has left Afghanistan still one of the poorest nations on earth, the Taliban undefeated, and nuclear armed Pakistan perhaps the most dangerous place on earth.

  This deeply personal book not only shows the human cost of political failure but explains how short-sighted encouragement of jihadis to fight the Russians, followed by prosecution of ill-thoughtout wars, has resulted in the spread of terrorism throughout the Islamic world.

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  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Ahmed, Akbar S., Understanding Islam, Routledge (London & New York) 1988.

  Allen, Charles, Soldier Sahibs: The Men who made the North-west Frontier, John Murray (London) 2000.

  Babur, The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, Oxford University Press (Oxford) 1996.

  Bodansky, Yossef, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America, Random House (New York) 1999.

  Burnes, Lt Col Alexander, Cabool: A Personal Narrative, John Murray (London) 1843.

  Byron, Robert, The Road to Oxiana, Penguin (London) 1937.

  Caroe, Sir Olaf, The Pathans, Macmillan (London) 1958.

  Chatwin, Bruce, ‘A Lament for Afghanistan’, What Am I Doing Here, Penguin (London) 1990.

  Diver, Maud, The Hero of Herat, Constable & Co (London) 1912.

  Dupree, Louis, Afghanistan, Princeton University Press (New Jersey) 1973.

  Dupree, Nancy Hatch, Afghanistan: A Historical Guide, Afghan Tourist Organisation (Kabul) 1977.

  Dupree, Nancy Hatch, Kabul: A Historical Guide, Afghan Tourist Organisation (Kabul) 1972.

  Elphinstone, Mountstuart, Account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its Dependencies, Vol. I, Longman and John Murray (London) 1819.

  Ewans, Martin, Afghanistan, Curzon Press (Richmond) 2001.

  Gascoigne, Bamber, The Great Moghuls, Jonathan Cape (London) 1987.

  Griffin, Michael, Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban Movement in Afghanistan, Pluto Press (London) 2001.

  Hiro Dilip, War Without End, Routledge (London and New York) 2002.

  Hopkirk, Peter, The Great Game, Oxford University Press (Oxford) 1991.

  Kaplan, Robert, Soldiers of God, Vintage (New York) 2001.

  Lamb, Christina, Waiting For Allah, Penguin (London) 1990.

  Levi, Peter, The Light Garden of the Angel King, Collins (London) 1972.

  Martin, Frank, Under the Absolute Amir of Afghanistan, Bhavana Books (New Delhi) 2000.

  Newby, Eric, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, Picador (London), 1958.

  Rashid, Ahmed, Taliban, I. B. Tauris (London) 2000.

  Rubin, Barnett, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan, Yale (New York) 1995.

  Schofield, Victoria, Every Rock, Every Hill, Century (London) 1984.

  Shah, Sirdar Iqbal Ali, Afghanistan of the Afghans, Octagon Press (London) 1982.

  Stark, Freya, The Minaret of Djam: An Excursion into Afghanistan, John Murray (London) 1970.

  Talbot Rice, David, Islamic Art, Thames and Hudson (London) 1975.

  Yousaf, Mohammad and Mark Adkin, The Bear Trap, Afghanistan’s Untold Story, Leo Cooper (London), 1992.

  INDEX

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader’s search tools.

  Page numbers in italic refer to illustrations

  Abbas Mirza, Crown Prince of Persia 151fn

  Abdali tribe 38, 39

  Abdullah 260–74

  execution of 248, 273, 273, 282

  family of 262–5, 263

  poetry of 266–7

  resistance leader 267–70

  Abdullah, Dr Abdullah 132

  Abdur Rahman, King xxiii, 20, 40, 47, 94, 113, 124, 174, 227, 239

  Afghan Airforce 69, 71

  Afghan Army 69, 125, 197

  Afghan National Bank 95

  Afghan Women’s League 31

  Afghanistan 2–3, 4, 6, 40

  borders 93–5

  communist 60, 80, 130–2, 155, 193, 197, 214, 324

  coup 111–15, 130, 136

  drought 16, 20, 22, 130, 242, 258

  empire 41–2

  geo-strategic position 128

  infant mortality 149

  interim government 236

  lawlessness 12–13, 89, 127

  modernisation 125–6, 228

  monarchy 38–42, 112–13, 115–31, 132, 136–7

  opium trade 11–12, 256, 287

  origins of name 221–3

  Soviet-Afghan relations 125

  terrain 129

  US war on terrorism in 75, 76–7, 83, 107–8, 116

  warlords 12–13, 89–90, 196, 204, 231, 238, 240

  Afridi tribe 66, 94

  Agha, Gul 13, 264, 265, 267, 268, 269–71, 282

  Ahmad Shah, Crown Prince 136

  Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani, King xxii, 38–42, 123, 174, 223, 246, 254

  Ahmed, Prof. Akbar 102

  Akbar, Moghul Emperor 95

  Akbar Khan 68, 224

  Akora Khattak 96

  Alexander the Great 3, 35, 37, 56, 95, 150

  Aligarh Muslim University 97

  Al-Istakhabara-al-Ama 287

  Alkozai tribe 260

  Altan, Khwaja 202

  al Qaeda 79, 133, 259, 281, 284

  Amanullah, King xxiii, 123–7, 220, 228, 232

  Amar bil Marouf, see Taliban, Moral Police

  Amin, Hafizullah 131

  Amir Hanza Division 197–8

  Amritsar 41

  Andrushkin, Gen. 196

  Anglo-Afghan Wars 66, 123–5, 129, 225, 226

  Ansari, Khwaja Abdullah 207

  Arabs 256

  brought in by ISI 44, 290

  donations from 98

  in Taliban 108, 128, 268, 269, 270, 271, 281, 321

  terrorists 32

  train Taliban army 27–8

  Argandab 56, 59, 80

  Ariana Airlines 114, 129–30, 205, 205, 211, 303–4, 310

  Army of Retribution 68, 224–5, 226

  Army of the Indus 224–5

  Assefi, Dr Mohammed Yusuf 241–2

  Assefy, Homayoun 95

  Asterabad 40

  Ataturk, Mustapha Kemal 125

  Attock 93, 94, 95

  Ayub Khan (ruler of Herat) 227

  Ayub Khan, Mohammed (President of Pakistan) 285

  Ayubi, Zahir 3, 141–4, 146, 147, 192–4, 203–7

  Azim, Mr 67, 6
9

  Azim, Maulana Sadar 101

  Babar, Gen. Nasirullah 14

  Babur, Moghul Emperor 153, 154, 173, 221

  Baburnama 153

  in Kabul 212, 216, 223, 228

  Badakshan 40, 177, 213, 231

  Bagram 28, 115

  Baiqara, Sultan Hussein 175

  Baisanghor, Prince 176

  Balkh 19, 40

  Balkh Airlines 197

  Baluchistan 14, 42, 46, 102, 278, 285

  Bamiyan 13, 19, 20, 22–3, 40, 68fn, 280

  Buddhas 22, 87, 134, 205, 231, 283

  Banderas, Antonio 83

  Barakzai tribe 263, 264

  Bawalpur 57

  BBC 63, 77

  Beg, Ibrahim 196

  Belquis, Princess 117

  Bengal Artillery 184

  Bergen, Candice 111

  Bhutto, Benazir ix, 14, 91, 95, 103, 290, 291

  Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali 285–6

  Bihzad (court artist) 154

  Bin Laden, Osama 203, 304

  CIA and 294

  fights in Aghanistan 72, 293

  as fugitive 104, 129, 270, 281

  and Haqqania 85, 99

  house in Kandahar 257, 270

  and ISI 290, 291

  in Kabul 213

  and Mullah Omar 26–7

  orders assassination of Zahir Shah 122fn

  and September 11th 6, 91, 281–2

  and Taliban 82, 87, 282, 283

  as Wahhabi 101

  Blair, Tony 77

  Bonn 179, 236, 237

  Bor Jan 58–9, 61, 80, 81, 252, 253

  Bradley, Carolyn 118

  Brahimi, Lakhdar 133

  Brezinski, Zbigniew 286

  Britain 19, 44, 96

  Afghan border set by 93–4

  Anglo-Afghan Wars 41, 66, 68, 123–5, 129, 224–7

  British in Herat 174, 184

  Empire 3, 97

  Foreign Office 133

  Great Game 3, 142, 151, 173, 184

  madrassas in 89

  and war on terrorism 92, 240

  Zahir Shah in 135

  Brydon, Dr William 68

  Burki, Mullah 18

  Burnes, Sir Alexander 19–20, 223, 224, 226, 235

  Cabool 19–20

  Travels into Bokhara 19

  Bush, George Snr 291, 294

  Bush, George W. 77, 85, 92

  Byron, Robert:The Road to Oxiana 145, 150, 172–5, 218

  Camp X-ray 284

  Caroe, Sir Olaf 2, 35, 94

  Carter, Jimmy 286

  Cavagnari, Sir Louis 226

  CBS 249

  Central Television News 36

  Chaman 91

  Chatwin, Bruce 145

  Chechens 321

  Chechnya 89

  Chelmsford, Lord 124

  China 92, 128, 286, 287, 293

  Christie, Capt. Charles 151

  Churchill, Winston:The Story of the Malakand Field Force 102

  CIA 44, 53, 268, 285, 286–7, 294

  Cogan, Chuck 287

  Daoud, Mohammed 251–2

  Daoud Khan, Prince Mohammed xxiii, 112, 114, 130, 136, 204

  Darra 59, 103

  Dar-ul Aman, Kabul 219, 219, 220–1, 228–9, 237

  Darul Uloom Deoband 97

  Darul Uloom Haqqania, see Haqqania

  Darya, Farhad 139

  Deans Hotel, Peshawar 126

  Delhi 39, 40, 97, 223

  Dost Mohammed, Amir xxiii, 19, 68, 224, 225, 264

  Dostum, Gen. Rashid 13, 20–1, 81, 196–7, 199, 200, 268, 298, 323

  Dubs, Adolph 212

  Dunbar, Charles 130

  Dupree, Louis 40, 186

  Dupree, Nancy Hatch 216, 220

  Durand, Sir Mortimer 94

  Durand Line 93–4, 123

  Durrani dynasty xxii–xxiii, 39, 42, 43, 45, 123, 132

  East India Company 37, 151

  Ehsan, Ehsanullah 60, 80, 81

  Eid Gaha Mosque, Kandahar 256, 258

  Eighth Orang 155

  Eisenhower, Dwight 115

  Elizabeth II, Queen 135, 135

  Elphinstone, Mountstuart 37, 224

  Account of the Kingdom of Caubul 223, 325

  Fahd, King of Saudi Arabia 118

  Fahim, Gen. 179, 238

  Farah province 198

  Firdosi 169

  Shahnama, Book of Kings 168

  Fleming Hotel, Rome 119, 120, 133, 136

  Ford, Gerald 289

  Frontier Scouts 123

  Gardez 197, 275, 282

  Gaulle, Charles de 115

  Genghis Khan 3, 19, 151, 153, 181

  Ghani, Abdul 91

  Ghaziabad 68

  Ghazni 18, 19, 20, 231

  Ghilzai tribe 24, 39

  Ghiyas-ad-Din, King of Ghorids 190

  Ghor 20

  Gilani, Hamid 5, 324–6

  Gilani, Iftikhar 103–5, 289

  Golden Crescent 12

  Golden Needle Sewing Circle 156–60, 157, 163

  Gowhar Shad, Queen 153, 154, 164

  mausoleum of 173–7

  Greens hotel, Peshawar 2, 3

  Guantanamo Bay 284

  Gul, Agha 261

  Gul, Gen. Hamid 44, 284–5, 288–95, 288

  Gul, Khadi Mohammed 53, 55

  Gul, Pari 23

  Gul, Sardar 261

  Habibullah (Abdullah’s father) 263–4

  Habibullah, King xxiii, 47, 113, 123, 124, 127, 228

  Haghighi, Ahmed Said 154–8, 159, 160, 162, 168

  Hakim (driver) 251, 258

  Hamid, Mohammed 303, 305–6, 310–12

  Hamidy, Sultan 189, 189, 190–2

  Haq, Abdul (Kabul commander) ix, 6, 45, 71, 83, 287–8, 295

  Haq, Maulana Abdul 96

  Haq, Gen. Fazle 286

  Haq, Ijaz-ul 287

  Haq, Osama 96

  Haq, Rashid 93, 96–101

  Haq, Sami-ul 85–91, 86, 92, 96, 98, 283

  Haqqani, Jalaluddin 87, 101

  Haqqani, Kabir 101

  Haqqania 84–91, 93, 96–101

  prospectus 90

  Harakat 59

  Harris, Sir Arthur Travers (‘Bomber’) 124fn

  Hassani, Khalil Ahmed 10, 11, 35, 84

  as Mullah Omar’s bodyguard 24–7, 255

  in Taliban secret police 12, 15–19, 21, 200

  Hazarajat 19, 20

  Hazaras 12, 13, 19–24, 40, 218, 219

  Hekmatullah 200–1

  Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin 13, 294

  attacks Kabul 299, 311

  battles against Northern Alliance 75, 80, 219, 231

  forces of 10, 12, 209, 264, 279

  ISI protégé 44, 291

  Helmand 28, 80, 232

  Herat 5, 6, 145–77, 181–5, 187–99

  anti-Soviet uprising 131, 151–2, 198, 199

  Bin Laden in 281

  citadel 150–1, 182–5, 198

  as cultural centre 18, 153–5, 164, 168–9

  fall of Taliban 144, 201

  history of 19, 40, 150–1, 174

  under Ismael Khan 12, 198

  Literary Circle 153–5, 160, 162, 163, 166

  minarets 141, 143, 150, 172–7

  mosques 189–90

  Sewing Circle 156–60, 163

  under Soviets 125, 188, 198, 207

  under Taliban 15, 18–19, 21, 80, 81, 142, 146–7, 152–3, 155–65, 169–72, 199, 280

  Herat Academy 154

  Herat Museum 162

  Herat University 158, 160, 162

  Herodotus 148

  Hezb-i-Islami 44, 279

  Hindu Kush 12, 20, 40, 95, 228

  Homaira, Queen 135, 136

  Humayun (cook) 249–50

  Hussein, Saddam 6

  Husseini, Zare 161

  Inayatullah, King 126

  India 94, 102, 151

  British 97, 125, 126

  cinema 165

  Moghul 39–40

  Indus River 93, 95, 123

  Inter-Servi
ces Intelligence (ISI) x, 25, 54fn, 66, 67, 72, 83, 278

  brings Arabs to Afghanistan 44

  controls Afghan policy 286–90

  headquarters 285

  history 285–7

  and Taliban 14, 82, 198, 281, 293, 294

  US and 284, 286–7, 294

  Iran 53, 128, 129, 132, 142, 155, 161, 167, 197, 200–1; see also Persia

  Iran, Shah of 118, 132, 184, 286, 325

  Ishaq, Gen. 26

  Islah 127

  Islam 88–9, 91, 97, 282

  deobandi movement 97, 102

  Wahhabi sect 101

  Islamabad 5, 66, 80, 85, 285, 286

  Israel 92, 286, 293

  Italy 115–21, 126, 131

  Jalalabad 5, 13, 95, 295

  British in 226

  mujaheddin battle for 65–6, 69–72, 80, 145, 197, 291

  revolt in (1929) 126

  under Taliban 80

  Jamal, Qadratullah 230, 279

  Jami, Abdur Rahman 141, 153

  Jamiat-e-Ulema Islami (JUI) 91, 101

  Jamiat Islami 204

  Jan, Ahmed 259–60

  Jan, Mohammed 52

  Jan, Mullah Wali 272

  Jan, Wali 13, 14, 15

  Jari Dasht 27

  Jawzjani militia 13

  Jinnah, Muhammed Ali 102

  Kabul 65, 205, 211–42, 215, 217, 243–4, 310–11, 314–15

  airport 75, 211, 304

  Bala Hissar fort 223, 226–7

  bombing of 124, 133

  British in 68, 129, 224–7

  Central Prison 115

  city walls 318–19

  coup in 111–15

  Dar-ul Aman 219, 219, 220–1, 228–9, 237

  Four Arcades Bazaar 225

  Hishai Durrani School 29, 308

  history 20, 202, 223

  Microrayon 29, 30, 107, 298–309, 314

  under monarchy 125–8

  mujaheddin in 132, 219, 231, 237, 298–9

  National Gallery 240–2

  origin of name 221–3

  post office 315–17

  Presidential Palace 114, 117, 222, 236, 239, 243, 282, 283

  Soviet occupation 219, 286

  under Taliban 20, 30, 80, 81, 108, 132, 156, 230–2, 239–40, 307

  Taliban ousted 139, 144, 212

  under warlords 12, 20, 307

  Kabul Hotel 212

  Kabul Museum 222, 229–35, 232, 234, 283

  Kabul Radio 130

  Kabul River 95, 215, 298

  Kabul University 204, 275, 299

  Kabul Times 120

  Kandahar 5, 10, 28, 35–9, 45, 46, 245–59

  Arabs in 268, 269, 270

  bazaars 254, 270

  bombing of 154, 254

  British in 226, 227