Local Experiences of Imperial Cultures

The constitutional history thread woven through Faiz Ahmed's Afghanistan Rising: Islamic Law and Statecraft between the Ottoman and British Empires unites Afghan, Indian, Ottoman, Islamic, modernist, and other strands of analysis. Hanifi's essay addresses issues relevant to the comparative study of Afghanistan, namely, epistemology, class, culture, and empire. It explores how urban Persianate state elites in Kabul exploited imperial opportunities, especially educational opportunities, over the century since constitutional independence.