About the factors of undevelopment of education in Afghanistan in the 19th century

During the 10th–17th centuries, the territory of modern Afghanistan was periodically part of different states and powers, each of which made a certain contribution to its socio-cultural development, and individual cities served as capitals of the estates of influential rulers. Patronage of science and literature, the presence of poets and thinkers in the circle of rulers became a tradition and contributed to the emergence of educational circles, schools and centers. However, from about the end of the 16th century, a process of gradual degradation of these cities began and by the 19th century, total illiteracy of the population was noted, there were no signs of education, which negatively affected the development of other spheres of social and economic life. European travelers and emissaries who visited Afghanistan during the century under review reported about the extremely ruined state of its cities, the extremely low level of literacy of the population, including among the ruling circles, the absence of schools or places where one could learn to read and write. The rulers, both at the center and local level, showed little interest in issues of social development, pursued a policy of isolationism, and distanced themselves from the processes taking place in the outside world. In this regard, this article examines the processes of general social development of Afghan society in the 19th century, shows the level of education and literacy of various Afghan social groups, highlights the stages of development of education, as well as factors that negatively affected its pace.