Afghanistan, 1893
I know that it has become a custom in this century for great Powers to absorb small countries; and to carry out their desires of annexing the weak countries they adopt various modes and schemes.
ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Khān, The Life of Abdur Rahman: Amir of Afghanistan (1900)
It cannot be said that the Amir Abdur Rahman showed any gratitude to Great Britain for restoring to him his kingdom… His letters to the Government of India were frequently written in the vein of thinly veiled impertinence in which the Afghan excels.
Lovat Fraser, India under Curzon & After (1911)
In 1893, the British demarcated the (subsequently much-debated) Durand Line as the border between Afghanistan and British India, and Afghanistan has since been forced to serve as a buffer state between shifting powers on the north and south.
Manzoor Ali, “Through the Khyber, once more,” Himal South Asia (March 2009)