A photograph taken by Marc Riboud in 1956 shows a sign on the road leading to Khyber Pass in Afghanistan. A bicyclist can be seen traveling on the asphalted road reserved for automobiles. Running parallel is a graveled path for vehicles pulled by animals.
“Though the centuries, Afghanistan was to act as a center from which warlike peoples expanded outwards, and the Khyber Pass was the most obvious passage eastwards to India,” Guy Arnold writes in World Strategic Highways. “What stands out about the story of the pass is that almost all warlike movements through it were from west to east rather than in the other direction, though this pattern was to be reversed during the 19th century when the British ruled India. India, it seems, was content with its great size and wealth, while the restless peoples beyond the pass were always seeking an outlet for their energies in fresh conquests, and India was seen as a tempting prize to be won.”
“Though the centuries, Afghanistan was to act as a center from which warlike peoples expanded outwards, and the Khyber Pass was the most obvious passage eastwards to India,” Guy Arnold writes in World Strategic Highways. “What stands out about the story of the pass is that almost all warlike movements through it were from west to east rather than in the other direction, though this pattern was to be reversed during the 19th century when the British ruled India. India, it seems, was content with its great size and wealth, while the restless peoples beyond the pass were always seeking an outlet for their energies in fresh conquests, and India was seen as a tempting prize to be won.”