This work deals with the world of Afghan nomads, horse-dealers and mercenaries bridging the frontiers between the old metropolitan centres of India, Iran and Central Asia. During the 18th century they succeeded in establishing a vigorous new system of Indo-Afghan states. In Central Asia, the Afghans created an imperial tradition on the basis of long-standing Perso-Islamic ideals. In India, along the caravan routes with Turkistan and Tibet, they carved out thriving principalities in association with military service and the breeding and trade in war-horses. By fully incorporating this Afghan ascendancy into the fabric of Islamic and world history, the author challenges the widely-held notion of a gloomy Afghan past.