Editing Durand Line (section)

===Cultural impact of the Durand Line===
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Shortly after demarcation of the Durand Line, the British began connecting the region on their side of the Durand Line to the [[North Western State Railway]]. Meanwhile, Abdur Rahman Khan conquered the [[Nuristanis]] and made them Muslims. Concurrently, Afridi tribesmen began rising up in arms against the British, creating a zone of instability between Peshawar and the Durand Line. Further, frequent skirmishes and wars between the Afghanistan and India starting in the 1870s made travel between [[Peshawar]] and [[Jalalabad]] almost impossible. As a result, travel across the boundary was almost entirely halted. Further, the British recruited tens of thousands of local Pashtuns into the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] and stationed them throughout India and southeast Asia. Exposure to India, combined with the ease of travel eastwards into [[Punjab]] and the difficulty of travel towards Afghanistan, led many Pashtuns to orient themselves towards the heartlands of [[British India]] and away from Kabul. By the time of Indian independence, political opinion was divided into those who supported a homeland for Muslim Indians in the shape of [[Pakistan]], those who supported reunification with Afghanistan, and those who believed that a united India would be a better option.