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The chapter examines and challenges the assumed necessity of a linkage between remembered series of exchanges, amicable social relations, and prestige found in the work of Marcel Mauss and many subsequent theorists of reciprocity and gift exchange.

The chapter uses the nearly 500 year history of the giving and taking of the Koh-i-noor Diamond by rulers of South and Central Asia, commencing with Babur, the first Mughal emperor, and ending with Queen Victoria, which includes some gift giving and much taking by force, to explore what happens when only two of the three elements Mauss assumed central to understanding gift exchange are present.

Based on a review of the historical material, the chapter demonstrates that though historical narratives or memories of exchanges were central to enhancing the prestige of the parties to the exchange and the diamond itself, that process could and did occur in the absence of any on-going amicable social relations, including in situations in which exchange or transfer of the diamond were coerced and nothing was given in return to the dispossessed former owner of the gem.

By suggesting an alternative configuration of the factors necessary for the association of exchange and prestige, the chapter provides the opportunity to reconsider assumptions common in the literature on gift exchange and further enhance our understanding of this central element of social theory.

The Pashtun Jirga is a “tribal” conflict resolution method that has survived for centuries, with the Pashtuns, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, still practicing it in rural communities. The chapter argues how the introduction and persistence of the Frontier Crimes Regulations, 1901, a colonial-era regulation, has undermined not only the traditional authority of the tribal elders but also diminished the importance of the Jirga. However, the tribal Pashtuns, through Jirga and Jirga-based Lashkars (tribal militias), have also occasionally supported the Pakistani military's actions against various militant groups operating in the Pashtun tribal areas, formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The chapter argues why, even with its positives, the Jirga still possess various loopholes that result in various gender rights violations in the Pashtun society. Finally, the chapter also discusses how recent developments in the Pashtun tribal areas, leading to their merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, along with the introduction of the country's judiciary present a challenge for the survival of the Jirga as a conflict resolution tool in the tribal areas. Moreover, the chapter also argues why the young Pashtuns from the tribal region are against the male-dominated nature of Jirga and want it to be replaced with modern judicial structures, presenting a challenge to the survival of Jirga in Pakistan.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.