This work continues a series of articles dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the outstanding Soviet historian and orientalist Naftula Aronovich Khalfin. This biobibliographic essay presents an analysis of his activities in 1957–1971, that is, after his appointment as head of the Sector of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The article shows information about the Department of Historical and Cultural Problems of the Soviet East, which included the Sector of Historical and Cultural Relations between the Soviet and Foreign East in Modern and Contemporary Times. Taking into account the profile of the new division, the scientific interests of N. A. Khalfin during this period shifted from the problems of colonialism again to the issues of Central Asia and Afghanistan, which he began to deal with in Tashkent. Since the 1970s, he has published a number of monographs and a large number of articles on various aspects of the history of this region, and continued to write reviews on Soviet and foreign publications. Khalfin made a significant contribution to the study of the biography of the outstanding Russian orientalist N. V. Khanykov. The Afghan theme, to which many works of N. A. Khalfin, including those of a popular nature, were devoted, becomes especially relevant after 1979. During this period, Khalfin, in addition to his scientific work, became known as the author of historical narratives or documentary fiction about the struggle of the Afghan people against the British. Many of his works are translated into English and the languages of Afghanistan. He also published works on the famous figure of «British colonialism» G. Curzon. In addition to his works, Khalfin carried out a lot of work on the publication of the works of the series «Central Asia in the Sources and Materials of the 19th and Early 20th Century», in which he acted as an editor, author of prefaces and notes, as well as the series «USSR and the countries of the East». Being one of the most important researchers of British policy in Central Asia and Afghanistan, Khalfin participated in international scientific joint meetings.