Amanollah Khan

1892 - 1960

King of Afghanistan, 1919 - 1929.

Amanollah Khan (also called Amanullah Barakzai) launched a jihad (holy war) against Great Britain and declared Afghanistan's independence from Britain in 1919. He embarked on an ambitious program of modernization, introducing secular reforms and education.

He was the third son of Habibollah Khan (ruled 1901 - 1919), who was assassinated. Amanollah, then governor of Kabul, persuaded the army and power elite to prefer his claim to the throne over his brothers and uncle. In May 1919, he went to war against the British administration and, at the end of a one-month campaign, was able to negotiate control of his country's foreign policy (which his grandfather Abd al-Rahman Khan had surrendered). He welcomed recognition of his regime by the then new and revolutionary government of the Soviet Union; he soon turned, however, to countries without territorial designs on Central Asia, establishing ties with France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire. He failed to initiate official relations with the United States.

Advised by Ottoman-educated Afghans and impressed by Ottoman Turkey's example, Amanollah embarked on his own scheme of development. First he promulgated a constitution and convened three loya jirga (grand assemblies, composed of various segments of the power elite) to ratify his important decisions. Second, he systematized the administrative divisions of the country into a territorial hierarchy of subdistricts, districts, and provinces. The centrally appointed administrators at each level were assisted by a locally elected consultative body. Third, he replaced iltizam (tax farming) with directly collected taxes in cash. Fourth, he tolerated a free press, entrusted the intelligentsia with responsible positions in the government, and spent a major portion of the revenue of the state on the expansion of education.

These reforms proved to be enduring. Nevertheless, he alienated his subjects with more symbolic policies such as the mandatory unveiling of Afghan women and the imposition of European attire on civil servants and schoolchildren. Simultaneously, he canceled the monetary and symbolic sinecures enjoyed by the leaders of the clans and the headmen of villages. Furthermore, his new tax policies weighed heavily on agricultural producers and were unpopular in the countryside. Opposition was organized under the symbolic defense of the values of Islam and spearheaded by leaders of the religious establishment. Leaders of clans and social bandits also played an important role. He might have overcome the challenge had he paid more attention to his army - but he had neglected its welfare and was unable to prevent soldiers from joining the several revolts that broke out simultaneously in 1928. He was forced to abdicate in May 1929 and went into exile in Italy.

Bibliography

Adamec, Ludwig W. Afghanistan 1900 - 1923: A Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.

Poullada, Leon B. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan 1919 - 1929: King Amanullah's Failure to Modernize a Tribal Society. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973.

— ASHRAF GHANI