Amanullah Khan
Amanullah Khan | |
---|---|
King of Afghanistan Ghazi | |
![]() | |
King of Afghanistan | |
Reign | 9 June 1926 – 14 January 1929 |
Predecessor | Himself (as Emir) |
Successor | Inayatullah Khan |
Emir of Afghanistan | |
Reign | 28 February 1919 – 9 June 1926 |
Predecessor | Nasrullah Khan |
Successor | Himself (as King) |
Born | Paghman, Principality of Afghanistan | 1 June 1892
Died | 26 April 1960 | (aged 67)
Burial | |
Spouse | Soraya Tarzi |
Issue | See
|
House | Barakzai |
Father | Prince Habibullah I, Prince of Afghanistan |
Mother | Sarwar Sultana Begum |
Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Persian: غازی امان الله خان; 1 June 1892 – 26 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929.[1] After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, Afghanistan was able to relinquish its protected state status to proclaim independence and pursue an independent foreign policy free from the influence of the United Kingdom.[2]
His rule was marked by dramatic political and social change, including attempts to modernise
Early years
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Prince_Amanullah_Khan_of_Afghanistan.jpg/220px-Prince_Amanullah_Khan_of_Afghanistan.jpg)
Amanullah Khan was born on 1 June 1892, in
In February 1919, Emir
The remainder of Habibullah's party journeyed southeast to Jalalabad, and on 21 February 1919 reached the city, where Nasrullah was declared Emir, supported by Habibullah's first son Inayatullah.[9]
Amanullah Khan, third son of Habibullah by Habibullah's second wife, had remained in Kabul as the king's representative. Upon receiving the news of his father's death, Amanullah immediately seized control of the treasury at Kabul and staged a coup against his uncle.[10] He took control of Kabul and the central government, declaring war against Nasrullah. Nasrullah did not want any bloodshed in order for him to be king. He told Amanullah that he could have the kingdom, and he would go into exile in Saudi Arabia. Amanullah Khan swore upon the Quran that no harm would come to Nasrullah if he returned to Kabul and then he could do as he pleased. On 28 February 1919, Amanullah proclaimed himself Emir.[9] On 3 March 1919, fearing that Nasrullah's supporters would rise against Amanullah, he subsequently went against his word. Nasrullah was arrested and imprisoned by Amanullah's forces.[11]
On 13 April 1919, Amanullah held a Durbar (a royal court under the supervision of Amanullah) in Kabul which inquired into the death of Habibullah. It found a colonel in the Afghanistan military guilty of the crime, and had him executed. On manufactured evidence, it found Nasrullah complicit in the assassination.[9] Nasrullah was sentenced to life imprisonment[12] but Amanullah had him assassinated approximately one year later while being held in the royal jail.[11]
Reforms
Administrative and political reforms
Amanullah conceptualized a modernist
Education and literature
Amanullah enjoyed early popularity within Afghanistan and he used his influence to modernise the country. Amanullah created new more cosmopolitan schools for both boys and girls in the regions and overturned centuries-old traditions such as strict dress codes for women.[16] Various educational facilities, such as the Telegraph School, the Arabic Learning Academy or Daruloloom, Mastoorat School, Rashidya School in Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Mazar-e-sharif, Qataghan School, and the Academy of Basic Medical Sciences, as well as more than 320 schools, were established across all provinces. These schools initially had Indian instructors who were then replaced by French teachers. Primary education became obligatory, and literacy courses were developed to foster and improve reading abilities. Later, courses for teaching religious subjects and modern sciences were developed, with Amanullah Khan himself teaching some of them.[citation needed]
Despite Dari being the official language, the Pashto language was promoted as an important aspect of Afghan identity by Amanullah Khan. By the 1930s, a campaign had begun with the intention of making Pashto the Afghan government's official language. Pashto was declared an official language in 1936, and this was reaffirmed in 1964.
Cultural reforms
Amanullah's wife, Queen Soraya Tarzi played a significant role regarding his policy towards women. This rapid modernisation created a backlash and a reactionary uprising known as the Khost rebellion which was suppressed in 1925. Amanullah met with many followers of the Baháʼí Faith in India and Europe, from where he brought back books that are still to be found in the Kabul Library.[17] This association later served as one of the accusations against him when he was overthrown.[18]
The failure of Amanullah Khan's reforms, like that of any other major political phenomena, was the result of a complex set of internal and external variables, some of which were objective in origin and others of which were linked to secret service organisations operating outside the country's borders. On the one hand, objective reasons arose from existing tensions between the changes being implemented and the interests of society's ruling class.[citation needed] At the time, Afghanistan's foreign policy was primarily concerned with the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, the so-called Great Game. Each attempted to gain influence in Afghanistan and foil attempts by the other power to gain influence in the region. This effect was inconsistent, but generally favourable for Afghanistan; Amanullah established a limited Afghan Air Force consisting of donated Soviet planes.[19]
Visit to Europe
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Afghan_King_Amanullah_Khan_and_French_President_Gaston_Doumergue_in_Paris%2C_1928.jpg/220px-Afghan_King_Amanullah_Khan_and_French_President_Gaston_Doumergue_in_Paris%2C_1928.jpg)
Amanullah travelled to Europe in late 1927.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/15/Amanullah_Khan_with_Paul_von_Hindenburg_1928.jpg/220px-Amanullah_Khan_with_Paul_von_Hindenburg_1928.jpg)
He travelled to Great Britain as guests of King George V and Queen Mary. The steam ship SS Maid of Orleans arrived in Dover on 13 March 1928. The royal couple left England on 5 April and made their way to Poland. On their way, they had a longer stopover in Berlin where the Amanullah underwent an emergency tonsillectomy. The royal train with the Emir back on board arrived in the Polish border town of Zbąszyń on 28 April. The next day it pulled into Warsaw to be met by Polish ministers, the speaker of the Sejm and the country's president Ignacy Mościcki. At his request Amanullah was granted an audience with the First Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski. The Afghan party departed from Warsaw travelling east across the country to the border with the Soviet Union on 2 May 1928.[21]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c3/Amanullah_Khan_and_Mustafa_Kemal_Ataturk.jpg/220px-Amanullah_Khan_and_Mustafa_Kemal_Ataturk.jpg)
Finally Amanullah Khan visited the first Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 20 May 1928 which at the time was the first state visit by a foreign Head of State to Turkey. During this visit, Turkey signed its first technical assistant agreement with Afghanistan.[22]
Civil War
During and after Amanullah's visit to Europe, opposition to his rule increased to the point where an uprising in Jalalabad culminated in a march to the capital, and much of the army deserted instead of resisting. This was caused by Amanullah's new policies of rapid modernisation after returning from his tour of Europe in a still very conservative society. Some of his new policies (inspired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's revolution who however had advised him to be moderate and careful in his reforms during his visit to Turkey in 1928[23]) included the abolishment of the veil, changing Friday which is a weekend and sacred day of worship in Islamic countries to a working day and making Thursday a non-working day instead. He also ordered people to replace their traditional Afghan attire with new western clothes (at a time when majority of the people could only afford with difficulty the basic necessities like food) and to tip their hats when greeting others like in Western countries. As a result, Islamic conservatives and opponents led by Habibullāh Kalakāni rose up against his rule and new western inspired modernisation policies.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b9/Ex-King_Amanullah_Khan.jpg/220px-Ex-King_Amanullah_Khan.jpg)
On 14 December 1928 Kalakani, a leader of the "
Much of the resistance in support of Amanullah was confined to just one of the five "culture zones." The impacted area was a small "tribal zone" that encompassed the Eastern and Southern Provinces (Mashreqi and Jonub) in 1929, as well as the modern provinces of
While Amanullah was in India, Kalakani battled anti-Saqqawist tribes. Around 22 March 1929, Amanullah returned to Afghanistan assembling forces in Kandahar to reach Kabul and to dispose of Kalakani. In April 1929 he attempted to advance to Kabul but his forces were defeated in Muqur, Ghazni and on 23 May 1929 he fled to India again. He never returned to his country.[25]
Exile
Nevertheless, Amanullah still had a group of staunch supporters in Afghanistan. These Amanullah loyalists unsuccessfully attempted several times in the 1930s and 1940s to bring him back to power.[27]
During the Second World War, Germany had extensive plans to reinstall Amanullah at his throne in Afghanistan. Khan, while aware and keen to regain his throne, knew little more about the plan; Nazi officials never invited him to participate in discussions. It was Khan's name and face that was needed to provide legitimacy to an uprising and, eventually, a puppet Nazi government in Afghanistan. The plan, however, did not come to fruition; for it to work, Germany needed the support of the Soviet Union, which it never fully received. While Hitler cancelled the plan in the last days of December 1939, there was still hope in the German Foreign Office and the Abwehr that the Soviets would come forward with a proposal; it never happened.[28]
Discussions were revived in late 1942 but following the Axis loss in Stalingrad in 1943, the plans were abandoned.[29]
Amidst all the negotiations, Khan remained in exile in Rome and never directly spoke to German or Soviet officials. While some war-time news articles suggest he was an active Nazi agent,[30] other sources suggest he never even succeeded in obtaining a visa to visit Berlin.[31] It was his brother-in-law, Ghulam Siddiq, to whom Khan had given full powers to negotiate on his behalf, that travelled between Germany, the Soviet Union, Italy and Switzerland to participate in talks surrounding the operation.[28]
Khan survived the war unharmed but appears to have lived a life of poverty in his exile, at least during and post WW2. One of the reasons Nazi officials hesitated from inviting him to Berlin was because they suspected he would ask for money.[28] Moreover, a British Intelligence Officer, who visited Khan after the Allies had captured Rome, described his household, 'His Majesty from time to time rubbing his hand from cold. Her Majesty huddled in a ghastly gilt arm-chair, gracefully draped in a mink coat. Pimp-like princelings and over-painted Royal Aunts from time to time taping the conversation towards kilowatts and the lack of scruples shown by black marketeers.'[28] Neverthelesss, people in Rome's Prati neighbourhood, where Khan lived, claimed that he arrived with "crates of jewels" which he slowly sold.[32]
Death
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Mausoleum_of_Amanullah_Khan-cropped.jpg/220px-Mausoleum_of_Amanullah_Khan-cropped.jpg)
After fleeing to
Marriage
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Tughra_of_Amanullah_Khan.svg/220px-Tughra_of_Amanullah_Khan.svg.png)
He married Soraya Tarzi (1899–1968), daughter of H.E. Sardar-i-Ala Mahmud Beg Tarzi, sometime Minister for Foreign Affairs, by his second wife, Asma Rasmiya Khanum, daughter of Shaikh Muhammad Saleh al-Fattal Effendi, of Aleppo. Amanullah and Soraya had 6 daughters and 4 sons:
- Princess Ameenah Shah (14 May 1916 – 29 October 1992). During her exile, in 1954 she married a naturalised Turkish citizen of Bosnian origin named Mustafa Hasanovic Ar. He was the son of the deputy of the Bosnian Young Muslims.[34]
- Princess Abedah Bibi
- Princess Meliha (1920–2011). She became a medical doctor in Istanbul University, and married Turkish engineer A. Tahir Söker, a close relative of Celâl Bayar.[35]
- Crown Prince Rahmatullah of Afghanistan (7 June 1921 – 11 September 2009). He married Adelia Graziani, a niece of an Italian general Rodolfo Graziani.[36]
- Prince Saifullah died young from cholera.[37]
- Prince Hymayatullah died very young from bronchial pneumonia.[38]
- Princess Adeela (1925–2000) married Armando Angelini (b. August 10, 1924), the son of an Italian cavalry officer and they had four daughters:[39]
- Elisabetta (b. 31 May 1948)
- Cristina (b. 3 Oct 1949)
- Simin (b. 8 Oct 1954)
- Cinzia (b. 11 Jan 1957)
- Prince Ehsanullah (1926–2017) married Leyla Tarzi, daughter of Col. Tavvab Tarzi, son of Mahmud Tarzi. They had 2 sons, both born in Istanbul:[40][41]
- Ahmed Aman Ullah (b. 1961), married Sylvie Théobald Rahmat Ullah (b. at Bourges, Cher, France)
- Rahmad Ullah, (b. 1965), married Carine d'Afghanistan-Berger of Bernex, Switzerland.
- Princess India (1929-2023), in 1951 she married Kazem Malek, an Iranian landowner, and settled in Mashhad, Iran. They had two daughters: Soraya, born in 1954 in Rome, Italy, and Hamdam, born in Mashad, Iran in 1956. After eight years of marriage Princess India divorced her husband and returned to Rome to live with her two daughters. In 1966 she married an Afghan businessman, Abdul Rauf Haider. They had a son named Eskandar who was born in Rome in 1967. In 1968, Princess India returned to Afghanistan after the death of her mother Queen Soraya. She attended funeral ceremonies in Jalalabad and was very much impressed by her homeland and decided from that time on she would work for the benefit of Afghanistan.[42]
- Soraya (b. 1954), first daughter of Princess India
- Haman (b. 1956), second daughter of Princess India and her husband Kazem Malek. Haman later married an Italian naval commander, Paolo Fusarini. The couple had two children, Matteo and Flavia.[42]
- Eskandar (b. 1967), son of Princess India and Abdul Rauf Haider.
- Princess Nagia, the youngest daughter of Amanullah and Soraya. She married İlter Doğan, a Turkish businessman whom she met on her visit to Istanbul. They have two children.[43]
- Ömer, son of Princess Nagia and İlter Doğan
- Hümeyra, daughter of Princess Nagia and İlter Doğan
Amanullah later married his fourth wife, 'Aliya Begum (b. 1910), who was the daughter of his uncle, Field Marshal H.R.H. Shahzada Nasru'llah Khan, Naib us-Sultana, Itwad ud-Daula, GCMG, by his sixth wife, Gulshan Begum.
Amanullah was later married in Rome, before 1 July 1937, to an Italian lady, by whom he had one son.
- Prince Nadiru'llah Khan (Prince Nadir Ullah d'Afghanistan). (b. 17 June 1943). The only son and child of Amanullah Khan and his fifth wife. His first marriage was to Rita Rocco. His second marriage was to Ricarda Brinkmann, a German national. Nadiru'llah has two sons:
- Aman Ullah d'Afghanistan. (b. 14 June 1969) who was the son of Prince Nadiru'llah Khan with his first wife Rita Rocco. He settled in Rome, Italy.
- Ahmed Reinhold Ullah d'Afghanistan. (b. 28 January 1976) who was the son of Prince Nadiru'llah Khan with his second wife Ricarda Brinkmann. He settled in Asuncion, Paraguay.
See also
- History of Afghanistan
- Reforms of Amānullāh Khān and civil war
- Lycées Esteqlal and Malalaï in Kabul
- Order of the Supreme Sun
- Amir Amanullah Khan Award
References
- ^ Poullada, L. B. "AMĀNALLĀH". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). United States: Columbia University.
- ^ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Amānullāh Khan | ruler of Afghanistan | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ "Central Asia". The British Library. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ Qazi, Abdullah (2001). "Biography of Amanullah Khan". Afghanistan Online.
- ^ Rashikh 2017, p. 8.
- ^ Molesworth, George Noble (1962). Afghanistan 1919: An Account of Operations in the Third Afghan War. Asia Pub. House. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ^ a b c "Afghanistan 1919-1928: Sources in the India Office Records". www.bl.uk. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ISBN 9781852855758– via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 1-85109-402-4. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ISBN 9780815624486– via Google Books.
- ^ Ahmed 2016, p. 189.
- ^ Ahmed 2016, p. 192.
- ^ "Constitution of Afghanistan (1923)". Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
- ^ Rashikh 2017, p. 87.
- ^ Rashikh 2017, p. 112.
- ^ Ahmed 2016, p. 194.
- ^ Ahmed 2016, p. 216.
- ^ Ahmed 2016, p. 232.
- ISBN 978-83-7638-532-7.; source of information on the route and the particular dates of visits to various countries
- ^ "T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı - Turkish Embassy In Kabul - Announcements". kabul-emb.mfa.gov.tr. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-3-201-00921-8.
- )
- ISBN 978-1-135-19537-3.
- ISBN 9780739184325.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ ISBN 3-12-915340-3.
- ISBN 9780674286092.
- ^ "EX-KING AMANULLAH NOW WORKS FOR HITLER". The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria: 1848–1957). 24 May 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ Hauner, Milan. India in Axis Strategy. Klett-Cotta. p. 170.
- ^ "Afghan king in Rome Exile". New York Times. 29 April 1979. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ Ewans, Martin. Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics. United Kingdom: CurzonPress. p. 133.
- ^ "Princess Amenah Shah Begum". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022.
- ^ "Princesse Meliha Soker". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Crown Prince Rahmat Ullah". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
- ^ "Mahmud Tarzi Official Website". www.mahmudtarzi.com. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Mahmud Tarzi Official Website". www.mahmudtarzi.com. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Princess Adelah Angelini". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Crown Prince Ehsan Ullah". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022.
- ^ "İki Kral Bir Lider". Facebook. 29 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Princess India D'Afhanistan". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Princess Nagia Dogan". Mahmud Tarzi. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022.
Bibliography
- Rashikh, Jawan Shir (2017). Nationalism in Afghanistan. ISBN 9780060505080.
- Ahmed, Fazel (3 September 2016). "Chapter 5 King Amanullah Khan". Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan,1700-2014 (PDF). ISBN 978-0786191703.
- Hauner, Milan (1981). "The Amanullah Plan". India in Axis Strategy. Klett-Cotta. pp. 159–73. ISBN 3-12-915340-3.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Amanulla Khan: Betrayal of Nadir Khan
- Ghazi Amanullah Khan City next to Jalalabad
- Ghazi Amanullah Khan City on YouTube
- Newspaper clippings about Amanullah Khan in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW