Mahmud Tarzi

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Mahmud Tarzi
Mahmud Tarzi in 1920
Foreign Minister of Afghanistan
In office
1924–1927
MonarchAmanullah Khan
Preceded bySardar Shir Ahmad
Succeeded byGhulam Siddiq Khan Charkhi (acting)
In office
1919–1922
MonarchHabibullah Khan
Preceded bySardar Mohammed Aziz Khan
Succeeded byMohammad Wali Khan Darwazi
Personal details
BornAugust 23, 1865
Ghazni, Afghanistan
DiedNovember 22, 1933(1933-11-22) (aged 68)
Istanbul, Turkey
NationalityAfghan, Turkish

Mahmud Tarzi (

Dari: محمود بیگ طرزی; August 23, 1865 – November 22, 1933) was an Afghan politician and intellectual.[1] He is known as the father of Afghan journalism. He became a key figure in the history of Afghanistan, following the lead of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Turkey by working for modernization and secularization, and strongly opposing religious extremism and obscurantism. Tarzi emulated the Young Turks coalition.[2]

Early years

Tarzi was born August 23, 1865, in

Pashtun, his father was Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, leader of the Mohammadzai royal house of Kandahar and a poet. His mother, Sultanat Begum[citation needed] belonged to Popalzai tribe, and was the fourth wife of his father.[3] In 1881, shortly after Emir Abdur Rahman Khan came to power, Mahmud's father and the rest of the Tarzi family were expelled from Afghanistan. They first travelled to Karachi, Sindh, where they lived from January 1882 to March 1885. They then moved to the Ottoman Empire
.

Tarzi began to explore the Middle East. He made a pilgrimage to

A year after Abdur Rahman Khan's death in 1901, Habibullah Khan invited the Tarzi family back to Afghanistan. Tarzi received a post in the government. There he began to introduce Western ideas in Afghanistan. Tarzi's daughter, Soraya Tarzi, married King Amanullah Khan and become Queen of Afghanistan.[4]

Journalism and poetry

Auguste Léon
, 1922.

One of Tarzi's earliest works was the Account of a Journey (Sayahat-Namah-e Manzum), which was published in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan). However, Tarzi's most influential work – and the foundation of journalism in Afghanistan – was his publishing of Seraj-al-Akhbar. This newspaper was published bi-weekly from October 1911 to January 1919.[5] It played an important role in the development of an Afghan modernist movement, serving as a forum for a small, enlightened group of young Afghans, who provided the ethical justification and basic tenets of Afghan nationalism and modernism under of the very first political party, Party of the Afghan Youth, ideologically secularist, monarchist and state nationalist with a right-of centre political direction, in opposition to the later Constitutional Party, a second political party whose ideologically liberal democratic, reformist, progressive with a constitutional monarchist and left-wing nationalist direction maintaining a strong anticlerical secularist state and within centrist politics. Tarzi also published Seraj-al-Atfal (Children's Lamp), the first Afghan publication aimed at a juvenile audience.[4]

Mahmud Tarzi as Seraj al Akhbar Chief Clerk

Tarzi was the first who introduced the

International Law (from Turkish), and the History of the Russo-Japanese War. When he lived in Turkey and Syria, he immersed himself in reading and research, using Western literary and scientific sources. In Damascus
, Tarzi wrote The Garden of Learning, containing choice articles about literary, artistic, travel and scientific matters. Another book entitled The Garden of Knowledge (later published in Kabul), concludes with an article "My beloved country, Afghanistan", in which he tells his Afghan countrymen how much he longs for his native land and recalls with nostalgia the virtues of its climate, mountains and deserts. In 1914, his novel Travel Across Three Continents in Twenty-Nine Days published. In the preface, he makes an apt comment about travel and history:

Although age has its normal limits, it may be extended by two things-the study of history and by travel. Reading history broadens one's perception of the creation of the world, while travel extends one's field of vision.[1]

Politics

Like most other Afghan leaders, Tarzi was an Afghan nationalist who held many government positions in his life. He was a reform-minded individual amongst his extended family members whom ruled Afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century and not unlike his father

Paris, France. He was then again placed as Foreign Minister from 1924 to 1927. Throughout his tenure in Afghanistan, Tarzi was a high government official during the reigns of King Habibullah and his son King Amanullah Khan.[1]

Afghanistan's 1919 Independence

Tarzi effectively guided the second movement of the young constitutionalists called Mashroota Khwah. This led to reviving the first suppressed movement of the constitutionalists in Afghanistan.[4]

Afghan Peace Conferences

During the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, when Tarzi served as Foreign Minister, British India bombarded Kabul and Jalalabad. Over a ton of munitions hit Jalalabad in a single day.[1] Tarzi was appointed head of the Afghan Delegation at the peace conferences at Mussoorie in 1920 and Kabul in 1921.[citation needed] The British, who had dealt with Tarzi before, attempted to reduce his position.[citation needed] After four months the talks collapsed because of the Durand Line. Sir Henry Dobbs led the British delegation to Kabul in January, 1921 – Mahmud Tarzi headed the Afghan group. After 11 months of discussions, the British and Afghans signed a peace treaty normalizing their relations. Although Afghanistan was the winner of the conference – as the British accepted Afghanistan's independence – Tarzi's diplomacy was shown as the British sent a message afterwards to Tarzi, giving their good will toward all tribes.[1]

Death

Tarzi died on November 22, 1933, at the age of 68 in Istanbul, Turkey.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Biography of Mahmud Tarzi Archived 2007-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Adamec, Ludwig W. "ḤABIB-ALLĀH". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Schinasi, May. "ṬARZI, MAḤMUD". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Farhad Azad (ed.). "An Afghan Intellect: Mahmoud Tarzi". Afghan Magazine Article: July – Sept. 1997, by Yama Atta & Hashmat Haidari. afghanmagazine.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Chronology: the reigns of Abdur Rahman Khan and Habibullah, 1881–1919 Archived 2007-07-15 at the Wayback Machine

External links