Amanullah Khan

Who is Amanullah Khan?

Amanullah Khan was King of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, best known for leading the country to full independence from British influence and for pursuing sweeping modernizing reforms. Born in Paghman near Kabul, he took the throne immediately after his father, Habibullah Khan, was assassinated in February 1919. Within months he declared full Afghan independence, prompting the brief Third Anglo-Afghan War, which ended with the August 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi formally recognizing Afghanistan's sovereignty over its own foreign affairs. Guided in part by his father-in-law and reformist foreign minister Mahmud Tarzi, Amanullah introduced Afghanistan's first constitution in 1923, expanded secular education, built new roads and infrastructure, and promoted the emancipation of women, including discouraging the veil and encouraging girls' schooling. These reforms, especially after he returned from a lengthy 1927-1928 tour of Europe and the Middle East with even more ambitious modernizing plans, provoked a fierce backlash from tribal and religious conservatives. Facing rebellion, Amanullah abdicated in January 1929 and spent the rest of his life in exile in Italy, where he died in 1960.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Amanullah Khan" · Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Amanallah" · American Historical Association, "Learning from Afghanistan's Independence" (2019)