King Amanullah
KING AMANULLAH, wherever he may be now—the Is-- reports vary—must have come to the conclusion that after all it would have been wise to hasten slowly. He rushed his Westernizing reforms through in such an ava- lanche that it was not surprising that the tribesmen, who had risen in the past on much more slender pretexts than open blasphemy, were goaded into a widespread and successful revolt. History, full of strange vicissitudes though it is, has provided few more sudden turns of fortune than this catastrophic rebellion following upon the triumphal progress of Amanullah through Western countries, where he was feted and often treated with the deceptive adulation of those who were anxious for the benefits he could bestow.
During his visit to England the newspapers were too civil to recall some of the events which might, indeed, have been held to mark him as an unwelcome guest. We have no desire even now to write with any bitterness of the past, especially as we believe that he sincerely changed his policy ; but it is necessary to remember some facts, in order to show that the rebels, in dismissing Amanullah, did not dispose of the rightful holder of the throne. Nothing seems to be clearer, in fact, than that the rebellion was not anti-dynastic. Amanullah's eldest brother has now been placed upon the throne, which legally ought to have been his since the death of his father. Amanullah became odious to his people entirely because of his startling challenges to the religious law and to ancient susceptibilities and customs. It was an incidental grievance against him, if it was a grievance at all, that he did not occupy the •throne by right.
In February, 1919, the Amir Habibullah, Amanullah's father, was murdered. He had been a steady ruler, intent upon the independence of his country, but friendly to Great Britain on principle. Whether the motive of the murder was political we may never know, but it is an established fact that during the War there had been a strong anti-British movement in Afghanistan. It began with the attempt of the Turks and Germans to bring Afghanistan into the War. The attempt entirely failed, but the Turks and Germans left behind them an anti-British organization of which Amanullah and Nasrullah (the Arnir's brother) were members. • The organization was suspected of having planned the murder of Habibullah, but there has never been anything like proof. On Habibullah's death Nasrullah proclaimed himself King, ignoring Inayatullah, Habibullah's eldest son, who was the heir. Amanullah was at that time Governor of Kabul, and he seized his opportunity to call together the Notables and the highest officers of the Army, and seized the throne with their consent. He was in too strong a position to be resisted. Nasrullah quickly came to Kabul and made his submission, and Inayatullah similarly accepted the accomplished fact.
Amanullah's first act was to make war upon India. Few wars have been madder. Fortunately for India, Amanullah failed as he deserved. Within a few weeks he was extremely glad to make peace, and he would no doubt have accepted severe and humiliating terms, if such had been presented to him instead of the tolerant treatment which he actually received. During the armistice there were several attacks by Afghan tribesmen on British posts—attacks which were scarcely distin- guishable from murder, and which Amanullah, who was not out of touch with his soldiers, could probably have prevented. His indifference, however, affected • in no way the settled British policy of friendship towards Afghanistan. These were blots on Amanullah's career, but we do him the justice of believing that after- wards he genuinely desired to behave well towards Great Britain. At all events, he admitted that he had much to learn from British methods, and during his recent visit to this country he was emphatic in his expres- sions of gratification and admiration. In 1921 a Treaty was signed, in which Great Britain recognized the com- plete independence of Afghanistan, and in 1926 Amanullah changed his title of Amir for that of King.
Even before his European tour of last year Amanullali had begun his Westernizing reforms, and if he had been capable of taking a hint he would have been warned by the rising of the Mohmands of Khost in 1924. On his return from Europe, however, he introduced reforms faster and more furiously than ever. His Queen had not only already cast aside the veil, but prided herself on the Parisian perfection of her gowns. Purdah was prohibited. Western education was arranged for the Afghan girls. A National Assembly was created, and the deputies were instructed to wear European clothes with Homburg or billycock hats. A code of civil and criminal law was introduced which superseded the Moslem religious law. Nor was it only the Mullahs who were thus put out of a job ; the Sirdars, from which class the Notables were largely drawn, found themselves in danger of being overridden by the National Assembly.
Nevertheless, these startling reforms might have been accepted in glum silence if Amanullah had taken the ordinary precaution of ensuring the contentment of the Army. He made the fatal mistake of forgetting the Army. After imposing the long term of three years' conscription, he added to its unpopularity by letting the pay of the troops fall into arrears. That was the last straw. The Mullahs henceforth had an easy task in preaching revolt as a " holy war."
Inayatullah was called to the throne. Conscription has apparently been abolished ; Friday has been restored as the weekly day of rest ; soldiers have been authorized to adhere, as before, to their holy men ; the veil is restored ; Western clothes have vanished ; the old law is reimposed ; the schools for Western education are broken up. But by far the most important demand of the tribesmen, which was accepted by Amanullah before his flight, was that a Senate of fifty members should be formed, of whom the majority should be Mullahs.. This Senate is to have supreme authority, religious, civil, and military. If this Senate governs, as is proposed, Afghanistan will be ruled by an oligarchy.
It is evident that though Amanullah's innovations have been swept almost bodily away, there remains a foundation for gradual reform. Afghanistan is not a country which can remain indefinitely a hermit kingdom. Afghan traders are well known all over the Middle East and India and even further away. Persia is rapidly Westernizing herself, and Afghanistan, whatever may be •the desire- of her rulers for isolation, cannot remain unaffected. The new King, however, will have to be wary. The abolition of the religious law was interpreted in Afghanistan as a merely wanton challenge. The tribes- men must have felt rather as the ancient Hebrews would have felt if the code of the Philistines had been introduced instead of the Mosaic law.
Great Britain has only one interest in Afghanistan, and that is to see her independent, peaceful, and pros- perous. Rumours that Great Britain had instigated the rebellion were, of course, based on unadulterated ignorance, when they were not deliberately malicious.
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