|
Amanullah Khan was crowned the Amir of Afghanistan after his father, Amir Habibullah was
assassinated in February 1919. Amanullah Khan was fiercely anti-British and
wanted to destroy an old agreement which gave the British control over
Afghanistan's foreign policy. The British resisted this move, and so began
the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). After a brief struggle, the British were forced
to negotiate and in the end surrendered their control over Afghanistan's foreign
policy.
Afterwards, Amanullah became a national hero, and was given the tile Ghazi. He then
turned his attention to modernizing Afghanistan. He changed his title from Amir
to Padshah (King) in 1926. King Amanullah's modernization plans were not greeted so warmly
by everyone in Afghanistan, and as result, many tribes revolted. In the end, the revolt
caused Amanullah Khan the throne. He left Afghanistan and lived in exile in Italy and
Switzerland. He died in 1960, and was buried in Jalalabad, near his father's tomb.
|
