Amanullah loyalism#Crazy Fakir's rebellion

Amanullah Khan became emir of Afghanistan in 1919, assuming the title of king from 1926. His administration was marked by liberalization and westernization of the country. Mohammad Nadir Khan, a close associate of Amanullah, voiced opposition to his reforms, fearing reaction from the conservative establishment.{{Cite book |last=Miraki |first=Mohammed |url=https://www.academia.edu/1773860 |title=Factors of underdevelopment in Afghanistan, 1919–2000 |year=2000 |chapter=Chapter 7: Nader Khan's reign}}

In 1928–1929, Afghanistan spiralled into civil war, and Amanullah was deposed in January 1929 by Saqqawist rebels led by Habibullāh Kalakāni. In March 1929, as war continued, Amanullah and Nadir re-entered the country, though Amanullah fled the country in May.

The tide of the war eventually turned against Kalakāni, with Kabul falling to anti-Saqqawist forces on 13 October 1929. After hearing word of the victory, Nadir entered the capital on 15 October.{{Cite book |last=Hazārah |first=Fayz̤ Muḥammad Kātib |url=https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Kabul_Under_Siege/A4_jAAAAMAAJ |title=Kabul Under Siege: Fayz Muhammad's Account of the 1929 Uprising |date=1999 |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |isbn=978-1-55876-154-4 |pages=275–276 |language=en}} On the 16th, Nadir entered the Dilkusha Palace, expressing his gratitude to those who had backed him. He acknowledged Amanullah Khan’s contributions to the country and, citing his own poor health, made it clear that he had no personal ambition for the throne. Instead, he pledged to support whoever the national Jerga (tribal council) selected as the next ruler. However, the assembled tribal leaders were adamant that Nader himself should take the crown. Raising their rifles, they warned that if he refused, they would abandon Kabul. Faced with their unwavering insistence, Nader Khan ultimately accepted the responsibility and became the King of Afghanistan.

As king, Nadir realized that his earlier opposition to Amanullah's reforms had been vindicated by the civil war. Instead of reinstating the reforms that Kalakani had repealed, Nadir worked to complete the abolition of Amanullah's reforms, strengthening the power of tribal leaders and clerics.

Pro-Amanullah factions in Afghanistan felt betrayed by Nadir's assumption of power, having fought the Saqqawists under the presumption that Amanullah would retake the throne upon their victory. Nadir's strengthening of Anglo-Afghan ties (which included support for British sovereignty over Pashtuns east of the Durand line, and lack of support for the Afridi Redshirt Rebellion) was also a sore point for Afghanistan's Amanites.{{Cite book |last=Emadi |first=H. |url=https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Dynamics_of_Political_Development_in_Afg/JZ1gAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nadir%20assassination%201933&pg=PT21&printsec=frontcover |title=Dynamics of Political Development in Afghanistan: The British, Russian, and American Invasions |date=2010-10-18 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-11200-1 |language=en}} Hafizullah Emadi (2010) describes the Amanites as nationalist and progressive forces.

{{Main|Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)}}

In March 1929, during the 1929 Afghan Civil War, Amanullah assembled an army in Kandahar made up of Durrani, Khattak, Ghilzai and Hazara fighters.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4_jAAAAMAAJ|title=Kabul under siege: Fayz Muhammad's account of the 1929 Uprising|last1=Muḥammad|first1=Fayz̤|last2=McChesney|first2=R. D.|date=1999|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-154-4|pages=69|language=en}} However, his attempt to march on Kabul was unsuccessful, and he retreated to Qalat, where he fell under a Saqqawist siege on 19 May.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4_jAAAAMAAJ|title=Kabul under siege: Fayz Muhammad's account of the 1929 Uprising|last1=Muḥammad|first1=Fayz̤|last2=McChesney|first2=R. D.|date=1999|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-154-4|pages=79, 80|language=en}} On 23 May, Qalat fell to the Saqqawists and Amanullah fled to the British Raj.

The Kuhistan rebellion was a rebellion in modern-day Kohistan District, Kapisa which took place in 1930 in the Kingdom of Afghanistan. It began in February 1930, when rebels seeking to restore Amanullah Khan as King of Afghanistan broke out in open rebellion against Mohammed Nadir Shah. After killing many, the rebellion was crushed in mid-April 1930.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qM5DQAAQBAJ|title=A Guide to Intra-state Wars|last1=Dixon|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Dixon|first2=Jeffrey S.|last3=Sarkees|first3=Meredith Reid|date=2015-10-22|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9780872897755|pages=488|language=en}}

The Shinwari rebellion{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAHna6aqtX4C|title=Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan|last=Adamec|first=Ludwig W.|date=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810878150|pages=58|language=en}} was a rebellion by the Shinwari that took place in February{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odpLtwEACAAJ|title=A History of Afghanistan Vol II|last=Gladstone|first=Soloman W. E.|date=2018-03-02|publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC|isbn=9781378970881|pages=322|language=en}} or May{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bY8ck6iktikC&pg=PA35|title=Culture and Customs of Afghanistan|last=Emadi|first=Hafizullah|date=2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313330896|pages=35|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHmTAgAAQBAJ|title=Afghanistan: Political Frailty and External Interference|last=Misdaq|first=Nabi|date=2006-04-18|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135990176|pages=34|language=en}} 1930 in the Kingdom of Afghanistan. The Shinwari sought to depose Mohammed Nadir Shah and restore Amanullah Khan as king of Afghanistan. Due to lack of support by Shinwari elders (who had been bribed by Nadir), the rebellion was promptly suppressed.

The Shinwari's support for Amanullah in 1930 apparently contradicted their earlier revolt against Amanullah in 1928. During this rebellion, the Shinwari claimed that the earlier revolt was "not so much anti-Amanullah as against the local tax-collectors at Jelalabad".

Towards the end of February 1933, a "Crazy Fakir" appeared in the Khost district in the south of Afghanistan, proclaiming that the ex-king Amanullah Khan would soon arrive. At his instigation a number of tribesmen took arms with the intention of marching on Kabul, and they received considerable reinforcements from the Wazir and Mahsud tribes across the Indian border. They met the government troops which were sent south to oppose them in the neighbourhood of Matun, and some sharp fighting took place at the end of February and the beginning of March. The tribesmen from across the border then began to withdraw at the bidding of some of their elders who were sent by the British authorities to recall them, and the uprising soon came to an end. Later in the year one of the ringleaders, Tor Malang, was executed with some of his associates, but the "Crazy Fakir", who fled abroad, was allowed to return with the assurance of a free pardon, on account of his advanced age.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80095/page/n275|title=The Annual Register 1933 Vol 175|last=M|first=Epstein|year=1934|pages=258}}

The Ghilzai rebellion was an uprising in the Kingdom of Afghanistan by the Ghilzai tribe in 1938. Its causes laid in a desire to reinstate Amanullah Khan as king of Afghanistan.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUmiM1hZ7esC|title=Area Handbook for Afghanistan|last=Smith|first=Harvey Henry|date=1969|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=55,56|language=en}} A relative of Amanullah, Said al-Kailani, also known as the Shami Pir marched on Kabul with an unknown amount of Ghilzai warriors. There are 2 accounts as to how the rebellion ended - according to British records, the rebellion was defeated in the summer of 1938 by the Afghan army using British-supplied rifles.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100036310619.0x00000d|title=Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [206v] (412/1201)|date=2016-09-28|website=Qatar Digital Library|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}} According to Harvey Smith, the rebellion ended after the British bought off Shami Pir following frantic appeals by the Afghan government. In either case, this rebellion prompted the Prime Minister, Mohammad Hashim Khan, to increase subsidies for Pashtun tribes near the Durand line.

{{Main|Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947}}

In February 1944, Mazrak Zadran, an Amanullah loyalist,{{Cite web|url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/05%20Sarfraz%20&%20Noor%20Ul%20Amin%20.pdf|title=THE CONTRIBUTION OF INDIAN MUSLIMS IN DEVELOPING PRINT MEDIA AND SPREADING ENLIGHTENMENT IN AFGHANISTAN(1870-1930)|last1=Khan|first1=Sarfraz|last2=Ul Amin|first2=Noor|date=Winter 2014|publisher=Central Asia Journal|page=130}} led an ambush against government troops in the Southern province,{{Cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report|title=REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 1944 FOR THE DOMINIONS, INDIA, BURMA, AND THE COLONIES AND MANDATED TERRITORIES|date=25 May 1944|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814121934/https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report|archive-date=14 August 2019|publisher=Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs|page=[https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report/page/n5 6]}} after which he was beaten back and forced to retreat into the hills.{{Cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report|title=REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 1944 FOR THE DOMINIONS, INDIA, BURMA, AND THE COLONIES AND MANDATED TERRITORIES|date=25 May 1944|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814121934/https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report|archive-date=14 August 2019|publisher=Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs|page=[https://archive.org/details/cab-66-50_British_War_Cabinet_Empire_Report/page/n5 6]}} He continued to fight the Afghan government for the following years. In late 1944, he invaded the British Raj, where he was joined by a Sultan Ahmed, a rebel chieftain from Balochistan.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHeQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East 1947. Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, january 1947-december 1947|last=Yapp|first=Malcolm|date=2001|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=34|language=en}} They were later joined by another rebel leader nicknamed Pak.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXSQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East|last1=Yapp|first1=Malcolm|last2=Preston|first2=Paul|last3=Patridge|first3=Michael|last4=Office|first4=Great Britain Foreign|date=1999|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=178|language=en}}

However, Mazrak's fortunes were not to last. He was evicted from British territory due to British bombardment.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D6QAAAAMAAJ|title=British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Eastern affairs, July 1944-March 1945|last1=Preston|first1=Paul|last2=Partridge|first2=Michael|last3=Yapp|first3=Malcolm|date=1997|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=9781556556715|pages=348|language=en}} In October 1945, most Safi surrendered,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXSQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East|last1=Yapp|first1=Malcolm|last2=Preston|first2=Paul|last3=Patridge|first3=Michael|last4=Office|first4=Great Britain Foreign|date=1999|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=178|language=en}} followed by the surrender of Sultan Ahmad in November.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHeQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East 1947. Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, january 1947-december 1947|last=Yapp|first=Malcolm|date=2001|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=34|language=en}} Nonetheless, Mazrak and his brother Sher Muhd Khan continued to fight,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHeQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East 1947. Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, january 1947-december 1947|last=Yapp|first=Malcolm|date=2001|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=109|language=en}} refusing to surrender until 11 January 1947.{{Cite book|last=Malik|first=Murtaza|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJHaAAAAMAAJ|title=The Curtain Rises: Uncovered Conspiracies in Pakistan, Afghanistan|date=2002-01-01|publisher=Royal Book Company|isbn=978-969-407-271-5|pages=38|language=en|quote=Eventually, he and his family surrendered to the Political Agent North Waziristan on January 11, 1947.}}

The Anti-Yahya Khel Party (Hizb-i-Zid-Yahya Khel) was a small loyalist political party which was briefly active in 1933.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hy9WAAAAYAAJ|title=Political parties, groups, associations and movements, the pre 1964 period|last=Yunas|first=S. Fida|date=1997|pages=24|language=en}} Members of the movement opposed the Musahiban dynasty for political reasons or out of personal spite. In this case, Yahya Khel refers to an alternative name for the Musahiban.

During World War II, some western press reported that Amanullah was working as an agent for Nazi Germany in Berlin.{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8180382 | title=Ex-King Amanullah Now Works for Hitler | newspaper=Argus | date=24 May 1941 }} It is believed that, he was involved in plans to regain his throne with Axis help,{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/29/archives/afghan-king-in-rome-exile-tightens-belt-daud-sent-money-to-family.html | title=Afghan King, in Rome Exile, Tightens Belt | newspaper=The New York Times | date=29 April 1979 }} despite Afghanistan's neutrality. However following the Axis loss in Stalingrad in 1943, the plans were given less importance and eventually never executed.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f6_SCgAAQBAJ&q=amanullah+afghanistan+nazi+1941&pg=PA166|title=Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation|last1=Crews|first1=Robert D.|date=14 September 2015|isbn=9780674286092}}

{{See also|Mohammed Nadir Shah#Assassination|Abdul Khaliq Hazara (assassin)}}

In November 1933, Mohammed Nadir Shah was assassinated by Abdul Khaliq Hazara, a supporter of Amanullah.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5QY3vCg338C|title=Afghanistan, Second Edition|last1=Gritzner|first1=Jeffrey A.|last2=Shroder|first2=John F.|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0480-5|pages=41|language=en}}

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Category:Amanullah Khan

Category:Political movements in Afghanistan

Category:Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)