Emirate of Afghanistan

Imārat-i Afġānistān امارت افغانستان Emirate of Afghanistan 1823–1926
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Official language	Persian
Capital	Kabul
Form of government	emirate
Form of government	Absolute Monarchy Constitutional Monarchy (from 1923) British Protectorate (1839–1842 and 1879–1919)
Head of state	emir
Head of government	Prime Minister of Afghanistan
surface	652,225 km²
currency	Kabul rupee Afghan rupee (1891–1925) Afghani (1926)
founding	1823
resolution	1926 (Amanullah Khan is proclaimed King of Afghanistan)
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The emirate of Afghanistan ( Persian امارت افغانستان, DMG Imārat-i Afġānistān ) was an emirate between Central Asia and South Asia , which existed from 1823 to 1926 on the territory of what is now the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan . The emirate emerged from the Durrani Empire when Dost Mohammed , the founder of the Baraksai dynasty, established himself in Kabul . The history of the Emirates was shaped by the Great Game between the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom for supremacy in Central Asia.

history

Just a few years after the founding of the Emirates in 1837, Russian and British interests collided in the conflict between the Mohammed Shah of Iran and Emir Dost Mohammed, which led to the First Anglo-Afghan War from 1839 to 1842. During the war, Britain occupied the country and tried to prevent Afghanistan's rapprochement with Russia and curb Russian expansion. The war ended with a preliminary victory for Great Britain, which then withdrew, so that Dost Mohammed came back to power.

After the death of Dost Mohammed in 1863, he was followed by his son Shir Ali , who was overthrown by his older brother Mohammed Afzal Khan after only three years . In 1878, however, this was again ousted by Schir Ali, who turned again to Russia in 1878, which led to new conflicts with Great Britain. The British then marched into Afghanistan on November 21, forcing Shir Ali to flee to Russia; however, he died in Mazar-e Sharif in 1879 . His successor, Mohammed Yakub Khan , sought peace solutions with Russia and gave it a greater say in Afghanistan's foreign policy. When the British envoy Louis Cavagnari was assassinated in Kabul, the British installed Abdur Rahman Khan as emir in 1880 , made peace and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1881. In 1893 the British forced Afghanistan to agree to the Durand Line , which still runs through the middle of the Pashtun settlement area and annexed about a third of Afghanistan to British India .

Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, who came to power after the war, reformed the country, strengthened the central power and put down numerous uprisings. After his death in 1901, his son Habibullah Khan succeeded him as emir and continued the reforms. Habibullah Khan sought reconciliation with Great Britain, with whom he concluded a peace treaty in 1905, and with Russia, which had to withdraw from Afghanistan because of the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War . During the First World War , Afghanistan remained neutral despite German and Ottoman efforts ( Niedermayer-Hentig expedition ). In 1919, Habibullah Khan was murdered by political opponents.

Habibullah Khan's son Amanullah Khan put on a coup in 1919 against the rightful heir to the throne Nasrullah Khan and became the emir of Afghanistan. Shortly thereafter, the third Anglo-Afghan War broke out, which was ended in 1919 by the Peace of Rawalpindi , in which Great Britain first recognized Afghanistan's independence. Amanullah Khan started modernizing the country. He was crowned Padschah (King) of Afghanistan in 1926 and thus founded the Kingdom of Afghanistan .

See also

• List of heads of state of Afghanistan

literature

• Jan-Heeren Grevemeyer: Afghanistan. Social Change and the State in the 20th Century. 2nd edition, reprint of the Berlin edition, 1987. VWB, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-927408-24-7 .
• Karl E. Meyer, Shareen Blair Brysac: Tournament of shadows, The great game and the race for empire in central asia . Counterpoint, Washington DC 1999, ISBN 1-58243-028-4 .
• Philip J. Haythornthwaite: The Colonial Wars Source Book . Arms and Armor, London 1997, ISBN 1-85409-436-X .