ABSTRACT
With the assassination of Amfr Habibullah during a hunting trip to Laghrnan in 1919, the stage was set for the proponents of the so-called War Party, whose main representatives at court were the Amfr's brother and son, Sardiir Nasrullah and Sardiir Amanullah. The opposition to Amfr Habibullah' s neutralist policies during World War I had brought about a rapprochement between the traditionalists and the modernists, and although Sardiir Nasrullah was the main representative of the clergy's interests, Sardiir Amanullah also enjoyed widespread respect and support in religious circles, as he was recognized as a strong pan-Islamist and nationalist and had, in his administrative work as governor of Kabul, gained a reputation for personal honesty and integrity.1
