ABSTRACT
The period between 1901 and 1919 began with the rule of Amir Habibullah Khan and ended with the accession of his son Crown Prince Amanullah to power in 1919. Before Habibullah ascended to the throne, the broader national and international contexts were already set and defined, and Afghanistan's foreign and domestic affairs framework was already defined by Abdur Rahman. All that Habibullah had to do was to follow the established framework. Therefore, in his foreign policy, which was dominated by the British, Habibullah followed in his father's footsteps, i.e. a warm and loyal relationship towards Britain. However, in his domestic politics, he clearly differed from his father. Since he inherited a peaceful country and a centralized state, he relaxed his father's strict autocratic rule. In addition, Abdur Rahman's 20 years of friendly relations with Britain and the British authorities in India, and the reception of Indian educated Muslims as court secretaries and physicians, provided the ground for the emergence of modern ideas. Because Abdur Rahman himself did not have systematic education from his childhood, as he learnt reading and writing in adulthood (Abdul Ghani 1921: 20), he was not keen to promote edu-cation. However, among his sons, Habibullah was more supportive of modern ideas, particularly modern education. As soon as Abdur Rahman died, the Indian Muslims were able to influence Habibullah and encourage him to start a moderate modernization programme.
