ABSTRACT
Amir Habibullah was murdered in February 1919, and his son Amanullah, third in line to the throne, took power in Kabul and declared himself the new amir of the country. Throughout Habibullah's reign there had been an increasing nationalist and anti-British sentiment, which revolved around Crown Prince Amanullah and his father-in-law, Mahmud Tarzi. Amanullah was a very ambitious man, and a very different character than his father Habibullah, and grandfather Abdur Rahman. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan through fast and revolutionary change. Amanullah's ascendance to the throne redefined Afghanistan's relationship with Britain and Russia, and brought a new dynamism in the country's national and international affairs. His national policy was mainly driven by internal modernization reforms. At the international level, Amanullah wanted the attainment of Afghanistan's political independence in foreign affairs, which had been controlled by the British since the Second Anglo-Afghan War, and expansion of the country's diplomatic relations with foreign countries. Afghanistan's political independence in foreign affairs (1919) not only redefined Anglo-Afghan relations, but also became a solid foundation for internal modernization reforms, in which modern education in general, and girls' education in particular, were given a significant priority, in the first half of this period. Along with establishing diplomatic relationships with sovereign countries in the world, Amanullah's anti-British stance made him seek closer cooperation with Russia, which added a new dimension to Afghanistan's international relationships. In the second half of this period, some of his short-sighted reform programmes led to unrest and a series of rebellions, which eventually ended his rule in January 1929. Consequently, all modernization programmes of the previous three decades regressed, including developments in education.
