Afghanistan Turns West

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 358, 19 May 1928, Page 10

Afghanistan Turns West

END OF LONG ISOLATION King Amanullah’s Wonder Tour AFGHANISTAN, one of the last strongholds of Oriental H isolation, has taken the turning which leads to Westernisation. This much is evident from the great tour which King Amanullah has taken. He has thus far visited Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, and is now in Russia. The tour is no mere round of sightseeing, and. perhaps, diplomatic meetings, although both these naturally form part of his programme, but a voyage of discovery in search of ideas for the development of his country upon modern lines. An interesting review of recent developments in Afghanistan and the prospects for that country’s future is given by the London representative of the “ Herald,” Melbourne.

J£ING AMANULLAH. when he left I his capital at the start ot his I long journey, had never seen a rail-1 way train, a steamship, nor even the j sea. He had come from a State tucked away among the vast hills of the interior of Asia, whose progress has been centuries behind that of the West. Raids on India The mode of livelihood for centuries consisted largely of raiding less warlike tribes. Many of them, in (be past, carved with their swords great dominions in India, which they ruled tyrannically. In more recent times the Kabuli — as natives of the capital of Afghanistan are called in India —have become the money-lenders among the poorer classes of Indians, even as far distant from their country as Calcutta. And, until the police stepped vigorously in, they collected their dues with the aid of an iron-shod six-foot bomboo pole. Y’et, it is as difficult altogether to blame the Afghan, who comes of a vigorous and active stock —and is, moreover, proud of his Nordic relations with the Aryan races—for his mode of life, as it was to blame the ancient Scots who sold their swords to

the great captains of Europe, oi their descendants who have penetrated successfully to all parts of the world. Both peoples come from countries too poor to support their virile sons. It is the backwardness of his country which has led Amanullah to carry out a tour, the only precedent for which is the sojourn of Peter the Great, of Russia when he came to Britain to learn shipbuilding and other industries in the interests of bis country. England’s Wars England has fought three wars with Afghanistan, and in each Russia has been the cause, owing to the conflict proceeding as to who should exert the greater influence upon a State which lay thwart the only -way into India from the north-west. The third Afghan war occurred in 1919, and is generally considered as due to Bolshevik penetration into Kabul after the Russian revolution — which developed very strikingly after the murder of the Amir Habibullah Khan in 1919. To that monarch, whose admiration for the British was notable, Britain owes a great debt. In spite of repeated German missions to Kabul during the war, and later, of vigorous Soviet propaganda, the Amir kept his people quiet and defeated many efforts of intriguers to bring

! Afghanistan into the conflict on the I side of the enemy. Romantic Succession j Amanullah succeeded to the throne j in romantic fashion. He was only j the third son of bluff of Habibullah, j but he was a son of Ulya Hazrat, the Amir’s principal wife. Habibullah had nominated his eldest son, Inayatullah Khan, as his heir to the throne, but Nasrullah Khan, the Amir’s brother, seized the gadi. His rule was not successful, and Ulya Hazrat, who was a person of great character and influence, put forward the claims of Amanullah. The Army supported him, Nasrullah Khan was dethroned and placed in prison, where he eventually died. Inayatullah Khan renounced his claims, and Amanullah came to power. The war which developed with Britain immediately afterwards might be regarded as a blessing in disguise for Amanullah, for it showed him that conflict with so great a Power as Britain is unprofitable. Moreover the Bolshevik promises to create trouble in India generally crime to nought, although they did produce a certain amount of rebellion in the Punjab, leading to the murders of Europeans in Amritsar and other i towns. Thus Amanullah was able to weigh tlie one power against another, and he seems to have come to the conclusion that Britain was more to be feared than Russia was to be encouraged. Independence The upshot of the war was that Afghanistan was regarded as independent, with power to carry on relations with any foreign Powers she wished; Amanullah assumed the title of King: and Britain ceased the payment of an annual subsidy which was regarded as given to ens re peace between herself and Afghanistan. Amanullah had thus a free haud, and in the seven years which have followed he has achieved wonders in the development of his country. His task has been simplified by his method of ruling as a benevolent, autocrat. He believes in popular government, but provided that popular opinion agrees with him as the head thereof. He has a Council to assist in Government, but it is composed of men whom he has himself nominated. He appoints his own officers of State, and his own civil servants; visits his departmental offices regu larly, as well as touring all the dis trlcts of his country to apportion praise and blame; rewards and pun ishes on the spot; finds nothing too big, nor too small, to be understood and dealt with personally. M odern Moves 1-Ie has established relations with l several European capitals, who have i sent Ministers to Kabul, and he has ; engaged German, French, Italian and ; other foreign experts in all classes i of social, civil and administrative . branches. He encourages young Afghans to i study abroad and several are now in s England. i Quite recently a party of Afghan police was sent to Britain to study • police methods there. In the past i the police force has been chiefly negligible. Amanullah has given other proofs t of his versatility. He has simplified - the national finances, reducing the l budget work and compilation by half; - Invented a simplified form of writing ■ Pushtu, which he himself teaches to L classes of soldiers after “office hours”; planned oil modern lines a new capital : city six miles from Kabul; and is planning a new city at Kandahar; inaugurated a water supply by pipe- ; line from the mountains to Kabul; developed the hydro-electric plant for ! running factories that Habibullah ’ built at Kabul; and is building motor ! roads all over his kingdom to such an 1 extent that whereas five years ago • there were only half a dozen motors , in Afghanistan, there are now hurti dreds. i Eastern Switzerland ■ He is also planning hotels of the i European type, and as the restrictions on travel have been removed it is l hoped that a tourist “industry” will - develop. ; Indeed, it is said that Kabul and its 5 neighbourhood might become an , Asiatic Switzerland, as winter sports [ are possible there. , This should attract visitors from j India, where the only holiday resorts are the hill stations at seasons when the snow has disappeared. . More important than the industrial ’ developments are his efforts to im prove the status of women. In his per- ‘ sonal life he upholds firmly the idea! , of monogamy, and he is doing all possible to prevent polygamy among his ' subjects. • ; Women's Position ; He has given women a legal status, , j and, technically speaking, women in ! | Afghanistan, instead of being sold or j given to their husbands, are permitted ’ | to choose their husbands within the 1 j limits of the Moslem faith. ! He has also brought about the eduj cation of girls. In these directions his j ideals have been challenged by the j Mullahs even to the extent of a bitter i rebellion which lasted three years in J certain provinces, and which Aman- | ullah repressed -with firmness, giving at the same time certain concessions. To-day his country is so tranquil that he has left it for several months in the hands of one Minister —a departure -which no previous Afghan ruler dared essay if he hoped to return to the enjoyment of his former power. If Amanullah seems somewhat of i a Mussolini in his method of rule, he is Haroun-al-Raschid in other matters, for he goes about disguised to hear and see -what is happening in the bazaars, and he is as approachable to [

the poor among his citizens as to the rich. Many Thrills He has had more thrills than any other monarch o£ this day. But whether they were gigantic factories or dinner jackets—for he dresses moit meticulously in the European style—every one has been assimilated as readily as it has been accepted. Today, as Londoners have seen him driving in company with King George and elsewhere, there is nothing to mark the foreigner, but an unfamiliar and very gorgeous uniform and a pair of extraordinarily flashing eyes. Certainly

there is no suggestion of the Eastern potentate of popular imagination. Queen’s Freedom If Amanullah’s journey has been a romance to him. what must it have been to bis queen, Souriya, who, until three months ago. never showed her face in public, had never been seen by a man, except her husband and closest relatives, and had been virtually a prisoner all her life owing to the seclusion of the harem? But once outside Afghanistan Soui riya threw off restrictions, and appeared not only in European dress.

but also unveiled. Her wardrobe, * cured in Paris, is said to be woi fuL __ She never appears twice in * coat, costume or gown. Queen Souriya is looking gret to the time when, after. t a derful experience of West . dom. she must- return. ion in gious convention, to her set Afghanistan. It is no secret that she in _- “. S llfT add her endeavours 10 . ’ , hf {ot of husband to relieve further the women in Afghanistan.