Habibullāh Kalakāni

Habibullah Kalakani
حبیب الله کلکانی
King of Afghanistan
King of Afghanistan
Reign 17 January 1929 – 16 October 1929
Coronation 17 January 1929
Predecessor Inayatullah Khan
Successor Mohammed Nadir Shah
Born 19 January 1891
Kalakan, Kabul Province
Died 1 November 1929(1929-11-01) (aged 39)
Kabul, Kabul Province
Full name
Habibullah Kalakani
Religion Sunni Islam

Habibullah Kalakani (Dari: حبیب‌الله کلکانی‎; 19 January 1891 – 1 November 1929, "The Bandit King") was King of Afghanistan from January to October 1929 after deposing Amanullah Khan with the help of various Afghan tribes who opposed the modernization of Afghanistan.[1] After gaining power in Kabul, he named himself Habībullāh Khādem-e Dīn-e Rasūlallāh ("The servant of the religion of the messenger of God"). He was defeated and overthrown nine months later by Mohammed Nadir Khan.[2][3] Khalilullah Khalili, a Kohistani poet laureate, depicts Kalakani as a mujahid "against an infidel king."[2]

Early years

Kalakani was born in 1891 in the village of Kalakan, north of Kabul. An ethnic Tajik, his father Aminullah delivered water to warriors during the British and Afghanistan war, and Kalakani became known as "Bache Saqqaw" (Son of a Water Carrier).[2][4] It is believed that he met an old Sufi man who told him that he would one day become an amir and then handed him an amulet to keep for good luck.[5]

During his adolescence, Kalakani ventured out of his village and travelled to the city of Kabul where he joined the Afghan National Army. It is reported that he deserted the army with his rifle and fled to Peshawar in neighbouring former British India (now Pakistan).[2] He performed odd jobs there, including selling tea on the streets. After leaving Peshawar, Kalakani was imprisoned for breaking into a house in Parachinar. He escaped during the Nangarhar Rebellion of 1928, after offering his services to King Amanullah and then defecting and joining a loose Kohistani army.[4] To his Kohistani Tajik followers he became somewhat of a Robin Hood figure, stealing mostly from wealthy travellers along the silk road, but to opponents he was considered "a bandit and a common criminal."[4][5] This respect allows Kalakani to eventually become a Khan of his village.[5]

Revolt

King Amanullah had returned from Europe in 1928 and brought with him many Western ideas, including social and cultural changes. His aim was to rapidly modernize the country. These ideas upset the ultra-conservative Shinwari tribe of eastern Afghanistan, who began calling for the banishment of Amanullah from Afghanistan.[5] With support from fellow Tajik forces Kalakani took advantage of the tribal revolt by the Shinwaris and others.

While the Afghan National Army was engulfed in severe battle in Laghman and Nangarhar, Kalakani and his Tajik forces began to attack Kabul from the north. The revolt caught steam and the country was thrown into a civil war. Tribes from Waziristan had the southern areas of Kabul surrounded, and Kalakani's rebels were moving into the heart of Kabul from the north. At first he was repelled but after taking refuge in Paghman for several days he and his forces managed to take over Kabul.[4]

In the middle of the night, on 14 January 1929, Amanullah Khan handed over his kingdom to his brother Inayatullah Khan and escaped from Kabul towards Kandahar in the south. Two days later, on 16 January 1929, Kalakani wrote a letter to King Inayatullah Khan to either surrender or prepare to fight. Inayatullah Khan responded by explaining that he never wished to become king, writing in his diary, "I was no Amanullah Khan, nor a Mohammadzai Sardar, I didn't know how to act royal, I was a thief who became king." He agreed to abdicate and proclaim Kalakani as the King on 17 January.[5]

Kingship and overthrow

After he took over of the Arg (Presidential Palace) in Kabul, he discovered 750,000 British pounds and began to use that to pay the salaries of his soldiers.[2] Kalakani's first order was to remove all the flowers from the presidential grounds and plant vegetables instead. He closed schools for women and all western education centres.

By September 1929, Amanullah Khan attempted to organize a new army and recalled his top general, Nadir Khan, from Europe. General Nadir Khan's army quickly passed through the west and southern Afghanistan. They had better weapons and the support of British and the tribal people as many volunteers joined the army.[5]

Nadir Khan was furnished with thousands of troops from various parts of Pashtunistan, including southern Afghanistan and tribal zone of British India (areas now in Pakistan). The troops fast approached Kabul and began defeating the forces of Kalakani. By late October 1929, Kabul was surrounded by Nadir Khan's army. It included Shah Wali Khan, brother of Nadir Khan and brother-in-law of Amanullah. The two brothers recaptured the Arg and arrested Kalakani by a ruse along with his followers.[2] and later gave them over to tribesmen to be killed.[2][5]

Death

Kalakani before his execution in 1929

Kalakani was executed by firing squad on 1 November 1929 along with his brother and ten other rebel leaders. The bodies were subsequently put on display, while already stiff, as is shown by the awkwardness of their positions.[2] His place of burial is unconfirmed but it is probably his home village, Kalakan.

References

  1. ↑ "Habibullah Kalakani". Afghanistan Online. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Adamec, Ludwig W. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Scarecrow Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-8108-7957-3. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  3. ↑ Dupree, Louis: "Afghanistan", page 459. Princeton University Press, 1973
  4. 1 2 3 4 Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 99. ISBN 1-8510-9402-4. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Habibullah Kalakani". Afghanland.com. Retrieved 3 September 2006.

External links

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Regnal titles
Preceded by
Inayatullah Khan		 King of Afghanistan
17 January 1929 – 16 October 1929 		Succeeded by
Mohammed Nadir Shah
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