(MENAFN- Wadsam) King Amanullah Khan dreamed of modernizing Afghanistan. He
was a self-described revolutionary but was forced into exile in 1929, with his
reforms being abrogated. Amanullah Khan had a western-centric approach to
modernize Afghanistan. He envisioned a modernized state which could co-exist
with Islam.
He industrialized Afghanistan by reorganizing and
rationalizing the tax system including the abolition of arbitrary taxes. He
also introduced the first Afghan currency Afghani
which replaced the valueless rupee. He improved agricultural productivity and
achieved a policy of land reform, where public land was sold to poor peasants
at only ten afghanis per jerib (0.5 acres) of irrigated land.
He began planning for infrastructure requirements for an
industrialized economy with the construction of communication networks such as
roads, telephone lines and postal services. He began the development of the
Great North Road which provided a direct connection between northern and
southern Afghanistan through the Hindu Kush. Afghanistan also became connected
to Tashkent, Tehran, and India by air at the time of King Amanullah Khan. King
Amanullah Khan purchased equipment to establish industries such as woodworking,
textiles, and papermaking. Amanullah Khan event sent students abroad to work as
apprentices in European and Persian factories to gain technical skills. This
would develop new industries in Afghanistan as Afghan citizens would have more
skills.
All the plans that Amanullah Khan wanted to implement in
Afghanistan were very comprehensive and would take a long time even in a
centralized nation, let alone a decentralized nation such as Afghanistan.
Amanullah Khan did not have any political experience and his plan was based on
theories that he had only read about. He rushed the long-term reform process as
well because his judgment got clouded by the tenacious ideology of Afghanistan
being backward. Amanullah Khan had 76 decrees issued which covered every aspect
of his modernization program but only 57 were issued.
Amanullah Khan rushed to reform Afghanistan so he did not
know how he would implement all his plans. His abolition of slavery act worked
in Kabul however the neighboring provinces in Afghanistan still had slavery.
There was a lack of an effective bureaucracy in Afghanistan and hence Amanullah
Khan's plans on reforming Afghanistan were reached throughout Afghans in
rumors, which made a negative impact.
Amanullah Khan authorized costly projects as well such as Dar
Aman which cost 10 million rupees. Amanullah Khan funded these projects by increasing land tax fourfold, and livestock tax two to five-fold. Amanullah Khan's reform program made him lose popularity in Afghanistan and gained him powerful enemies.
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