UI – Part 439 – Modern Times in Iran, Afghanistan, and Elsewhere

There Was a Time – Afghanistan

There was a time when Afghanistan was a monarchy under the King Amanullah (1919). Freedoms more akin to the West were being instituted. Social, economic and political reforms took place. Slavery and forced labor were abolished as well as the veil for women. Secular education for boys and girls, co-ed, opened the minds of many. The renovations were too much for the more fundamental Islamists, mostly tribal areas, resistance arose, and this King resigned in 1929. However many of the reforms, modernization, continued under Nadir and Zadir Shah (also Kings). The Kings were more secular even though the fundamentalists felt slighted by the changes that were not in accord with the Quranic Laws they lived by. Free elections were instituted. Modernization was emphasized anew after WWII. Women’s rights were established. The women…