1919 Afghan coup d'état

November 2025 1919 Afghan coup d'état 28 February 1919 Kabul, Afghanistan Coup successful Nasrullah Khan imprisoned Amanullah Khan throned as Emir Belligerents Afghan governmentFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Afghanistan Coup plottersFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Young Afghans Flag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Nasrullah KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Mohammad Nadir KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Shah Wali KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Shah Mahmud KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Mohammad Hashim KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Ali Ahmad KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Inayatullah KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Hayatullah KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Mirza Mohammad Husain SafiFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Mohammad Hasan Khan SafiFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Colonel Shah Ali RezaFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Sayyid Ahmad Gailani Flag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Amanullah KhanFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Mahmud TarziFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Fazl Mohammad MojaddediFlag of Afghanistan (1901–1919).svg Akhundzada Hamidullah Safi The 1919 Afghan coup d'étatfa کودتای ۷ حوت was a coup d'état staged by Amanullah Khan against his uncle, King Nasrullah Khan.Lee Jonathan L. https://archive.org/details/afghanistan-a-history-from-1260-to-the-present/mode/2up Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present Reaktion Books 2018 9781789140101 Background The former Emir of Afghanistan, Habibullah Khan left his son Amanullah Khan as a regent in Kabul before migrating to his winter quarters in the city of Jalalabad in January 1919. He went on a hunting trip, and arrived in Kalagosh in February 1919, an area in modern-day Laghman Province, but was later met with an assassination a month later. Among those in his retinue were his brother Nasrullah Khan, Habibullah's first son from his first wife Inayatullah Khan, and Habibullah's commander-in-chief Mohammad Nadir Khan. On the evening of 20 February 1919, an unknown assassin managed to avoid Habibullah's bodyguards, and shot him through the ear at a very close range, killing him, while he was asleep in his tent.Lee 158 As winter approached Habib Allah Khan travelled to Jalalabad, where he hoped to escape the epidemic of influenza that was sweeping through Kabul, leaving his younger son, Aman Allah Khan, in charge of the capital. In early January 1919 the Amir went on a hunting trip and in mid-February he arrived at his hunting lodge at Kalagosh, in Laghman. On the night of 19 February, an unidentified assassin slipped through the cordon of bodyguards and shot the Amir through the ear at point-blank range, killing him instantly.MYSTERY SURROUNDS EMIR'S ASSASSINATION; Ruler of Afghanistan Was Sleeping in Heavily Guarded TentWhen Shot in the Head. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/05/17/118152455.html 2025-06-19 The New York Times en 0362-4331Islam and Politics in Afghanistan, Olesen, page 101https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/asiapacific-region/afghanistan-1919-present/ 6. Afghanistan (1919-present) 2025-11-06 2014-11-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20141101021135/https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/asiapacific-region/afghanistan-1919-present/ dead The Emir's body was then brought to Jalalabad, where he was buried. A day later, Sayid Naqib Gailani, the Hazrat of Char Bagh, proclaimed Nasrullah Khan as Emir with the support of Commander-in-Chief for the Afghan Army, Mohammad Nadir Khan, and Ali Ahmad Khan. The heir apparent Inayatullah Khan, and his younger brother, Hayatullah Khan too swore allegiance to their uncle, but Amanullah opposed it, and wanted to take the throne for himself instead. Nasrullah at first refused to take the throne and declared his allegiance to Inayatullah, Habibullah's first born. Inayatullah refused and said that his father had made Nasrullah the heir rightfully and wanted him to become Emir instead. Local tribes also gave their allegiance to Nasrullah because of his strong religious beliefs.Molesworth George Noble https://books.google.com/books?id=fqscAAAAMAAJ&q=Nasrullah Afghanistan 1919: An Account of Operations in the Third Afghan War Asia Pub. House 1962 22 February 2010 The remainder of Habibullah's party journeyed south-east to Jalalabad, and on 21 February 1919 reached that city, whereupon Nasrullah was declared Emir, supported by Habibullah's first son Inayatullah.Afghanistan 1919–1928: Sources in the India Office Records http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/1919to1928/sources1919to1928.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20170116111138/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/1919to1928/sources1919to1928.html 16 January 2017 19 February 2010 Coup Amanullah, the third son of Habibullah Khan by Habibullah's first wife, received the news in Kabul where he had remained as the king's representative. Using this opportunity, he immediately seized control of the treasury at Kabul and staged a coup against his uncle.The Butcher of Amritsar – General Reginal Dyer Nigel Collett, 2006 He took control of Kabul and the central government, declaring war against Nasrullah. Nasrullah did not want any bloodshed in order for him to be king, to which Amanullah imprisoned Nasrullah and his supporters. On 28 February 1919, Amanullah proclaimed himself Emir, and Nasrullah Khan was arrested by Amanullah's forces.Clements Frank Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C&q=Nasrullah+Afghanistan&pg=PA83 22 February 2010 2003 ABC-CLIO 1-85109-402-4 As the news of the Emir's death was telegraphed to Kabul a few days after the assassination took place, the Young Afghans led by Amanullah Khan and Mahmud Tarzi took control of the Dilkusha Palace and the state treasury, while securing the support of the Afghan Army based in Kabul by promising to increase their pay. He then held a darbar where he was proclaimed Emir by the Hazrat of Shor Bazaar, Fazl Mohammad Mojaddedi, and the Mullah of Tagab, Akhundzada Hamidullah Safi. A civil war was nearly initiated, but was avoided due to corps of the Afghan Army based in Jalalabad siding with Amanullah. Within this process, Nasrullah Khan was arrested, alongside his supporters Mohammad Nadir Khan and Ali Ahmad Khan. Nasrullah was forced to write a letter of abdication at gunpoint, to which he was sent to the outskirts of Kabul alongside other prisoners under heavy surveillance. Aftermath Inayatullah and Hayatullah arrived in Kabul, and shifted their allegiance to their brother, only to be arrested and be brought before a Durbar held by Amanullah in Kabul which inquired into the death of Habibullah. It found a colonel in the Afghanistan military guilty of the crime, and had him executed. On manufactured evidence, it found Nasrullah complicit in the assassination. He imprisoned Nasrullah to life imprisonment,Banuazizi Ali https://books.google.com/books?id=l6cmuTfzvZEC&dq=Nasrullah+Khan&pg=PA46 The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan Weiner Myron 1988-08-01 Syracuse University Press 978-0-8156-2448-6 en and had him assassinated a year later in the royal jail, later being buried in an unmarked grave on the Koh-i Asamayi mountain. Amanullah's brothers Inayatullah Khan and Hayatullah Khan were both released, but no longer had power nor decision making in authority. While Ali Ahmad Khan was freed by the intervention of Ulya Hazrat, Amanullah Khan's mother. In fear of a possible revolt breaking out in Nangarhar, where Mohammad Nadir Khan alongside his three brothers were popular among the local tribesmen, they were all pardoned by the court and Nadir was reinstated to his position of being the Afghan Army's Commander-in-Chief, Minister of War, as well as the Minister of Tribal and Frontier Affairs. The brothers escaped punishment and retained their military rank. Nadir Khan was driven away from Kabul under Amanullah's decisions, to which he was dispatched to Khost and Qataghan.Lee 451 Nadir Khan, who was in charge of Habib Allah Khan's bodyguard the night he was slain, was exonerated by the court and reappointed as Commander-in Chief, Minister for War and Tribal and Frontier Affairs. Nadir's three brothers also suffered no penalty and retained their military rank. Later Shah Wali Khan, Nadit's youngest brother, married one of Aman Allah Khan's daughters. The Musahiban family escaped punishment probably because the Amir feared their imprisonment might lead to a revolt, for Nadir Khan and Shah Wali Khan were popular with the army and the tribes of Nangahar. However, 'Aman Allah Khan made sure Nadir Khan was kept as far away from Kabul as possible, dispatching him first to Khost and later to remote Qataghan. Despite Amanullah Khan reconciling with his former opponents, the Young Afghans had continued to oppose their dynastic and ideological opponents, by seeking to depose them. He later executed many others with the belief that they were possible assassinators of his father, this included Mustufi Mirza Mohammad Husain Safi, who was told to look for Habibullah Khan's opponents during the course of his first assassination attempt, as well as his terminally ill brother who died before the execution took place.Lee 451 The assassination of Habib Allah Khan and the subsequent arrests provided the Young Afghans with the opportunity they sought to dispose of their dynastic and ideological opponents. One individual who was particularly hated by the reformers was Mustufi Mirza Muhammad Husain Safi. As far as we can tell from the sources, the mustuff had no hand in the assassination of Habib Allah Khan and, according to his descendants, the mustufi tried to warn the Amir about the conspiracy in a letter before he left for his hunting trip. Unfortunately for Habib Allah Khan, he never read the note, which was recovered, unopened, in his jacket pocket after his death. The letter was then used against the mustufi as proof that he had had a hand in the assassination. He was condemned to death and unceremoniously hanged from a mulberry tree in the Dilkusha Palace. The Mustufi's estates across many cities were confiscated, with members of his extended family being arrested and exiled.Lee 452 The mustufi's terminally sick brother, Hasan Khan, was also sentenced to death, but he died before the execution could take place. Following their deaths, the mustuf's estates in Kabul, Kohistan and Jalalabad were confis-cated, and his extended family were arrested and subsequently exiled to Kohistan and Qataghan. Shuja al-Daula Ghorbandi, the court minister under Habibullah Khan, who slept in the same tent, confessed to Ghulam Nabi Khan that he was the assassin responsible for the assassination of Habibullah Khan and showed the pistol from which he shot the Emir as evidence, and claimed that the reasoning for the assassination was to avenge a personal grievance. Even though he was appointed as a kotwal of Kabul, and Director of the Afghan military intelligence, which was earlier held by Mustufi Mirza Mohammad Husain Safi.Lee 452 Several years later, Shuja al-Daula, Habib Allah Khan's farash bashi, who had been responsible for the Amir's camping arrangements, confessed to Ghulam Siddiq Charkhi that he was the assassin and even produced the pistol that he had used to shoot the Amir. Shuja al-Daula claimed he killed the Amir to avenge a personal grievance, but the fact that Aman Allah Khan appointed him kotwal of Kabul and Director of Military Intelligence, positions previously held by Mustufi Mirza Muhammad Husain Safi, suggests that Aman Allah Khan or his mother, Ulya Hazrat, may have incited Shuja al-Daula to assassinate the Amir. Mahmud Tarzi, after all, had every reason for wanting Amir Habib Allah Khan out of the way. In the last years of Habib Allah Khan's reign, Tarzi had been increasingly at odds with the Amir over his policy of neutrality during the Great War, the suppression of the Hizb-i Mashruta and the suspension of the Seraj al-Akhbar. Less than a year earlier, Tarzi's closest associates had been imprisoned for attempting to shoot the Amir. The succession of 'Aman Allah Khan was also a political triumph for Tarzi, for he had personally groomed the prince for kingship and he was the most reform-minded of Habib Allah Khan's sons. Tarzi became Aman Allah Khan's foreign minister and his See also Third Anglo-Afghan War Afghan Civil War (1928–1929) 1973 Afghan coup d'état 1976 Afghan coup attempt Saur Revolution Operation Storm-333 1990 Afghan coup attempt 2002 Afghan coup plot Notes References Category:Coups d'état in Afghanistan Category:1919 in Afghanistan Category:1910s coups d'état Category:February 1919 in Asia Category:20th century in Kabul Category:Military history of Kabul Category:Amanullah Khan