Barakzai Dynasty

BARAKZAI DYNASTY

Rulers of Afghanistan in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Barakzai dynasty of Afghanistan was created gradually. Although the Barakzai were Durrani Push-tuns, their advent marked a departure from the




imperial mode of government that characterized the Durrani dynasty and empire. Unable to preserve the empire, the Barakzai divided the country into a series of competing principalities, which fought one another. This competition eventually resulted in the creation of a centralized state and the concentration of power in the hands of the Mohammadzai lineage of the Barakzai clan. The Mohammadzais faced a number of domestic and foreign challenges to their power but held on until 1973.

The Barakzai brothers rose to prominence during the reign of Shah Mahmud Durrani (1809–1818), when Fateh Khan Barakzai became chief minister and appointed several of his brothers to important governorships. In 1818, the crown prince had Fateh Khan blinded; seeking revenge, his brothers overthrew Shah Mahmud and brought about the collapse of the Durrani dynasty. They were, however, unable to agree among themselves and ended up carving three principalities centered around Kabul, Peshawar, and Kandahar. Dost Mohammad, who gained control of Kabul in 1826, was ousted from power in 1838 in the course of the first Anglo–Afghan war. He returned in 1842 and extended his control to all the Afghan provinces. During the wars of succession that followed his death, the country again was divided. Sher Ali (r. 1863–1866; 1869–1879) succeeded in establishing a centralized state, but the second British invasion of 1878–1880 shattered the political structure he had built.

Ceding control of the country's foreign relations to Great Britain, Abd al-Rahman Khan (r. 1880–1901) concentrated his efforts on consolidating yet again a centralized polity in Afghanistan. He also attended to the welfare of his Mohammadzai lineage by assigning both its male and female members a regular stipend disbursed by the state. During his reign, the country acquired its present boundaries, including the disputed Durand Line dividing the Pushhtuns between Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province of British India. He was the last Barakzai ruler to die peacefully while still in power. His son and successor, Habibollah Khan (r. 1901–1919), was assassinated, and his grandson Amanollah Khan (r. 1919–1929) was overthrown.

The Barakzai briefly lost power in 1929 when a Tajik villager, Habibollah Khan, Bacha-e Saqqao, the son of a water carrier, became ruler for nine months. They regained control under the leadership of Nadir Shah (r. 1929–1933), a descendant of Dost Mohammad's brother. Nadir Shah derived most of the state's revenue from taxes on foreign trade. In return, he conceded many privileges to the merchant class, who established modern financial and industrial enterprises. Following his assassination by a student, his son Zahir Shah (r. 1933–1973) succeeded him.

Zahir Shah reigned but for the most part did not rule. In a first phase, his two uncles, Muhammad Hashem (prime minister 1929–1946) and Shah Mahmud (prime minister 1946–1953), managed the affairs of the state. Then for a decade his cousin and brother-in-law, Muhammad Daud, exercised power, also as prime minister. Daud, taking advantage of the polarization of world politics, welcomed offers of foreign aid from both the Soviet Union and the United States. The state's shift from relying on domestic revenue to relying on foreign aid reinforced the power of the Mohammadzai lineage at the expense of the merchant class. The Afghan bureaucracy expanded substantially. A number of state-sponsored projects in irrigation and road building were initiated.

Daud was forced to resign when his policy of confrontation with Pakistan backfired in 1963. Zahir Shah promulgated a new constitution and assumed actual power, selecting prime ministers from outside the lineage. During the following decade, the country witnessed the formation of political movements and the emergence of a free press. In 1973, Daud overthrew Zahir and proclaimed a republic, although he suppressed the political freedoms that had been implemented by Zahir Shah. His overthrow by an Afghan Marxist party in April 1978 marked the end of the Barakzai rule in Afghanistan.

see also abd al-rahman khan; amanollah khan; dost mohammad barakzai; du-rand line; durrani dynasty; habibollah khan; nadir barakzai, mohammad; pushtun.

Bibliography

Dupree, Louis. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.

Gregorian, Vartan. The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1969.

Ashraf Ghani

Updated by Eric Hooglund