The new ruler quickly abolished most of Amanullah's reforms,
but despite his efforts to rebuild an army that had just been
engaged in suppressing a rebellion, the forces remained weak while
the religious and tribal leaders grew strong. In 1930, there were
uprisings by the Shinwari Pushtuns as well as by another Tajik
leader. The same year, a Soviet force crossed the border in pursuit
of an Uzbek leader whose forces had been harassing the Soviets
from his sanctuary in Afghanistan. He was driven back to the Soviet
side by the Afghan army in April 1930, and by the end of 1931
most uprisings had been subdued.
Nadir Shah named a ten-member cabinet, consisting mostly of members
of his family, and in September 1930 he called into session a
loya jirgah of 286 which confirmed his accession to the throne.
In 1931 the king promulgated a new constitution. Despite its appearance
as a constitutional monarchy, the document officially instituted
a royal oligarchy, and popular participation was merely an illusion.
Although Nadir Shah placated religious factions with a constitutional
emphasis on orthodox denominational principles, he also took steps
to modernize Afghanistan in material ways, although far less obtrusively
than his cousin Amanullah. He improved road construction, especially
the Great North Road through the Hindu Kush, and methods of communication.
He forged commercial links with the same foreign powers that Amanullah
had established diplomatic relations with in the 1920s, and, under
the leadership of several prominent entrepreneurs, he initiated
a banking system and long-range economic planning. Although his
efforts to improve the army did not bear fruit immediately, by
the time of his death in 1933 Nadir Shah had created a 40,000-strong
force from almost no national army at all. It is notable that
Afghanistan's regeneration was carried out with no external assistance
whatsoever.
Nadir Shah's brief four year reign ended violently, but he nevertheless
accomplished a feat of which his great-great-uncle, Dost Mohammad,
would have been proud: he reunited a fragmented Afghanistan. Nadir
Shah was assassinated in 1933 by a young man whose family had
been feuding with the king since his accession to power.
Country
name Afghanistan conventional long form Islamic State of
Afghanistan conventional short form Afghanistan local long
form Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan local short form Afghanestan former Republic of Afghanistan
Area
- total: 647,500 sq km land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km
Terrain
- mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Climate
- arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Geography
- landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide
the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in
the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor)
Waterways
- 1,200 km note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT (2001)
Natural hazards - damaging earthquakes
occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
Information
Courtesy: The Library of Congress - Country Studies
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