, 14 tweets, 7 min read Read on Twitter
In analysing the history of #Afghanistan, scholars and historians often assessed the independence and autonomy of a given region based on their ability to resist an imposition of tax. Paying levies was therefore the way power-relations and supremacy was understood. 5/N.K.
In this sense, the #Hazarajat as a whole was what scholars often deemed as a “semi-independent” region. By 1891, aside from #Uruzgan, every other region (14 districts) of the #Hazarajat paid taxes to Abdur Rahman Khan. 6/N.K.
Most regions throughout the #Hazarajat were headed by ‘mirs’ or ‘khans’ and a system of feudalism operated throughout this sphere. 7/N.K.
Between 1880, when he was enthroned by the #British, and 1891 when the #Hazara Wars formally commenced, Abdur Rahman Khan not only increased the already exorbitant taxes but introduced new ones throughout the #Hazarajat (excepting #Uruzgan). 8/N.K.
This was at a time when #Durrani #Mohammadzais in #Kabul were receiving annual allowances from Abdur Rahman Khan on the basis of being considered partners of state (or sharik-e dawlat) 9/N.K.
Abdur Rahman Khan also imposed his own authorities over them in the form of sub-governors & governors.
In 1890, Abdul Quddus Khan was appointed governor of Bamiyan & tasked with the authority of subjugating the still-autonomous regions of the Hazarajat, namely, Uruzgan. 10/N.K
As Dr Jonathan L Lee points out in his new book, Abdul Quddus Khan was “somewhat fanatical in matters of religion … a #Tory of the most crusted type in politics, and an apostle of #Afghanistan for #Afghans [#Pashtuns].” 11/N.K.
Choosing this “hard-line #Sunni and #Pashtun supremacist,” in Dr. Lee's words, proved catastrophic for the #Hazaras. 12/N.K.
From the moment of entering #Bamiyan, Abdul Quddus Khan and his army began imprisoning and executing #Hazara leaders, disarming the population, raping Hazara women and imposed ‘Sunni rites’ on the mainly #Shia population of the region. 13/N.K.
As Fayz Mohammad Katib Hazara relates in Siraj al-Tawarikh, Abdur Rahman Khan's soldier's and officials did not differentiate between unmarried and married girls. They violated their dignity equally -- irrespective of their marriage status. 14/N.K.
It reached the stage where the #Hazaras could no longer tolerate the oppression and tyranny. 15/N.K.
This passage from Siraj al-Tawarikh in the form of an oath taken by a group of mirs whose wives had been raped before them captures not only the #Hazara people’s developing sentiments during that period but their sheer necessity in commencing opposition: 16/N.K.
Death 100 times over is preferable to enduring such things which should never occur in a humane world & one in which the excellent Shariah prevails. Should we simply excise the sighs of grief and regret from our hearts, wrap the foot in the skirt of disgrace & suffer patiently?NK
18/N.K.
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