Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan

523 Pages·2011·10.454 MB·English

by  Ludwig W. Adamec

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HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF ASIA, OCEANIA, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Jon Woronoff, Series Editor
Guam and Micronesia, by William Wuerch and Dirk Ballendorf. 1994.
Palestine, by Nafez Y. Nazzal and Laila A. Nazzal. 1997.
Lebanon, by As’ad AbuKhalil. 1998.
Azerbaijan, by Tadeusz Swietochowski and Brian C. Collins. 1999.
Papua New Guinea, Second Edition, by Ann Turner. 2001.
North Korea, by Ilpyong J. Kim. 2003.
Cambodia, by Justin Corfield and Laura Summers. 2003.
Iraq, by Edmund A. Ghareeb with the assistance of Beth K. Dougherty. 2004.
Saudi Arabia, Second Edition, by J. E. Peterson. 2003.
Nepal, by Nanda R. Shrestha and Keshav Bhattarai. 2003.
Kyrgyzstan, by Rafis Abazov. 2004.
Syria, Second Edition, by David Commins. 2004.
Indonesia, Second Edition, by Robert Cribb and Audrey Kahin. 2004.
Republic of Korea, Second Edition, by Andrew C. Nahm and James E. Hoare. 2004.
Turkmenistan, by Rafis Abazov. 2005.
Philippines, Second Edition, by Artemio Guillermo. 2005.
Thailand, Second Edition, by Harold E. Smith, Gayla S. Nieminen, and May Kyi Win. 2005.
New Zealand, Second Edition, by Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie. 2005.
Vietnam, Third Edition, by Bruce Lockhart and William J. Duiker. 2006.
India, Second Edition, by Surjit Mansingh. 2006.
Burma (Myanmar), by Donald M. Seekins. 2006.
Hong Kong SAR and the Macao SAR, by Ming K. Chan and Shiu-hing Lo. 2006.
Pakistan, Third Edition, by Shahid Javed Burki. 2006.
Iran, Second Edition, by John H. Lorentz. 2007.
People’s Republic of China, Second Edition, by Lawrence R. Sullivan. 2007.
Taiwan (Republic of China), Third Edition, by John F. Copper. 2007.
Australia, Third Edition, by James C. Docherty. 2007.
Gulf Arab States, Second Edition, by Malcolm C. Peck. 2008.
Laos, Third Edition, by Martin Stuart-Fox. 2008.
Israel, Second Edition, by Bernard Reich and David H. Goldberg. 2008.
Brunei Darussalam, Second Edition, by Jatswan S. Sidhu. 2010.
Malaysia, by Ooi Keat Gin. 2009.
Yemen, Second Edition, by Robert D. Burrowes. 2010.
Tajikistan, Second Edition, by Kamoludin Abdullaev and Shahram Akbarzadeh. 2010.
Mongolia, Third Edition, by Alan J. K. Sanders. 2010.
Bangladesh, Fourth Edition, by Syedur Rahman. 2010.
Polynesia, Third Edition, by Robert D. Craig. 2011.
Singapore, New Edition, by Justin Corfield. 2011.
East Timor, by Geoffrey C. Gunn. 2011.
Postwar Japan, by William D. Hoover. 2011.
Afghanistan, Fourth Edition, by Ludwig W. Adamec. 2012.
Philippines, Third Edition, by Artemio R. Guillermo. 2012.
Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan
Fourth Edition
Ludwig W. Adamec
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2012
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2012 by Ludwig W. Adamec
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adamec, Ludwig W.
Historical dictionary of Afghanistan / Ludwig W. Adamec. — 4th ed.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8108-7815-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7957-7 (ebook)
1. Afghanistan—History—Dictionaries. I. Title.
DS356.A27 2012
958.1003—dc23 2011020528
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
To Rahella
Editor’s Foreword
Few countries have as much history to both boast of and regret as Afghanistan. Part of this is
due to repeated conflicts and quarrels between the various peoples making up a rather
heterogeneous state. But much has been imposed from the outside, as the country was
conquered by neighboring kingdoms and also attacked them over the vast span of 3,500 years.
More recently, Afghanistan has been drawn into the imperial rivalry between Great Britain and
Russia, with the Soviet Union taking over from the latter and then the United States and United
Nations taking over from the former—liberating or dominating it yet again, depending on your
point of view. Of course the Afghanis have not been quiescent during these periods, fighting
back against their oppressors or allying with the latest great power as they see fit, even if it
pits one segment of the population against another. The most recent examples of this are the
Taliban and Hamid Karzai’s government, which explains why of all the volumes in this series
none has shown more change and needed more updates than the Historical Dictionary of
Afghanistan.
The new fourth edition has been substantially expanded because so much has taken place in
such a short period of time. The introduction provides an overview, while numerous details
are contained in the chronology. The most important changes, however, have been made to the
dictionary section, with hundreds of added or substantially revised entries on important
people, places, events, institutions, practices, ethnic and religious groups, political parties, and
Islamist movements, as well as significant aspects of Afghanistan’s politics, economy, society,
and culture. There are also more appendixes. As always, the bibliography is extremely
important, since it directs readers to more specialized works on a variety of topics.
The author of this fourth edition also wrote the first three, a definite plus in maintaining
consistency and identifying the necessity for new additions. Professor Ludwig W. Adamec is
one of the leading authorities on Afghanistan, which he visits periodically. Now professor
emeritus, he taught Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson for more than
30 years and was director of its Near Eastern Center for 10 years. During his long career, he
has commented extensively on Afghanistan politics, foreign relations, and society in his
lectures and writings. He has written numerous articles and several books, including a
historical gazetteer and biographical dictionaries. In related series he has also contributed the
Historical Dictionary of Afghan Wars, Revolutions, and Insurgencies and the Historical
Dictionary of Islam. Dr. Adamec’s abiding interest in one of the world’s most newsworthy
countries is clearly revealed here and offers his latest take on the continuing and not always
readily comprehensible history of Afghanistan.
Jon Woronoff
Series Editor
Reader’s Notes
ALPHABETIZATION AND SPELLINGS
Names beginning with Abdul (A., abd-al, “servant” or “slave”) followed by one of the names
of Allah (God), as for example Abdul Ahad (Servant of the One) or Abdul Hakim (Servant of
the Wise), form a unit and should not be taken as first and last names. Abdul Hakim will
therefore be found under A not H. Similarly, the name of Ghulam (A., “slave”) and its
complement, as for example Ghulam Muhammad, is found under G not M. Compounds with
Allah, like Fazlullah (Fazl Allah), Nurullah (Nur Allah), and Habibullah (Habib Allah), will
be found in alphabetical order under their compound versions. Although not forming a
construct, Afghan practice considers names beginning with Muhammad, as for example
Muhammad Daud, Muhammad Afzal, etc., one unit; therefore the names will be found under
M.
The arrangement of entries in alphabetical order treats headings as if they were one word,
disregarding punctuation marks; for example, Afghani is preceded by Afghan Hound and
followed by Afghan Interim Government. Muhammadi is preceded by Muhammad Hashim
and followed by Muhammad Ishaq, and Tanai, Lieutenant General Shah Nawaz is preceded
by Tanai Coup.
Names of individuals are spelled in a modified form of transliteration, even if the person
described has his own idiosyncratic spelling; for example Cher Ali, or Scher Ali, is spelled
Shir Ali; Kayeum and Kayum are spelled Qayyum; and Abaucy is Abbasi. Variant spellings of
names are cross-listed. Titles and honorifics are not included in the entry headings, except in
the case of medical doctors.
STATISTICS
Population statistics are estimates amounting to about 26 million people. No complete census
has been taken in Afghanistan; therefore we depend on estimates by the United Nations and
other sources. Measurements are mostly in the British rather than the metric system. The
population of Afghan towns and cities has fluctuated as a result of war and movement of
internal refugees, contributing to an increase in urbanization.
NOMENCLATURE
Afghan rulers of the Sadozai branch of the Durranis (1747–1818) held the title shah, “king,”
but the succeeding Barakzai rulers were known as amirs, which means “chief, prince,
commander,” as well as “king.” Amanullah assumed the title king in 1926; in order to avoid
referring pedantically to Amanullah’s title at a particular time, I have employed the appellation
of “King” throughout.
REFERENCES
Cross-references within each entry are indicated in bold or are appended to the end of the entry
as See also. A straight reference to another entry (without any text) is indicated with a See
cross-reference.
SCOPE
The purpose of this volume is to provide a concise reference work on Afghanistan, including
entries on major historical events, including places, leading personalities—past and present—
and significant aspects of culture, religion, and economy. The focus is on the political history
of contemporary Afghanistan. The reader who desires more extensive biographical information
may refer to this author’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Afghanistan (2008). Additional
information on tribes, places, rivers, mountains, and other geographical features can be found
in this author’s six-volume Historical and Political Gazetteers of Afghanistan (1975–1985).
An updated bibliography lists recent publications about Afghanistan. The lack of security
during decades of war has prevented extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan; therefore, many older
publications are still indispensable.