Reform and Rebellion in Postindependence

Abstract

In the fourteenth century, the fragmented Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan were called Afghans, and the use of the term gradually expanded in the eighteenth century to include all Pashtun tribes in the country. The Pashtuns rose to political dominance at the beginning of the eighteenth century, taking advantage of favorable sociopolitical and economic conditions that weakened the invading armies that had bested them in the past. The disintegration of Persian rule in the west and Moghul rule in the east, and continuing struggles among feudal rulers in central Asia to the north provided opportunities for the Pashtun tribes to unite and lay the foundation for an independent state. The creation of such a state was in the best interests of Pashtun feudal landlords and clerics, who no longer wished to pay heavy taxes to the Persians and Moghuls. The vast majority of Pashtuns who had suffered under alien powers supported their own tribal chiefs to free them from tyrannical rulers. After the death of Nadir Quli Beg in 1747 (he became known as Nadir Shah Afshar after he was proclaimed king of Persia in 1736), the Persian dominion disintegrated into separate entities and its eastern domain came under the command of Ahmad Shah Abdali, a member of the Sadozai Pashtun tribe and a commander of Afshar’s army who established his power base in Qandahar.