Women's rights

Amanullah drew up the first constitution, establishing the basis for the formal structure of the government and setting up the role of the monarch within the constitutional framework. Amanullah was influenced and encouraged by Mahmud Tarzi in his endeavors.^[9] Tarzi was specifically instrumental in designing and implementing changes pertaining to women through his personal example of monogamy.^[2][8][10] His daughter, Queen Soraya Tarzi, would be the face of this change. Another daughter of Tarzi's married Amanullah's brother. Thus, it is not surprising that Tarzi's sophisticated and liberal intellectual ideology blossomed and concretely embedded itself in Amanullah's reign.^[2]

King Amanullah Khan publicly campaigned against the veil, against polygamy, and encouraged education of girls not just in Kabul but also in the countryside.^[2] The emancipation of women was a part of Amanullahs reform policy, and the women of the royal family, particularly his wife and sisters, acted as the role models of this change. Many women from Amanullah's family publicly participated in organizations and went on to become government officials later in life.^[2] Soraya was instrumental in enforcing change for women and publicly exhorted them to be active participants in nation building.

In 1921 she founded and contributed to ^[11] the first magazine for women, Ishadul Naswan (Guidance for Women) ^[2] which as edited by her mother,^[11] as well as the first women's organisation, Anjuman-i Himayat-i-Niswan,^[12] which promoted women’s welfare and had an office to which women could report mistreatment by their husbands, brothers, and fathers.^[7] She founded a theatre in Paghman which, although segregated for women, still gave women an opportunity to find their own social scene and break the harem seclusion.^[7]

King Amanullah Khan said, "I am your King, but the Minister of Education is my wife — your Queen".^[1] Queen Soraya encouraged women to get an education and opened the first primary school for girls in Kabul, the Masturat School (later the Ismat Malalai School),^[13] in 1921, as well as the first hospital for women, the Masturat Hospital, in 1924.^[11] In 1926, at the seventh anniversary of Independence from the British, Soraya gave a public speech:^[10]

It (Independence) belongs to all of us and that is why we celebrate it. Do you think, however, that our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam. From their examples we must learn that we must all contribute toward the development of our nation and that this cannot be done without being equipped with knowledge. So we should all attempt to acquire as much knowledge as possible, in order that we may render our services to society in the manner of the women of early Islam.

She sent 15 young women to Turkey for higher education in 1928.^[2][10] These fifteen were all graduates of the Masturat middle school she had founded, mainly daughters of the royal family and government officials.^[7]

The Swedish memoir writer Rora Asim Khan, who lived in Afghanistan with her Afghan husband in 1926-1927, describe in her memoirs how she was invited to the Queen at Paghman and Darullaman to describe Western life style and fashion to the Queen and the king's mother; she noted that the Queen had many questions, since she was soon due to visit Europe.^[14]

In 1927-1928, Soraya and her husband visited Europe.^[2] On this trip they were honoured and feted, and greeted by crowds.^[15] In 1928, the King and Queen received honorary degrees from Oxford University, being seen as both promoters of enlightened Western values, and ruling an important buffer state, between the British Indian empire, and Soviet ambitions.^[16] The Queen spoke to a large group of students and leaders.

The unveiling of women was a controversial part of the reform policy. Women of the royal family already wore Western fashion before the accession of Amanullah, but they did so only within the enclosed royal palace complex and always covered themselves in a veil when leaving the royal area. Throughout her husband's reign, Queen Soraya wore wide-brimmed hats with a diaphanous veil attached to them.^[2] On August 29, 1928 Amanullah held a Loya Jirgah, a Grand Assembly of Tribal Elders, to endorse his development programs, and to which the 1,100 delegates were required to wear European clothes provided for them by the state. Amanullah argued for women’s rights to education and equality. Amanullah said that "Islam did not require women to cover their bodies or wear any special kind of veil", and asked his wife to discard her veil. At the conclusion of the speech, Queen Soraya tore off her veil (hejab) in public^[3][2][10] and the wives of other officials present at the meeting followed this example.^[7] After that, Soraya appeared in public without a veil and the women of the royal family and the wives of government employees followed her example. In Kabul, this policy was also endorsed by reserving certain streets for men and women dressed in modern Western clothing. Conservatives objected to the unveiling of women, but did not say so openly at the meeting, instead beginning to mobilize public opinion after their return from the meeting.^[7]

This was an era when other Muslim nations, like Turkey, Iran and Egypt were also on the path to Westernization. Hence, in Afghanistan, the elite was impressed by such changes and emulated their development models, but the time may have been premature.^[2] Not only did conservative Muslims disagree with the changes, some alleged that the opposition was stoked by the British agents distributing international publications showing Soraya without a veil, dining with foreign men, and having her hand kissed by the leader of France, Germany, etc. among tribal regions of Afghanistan.^[17][2] The British did not have a good relationship with Soraya's family as a whole, for the chief representative of Afghanistan that they had to deal with was her father, Mahmud Tarzi.^[2][8] Conservative Afghans and regional leaders took the images and details from the royal family's trip to be a flagrant betrayal of Afghan culture, religion, and "honour" of women.