page_title: Amanullah Khan
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Amanullah Khan / Early years
caption_attribution_description: Amanullah Khan, King of Afganistan from 1919 to 1929.
context_page_description: Ghāzī Amānullāh Khān was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, first as Emir and after 1926 as King. After the Third Anglo-Afghan War, Afghanistan was able to relinquish from a protected state status to proclaim independence and pursue an independent foreign policy free from the influence of the British Raj.
  His rule was marked by dramatic political and social change, attempting to modernize Afghanistan on Western designs, which he did not fully succeed in, due to an uprising by Habibullah Kalakani and his followers. On 14 January 1929, Amanullah abdicated and fled to neighbouring British India as the Afghan Civil War began to escalate. From British India he went to Europe where after 30 years in exile, he died in Italy, in 1960. His body was brought to Afghanistan and buried in Jalalabad.
context_section_description: Amanullah Khan was born on 1 June 1892, in Paghman near Kabul, Afghanistan. He was the third son of the Emir Habibullah Khan. Amanullah was installed as the governor of Kabul and was in control of the army and the treasury, and gained the allegiance of most of the tribal leaders.
  Russia had recently undergone its Communist revolution, leading to strained relations between the country and the United Kingdom. Amanullah Khan recognized the opportunity to use the situation to gain Afghanistan's independence over its foreign affairs. He led a surprise attack against the British in India on 3 May 1919, beginning the Third Anglo-Afghan war. After initial successes, the war quickly became a stalemate as the United Kingdom was still dealing with the costs of World War I. An armistice was reached towards end of 1919, and Afghanistan was completely free of British diplomatic influence.
caption: King Amanullah Khan Royal Portrait
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