Soraya Tarzi

Soraya Tarzi is the Queen of the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the wife of Amanullah Khan who is the King of Afghanistan.

## History

### Early Life

Suraiya Shahzada Tarzi was born on 24 November 1899, in Damascus, Syria, then part of the Ottoman Empire. She was the daughter of the Afghan political figure *Sardar* Mahmud *Beg* Tarzi, and granddaughter of *Sardar* Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi. She studied in Syria, learning Western and modern values there, which would influence her future actions and beliefs. Her mother was Asma Rasmiya Khanum, second wife of her father, and daughter of *Sheikh* Muhammad Saleh al-Fattal *Effendi*, of Aleppo, *Muezzin* of the Umayyad Mosque.

When Amanullah's father (Habibullah Khan) became the King of Afghanistan in October 1901, one of his most important contributions to his nation was the return of Afghan exiles, specifically that of the Tarzi family and others. This is because the Tarzi family promoted the modernization of Afghanistan. Upon her family's return to Afghanistan, Soraya Tarzi would later meet and marry King Amanullah Khan.

### Return to Afghanistan

After the Tarzis returned to Afghanistan, they were received at Court as wished by the Amir Habibullah Khan. This is where Soraya Tarzi met Prince Amanullah, son of the Amir Habibullah Khan. They struck an affinity. The prince, who was a sympathiser of Mahmud Tarzi's liberal ideas, married Soraya Tarzi on 30 August 1913 at Qawm-i-Bagh Palace in Kabul. Soraya Tarzi was King Amanullah Khan's only wife, which broke centuries of tradition. It was when she married into the monarchy that she grew to be one of the region's most important figures.

### Conquest of Afghanistan by Persia

After the assassination of Amir Habibullah Khan, Afghanistan was conquered by Reza Shah Pahlavi during his Eastward Expansion into India. Reza considered Afghanistan to be the Graveyard of Empires which was able to resist conquest by his ancestors Cyrus the Great and Tamerlane. It was easy due to the monarchy aiding Reza against the British and causing trouble for the British with the local tribes. After the invasion her husband Prince Amanullah became King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's invasion of India started a rebellion in the region supported by the British who wanted to replace the current ruler Amanullah with his distant cousin Mohammed Nadir Khan, however Reza won the side of Mohammad Nadir Khan by promising him territory in the Madras Presidency to rule as his domain. After that the rebellion failed and more Afghan forces headed into India. The Battles were hard until the Japanese helped and Reza won the allegiance of the Princely Rulers of India.

After the conquest of India, Afghanistan became a puppet state of the new Indo-Persian Empire ruled by Amanullah Khan, himself.

### 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.[*citation needed*] Tarzi was specifically instrumental in designing and implementing changes pertaining to women through his personal example of monogamy. 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.

King Amanullah Khan publicly campaigned against the veil, against polygamy, and encouraged education of girls not just in Kabul but also in the countryside. At a public function, Amanullah said that "Islam did not require women to cover their bodies or wear any special kind of veil". At the conclusion of the speech, Queen Soraya tore off her veil (hejab) in public and the wives of other officials present at the meeting followed this example. Throughout her husband's reign, Queen Soraya wore wide-brimmed hats with a diaphanous veil attached to them. Many women from Amanullah's family publicly participated in organizations and went on to become government officials later in life.

Queen Soraya encouraged women to get an education and opened the first school for girls in Kabul. She sent 15 young women to Turkey for higher education in 1928. She with Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh and Singh's friend Lina Schäfer founded women's organisation Anjuman-i Himayat-i-Niswan. The Afghan Women's rights with Western and Japanese reforms pissed off Ali Jinnah.

### Ali Jinnah Crisis

Ali Jinnah took over the Indo-Persian Government and created a one Party Dictatorship ruled by him as sole Prime Minister and the All India Muslim League with the support of local Afghan tribes opposing the Afghan Monarchy and other Sunni Islamic factions such as the Saqqawists and Basmachi movement. This caused a civil war between Indo-Persia and it's vassals against Ali Jinnah and his Sunni Muslim thugs. The war lasted until 1930 when Ali Jinnah was ousted and exiled to Morocco.

## Marriage

After the Tarzis returned to Afghanistan, they were received at Court as wished by the Amir Habibullah Khan. This is where Soraya Tarzi met Prince Amanullah, son of the Amir Habibullah Khan. They struck an affinity. The prince, who was a sympathiser of Mahmud Tarzi's liberal ideas, married Soraya Tarzi on 30 August 1913 at Qawm-i-Bagh Palace in Kabul. Soraya Tarzi was King Amanullah Khan's only wife, which broke centuries of tradition. It was when she married into the monarchy that she grew to be one of the region's most important figures.

They have 11 children together.

* Princess Ameenah Shah (b. 1916)
* Princess Abedah Bibi
* Princess Meliha (b. 1921), married Prince Kaveh Farman Farmaian (b. 1920)
* Crown Prince Rahmatullah of Afghanistan (b. 1921), married Princess Sattareh Farman Farmaian (1921), no issue.
* Prince Saifullah, died young
* Prince Hymayatullah, died young
* Princess Adeela (b. 1925)
* Prince Ehsanullah (b. 1926)
* Princess India (b. 1929)
* Princess Nagia