father predecessor successor mother birth_place death_date death_place title image_size birth_date image article_title name reign
abdur rahman khan abdur rahman khan nasrullah khan asal begum , uzbek consort samarkand , uzbekistan 20 february 1919 kalagosh , afghanistan amir of afghanistan 200px june 3 , 1872 habibullah.jpg habibullah khan
 habibu ` llah khan -lrb- king habibullah i -rrb- october 1 , 1901 -- february 20 , 1919
habibullah khan

habibullah khan -lrb- june 3 , 1872 -- february 20 , 1919 -rrb- was the emir of afghanistan from 1901 until 1919 .
he was born in samarkand , uzbekistan , the eldest son of the emir abdur rahman khan , whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in october 1901 .
habibullah was a relatively secular , reform-minded ruler who attempted to modernize his country .
during his reign he worked to bring modern medicine and other technology to afghanistan .
in 1903 , habibullah founded the habibia school as well as a military academy .
he also worked to put in place progressive reforms in his country .
he instituted various legal reforms and repealed many of the harshest criminal penalties .
but one of his chief advisors abdul lateef was sentenced to death in 1903 for apostasy .
he was stoned to death in kabul .
other reforms included the dismantling of the repressive internal intelligence organization that had been put in place by his father .
he strictly maintained the country 's neutrality in world war i , despite strenuous efforts by the sultan of the ottoman empire and a german military mission to enlist afghanistan on its side .
he also greatly reduced tensions with british india , signing a treaty of friendship in 1905 and paying an official state visit in 1907 .
habibullah was assassinated while on a hunting trip at laghman province on february 20 , 1919 .
his brother nasrullah khan briefly succeeded him as emir and held power for a week between february 21 and february 28 , 1919 , before being ousted and imprisoned by amanullah khan , habibullah 's third son .
