Amanul Mulk (died ) was an Afghan politician who served as the Minister of Defence under

Salemai Salemai or Salimai ( 1940s) was an Afghan rebel king who ruled only in the Eastern Province. Background In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi tribe rose up against the government of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. According to British records, the upris ...

, who ruled only in the Eastern Province.

Background

In either 1944 or 1945, the

Safi tribe Sāfī ( ps, ساپی ''Sāpai''; plur. ساپي ''Sāpī'') is a major branch of the greater Ghurghakhti Pashtun tribe. The Safi tribe comprises a majority in the Pech Valley of Kunar and are present in significant numbers in Parwan Province ( ...

rose up against the government of the

Kingdom of Afghanistan The Kingdom of Afghanistan ( ps, , Dǝ Afġānistān wākmanān; prs, پادشاهی افغانستان, Pādešāhī-ye Afġānistān) was a constitutional monarchy in Central Asia established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Af ...

. According to British records, the uprising was caused by the Afghan government's attempts to institute conscription among the Safi, trading monopolies granted to Afghan merchant companies, and government surveillance. However, Whit Mason attributes the Safi uprising to "extremely brutal taxation, oppression and poverty". Among the more enthusiastic rebel fighters were younger men with more to gain and less to lose from fighting the government. The Afghan government extensively deployed its air force against the rebels, using aircraft to drop leaflets, gun down tribesmen and drop incendiary bombs.

Minister of Defence

Religious scholars among the Safi ruled that anyone who rebelled against their King and died should be excluded from being counted as martyrs. Therefore, they were required to select one of their own as king. In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi selected

as king,

Amanat Lewana Amanat Lewana ( 1940s) was an Afghan politician who served as prime minister under Salemai, a king of Afghanistan who ruled only in the Eastern Province. Background In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi tribe rose up against the government of the ...

as prime minister and Amanul Mulk as minister of defence. The Safi were ultimately defeated by the Afghan government.

Later life and death

In 1947, Mulk had a reunion in Shulgara with

Shahswar Shahswar ( 1940s) was an Afghan politician who served as minister in under Salemai, who ruled only in the Eastern Province. Alternative renderings of his name include Shah Sarwar and Shasawar. Background In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi tribe ...

and Salemai. Mulk eventually left Afghanistan, and lived in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

by the 1980s. In 1983, he met with historian David B. Edwards, who described him as being an "old man" by this time. Edwards interviewed Mulk on the Safi role in the tribal revolts of 1944–1947. In ''The Rule of Law in Afghanistan: Missing in Inaction'', released in April 2011, it is stated that Amanul Mulk "died recently in Peshawar", that he continued wearing a military jacket until his last days, and that his offspring still live in Shulgara.

References

{{reflist 20th-century Afghan politicians 1940s in Afghanistan Defence ministers of Afghanistan