Princess Razia Begum Noor Seraj (born 1909), was a royal princess of Afghanistan. She was born to

Habibullah Khan Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901. ...

(r. 1901-1919) and Sarwar Sultana Begum, and the sister of king

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...

(r. 1919–1929). She married in married in 1927 to H.E. Sardar-i-Ala Muhammad Hasan Jan, GCVO (born 1908), Court Chamberlain and Civil ADC to King Amanullah. Muhammad Hasan Jan was a grandson of

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

by his father. In 1919, her brother succeeded to the throne, and launched a radical modernization of Afghanistan. The royal harem was dissolved and its slaves manumitted. The modernization included a change in women's position. This change was supported by the king's mother, Rora Asim Khan (Aurora Nilsson): Anders Forsberg and Peter Hjukström: ''Flykten från harem'', Nykopia, Stockholm 1998. . and his queen Soraya Tarzi and his sisters acted as role models by unveiling, adopting Western fashion and taking on public roles. In 1929, however, her brother was deposed and exiled, and his reforms in favor of women's rights were reverted, resulting in women returning to purdah for another twenty years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Razia Begum Noor Seraj 1909 births Year of death missing Afghan princesses Barakzai dynasty