Shahswar ( 1940s) was an Afghan politician who served as minister in 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. Alternative renderings of his name include Shah Sarwar
and Shasawar.
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. 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
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.
According to Whit Mason's version of events in ''The Rule of Law in Afghanistan: Missing in Inaction'' (2011), in either 1944 or 1945, the Safi selected Shahswar as king,
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 ...
as prime minister and
Amanul Mulk as minister of defence.
However, Mason appears to mix up several roles. David B. Edwards, a veteran scholar of Afghan history, gives the following quote from
Amanul Mulk (Salemai's Minister of Defense, whom Edwards interviewed personally) in ''Caravan of Martyrs: Sacrifice and Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan'' (2017), which appears to confirm that Shahswar was minister and not king:
In either 1945 or 1946, Shahswar fled to Mohmand tribal territory in the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
.
Later life
In 1947, after returning from exile, Shahswar had a reunion in
Shulgara with his former colleges, Salemai and Amanul Mulk.
Shahswar's fate is unknown.
References
{{reflist
20th-century Afghan politicians
1940s in Afghanistan