reform and repression, 1901–19War. The German-Afghan Treaty of 1916, however, was yet another step
in Afghanistan’s move to full independence, but the most enduring legacy
of the German mission of 1915–16 is the series of historic photographs
taken by Hentig and Niedermayer and another member of the mission,
Emil Rybitschka. 27
The assassination of Amir Habib Allah KhanThe following year the revolutions in Russia, culminating in the Bolshevik
coup of October 1917, created further cause for concern in both Afghanistan
and India. On 3 March 1918 the Bolshevik government signed the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russia’s war with Germany and the Anglo-
Russian alliance. Shortly afterwards Russia plunged into civil war, which
removed any immediate threat of a Russian invasion of Afghanistan, but at
the same time led to fears that the Indian revolutionaries in Kabul would
spread Communist revolutionary propaganda into Afghanistan and India.
In the summer of 1918 Habib Allah Khan received another shab nama,
which demanded constitutional government and threatened direct action
if he failed to comply. Habib Allah Khan ignored the threat but a few days
later, during celebrations to mark his birthday on 2 July, someone fired a
shot at the Amir as he drove through the Shor Bazaar, but the bullet struck
his car and fell harmlessly at his feet.
Habib Allah Khan once more turned to Mustufi Husain Khan to hunt
down the assassins and again he used this opportunity to purge more
reformers. He identified the chief conspirators as two men who were
among Tarzi’s closest associates: ‘Abd al-Rahman Ludin and the poet ‘Abd
al-Hadi Dawai, who wrote under the takhalus of Preshan. Both came from
Kandahar, were graduates of Habibiyya College and at the time of their
arrest they were subeditors on the Seraj al-Akhbar. The mustufi even tried
to implicate ’Aman Allah Khan and Dr Ghani, despite the fact that Ghani
was still languishing in prison. The Amir, however, ignored these allega-
tions against his son and refused to sign Ghani’s death warrant. Ludin
and ‘Abd al-Hadi were also spared execution. Mahmud Tarzi once more
escaped arrest, but the Amir suspended publication of the Seraj al-Akhbar
for more than four months. ‘Abd al-Rahman Ludin and ‘Abd al-Hadi were
freed following the death of Habib Allah Khan, and after ’Aman Allah
Khan succeeded to the throne, Tarzi handed control of the Seraj al-Akhbar
to ‘Abd al-Hadi, who renamed the newspaper ’Aman-i Afghan.
As winter approached Habib Allah Khan travelled to Jalalabad, where
he hoped to escape the epidemic of influenza that was sweeping through