dreams melted into air, 1919–29Khan also undertook a nationwide tour to promote his views on education
and argue for limited female emancipation. Public criticism of mullahs and
pirs increased in the state-controlled press, while Nur al-Mashayekh, the
Hazrat of Shor Bazaar, was ‘encouraged’ to go on Hajj and not allowed to
return. Instead he set up his base across the frontier in Dera Isma‘il Khan,
where he mobilized his Mujadidi networks and plotted the downfall of a
ruler he believed had lost all legitimacy.
Afghan-Soviet relations and the occupation of Yangi Qal‘aTo add to the turmoil of 1924, at the end of the year relations with the
Soviet Union deteriorated, following Stalin’s decision to partition Russian
Turkistan into the autonomous Soviet Republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
and Turkmenistan. This tacit recognition by the Soviet Union of the right
to self-determination for the Uzbeks, Turkmans and Tajiks of Central
Asia was poorly received in Kabul, since it raised fears it would encour-
age nationalist sentiment in the wilayat of Balkh. Then the following year
a long-standing dispute over the Amu Darya frontier almost led to war.
For some two decades Afghanistan and Russia had disputed sovereignty
over Urta Tagai, or Darqad, an island on the Panj river opposite the Afghan
frontier post of Yangi Qal‘a. The argument began after the main channel
of the Amu Darya dramatically shifted from south of Urta Tagai to the
north, a change that, according to international law, meant the island was
now on the Afghan side of the frontier. Subsequently, Urta Tagai became
a key staging post for basmachi infiltration of Tajikistan, as well as a place
of refuge for White Russians and other anti-Soviet activists.
In December 1925 Moscow sent the Red Army to occupy Urta Tagai and
several Afghan soldiers were killed during the operation. The Afghan press
hysterically denounced the attack as an invasion and ’Aman Allah Khan
seriously considered declaring war on the Soviet Union. Britain, though,
went behind the Afghan government’s back and eventually persuaded
Moscow to accept international arbitration. When the committee decided
in Afghanistan’s favour, Russia withdrew its troops, but the occupation
of Urta Tagai had been a sharp warning to the Afghan government of
the vulnerability of its northern frontier and the possible consequences
Afghanistan might face if it antagonized Moscow.