Tarzi Akbar...Ideology of Modernization Iin Afghanistan

7/23/2019 Tarzi Akbar...Ideology of Modernization Iin Afghanistan

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Mahmud Tarzi and Saraj-ol-Akhbar: Ideology of Nationalism and Modernization inAfghanistanAuthor(s): Vartan GregorianSource: Middle East Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer, 1967), pp. 345-368Published by: Middle East InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4324163.

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2/25

MAHMUD TARZI

AND

SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR:

IDEOLOGY OF

NATIONALISM

AND

MODERNIZATION

IN

AFGHANISTAN

Vartan

Gregorian

HEstudyof the

reformmovement

n Afghanistan

nd

of the

character

of

Afghan

nationalism

has been

practically

eglected

n the

examina-

tion

of the historyof the nationalist-revivalist

nd modernist

movements

of the contemporary

Middle

Eastand the

Muslim

world. The paucity

of

ma-

terial

is especially

remarkable

n the

case

of Mahmud

Tarzi who,

as

editor

in chief

of Saraj-ol-Akhbar-e-Afghaniyah

The

lamp

[or

torch]

of the

news

of

Afghanistan),

the first

successful

news

medium

n modern

Afghan

history

(published

from

October

1911 to

December

1918),

helped

formulate

the

basic

tenets of

Afghan

nationalismand

modernism.

As a forum,Saraj-ol-

1. In Afghanistan, until recently, the study of Tarzi's career and ideas was

discouraged,

apparently n view of his close family ties and political association

with

King

Amanullah

Khan

(1919-1928) and his ill fated reforms.Thus, until the late 1950's Afghan officialsourcesomitted

any mention of the name Tarzi. See, for instance, Said Qassim Reshtia's article Journalism n

Afghanistan:

a

brief historical sketch, Afghanistan (Kabul) III,

No. 2

(1948)

and the official

Afghan publicationpertaining o The 40th Anniversary f the Independence f Afghanistan Kabul,

n.d., 1959-60?). Currently, owever, Tarzi has been rehabilitated nd his manifold

contributions

o

the

Afghan nationalist-modernistmovement are being recognized by the Afghan

historians.

For

example, see MuhammadHaider Zhobal's MahmudTarzi pedar-e matba'at ( Tarzi,

father

of

the press ),

Irfan

(Kabul) No. 2 (1958). So far, however, there are no monographic

or

general

Afghan

studies on him

in

either

Persian or Pashto. The overwhelmingmajorityof European

and

Americanstudies on modern Islam and Asian nationalism ail to mention Tarzi,

Saraj-ol-Akhbar,

and even the topics of Afghan nationalismand modernism.The handful of works that make

casual

reference o Tarzi, his periodicaland the Young Afghans are: E. B. Browne, The Press

and

Poetry

of ModernPersia (C.U.P., 1914) pp. 24, 102; H. Kohn, A History of Nationalism in the East

(New York, 1929)

p.

344;

Sir P.

Sykes, A History of Afghanistan (2 vols., London, 1940)

II,

pp. 264-5. Among the post-WorldWar

II

studies, the late Sir W. K. Fraser-Tytler's

fghanistan,

(O.U.P., 1950

and

1953 eds.) ignores both Saraj-ol-Akhharnd Tarzi, whereas D. Wilber's (ed.)

Afghanistan 2nd ed., New Haven, 1963) p. 168, deals with them in a few lines. Most surprising

of all, both the old and the new editions of the Encyclopedia f Islam ignore not only Tarzi and

his

biweeklyperiodical,but the entire Afghan modernist-nationalist ovement.The only meaningful

biographical ketchon Tarzi

in

English is the recent article of L. Dupree, M. Tarzi: Forgotten

nationalist, American Universities Field Staff Report Service: South Asian Series, VIII, No.

1

(Jan. 1964). In French he article of H. J. de Dianous, La itteratureAfghane de langue persane,

Orient (Paris) No. 31 (1964) pp. 138-44 remainsthe sole attempt to analyzethe work and r6le

of Tarzi. The Soviet Afghaniststoo, despite their numerous tudies and their constantacknowledge-

ment of the historical importanceof MahmudTarzi, Saraj-al-Akhharnd the Young Afghans,

have

as yet producedno monographic tudies on the subject.To the best of the author'sknowledge,

until

1963 the only article on Tarzi in Russian was a sketchy translationof the Afghan

poet

KhalilollahKhalili's MahmudBek Tarzi, n ProblemiiVostokvedenniia Moscow) No. 2 (1959)

pp. 156-7.

< VARTAN

GREGORIANs

professor of history at San

FranciscoState College,

San

Francisco,

California.

345


3/25

346

T H

E

MIDDLE EAST

JOURNAL

Akhbar

ave voice to

the

aspirations f the

Young

Afghans, a

small,

en-

lightened

elite, who, led

by

Tarzi, imnedthe

political

silhouetteof

the forth-

coming progressive

fghanistan.

MahmudTarziwas the son of SardarGhulamMuhammedKhan,a prom-

inent

leader of the

Muhammedzailan of

the powerful

Afghan Durrani

tribe.

The Sardar,a well

known Afghan

poet and

epigrapher,

who

wrote

under he

pen

nameof

MuhammedTarzi

stylist )

,3

was

charged

n

1882by

the then

Afghan

monarch,Amir

Abdur

RahmanKhan

(1880-1901),

with

conspiring

against

the

state

and was

banished

rom the

country.

After

a

brief interval

n

Karachi, he Tarzi

family

journeyed o

the Ottoman

Em-

pire. Here they

were well

received

by Sultan

Abdul Hamid II,

and

were

allowed to establishresidence n Damascus. Their two decadesof sojourn

abroadhad a

great

impact

on

the

educationand

outlook of

Mahmud

Tarzi

and

other

membersof the

family,who

attendedschools in

Damascus

and

Constantinople

nd came nto

contactwith

the

byproductsf

European

ulture

and

institutions.

They

were

exposed

to French

iterature,

he Ottoman

na-

tionalist-revivalist

ovementand

the

Pan-Islamic

iews of Jamal

al-din al-

AfghTni,

or whom

SardarGhulam

MuhammedKhan

hadgreat

reverence.'

In

Damascus,

he

youngMahmudTarzi

was

attachedo the

secretariat f the

Ottoman

provincialadministration.

In

1902,

after

the deathsof

both

Amir

Abdur

Rahman

Khan

and Sardar

Ghulam

MuhammadKhan, an

amnesty,

promulgated y the new

Afghan

ruler,

Amir

HabibullahKhan

(1901-1919),

paved

the

wayfor the return

f

the Tarzi

amily.8

Upon arrival

n

Afghanistan,

M.

Tarzi,

mbued

with

modernistic

iews, began

the

endeavorof

initiatinga

program

of

reform.He

called the

monarch's

ttention o the

glaring

deficien-

cies

of

Afghanistan

n

the

realms

of

education,

ommunicationsnd

economy,

and alerted

the ruler

to the

undesirable

onsequences

f a political,

cultural

and

intellectual solation

and

stagnation f

the

country.

Tarzi was

appointed

to serveas the chief of the Bureauof Translation f the RoyalCourt,his

2.

Saraj-ol-Akhbar

henceforth

S.A.)

I, No.

5, p.

12, In

Wilber

(ed.), op.

cit., p.

178, the

authors

have

inadvertently

onfused

Sardar

Ghulam

MuhammedKhan

with his

son

Mahmud

Tarzi.

3. On

the

life

and

poetry

of

SardarG.

M.

Tarzi

see

S.A.,

II, No.

7

p. 11,

also

Muhammed

H.

Behrouz

Adabiyat s

Abul

Farrapbe'

bad,

( Literature

rom

Abul

Farraj

on ), in

Anjomane

Aryana's

Afganestan,

(Kabul,

1955) p.

364.

Dupree,

op. cit.,

pp.

2-4,

and

Dianous,

loc. cit.,

No.

27

(1963) p.

143

and

No.

31,

(1964)

pp.

138-9.

4.

SohrabK. H.

Katrak,

Through

Amanullah's

Afghanistan

(Karachi

1929)

p.

xiv.

5.

Abdul

Wahab

Tarzi,

Afghanistan

n

Islam

Ansiklopedisi(4

vols.,

Istanbul,

1945) I,

p.

169. H. J. de Dianouswrites in Orient,No. 31 (1964) p. 139, that MahmudTarzi was born in

Damascus

n

1867. This is

wrong.

Tarzi was

born

in

Ghazni,

Afghanistan.

6.

A.

W.

Tarzi,

loc.

cit.,

pp.

169-70.

See

the

qasida

of

SardarG.

M.

Khan

Tarzi

on

al-Afghani

in

Dianous,

loc. cit.,

No.

31, p.

138.

7.

Dupree,

loc. cit., p.

5.

8.

Katrak,

op. ci.,

p.

xiv.

In

his

Raudat-i-Hikam

The

Gardenof

Wisdom )

(henceforth

R.H.)

(Kabul,

1913)

pp.

139,

144,

Tarzi

speaks

of

his

heart-breaking

ostalgia

or

the

Afghan

fatherland.

9. A.

W.

Tarzi, oc.

cit., p.

170.


4/25

MAHMUD TARZI

AND SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

347

main

task

being to

inform

and

satisfy

the Amir's

curiosity

s

to

events

within

the

Muslim

world and in

Europe.In

1911,

as a result of

Tarzi's

untiring

efforts,

and the

moral

support

ent

him by

Inayatullah

Khan,

the

eldest son

of the Amir (in chargeof the administrationf educationn the Kingdom

andthe

Royal

pressat

Kabul),

there

appeared

hefirst ssueof Saraj-ol-Akhbar.

It was

published

under

the

auspicesof

the

Amir,the

editorship

of Mahmud

Tarzi,and

the

supervision f

the

Court

Chamberlain

Ishikaghassi).

0

During

the

first

year,the

biweekly

Persian

anguage

periodicalwas

lithographed.

ub-

sequently,

as a

result

of the

importation

f

new

printing

presses,

he

quality

of

the

paper

and

its

printingand

engraving

mproved

o much that

in

many

technical

spects t

remains

uperioro

many

current

Afghan

publications.

The immediateaim of Saraj-ol-Akhbaras to provideAfghanistan with

one of the

most

essential

ools of

modern

civilization -a

newspaper.

Except

for

the

bedouin

ndthe

savage

tribes,

wrote

Tarzi,therewere no

organized

societies

without

news

media.

As

such, the

paper

brought to

the

Afghan

literati

both

domestic

nd

foreign

news.

It

translated

eports

nd feature

articles

from

the

English,

Urdu,

Turkishand

Arabic

press,

or

reproduced

arious

articles

rom

Persian

newspapers

nd

journals.

The

periodical

lso

introduced

photography

ndcaricature.

araj-ol-Akhbar,

owever,

was not

merely

or

the

dissemination

f the

news. It

espousedthe

cause

of the

modernization f

Afghanistan

and

the

political

andsocial

education

f the

Afghan

ruling

class

and literati.

The

periodical

ttempted

o

definefor them

both

the

nature

and

the

ultimate

aims

of

Afghan

nationalism

nd to

formulatea

theoretical

asis

in order

to direct

and

justify

the

projected

ocioeconomic

ransformationf

Afghanistan.

The

important ole

that

Saraj-ol-Akhbar

as

destined

o play

and the dif-

ficulties

of

Tarzi's

ask

can

best

be

seen

againstthe

historical

background f

nineteenth

century

Afghan

political

and

cultural

realities

and

the

attitude

of theAfghanrulingelitetowards ocial, echnologicalndinstitutional

hange

and reform.

In the

first decadesof

the

nineteenth

century, he

Afghan

monarch

ried

to

borrow

rom

European

military

echnology

and to

introduce

imited

insti-

tutional

changes

with

the

technical

assistance

of a few

Europeans.The

aim

was

to consolidate he

position of

the

monarchy

and

to

containthe

rising

threat

of the

Sikhs

n

the

East

and of

Persia

n

the

West,

and

also

to

strengthen

the

Afghan

hold over northern

Afghanistan

n

competition

with the

Khanate

of Bukhara.The haphazardAfghan modernistschemeswere at this stage

confined

o

military

echnology

and did

not

extend

to the

cultural

realm.

During

the

period

from

1839

to

1880,

as

a

consequence f

the

Anglo-Rus-

sian

imperial

rivalries

n the Middle

East

and

Central

Asia,

andthe

attempts

10.

Browne,

Press

and

Poetry of

Modern

Persia, op.

cit., p.

102.


5/25

348

THE

MIDDLE EAST

JOURNAL

of

Great Britain

to

strengthen

ts

diplomatic

position

in

Afghanistan, wo

Anglo-Afghan

wars

were

fought

(1839,

1879).

They

resulted n

the

British

occupationof eastern

Afghanistan,

uccessful

Afghan

resistance,

and

subse-

quentBritishevacuation f the country.The warsresulted n the diplomatic

isolation

of

Afghanistan

and

gave a

great

impetus of

Afghan

nationalism.

Internal

anarchy

and the

Anglo-Afghan

wars,

however,also dealt a

heavy

blow to the

meager

Afghan

economy

and

to the

continuity

of

the

very

few

Afghan reforms

that dealt with

the internal

administration f the

country,

military

reorganization

nd

attempts

(under

Amir

Sher

Ali)

to

form

the

nucleus

of a

school

patterned

on

Western

systems

and

a

periodical-Shams-

ul-Nahar,

1873.

Under heironrule of theAmirAbdurRahmanKhan,thecountrywitnessed

the

implementation

f

the

first

successful, f

somewhat

modest,

program

of

modernization.

tate

owned

and

operated

workshops

were

established

n

Kabul,

the

capital, o

provide

he

Amir

with

the

necessary

rsenal o

control

and

pro-

tect

his

Kingdom

against

both

internal

and

external

foes.

Modernism,

n

terms

of a

relatively

elective

technological nd

institutional

borrowing,was

used

as a

tool with

whichto

centralize

he

powerand

stabilize

the

position

of

the

Afghan

monarchy.

During

this

time

Amir

Abdur

Rahman

Khan

laid

down

the

foundation

f an

Afghan

policyof

limited

andautochthonousmod-

ernization.

This

policy

called

for

military

trength

nd

self

sufficiency

racketed

by

a

deliberate

policy

of

isolationism nd

economic

underdevelopment

s

the

surest

safeguards

or

continued

ndependence

f

Afghanistan

vis a vis

the

Anglo-Russian

mperial

nterests

and

designs.

Suclha

policy

had to

prevail,

according o

the

Amir,

until

Afghanistanwas

militarily

strong

enough

to

develop

its

economic

resources

without

endangering ts

political

entity

or

independence.

At

the

startof

the

twentieth

entury

he

Afghan

monarchy

ad

been

success-

ful

in

recreating

he

political

and

administrativenity

of

Afghanistan.The

Afghan

ruling

dynasty

had

failed,

however,

to

achieve

the

economic,

ocial

and

cultural

ntegrationof

the

countryand

to

establishany

meaningful

cul-

tural

contacts

with

the

outside

world,

pr

to

initiate

educational

eforms.

The

monarchy

had

also

been

unableto

cast

off its

political

solation;

ts

foreign

relations

continued

under

the

control

and

directionof

the

British

government

in

India

until

1919,

the

third

Anglo-Afghanwar.

Parallel

to

this

political

isolation

we

note

the

absenceof

any

noteworthy

nstitutions

f

learning,

or

re-

formistmovements mongst he Afghan 'ulami',and the want of an intelli-

gentsia.These

had

obviated,

n

the

nineteenth

entury, he

possibilities

f

link-

ing

Afghan

national

sentiment o the

cause

of

Afghan

modernism. t

was

only

during

Amir

Habibullah

Khan's

rule

that

Habibiya

College, the

first

school with

a

modern

curriculum,

was

founded

(1904), and

attempts

made

to

create

a

Departnent

of

Education,

which

would

supervisehe

establishment


6/25

MAHMUDTARZIAND

SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

349

of

a

few

elementary

chools

to coexist with the traditional

mosque

schools

(maktabs).

The Amir

also introduced he

telephone,

photography

nd

a

few

motor cars. He

helped

in

the formation

of the

first

Afghan

joint

stock

com-

panyand inaugurated n orphanageand a rudimentaryispensary t Kabul.

No

attempts,

however,

were made-nor

were

there the means-to

adopt

the

precepts f

universal

ompulsory

ducation

r to

overhaulhe entireeducational

structure f

the

Kingdom.

On the eve of

the

publication

f

Saraj-ol-Akhbar,

and

excluding

Qurans

and

some

imported

tandardeligious

exts,

the

number

of all

other

books

published n

Afghanistan,

ncluding

lassicalPersian

iterary

anthologies,did

not exceed

ten.

11

In

their

efforts

o

formulate he

tenets

of

the

Afghan nationalism

nd their

desireto reweave the socioeconomicabric of the Afghan Kingdom,Tarzi

and

Saraj-ol-Akhbar

ad,

amongother

things,

the

difficult ask

of

coping

with

the

complex

problem

presented

by

the ethnic

mosaic

of

Afghanistan.

n

a

country

where

only

slightly

over

50 per

cent

of the

population

was

ethnically

Afghan,

Saraj-ol-Akhbar

ttempted

o redefine

he

term

Afghan

on

a

geo-

graphic

and

religious,

rather

han

merely

ethnic,

basis,

implyingthe

equality

of all the

inhabitants

f

the

country.

n

this

way

he

hopedto

avert

possible

apprehensionsn

the

partof

non-Afghans,

hat

modernization

f

Afghanistan

mightserve

as a

means

to

further

trengthen

he

Afghan

hold over

themand

their

regions.At

the same

time Tarzi

had to

soothe

the

fears

of

the

Afghan

monarchhat

socialand

economic

ransformation

f his

realm

would

neither

invite the

threatof

foreign

intervention

nd

domination

nor

jeopardize he

positionof

the

Afghan

monarchy

nd its

dynasty.He

had

to

argue hat

national-

ism

and modernism

would serve

to

reinforce

he

central

authority,

he

power

of the

monarchy,

he

stability

of the

Kingdom,

and

stave off

external

hreats.

Further

ttempts

were

also

to

be

made

to

answer

he

objections

f the

Afghan

religious

establishment

s

to whether

Islam,

modernism

nd

secularism

were

compatible.Thentherewas theneedto convince he Shia Muslimminority f

the

Kingdom

that

modernism

was

not

a

mere

device

to

undermine

he Shia

community's

lready

weak

position

and

to

asserttotal

Sunni

control.For

the

benefit

of

the

Afghan

tribal

chieftains

and

their

interests,

Tarzi

had

to

find

arguments

o convince

hem

that

a

modern

Afghanistan eed

not

be an

instru-

ment

ending

the

privileges

of

their

tribes

or

threatening

Afghan

ethnicrule.

Other

factors

that influenced

he

content

and

direction

of

Tarzi's

and the

Young

Afghans'

sociopolitical

deasweresuch

momentous

ventsas

the

Russo-

Japanesewar,theAnglo-Russian onvention f 1907,the constitutionalmove-

ments

in

Persia,

the Ottoman

Empire

and China

(1906-1911),

the

influence

of

Pan-Islamism,

the

Italo-Turkish

(1911)

and the Balkan

wars

(1912-1913),

11.

Behrouz,

loc.

cit.,

p.

369.

Dianous, loc.

cit., No.

31, p.

140, sets

the

numberat

two.

It

seems,

however,

that

his

figure

does not

include

a

few

other

workswhich

appeared

during

the

reign

of

Amir

AbdurRahman

Khan.


7/25

350

THE

MIDDLE EAST

JOURNAL

World War I, the 1917 March and NovemberRevolutions n Russia, and

the proclamation f Wilson's FourteenPoints, which enunciated he concept

of equalityand self determination f all peoples. Each of these events and

movements, lus the great body of Muslimrevivalist-modernisthoughtwax-

ing strong

n

India and the

Middle Eastat that time, left its impacton Tarzi

and

the

Young Afghans.

Decline of Afghanistan:

A

modernist

iagnosis

As

proselytizers

or

modernism,

he

first

task

that

Tarzi and

his

associates

undertook

was

to

establish

nd

analyze

he

causes

of the

declineand

decadence

of

Afghanistan

and the Islamicworld.

Tarzi

insisted

that

such

inquiries,

o

muchin the interestsof the Islamiccommunity f Afghanistan,were both

the

privilege

and the

duty

of

every

devout

Muslim

and

patrioticAfghan.

Only through

self

examination

nd

self criticismcould

individuals

and na-

tions

hope

to overcome

heir

shortcomings

nd

avoid

the

repetition

of

past

mistakes.

2

For

Tarzi,

a

thorough

examination

of

Afghan history revealed

that

one

of

the

principal

easons

or the

backwardness

f

the

region

was

the

fact

that

the

Afghans

had fallen

behind

in

learning,understanding

nd the

applications

f

the sciences.

He

pointed

out that there

were

currently

more

educatedpeople n a singleIndiancityof Punjabhan n all of Afghanistan.

3

Such

utter

neglect

of

learning,

Tarzi

explained,

temmed

partly

from

Afghan

preoccupation

ith

the defense

of their

fatherland,

xcessive

elianceon

physi-

cal

forceand

might,

and

the fact

that education

nd

learning

were

considered

the exclusive

domain

of the

mirzas

(secretaries)

and

the

mull/hs

members

of

the

religious establishment),

whose

own

learning

was

narrowly

imited.

The

education

of

neither

group

included

mathematics, eometry

or

the

pure

sciences.

Thus,

for

generations

he

Afghan people

had

been

deprived

of

able

andeducatedeachers.

n

place

of scientific

hought, uperstition

nd tradition

reignedsupreme

ndthe

Afghans,

ike

theirfellow

Muslims

n

general,

wrote

Tarzi,

had

thus failed

to

tap

a

multitude

f both

human

and

natural

esources.

The light

of science

shone

in the West

whereas

darkness

had

engulfed the

East

andAfghanistan.

A veil

of

apathy

had fallen

on the

Afghanswho, caught

in

the

vicious

circle

of their

private passions

and

appetites,

had

neglected

their

fatherland

and

endangered

ts

independence

nd

future

development.

4

Tarzi

singled

out

the divisions

and

disunity

of the

Afghans,

as

well

as the

prevailing

anarchic onception

f

freedom

and

law,

as

contributing istorical

factorsto this condition.The calamityof disunityamong the Afghans was

such,

he

declared,

hat

it had

set

city against city, village against village,

street against

street,

tribe

against

tribe,

and

the members

of

families one

12. S.A.,

I, No. 21,

p. 15,

and No. 2, p.

9.

13. Ibid.,

VII,

No.

16, p.

6.

14.

R.H., pp.

140-2;

also S.A.,

VII,

No.

14, p.

4;

No.

18,

pp. 4-6;

III, No.

16,

pp. 10-2.


8/25

MAHMUD

TARZI

AND

SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR 351

against

another.

These

divisions defied both the

precepts

of

Islam,

which

ordained hat all

the faithful were

brethren,

nd the

dictates

of

reason,

which

showed

that

societyfunctioned

best within a

framework f

unity

and

mutual

cooperation.Had the Afghannationalstrengthnot beenirreparablyamaged

by

this

disunity,

Tarzi

asked,

who then could have wrested

from

them

Pesh-

awar,

Baluchistan

nd Sistan?

5

One of the

results of

the

prevalent

disunity

was that a

majority

of the

Afghans

had

developeda

negative

conceptof freedomwhich

equated

free-

dom with the

absenceof

restraint nd

the

lack of

governmental

uthority.

To

Tarzi

lawlessnesswas

historically egressive

and

alien to the

spirit

of Islam

and its

high

ethics.

True

freedom,

he

wrote, ay

in

the adherence

o a

positive

conceptwhichconceivedof it as a cohesiveandconstructiveocial forcecon-

tributing o

the

development f

religion,national

genius

and,

ultimately,

he

advancement f

civilization.

6

The

absence f

normal ntercourse

ith

theoutside

worldandthe

fanaticism

of

an

unenlightened

raditional

roup

were also

singled

out as factors n

the

declineof

Afghanistan.

The

want

of

meaningful

and

direct

channels

of con-

tact

had,

in

Tarzi's

view, prevented he

Afghans

from

borrowing

electively

fromthe

Europeanultural

eservoir.Cut off from

the main

currents

f

mod-

ern

civilization,

he

Afghans

had access

only

to

those

productsof

European

culture

hat were

designed

exclusively

or

the

internal

consumption

f

Euro-

pean

colonies.These

limitedEuropean

ulturalexports,

permeated

with ma-

terialism

and

political

design,

restricted

Afghan

choice

and

prevented he

successful

grafting

of

secular

and

foreign

learning

to

the national

and re-

ligious

heritage

of the

Afghans.

7

In their

diagnosis

of

the

causesof

the

sociopolitical eclineof

Afghanistan,

Tarzi

and

his

periodical

ejected

he

contention f

those

Christian

missionaries

and

European

writerswho

considered slam

the

major

mpedimento

learning

and therefore hemainsourceof thebackwardnessf theMuslims.

Obversely,

theyregarded

Christianity

s

the

essential

ngredient

n

the

success

nd

progress

of

Europeans.

o themTarzi

retorted

hat the

causes

of

the

material

progress

and attainments

f

Europeans

were

to

be

found in

the

separation

f

religion

and

learning,

not

in

their

union. The

reasons or the

decline

of

the Muslim

societies

were

to

be

found

in

the divisions

and the

conflicts

mongthe

Muslim

rulers over

expansionism,

which

had

wrought

the

political

disintegration f

the

Islamicworld.The

wideninggulf

between

ecular

nterests

and the

ethical

standardsf Islamhad caused heneglectandsubsequenteclineof theMuslim

institutions

of

learning.

8

The

superstitions

nd

traditions,

whichmitigated

15. R.H.,

pp.

146.7, 149.

16. S.A., III,

No.

13,

p.

13,

and

No.

19,

p.

7.

17.

Ibid., VII, No.

18, p. 7.

18.

Ibid., II, No.

13, p. 3;

No. 18, p. 15;

also

II, No. 14,

p. 23;

No. 21, p. 9.


9/25

352

THE MIDDLE

EAST JOURNAL

againstreasonand learning,

Tarzi claimed,

had no basis in the fundamental

realitiesof

Islam. The past achievements

f Islamic

societiesare exemplary

proofs. Therefore,

he

Muslimsthemselves,rather

than their religion,were

responsible or the decadenceof their respective ocieties.

9

This idea was

reiteratedn a poem reprinted

rom the Persianpaper

Nobahar,

published n

Meshed,

Iran:

The black

moke, ising rom he roof

of

the fatherland

is

causedby us

The flames hatdevour

sfrom eft toright

arecaused y us.

The disunity nd he

weakness f Islamwasnot

caused y

Christ r the Church

but

was

causedby

us.20

On

the benefitsof

modern ivilization

nd

its

compatibility

ith

Islam

After

arguing

that

the

foremostprerequisite

or the revival

of

Afghan

society ay

in

the Afghanrecognition

f the cause

of their

presentsituation,

Tarziproceeded

o demonstratehe

values to be

found in modern

civilization,

their

compatibility

with the

spirit

of Islam and

the

necessity

of their

intro-

duction ntoAfghanistan.

Tarzi

was one of the first

Afghan

modernists

o

argue

that

the

preponder-

ance of Europe

was

not

wholly

due to its

militarymight,

but

also

to its

achievements

n the

cultural,

economic

and

industrial domains.

1

Simple

adaptation

of

military

echnology

would not

be

sufficient

o

cope

with

the

overall European hallenge,

or

to

rejuvenate

he

traditional tructrue

f

so-

cieties.

Only by

a

thorough eorganization

f their institutions ould

the

Mus-

lims

possibly

achieve

such

an

aim,

and

this was

regarded

as axiomatic

or

all

emergent countries (e.g. the Russia of Peter the Great, and Japan).

22

The

Afghans

were

urged by

a

collaborator

f

Saraj-ol-Akhbar

o do this

and

to

adopt,

at the same time

as

military echnology,

lectricity,

hemistry,

he

tele-

graph,

railroadsand

the

like,

all

of

immense

potential

for

Afghanistan.

3

Such

borrowings, hough,

warned

Tarzi,

should

not

be

geared

solely

to na-

tional

defense

nor should

hey

be allowed

o

degenerate

nto

mere

unproductive

copying.

The

cultural,

cientific

nd institutional

ppropriations

ere

to

develop

science

and

learning

n

Afghanistan

and

thereby

contribute

o the

country's

modernizationnd the generalwelfareof tie Afghan people.

4

19. Ibid., VI,

No.

14, p. 2,

and

I,

No.

10,

p.

13; II,

No.

16,

p.

3.

20.

Ibid., III, No.

16, pp.

10-2.

21.

Ibid., I,

No. 16, p. 1; III,

No.

2;

also

III,

No.

17, pp. 5-8.

22. Ibid., 1,

No.

16, p. 1,

and

III,

No.

2, p.

8;

No.

8, pp.

5-6;

also

V, No. 17, p.

8, and VII,

No.

19,

p. 8.

23.

See the letter

of

Indian

revolutionary

M.

Barakatullah

rom

Tokya,

Ibid., III, No. 2, p. 8.

24. Ibid., IV,

No.

8, p. 5,

and

V,

No.

19, p.

2.


10/25

MAHMUD TARZI AND SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

353

The plannedmodernization f Afghanistan-or of any Islamic

society-ac-

cordingto Tarzi, was not incompatiblewith the true spirit

and character f

Islam.To demonstratehisbelief,Tarziandhis colleagues ssumedhe privilege

and the duty of interpreting he true meaningand significance f the pre-

cepts

of

the Quran, the various Muslim holidays, and the

sayings of the

Prophet.

5

This in itself was an importanthistoricaldevelopment.

For the

first time educatedAfghan laymenpublicly nterpreted he

Quran, n strong

opposition to tie traditionalelements and the

mullhs,

who had advanced

violent objections o the modernization f Afghanistan.On

the position

of

these traditionalists, ara -ol-Akhbaraunchedits attack. They had raised

doctrinal

bjections

o

Afghan

use

of

European tyle

hats

and

clothing

and

to

the

Afghan adoption of photography.

Tarzi

asked

rhetorically f Muslims

were to

be distinguished y

their

clothing

or

by

theirfaith?Answering

himself,

he assertedthat faith and ethics, not appearances nd/or conventions, on-

stituted

the

important ngredients

of

Islam.

Clothing

was not

an

article

of

faith,

Tarzi

argued,

otherwise world convention f

Muslims

would or should

have gathered

o

prescribe

uniform

for

Muslims.

6

He

castigated

hose of

the

religious

establishment

who condemnedmodern science

because

t was

the

product

of

the

kafirs

f

Europe:

such

an

attitude,

he

pointed out, be-

trayedabysmal gnorance,

as

in

the West science

and

religion

were

treated

and studiedseparately.n Afghanistan,unfortunately,here was neither

sep7

aration

nor

study.

The 'ulamd'of the

country

had done a

great

disservice o

the

children

of

the fatherland

hrough

heir

negligence,

ndifference

nd

ig-

norance.This

ignorance

xtended

beyond

he

sciences,

ven

to theology.

nstead

of

mastering

hat

study through

examinationand reflectionand

only

then

enunciating

he true

precepts

f

Islam,

the

'ulamX'

memorized

ages

of

words

like

genuine parrots,

and

used

charges

of

heresy

nd

irreligion gainst

theircritics

o shield their

ignorance.

7

Their insistence

hat

learning

was the

exclusivedomainof judges, interpretersf law and othermembersof their

establishment

aised

a

formidableobstacle

to

the

development

of

education

and

dissemination

f

learningamong

their

coreligionists.

Tarzi

insisted

that

the

imprecations

nd accusations

f the

Afghan religious

establishment,rising

as

they

did

from

ignorance,

hould

not

be

allowed

to

distortor

misinterpret

the

significance

f

modernism hich

n

essenceand

in

principle

was

in

harmony

with the

lofty teachings

f Islam.

How,

for

instance,

could

the

Afghan

Muslims

even

be asked

to

consider

scienceand technology mpiouswhen they could greatlyhelp to consolidate

the

defenses of Muslim

Afghanistan

and to

preserve

ts

independence? he

acceptance

f

European echnology

did not

necessarily

ntail

the

adoptionof

25.

Ibid., II, No. 1, p. 16.

26.

Ibid.,

No.

16,

p.

8.

27.

Ibid., IV, No. 15, pp. 6-7, 8.


11/25

354

THE MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL

European

mores.

8

The

historyof Islam

in itself, Tarzi argued,was the

best

indication hat in its golden

age and times

of greatness, he Islamic

comnimu-

nity was engaged

n the preservationnd

propagation f

scienceand learning

and derivedmuch of its vitalitytherefrom.Knowledge,and efforts o acquire

it through

education,werenot only compatible

with the precepts

f the Quran:

they formed

an essentialpartof it.

29

By

ordaining he

faithful to better

the

fateof the Islamiccommunity

nd secure ts future,the Quran,

t

was

argued,

was in concord

with the spiritof each age

and the needsof everyera.3

The

Quranwas not prescribed

or

the eternal

ife alone, but for

this world too,

where

the

triumph

of

good

deeds

was essential

for

personal,

social and

na-

tional

self

improvement.

The

culturaland

material

progress

of

the

Islamic

community ad traditionally ontributedo the strengthand spreadof the

Islamic

aith,

and

there

was no

reason

o believethat

current ndfutureprog-

ress of the

community

would undermine

he

position

of Islam.

1

The

necessity

of

knowledge,

and therefore

cience,

according

o

Tarzi,

was

clearly

acknowledged

nd condoned

by

the

ProphetMuhammad,

who

advo-

cated

that

ignorance

and

knowledge

could not coexist

any

more

than cleanli-

ness and

uncleanliness,ight

and

darkness.2

This was

reiterated

n

one of

the

hadiths

of Islam,

whichstated

hat

man's

aith

lay

in his

reason.

Knowledge

wastherefore ssentialnot onlyin knowingoneselfbutalso in knowingGod,

man's

Creator.33

incethe

distinguishing

rait in

which lies

the

inherent

su-

periority

of

man

over

the

beasts

was his

God

given

reason,by inference, he

neglect

of

its cultivation

nd

application

was

a

great

disservice

o

oneself, one's

community,

slam

and

God.

One of Tarzi's

most

important

ntellectual

fforts

was the

portrayal f the

unity

of

humanity

nd

the

universality

f scienceand

learning

as

demonstrated

in

the

texts

of the

Quran.35 ollowing

this

line,

Abdol

Hadi,

a

contributor

to Sara

-ol-Akhbar,

ried

to

prove Quranic

anction or

travel

abroad n

pur-

suit

of

learning.

He wrote that

the

Quran

had

implicitly

acknowledgedhe

capacity

of the Chinese

and other non-Muslim

eoples

of

possessing

and in-

creasing

their

knowledge,

from

which

the Muslimscould

benefit,when it

urged

the

faithful to travel even

to China or the

sake of

learning.Surely

28. R.H., p.

156.

29. S.A., II,

No.

14, pp. 14-5,

and

V,

No.

17, pp.

10-1.

Also

the article of AbdurRahman,

III, No. 17, pp.

5-8.

30.

Ibid.,

III,

No.

2, pp. 2-3,

and

I,

No.

10,

p.

13.

This

is

reminiscent

of

Syed

Amir Ali's

general thesis, The Spirit of Islam (London, 1891), and the views of S. Khuda Bukhsh, Essays:

Indian

and

Islamic

(London, 1912).

It also follows

the

Quranic interpretations f Muhammad

'Abduh (1848-1905)

and his

disciple

Muhammad

Rasid

Rida

in

Egypt.

See

J.

Jomier,Le commen-

taire Coranique

e Manar(Paris,1954).

31. S.A.,

III,

No.

17, pp. 5-8;

also the article of

Mullah

Tuti, Ibid., III,

No. 8.

32. R.H., pp.

9, 11-2,

14.

33. S.A., VI,

No.

14, pp. 2-3; I,

No.

4, p. 9; III,

No.

17, p. 4; V, No. 17, p. 5.

34. Ibid., I,

No.

12, pp. 1-2,

and

III,

No.

8, p. 5;

No.

17, p. 4.

35. R.H., pp.

15-6,

38.


12/25

MAHMUD TARZI

AND

SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

355

this

passage,

by

extension,

anctioned

he

travel

of

Muslims o

the

West for

the same

purpose.

Abdol Hadi

cited the extensive

ravelsof

famous

Muslim

geographers,ages

and

navigators f the

past

as symbols

of

open

mindedness

and indications f the fact that knowledgewas universal. It was this uni-

versality,

according o

Tarzi, that

had

allowed the

West to borrow

from

Islam

manyof its

past

scientific

achievements.

Science

and

knowledge,

whateverthe

language

and wherever

he

source,

were

beneficial; a

diamond

encrustedwith

mud is

still a diamond.

7

By

resorting o

ironyand

further

castigating he

logical

nconsistencies f the

traditionalists,

M.A.,

another

collaborator f

Saraj-ol-Akhbar,ejected

heir

view that

modern

science

and all its

byproducts, s works of

infidels

were in

essencealiento Islam.If we acceptsuch a conclusion, e wrote,we muststop

the

import

of all

foreign

goods,

including

even matches

and

clothing,

which

would do

nothing

more than

leave

the

Afghan people naked and without

light.

38

Why,

Tarzi

asked,

should a firm

belief in Islam

as

the

best

and most

sacred

of

all

religionsdeter

the Afghans

from

trying

to rid

their

country

of

ignorance,

want,

misery,

diseaseand

dependence.

On the

contrary, fforts

to

help mold

a

free,

strong,

healthyand

independent

slamic

communityn

Af-

ghanistan

hould

be

welcomed

as acts of

religious

piety.

39

Since

knowledgewas

beneficial

and servedthe best interestsof Islamand

the

Afghans,

he

learningof French

and

Englishcould not

corrupthe

Afghan

youth

or harm

the

Afghan

national

genius.

To

dissipate

hese

traditionalist

fears,

Tarzi

advanced

everal

arguments.He

invokedan

historical

precedent

by

reminding

is

readers

hat such

patriotic

Afghan

rulers

as

Dost

Muhammed

and

SherAli

had

allowed the

use

of

the

English

anguage n

military

ogistics

and

terminology.

He

argued

that the

acquisitionof

both

foreign

languages

and modern

echnology

by

Japan,

a

major

non-Christian,

siatic

nation,

had

certainly

benefited ather

han

harmed he

development f

her

national

nsti-

tutions and genius. Tarziused the anti-Britishentimentsof the Afghans

againstthemselves.

Knowledge

of

English,

he

argued,

would enable

the Af-

ghansto

learnthe

secretsof

British

scientific

nd

technological

chievements

and to

understand

etter

heir

policies

and

political

designsvis

a

vis

Afghanis-

tan.

For

similar

utilitarian

easons,

ourism

and

travel n

general

werehailed

as

beneficial o

the

Afghan

nation

in

the

promotionof

tradeand

broadening

the

horizons of individual

Afghans,

strengthening

heir

grasp of

complex

political

and

strategic

problems.

1

The reformationof Afghan society,Tarzi concluded,was a necessity o

36.

S.A.,

V,

No.

23-4, pp.

8-10.

37.

Ibid., III,

No.

6,

p.

4

R.H.,

p.

6.

38.

S.A.,

V, No.

17,

p.

7.

39.

Ibid., IV,

No.

21,

p. 6,

and

V,

No.

17,

p.

9;

also

III,

No.

2, p.

7.

40.

Ibid.,

II,

No.

13,

pp.

3-4,

and

III,

No.

2, p.

8;

also

V,

No.

17, p.

8, and

R.H.,

pp.

153-4.

41.

On the

use

of

English

see

S.A.,

IV,

No.

22,

p.

7; on

tourism

see

R.H.,

pp.

45-7,

49.


13/25

356

THE

MIDDLE

EAST

JOURNAL

be realized

only

with

the

reorganization

f

its

institutions

nd

the

introduction

of modern

scienceand technology.He felt

that the burden

of

this

great

task

should be

carried ointly by an enlightened

Muslim religious eadership,

he

Afghan scholarsand the ruling elite. It was for the religiousleaders and

intellectuals o demonstratehe progressive

pirit and precepts

of

Islam and

thus purge the

Islamicsocietyof Afghanistan

of

a superstructure

f

supersti-

tion, customsand

habitswhich

were

inherently

non-Islamic.

2

These

Afghan

leadershad to

becomeactivists

n

this

supremelymportant ause:

Timesof poetry rebygone.t is now the time

of

action nd

effort.

The era

is

thatof

motor,

ail,and electricity.

he times

of camels, xen,

and

donkeys

re

bygone.43

The firstconcrete tep generating ocialchange and reform,accordingo

Tarzi,was the

establishmentf widercultural ontactswith the external

world.

To this end,

Saraj-ol-Akhbarssumed he r6le of a bridge between

Afghan-

istan and the

rest of

the world

and took

upon itself the

task

of

informing

he

Afghans

of

intellectual, cientificand

technological chievements

n

Europe,

and

the natureof

the continent's ocial

and political

institutions.

Numerous

articles

discussed uch new conceptsas the naturaland evolutionary

rogress

of

humanity, atural

auses

of

cyclones,blood

circulation,he microscope, nd

the telescope,meteorology, eologyandcosmography,nternationalaw, politi-

cal

science,

municipal

elf

government,

he

importance

f

joint

stock

companies,

archeology, eography, istoriography,

t

cetera.

Among technological

chieve-

mentsthe

periodical oticed

railways, utomobiles,

he

telephone,

photography

and

airplanes.

Hundreds

f

short

tems

and

poems

on the natureof

literature

and

the

history

of sciencewere

carried,

all

of

them

exalting modernityand

progress,

tressing he immensepower of scientificknowledgeand the

possi-

bilities

t offered o the

Afghans.

The latterwere

exhorted o follow

the exam-

ples of Japan, he OttomanEmpireandPersia,whohadlearned hehardway

tlhat

n

the

contemporary

orld

you

could

not meet the

challenges

of

modern

armies

and the scientific nd

technological

uperiority

f

the

Europeans

with-

out

their

proper

counterparts.

Saraj-ol-Akhbarnunciated he

concept

of

individual

rights.

Tarzi

was

the

first Afghan

to

champion

he

rights

of women in

modern

Afghanistan.

n a

series

of articlesdedicated

o

famous

women n

history

he

explicitlydefended

the

many

abilities

of women.

Although

he

ridiculed he

extremism

nd

eccen-

tricities

f someFrench

eminists,

he

acknowledged

he

feminine

contributions

to scienceand human

progress.

n

Europe,

he

reported,

here

were

women

doctors,

cientists,writers, awyers,

eachers nd

government mployees.While

42. S.A.,

VII, No.

19, p. 9,

and

II, No.

24, p. 3.

43.

Ibid., V, No. 6,

p. 9.

44.

Ibid.,

No. 17, pp.

1-2, and R.H.,

pp.

151-2, 153.


14/25

MAHMUD TARZI

AND SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

357

supporting he

individual

ightsof

women

and their

right

to

education,

Tarzi

agreed

that the primary

duty

of womenstill

lay

in

raising

amilies

and

man-

aging

a

household.

Himself

monogamous,

arzi

attacked

olygamy, lthough

neverexplicitly.He referred onstantlyo thevalueandthe importancef the

typical

deal

family,which had

as a unit

one wife

and a few children.

6

In

Raudat-i-hikame

discussed

he

fact that

monogamy

s

universally racticed

in

Europeand

that

Europeansderide

the Muslim

custom

of marrying our

women.Since the

health,

welfare and

educationof

Afghan

families

were es-

sential n

the

processof

buildingprogressive

Afghanistan,

Tarzi

attacked he

extravagant

xpendituresncurred n

polygamyand/or

custom

whichruined

the

healthand

potentialof

many

economically

eprived amilies.

On the

importance f

education, ublic health

and

other

benefits

of

modernization

Saraj-ol-Akhbarublisheda

greatnumber

of

articleson the

regrettable

b-

sence of

modern

educational

acilities n the

Afghan

fatherland.

To

acquaint

Afghan youth

with the value

of

education, e

publisheda

supplement,

alled

Saraj-ol-AtfalChildren's

Lamp),which

was the

first

Afghan

publication

e-

signed for a

juvenileaudience.

Here,

through

selectedstories,

moralistic nd

didactic ales, charades ndpuzzles,Tarziattempted o informthe youthof

Afghanistan.

n

an

articleon

religion,

for

instance,

he

adjured

he youth to

strengthen

heir faith

by obtaining

knowledge, ince

knowledgealone

would

enable

hem o know

God and

Creation,

o know

the known

and the

unknown.48

In

other

writings

he

praised he

greatness f

true

scholarshipnd

sciencewhich

had

conquered nd

enlightened

he

world,and treated

knowledgeas the

only

sourceof social

wealth

and

individual

ulfillment.9

Tarzi

presented

Afghan

parentswith a plea

to

recognize he

worthand the

rights

of their

children.

The

latter,

he

wrote,

were

not

objects, nstruments

f

labor or

capital

nvest-

ments.

Their

educationwas

more

mportanthan

the

procurement

f

material

gainswhich,

withoutthe

benefitsof

learningand

know-how,were

ephemeral;

education lone

was

a

lasting

nvestment, enefiting

he

individual, he

nation

and

the state. To assure

progress

or

Afghanistan

nd to secure

ts

modern-

45. S.A., I. No.

3,

p. 7

ff;

also

III,

No.

7, pp.

10-1.

A.

A.

Jafarova,

writing on

The

position

of women

in

Afghanistan n

Kratkii Soobscheniia

Instituta

Narodov

Azii

(Moscow) No.

73

(1963) says that Tarzi

advocated he

need for secular

schools for

girls. I

could

find no

such

cate-

goric statement.

The

ambiguity

of Tarzi in this

matter,

think,

was

deliberate,

because

of

the

delicacy

of

the

subject

matter.

46. S.A., I, No. 3, p. 7. Tarzi had some 20 children,ten of whom

still

survive.

See

Dupree,

op.

cit.,

pp. 5, 21.

47. S.A.,

III,

No.

7,

pp. 7-8.

Amir

Habibullah

Khan,

and

later

Amanullah

Khan,

imposed

a

legal

limit to

the

sum of

money

nvolved

n

the

proceedings

f a

marriage

eremony.The

limits were

aligned

with social

status-Royal,

noble,

common.

48.

Saraj-ol-A

4l,

(Kabul),

I,

No.

4, p.

4.

49. S.A., 1, No.

12, pp.

14-5;

also

R.H., p. 5.

50.

Ibid.,

1,

No.

4, pp.

7-8,

and

II,

No.

16

pp.

11-12.


15/25

358

THE

MIDDLE

EAST

JOURNAL

ization, the Afghans needed compulsorypublic

education.

This

had to

be

accomplishedhrough he establishment

f

a

networkof

modern

schools

with

well balanced urricula nd accompanied y the erectionof public

ibraries.

In order to generatepublic interest in scienceand learning,Tarzi made

a

number

of translations rom

European

iteraturento

Persian,

which

were

dominatedby science fiction. Among these

were

Jules

Vernes'

Around

the

World

n

EightyDays, Twenty

Thousand

Leagues

under he

Sea,

The

Hidden

Island, et cetera.He published (1914-15) a personal travelogue

entitled

Travel n Three Continentsn Twenty-NineDays,

written

n

the

1890's.

His

other

works feature

collectionsof

essays

and

pamphlets,

he

most

important

of which

are

What

is to be Done

and Scienceand

Islam,

which is

yet

another

attempt o demonstratehecompatabilityf Islamand modern cience,andto

relatethe past scientificachievements

f

the Islamicworld. Other important

translations

ncluded,

from the

Turkish,

Hasan

Fahmi Pasha's

International

Law,

and

a

five

volume

Historyof the Russo-Japanese

War, publishedby

the

Ottoman

Army's

Chief

of Staff.

The former

constituted, think,

the first

introductionnto Afghanistanof conceptsof

internationalustice and legal

order.

2

There s hardlyanything hat Tarziand Saraj-ol-Akhbar

verlooked n their

efforts o educate

he

Afghan public.

In

the

field

of

publichealth,

for

instance,

Tarzi

and

his

collaborators

ntroduced he

conceptof the germ, and triedto

press home the necessity

of

providing he people with non-pollutedwater.

He

attacked he

widely

held

notion,

so

prevalent

n

easterncountriesat that

time,

and

even

now,

that

water,

no

matter

what

its

origins,

was

pure as long

as

it was

running

and not

still.

To

promote

cleanliness,Tarzi stressedthe

necessity

of

using soap,

and

even

invoked the

injunctions f the Quranon

cleanliness,

without

which,

he

said, prayers

would

be

invalid.

Tarzi also criticized he

meager

and

antiquatedknowledge of the local

hakims(physicians)whoselearning,he contended, adnot gone beyond hat

of

the

ancientGreeksand the Middle

Ages.

To

avert

tragediesand to combat

the

widespreadmisery

of

Afghans caught

n

the

grip

of

disease,he proposed

the

hiring

of doctors

with

modern

raining

nd

the

establishmentf pharmacies

and

publicdispensaries.

Along

with the

establishment

f

modern

educational acilities and the

raising

of healthstandardsn the

country,

Tarzi

gave priority o the improve-

ment of

the

country's

means of

communications

nd

economy.Afghans had

51.

Ibid., IV,

No.

15, pp.

6-7, and

VII, No.

16, p.

6;

also II,

No.

16,

pp. 11-12.

On the

need

for

public

libraries,

ee the

article

of

M.

Fazli,

Ibid.,

1, No.

17,

p. 12.

52.

D.

Wilber

in

Annotated

Bibliography f

Afghanistan

New

Haven,

1956)

p.

81, attributed

also

Siraj-ol-twarikh

Kabul,

1913),

the

two-volume

history

of

Afghanistan, o Tarzi.

This

is

not

correct.

53.

S.A.,

II,

No.

8, p.

13;

No.

2,

p. 3; No.

7,

p.

15.

54.

Ibid.,

II, No.

3, p.

12,

and

I,

No.

3, p.

8.

55.

Ibid., II,

No. 3,

p.

10.


16/25

MAHMUD

TARZI

AND SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

359

to

accept

modern

technology

and

introduce

various

basic

industries.

They

were

urged

to

adopt such innovationsas the

telephone,

the

telegraph,

he

automobile

and

industrial

machinery,

o

establish

post

offices,

and form

joint

stockcompanies.Thesewould all assist n the economicunification f Afghan-

istan.

6

To

speedup

this

process,bolsterthe

country's

efenses

and

improve

conditions or

the

forthcoming

ndustrializationf

the

region,

Tarzi

insisted

on

the

introduction f

the

railway,

omething

which

for

political

reasons

had

always

before been

steadfastly

refused by

the Afghan

rulers.

According

o

him, the

railway

would

have a

tremendous

mpactupon the

Afghan

society,

completely

revolutionizing

Afghannotions of

time and distance: he

Kabul-

Herat

journey

of

35

days, for

instance,would

be reduced o three

days.

The

railway ould allow theAfghansto unearth he mineralwealth of theirrealm

and,

in

cases of famine

or

shortage,

o

transfer

grain

and other

foodstuffs

from one

region of

the

country o

another

without

undue

delay.It would

also

permit

he

peopleto

market heir

chief

export

tem, fresh

fruit,much

more

efficiently.

Above

all, the

railway

would

vastly mprove

he

country's

efenses.

This was

especially o in

view of

the

fact that

Russia

and

BritishIndia

had

extended heir

respective

ailway

systems o the

very

bordersof

Afghanistan.

If

necessary,

hese

countriescould throw

at

once

hundredsof

thousandsof

soldiers

against

Afghanistan,whereas

it

would take

the

Afghans

a whole

month

to send an

armyto

the

northby the

only

available

means,

horse and

camel.

Tarzi

recognized,

however, hat a

railway

n

Afghanistan

might

also have

drawbacks.

Railway

concessions o

Great

Powers,

or

the

scramble

or

them,

would have dire

political

consequences,

s

had

been

the

case

with

China,

the

Ottoman

Empire,Persia

and Morocco.

The

railway

might also

lead to

the division

of

Afghanistan

nto

spheres of

influence

between

Russiaand

Britain,

whereas

he lack of

it

served

now

as a

British

bulwark

against

Russia.

The Afghans faced a dilemmaon this question,for the potentialpolitical

drawbacks

nd threats

o

national

sovereigntywere

quite

as

powerful as the

possiblebenefits.

Tarzi

found

a

plausible

solution

to the

dilemma n

inter-

national

aw,

whereby

all the

interested

arties

would

pledge not

to inter-

vene in

the

internal

affairs of

Afghanistan.

Only

on this

basis

could the

Afghan

government

llow

the

construction

f

badly

needed

railways.7

He

was

not,

however,

so

naive as

to

acceptforeign

pledgesof

non-intervention

and

the

spirit

of

internationalaw

by

themselves

as

adequate

afeguardsof

the integrityandsovereignty f Afghanistan.Tarziwarnedthatthe Afghans,

valuing

freedom

more

than

material

well

being, could

destroythe

railways

if their

country

were

subjectedo

foreign

interventionism.

e even

published

56.

R.H.,

p.

151,

also

S.A.,

I,

No.

5, p.

5;

No.

7,

pp.

1-2;

No. 11,

p. 10;

No.

20, p. 2.

57.

ibid.,

No.

24,

pp. 10,

11-2.


17/25

360

THE

MIDDLE

EAST

JOURNAL

a manual, or the benefitof the Afghan military,on the subjectof effective

destruction f railways, n order to prepare

hem for such an eventuality.

B

The deep seatedfear of capitulations ndforeign interventionorcedTarzi

and some of his associates o advanceunrealistic lans for the modernization

of

Afghanistan, ncluding

he

introduction

f railways,withoutsorelyneeded

foreign capital. However, they had no immediateconcrete,realistic

and

convincing

olutionto the main dilemmaof the

Afghan

rulers:

how

to har-

monize

the needs

of

modernization

nd

the

causes

of the

Afghan monarchy

and independence

is

a

vis

internal

and

external

hreats.Only

in nationalism

did

Tarzi

discerna

mighty

force

capable

of

sustainingboth

the

integrity

and

sovereignty f Afghanistan, nd securing ts

unhinderedmodernization.

Afghannationalism: lly of modernism

Tarzi

found

the raison

d'&re

of

Afghanistan

n

the teachings

of Islam and

made an ingenious attempt to link its aspirations

with the causesof

Pan-

Islamism,Pan-Asiatic olidarityand modernism.

According o him, the ethos

and

the

concept

of an

Afghan

fatherland

and nationhood

emanated

rom

Islam. To substantiatehis contention

Tarzi

quoted

a

saying

of

the

Prophet

Muhammad:

Hubb

al-watan

min al-iman Patriotism

derives

from

faith).

Sincethe Afghanshad accepted slamby the graceand will of God, it fol-

lowed

that Afghanistan

was

a

God

given country,

and love

for the

Afghan

fatherlandwas divinelyordained.The fatherland

was the cradle of religion,

the

foundationof

freedom,honor,nationalityand

individual

dentity.

Tarzi

proceeded o

demonstratehe

compatibility

f the ideas of Afghan nationhood

and

the

Quranic oncept

of

one

single

Islamiccommunity umma). He

wrote

that

all

Muslims

were

membersof that community, ut that within it there

were a

number

of

political entities,

which constituted atherlands or given

communities iving therein,who formed nations. Being Muslim political

entities,

the love

citizenshad for

their

particular

atherlandswas, ipso facto,

sanctioned

by

Islam

and

by

God.

To

love one's

country

was

to love one's

religion

and vice versa.

0

By making

Islam the foundation or

the state

of

Afghanistanand Afghan

nationality,

Tarzi

developed

a

religio-political

ormula

that transcended he

58.

Ibid., V,

No.

7, p.

8.

59.

Thus,

Ali

Akbar,

a

collaborator f

Saraj-ol-Akhbar,roposed

in

1916,

the

adoption of a

policy wherebythe

Afghans

could modernizetheir

country by

a

system

of

individualmandatory

savingsthroughoutAfghanistan.By placingthe numberof Afghansat 20 million, Ali Akbaresti-

mated an annual

revenue of 20 million

krans

which,

he

argued,

would

permit them to

pursue

a

policy of autochthonousmodernization.

Tarzi

himself

advocated

a

more

ingenious,although equally

unrealistic,plan.

Every year, according

o

him,

millions

of

rupees

worth of

animals

were

sacrificed

to

religious

purposes.

f the skins of

the

animals

alone

were

contributed

o

the

cause of

Afghan edu-

cation,

they

would

net

an

annual

revenueof

a

million

or

so

rupees.

This would benefit

the Afghan

nation,help its

progress,

and at the

same time widen

the

scope and

meaning of religious

saaifices.

60.

S.A., 1,

No.

7, pp.

6-7.

On

this

theme see also

Ibid., IV,

No.

17, pp.

3-4;

III, No.

16,

pp. 14-5.

For

poems

on Fatherland

watan), see

IV, No. 10, p.

7; VI. No.

24, pp. 1-3.


18/25

MAHMUD TARZI

AND

SARAJ-OL-AKHBAR

361

existingethnic, inguisticand religiousdivisionsof the country.

He

attempted

also to link the legitimacy f the Afghan

monarchy nd

its

centralizing

ctivi-

ties with the preceptsof Islam. Religion, the nation, the fatherland

and

the

governmentwere four inseparable nd sacredconcepts.

1

If the fatherland

were to be compared o a being, the nationwould

form its

bones

and

flesh,

the King its soul.

62

Therefore,

Tarzi

concluded,

it was

the

religious duty

of

every devout MuslimAfghan to love and servenot only his

fatherland

and

nation,but also his government nd monarch,or

a Fatherlandwatan)

with-

out a

nation

(millat),

a

nationwithout

a

fatherland,

oth

without

government,

andgovernmentwithouta King,wouldresemble

norganic ubstance

r a

car

without

an

engine.'

63

The next logical step for Tarzi and Saraj-ol-Akhbaras to identify the

love of

the

fatherland

with the causeof modernism.

The

arguments

dvanced

were as follows: patriotismwas explicitly

sanctionedand

exalted

by Islam

as

a

religiousduty.Almostby

definitiont

requiredommitments

o the

defense

of

the fatherland.

Or, progress

and civilization

being indispensable

o the

defense

and

strength

of

Afghanistan, hey

were

compatible

with Islam.

Only

through

modernization

ould the

AfghanKingdomreorganize

ts

army,bolster

its

defenses

and thus protect

ts

independence,

onorand the

position

of Islam

against

he

insatiable ppetite,designs

and

encroachmentsf the Europeans.

4

True

patriotism,however,went beyond

the

mere

physical

defense

of

one's

homeland

and extended

to

its

reformationand modernization. t was

de-

monstrably

he

duty

of each faithful

patriot

to

promote earning

and to

con-

tribute to the development

of

educationalnstitutionsand the progressof

Afghanistan.

5

Divinely

ordained

principles

of law

and other

precepts of

Islam,

as

well

as the causes of

freedom

and

progress,necessitatednational

unity.

Thereforethose who

opposed progress

and

contributed

o

disunity

providedweapons

o the enemies

of Islam

and

the

Afghan fatherland. t was

the supreme ask of all Afghansto support hose policiesof the monarchy

that

aimed towardsocioeconomic nification f

Afghanistan hrough

central-

ization

and

to

secure

ts

progress hrough

modernization.

6

The

development

of

Afghan historiography

as

regarded

as

essential to

the

growth

of

Afghan

nationalism. cholarswere

urged

to

develophistorical

rationalism,

o establish

ausal

relationships,

nd

through

a

comparativetudy

to

discover

and

reveal the sourcesof the

strength

and

weaknesses

f

civiliza-

tions.

This would

enable

the

Afghans

to

understand

hose

factors

hat

under-

61.

Ibid.,

IV,

No.

10, pp.

4-5;

No.

21, p. 6,

and

I, No. 18, p.

1; No. 8, p. 4.

62.

Ibid.,

No.

7, pp. 6-7;

IV,

No.

20, p.

6. In

anotherarticle,

Tarzi compared he

ruler to a

tree

and the nation to its roots.

See

I,

No.

10, p. 7.

63. Ibid., IV,

No.

20, p.

6.

64.

R.H.,

p. 151.

65.

S.A., II,

No.

7, p. 14;

No.

8, p. 12;

also

V,

No.

17, pp. 1-2,

and R.H., p. 145.

66.

S.A., III,

No.

16, p. 13;

No.

22, p.

1;

also

II,

No.

8, p. 12; No. 21, p.

2.


19/25

362

THE

MIDDLE

EAST

JOURNAL

mine or assist a country's ndependence nd

prosperity, nd

thus

help

them

to securethe future

development f their

own.

7

The

study

of

Afghan

and

general history had to be accompanied, ccording

o Tarzi, by

a

concerted

effortto raisethe statusof Pashto, theAfghanlanguage. SincePashtowas

the manifestation

f

national

genius

and

the ancestor

of all

languages

ts

studywas essential.

As the national anguage,

maintained

Tarzi,

Pashto

must

be

taught

to

and learned

by

all the

ethnically

non-Afghangroups. Islam,

Afghan history

and

Pashto

he

felt to be those

matrices rom

which the ethnic

mosaic hat

constituted

Afghanistan

ould

grow

and

progress

s one.

Afghan

Pan-Islamism

As proponentsof Pan-Islamism nd foes of European mperialism, he

reformers ttempted o

utilize

the programand the

impact

of Pan-Islamism

to

advance he

causesof

Afghan

nationalism nd

modernism.

n

1911-1912,

Tarzi advocated

he

use of

Turkish

officers,

echnicians nd medical

experts

in Afghanistan.

Their

employment

would

serve as an

example

of intra-Mus-

lim

cooperation

and

solidarity.

As

coreligionists,

heir

presence

would not

cause

internalfriction

and would

both

facilitateand accelerate he reforma-

tion

of

theAfghan

armiesand

other

modernist chemes.

Echoingthe views of Jamal al-din al-AfghTni,Tarzi and Saraj-ol-Akhbar

attacked he

position

of

those

European

authorswho saw

in

European

m-

perialisma progressive

historicalforce. Europeancolonial rule, Tarzi con-

tended,pursued

both

political

and

religiouspolicies

propagating

materialism

with the ultimateaim of

undermininghe vitalityof Islam.

With this intent,

they supported

he

activities of

Christian

missionaries, apitalizedon and

sustained

he divided

state of the Muslim

world and

devised

such

colonial

educational

programs

hat

would

stifle the

revival

of

Dar-al-Islhm.

0

The

onslaughtof Europeanmperialism ould be checked,Tarzi believed,by ad-

hering

o the Pan-Islamic

redoof

al-Afghani

and

promoting olidarity mong

all

the Muslims. n this

process,

he Ottoman

Empire,

ran

and

Afghanistan,

the three

remainingndependent

Muslim

politicalentities, had an important

historical

role

to

play. They

were

to

establish

close

polit

Tarzi Akbar...Ideology of Modernization Iin Afghanistan

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