Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan JihadIn this powerful book, David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history--Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad--to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Before Taliban builds on the foundation that Edwards laid in his previous book, Heroes of the Age, in which he examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth century--a tribal khan, a Muslim saint, and a prince who became king of the newly created state. In the mid twentieth century, Afghans believed their nation could be a model of economic and social development that would inspire the world. Instead, political conflict, foreign invasion, and civil war have left the country impoverished and politically dysfunctional. Each of the men Edwards profiles were engaged in the political struggles of the country's recent history. They hoped to see Afghanistan become a more just and democratic nation. But their visions for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and were killed or exiled. Now, Afghanistan is associated with international terrorism, drug trafficking, and repression. Before Taliban tells these men's stories and provides a thorough analysis of why their dreams for a progressive nation lie in ruins while the Taliban has succeeded. In Edwards's able hands, this culturally informed biography provides a mesmerizing and revealing look into the social and cultural contexts of political change. |
Contents
Into Forbidden Afghanistan | 1 |
Amir Amanullah with courtiers | 6 |
Costume ball | 9 |
Lives of the Party | 25 |
The Armature of Khalqi Power | 57 |
Amir Habibullah darbar | 59 |
Amir Amanullah meeting with tribal leaders | 60 |
Meeting of parliamentary deputies | 61 |
Coda The Death of a Safi Daughter | 167 |
Muslim Youth | 177 |
Qazi Amin | 222 |
Qazi Amin speaking at the dedication of a new high school | 223 |
Fault Lines in the Afghan Jihad | 225 |
Qazi Amin with Engineer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar | 236 |
Qazi Amin with Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani | 237 |
Coda The Death of Majrooh | 279 |
President Muhammad Daud | 62 |
President Nur Muhammad Taraki | 73 |
Coda The Death of a President | 87 |
A Son of Safi | 95 |
Anatomy of a Tribal Uprising | 132 |
Samiullah Safi Pech Valley 1985 | 137 |
Samiullah Safi Dewagal Valley 1989 | 138 |
Safilashkar | 153 |
Professor Bahauddin Majrooh with Samiullah Safi | 281 |
Notes | 309 |
Eastern Afghanistan 101 | 332 |
Glossary | 333 |
| 347 | |
| 351 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdur Rahman Afghan Afghanistan Ahmad Amanullah Amin’s amir areas arrested Bacha-i became Chagha Serai clerics coup d’état culture Daud Daud’s deputies disciples elders ernment Faizani father Gailani government’s Habib-ur Rahman Habibullah Hafizullah Amin Harakat Hazrat Hekmatyar Herat Hizb Hizb-i Islami honor Hussain Interview involved Jamiat jihad jirga Kabul University Karmal Khales Khalqi Khan killed king Kunar land leadership leftist madrasa Majrooh Marxist Maulavi Mazar-i Sharif ment military mosque movement Mujaddidi mujahidin Mulla of Hadda Muslim Youth Organization Nabi Niazi Ningalam Nur Muhammad Taraki Nuristanis officers Pakhtun Pakistan Paktia Parchamis PDPA Pech Valley people’s Peshawar political parties position prison Province Qazi Amin Qur’an Rabbani refugees regime religious leaders resistance role ruler Safi Sahib Samiullah Safi Saur Revolution Sayyaf Sayyid schools Sibghatullah Soviet story Sufi Sultan Muhammad Taliban Taraki tion told took traditional tribal tribe ulama uprising village Wakil Zahir Shah