The Saqqawists ( Saqāwīhā) were an armed group in Afghanistan who were active from 1924 to 1931. They were led by Habibullāh Kalakāni, and in January 1929, they managed to take control of Kabul, the capital of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, re-establishing the Emirate of Afghanistan. Following military reversals in the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929), they were forced out of the capital in October 1929. Saqqawist activity ended in 1931.
Name
The name derives from Kalakani's nickname,
Bacha-e Saqaw (; literally
son of the water carrier). Due to the existence of multiple Persian romanization schemes, authors have rendered the name of this group in multiple ways, with alternative renderings including "Saqaoists"
and "Saqawi".
The period in which Kalakani ruled Kabul, 17 January to 13 October 1929, is known as the "Saqqawist period".
History
Habibullāh Kalakāni began resistance against the government of
Amanullah Khan in 1924, after he deserted from the Royal Afghan Army, which at the time was fighting against the Khost rebellion.
Kalakani began a life of banditry, since he considered the occupations common among the Kuhdamanis, like viticulture and selling firewood, to be beneath him, reasoning that these could hardly ever provide wheat bread for his table. Instead, he began to rob caravans and nearby villages. He was joined by
Sayyid Husayn and Malik Muhsin, as well as others, totaling 24 in all. For three years, they lived in mountain caves, venturing out during the day to rob and hiding out at night, all the time fearful of government retaliation. Sometime later, Kalakani fled to Peshawar where he was a tea seller and a petty thief.
In November 1928, while a Shinwari revolt was occurring in Jalalabad, the Saqqawists besieged Jabal al-Siraj, beginning the Afghan Civil War. On 17 January, they took Kabul, beginning what is known as the "Saqqawist period".
Membership and support
The Saqqawists saw widespread support among Afghanistan's Tajik population.
The Saqqawist attack on Kabul in January 1929 was supported by the religious establishment as a way to reverse Amanullah's reforms. However, Habibullāh Kalakāni "did not have the caliber to serve as the head of the state" and lost conservative support once in power.
On 14 April 1929, Fayz Muhammad estimated the Saqqawists to number 20,000.
Ideology
Kalakani declared himself to be a "defender of Islam",
denouncing opponents as
Kafir.
The Saqqawists also had some support amongst Islamists.
International relations
Despite taking control of Kabul, the Saqqawist government of Afghanistan was unable to obtain any diplomatic recognition.
Nonetheless, the Saqqawists allied themselves with the Basmachi movement, allowing them to operate in Northern Afghanistan, and revoking the "Pact of Neutrality and Non-Aggression" that Afghanistan had signed with the
Soviet Union following the end of the Urtatagai conflict, which obligated Afghanistan to restrain Basmachi border raids.
Human rights abuses
During the Afghan Civil War, there were incidents of rape
and looting
among Saqqawist troops. One such incident took place on 28 June 1929, when Saqqawists attacked the
Hazaras settlement of Qalah-i Karim, looted anything movable and drove off livestock.
Another incident, which took place on 23 July 1929, was described by the contemporary Afghan historian
Fayz Muhammad as follows:
Historiography
A significant amount of the information regarding Habibullah Kalakani and the Saqqawists is derived from the works of Afghan historian Faiz Muhammad Kateb, whose reliability as a source has been subject to inquiry. His portrayal of the Afghan Civil War has been subject to various criticisms, as Kateb was closely associated with the
Musahiban royal family in many facets. This association extends to rulers such as Abdur Rahman Khan,
Habibullah Khan, and
Amanullah Khan.
Given these close ties with the monarchy, his portrayal of events has been viewed by some as potentially biased in favor of the royal family and their campaigns.
Kateb was known for favoring royal figures as being one of their head writers had led him to coddle and paint reputable images of certain figures. For instance, Nasrullah Khan is recorded to have sent specific letters to Kateb with directions to publish and circulate favorable accounts of his activities in England, in order to enhance his reputation and honor.
Another concern revolves around the treatment of Kateb’s writings by the royal family. Kateb’s historical works were subject to tampering and censorship by royal officials, and even the monarch himself. One instance is that, while compiling Tohfat ul-Habib (Habib's Gift), a history of Afghanistan under Habibullah Khan, the king rejected the original manuscript and ordered Kateb to rewrite it.[Kitab-e Tadakkor-e Enqilab, Translation: Shkirando as "Kniga Upominanii o Myatezhe" Moscow, 1988 p. 17] Similarly, Amanullah Khan, upon evaluating Kateb's subsequent works, ordered that all existing copies be burned.[V. A. Romodin, “Sources of the Siraj al-Tawarikh,” in Pis’mennye pamyatniki i problemy istorii kul’tury narodov Vostoka, May 1969, p. 114 (Abstracts of papers presented at the Fifth Annual Session of the Literary Division of the Institute of Orientalistics, Academy of Sciences)]
