AFGHANISTAN-Revolution from Above and Intervention from Outside

Revolution from Above and Intervention from Outside Kannan Srinivasan THE history ol the Afghan state is the history of failed attempts at economic rationalisation and administrative control The attempt at an etatist transformation of Afghanistan, seen most recently with Daoud Khan and Hafi- zullah Amin, began with King Amanullah. Inspired by the Attaturk, he undertook massive change in his own country immediately after the First World War: large civil works, the beginning of a railway, an airline and a telephone system. Attempting the eradication of conservative Muslim social customs he insisted on the removal of the veil and on compulsory co-educational schooling. Amanullah's government was perceived as a threat by the British because of his frequent needling of their government in India and his provocative exploitation of his connections with Turkey, France, Germany and the USSR. There was resentment among the tribal leadership