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Amanul Mulk

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Amanul Mulk
Afghan Minister of Defence
(Eastern Province only)
In office
c. 1944c. 1946
MonarchSalemai
Prime MinisterAmanat Lewana
Personal details
Diedc. 2011
Peshawar, Pakistan
TribeSafi
Military service
Battles/warsAfghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947

Amanul Mulk (died c. 2011) was an Afghan politician who served as the Minister of Defence under Salemai, who ruled only in the Eastern Province.

Background

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In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi tribe rose up against the government of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. According to British records, the uprising was caused by the Afghan government's attempts to institute conscription among the Safi, trading monopolies granted to Afghan merchant companies, and government surveillance.[1] However, Whit Mason attributes the Safi uprising to "extremely brutal taxation, oppression and poverty".[2]

Minister of Defence

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Religious scholars among the Safi ruled that anyone who rebelled against their King and died should be excluded from being counted as martyrs.[2] Therefore, they were required to select one of their own as king.[2] In either 1944 or 1945, the Safi selected Salemai as king, Amanat Lewana as prime minister and Amanul Mulk as minister of defence.[3] The Safi were ultimately defeated by the Afghan government.

Later life and death

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In 1947, Mulk had a reunion in Shulgara with Shahswar and Salemai.[2] Mulk eventually left Afghanistan, and lived in Peshawar by the 1980s.[2]

In 1983, he met with historian David B. Edwards, who described him as being an "old man" by this time. Edwards interviewed Mulk on the Safi role in the tribal revolts of 1944–1947.[3]

In The Rule of Law in Afghanistan: Missing in Inaction, released in April 2011, it is stated that Amanul Mulk "died recently in Peshawar", that he continued wearing a military jacket until his last days, and that his offspring still live in Shulgara.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Olesen, Asta (1995). Islam and Politics in Afghanistan. Psychology Press. pp. 196, 198. ISBN 978-0-7007-0299-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Mason, Whit (2011-04-14). The Rule of Law in Afghanistan: Missing in Inaction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 85, 86. ISBN 978-1-139-49552-3.
  3. ^ a b Edwards, David B. (2017-05-09). Caravan of Martyrs: Sacrifice and Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan. Univ of California Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-520-29479-0.