Amanullah Khan was the 3rd son of Emir (king) Habibullah Khan. He was born in Paghman, Afghanistan.
On his father's assassination in 1919 he seized the throne, and imprisoned all relatives who might have claimed the throne. At that time, the British had control of Afghanistan and king Amanullah attacked them on May 3rd 1919 starting the third Anglo-Afghan War. After initial success the war ground to a stalemate and the British offered an Armistice in 1921 and Afghanistan became an independent country.
Amanullah was a popular ruler and set about modernising his country. He opened secular schools for both boys and girls; he abolished the strict dress code for women; allowed freedom of the press and a constitution that allowed equal rights.
However, there was a backlash against this modernisation and whilst he was out of the country in November 1928 an uprising started in Jalalabad and the rebels marched on the capital. The army did not want to fight and the king abdicated in 1929 and went into exile. First to India and then later to Italy. Finally ending up in Switzerland where he died in Zurich in 1960.
He was married to Soraya Shahzada Tarzi Khanum and was bisexual.
