:--·--- .... / . -c";'..-~~ ·...... ·.· ~=7~;>0'. ') (<.- ~ ''/ r.- ~;. ~-~ ., ______·' Behind the in Afghanistan ...' by Nancy Hatch Dupree ·:. ,,·""'

Every weekday morning in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, score!> of women on their way to work stream out of the old city. the middle-class hou~ing developments, and the mud-walled villages on the outskitJS. Teachers, university professors, en­ gineers. doctors, nurses, policewomen, factory workers, saleswomen. social workers, actresses, and a number of other working women, they are dres!oed in the latest . This year it is pants and ; a few years ago mini- and knee-high were in. Yet foreign observers report that one can wander for hours in the streets of Kabul without seeing the face of a single woman. They are fascinated by the clwdri, a pleated garment of pastel hues that envelops a woman from head to toe. except for a square of open-work em­ broidery over the eyes to provide limited vision. Citing the chadri as a symbol, these foreigners describe Afghan women as among the least liberated on earth. This conclusion is an interesting example of cullural bias. What is present and ignqred is a noteworthy sign of Iibera· tion. What is present and observed is misinterpreted. The chadri is a gannent traditionally worn in urban areas by women from orthodox Muslim families-families that have held conservative attitudes regard­ ing the role of women in society. There was a time when women from such homes

TlwuRh common in Kabul. tht traditional chadri iJ not worn b)' all Afghan womt'n.

l Nancy Hatch Dupru, a long-timt rtsi- dt'nt of A/Rhanistan, wriltS/ffqutntly on ill ltistory and fo!Hort' .

10 . ASIA .hlly/Auaust 1971 would never venture beyond their doon. In hi!~ autobiography he nplain5 his rea­ ~ll.ccpt for ~casional 10eial function!>, IOnS for introducing new codes; and then only in the company of a male I" form~r limrs all th~ P'Of'lr of Af­ ea.con. Even tht daily shopping was done lhollistan from th~ Ki"g dn ..·nwards by men or young children. . , . 11srd to w~ar tr~mrndously bi" In recent yean., however. the chadri trouur.f, and slr~,·~s yards M•iclr, so hal> become increa!lingly visible in all that for onr pair of trousrrs fiftun pan!> of Kabul. One often see!> chadri­ yardJ of -...·hitr calico •wur rrquir~d. clad women. alone or in small ~roups. This M'a.f a srral piru of txtrui'U­ shopping freely in the crowded bazaar~ or ganc·l'; it waJ also vrry· hidMU.\ . , . on their way to visit friends. Some are this stupid madr thr peoplr urban women, enjoying a new, if Mill lazy and unublr to mo,·t without drag­ limited. freedom. Other~ are rural wom­ ging along yard.f and yards of stuff en, who ordinarily do not wear the chadri hangi"g behind thtm. To put a" rnd to 6!1 ~80 in their villages, but adopt it when they this I ~nrployrJ Indian tailors ... I come"' the city as a marl~; of sophi!>tica­ placrd hundrrds of tailors undrr th~ir Afghan t~1mis parry (1911 Jfollot~·t'd thr tion. Until just a few years ago, Afghan instruction . . . I gav~ ordus that all sport's imroduction at court b,\' th~ Amir. village women would have remained be­ prop/r who apprar~d at thrir dutirs hind w!len the men went to the cit)'. bur .... ·raring thru ugly trouurs shouldfor­ dress of their British colonial rulers. 10 now, permitted to trave) for the first time, frit six momhs pay. Afghan~ desiring prestige and position at they too are experiencing the wider hori­ The Amir was chary of allowin{! alien coun copied th~ir ruler·, 5tandards. of zons offered by going about chadri-clad influences to penetrate the country, and fashion. in the city streets. forei{!ners entered· onl) JJpon his express For the women of his harem. on lhe Clothes do not make the inan--or invitation One so privileged was a Mr, other hand. th« Amir prescribed tht qual­ woman-in Afghanistan. but historically Walter. a British tailor. who came to ity of their but not lhe style. The they have been regarded I!> a barometer of instruct his budding counterparts in Af­ women were allowed the voluminous the wearer's attitude!> toward modernity. ghanistan. Mr. Walter also wrote a tailor­ that were denied men; lhey wore Over the last hundred year!>, in fact, ing manual. complete "·ith cutting pat­ their hair braided. with sheer white Afghan king~ have equated Western dress terns, which WI!> translated and published as their only headdren. But with progressiveness and deliberately fostered its adoption, belittling those who refused to wear it. issuing decree~ that it bt worn. and even levying fine!' to bull)· both IT'en and women into accepting Western style). Nineteenth century expansionist ambi­ tions of the Russians in central Asia and the British in India twice brought British annies onto Afghan soil, in I 839-42 and 1878-80. Neither incursion resulted in political ties or lasting cultural influenc­ es. but at the end of the second incur) ion. Arilir Abdur Rahman (1880- I 90)) came to the throne of Kabul determined to ufel,!uard the integrity of Afghanistan by stringently regulating the introduction of external influences. in Kabul in 1892-93. The trends for uoclrr.~ of tlu· W~Sit'rll-illflutllC"rJ rlitr. At the same time. he was equal!) men's fashions were thereby unalterably Cmll'll Pl'illec' Atllllflltllllll (c·rlltt'r) a11.! committed to creating an outward­ set. although the Amir did allow some Sur,lar Enayatullah frill hi) post' M'ith looking. progressive attitude among his oriental fancifulness. could bt cut c·mm lmlit>s M'rarin~: s~1c•.f of /fJ/0. people Ml that the nation mil,!ht develop from colorful velvets and elaborately em­ and Jain the respcC't of its contentious broidered in gold, but trousers were neighbors-a necessary condition for 5trictly EnJiish. as were the ~ made Thr nit/ photc,graph5 illustratt'd in this keeping Af~hanistan independent. in a factory established in 1892 by a Mr. artidr wc·rt' srlt'ctrclfmm tht' Khulilullah After eleven years of political exile in Thornton. another Englishman. Embroi­ E11a.mt St'mj C11tluticm of Antiqut' central Asia and a shon visit to B~tish dered s.lirrers ,.·ith turned-up h~s be­ Plmtol(mphs, most ctf "'hich M'rrr talrn-f India in 1885. the Amir wa!> convinred came definite!) unfashionable at ("oun. hy A'hlllilul/c1h. the· riJI'st •em "f S11rd11r lhat Western drcs" for men wnuiJ pw­ Af~hanistan "·as never cdlnnized. but Elltl.nllullt~ll. ftlote the progreS!>ivc outloCll. he dc!'>ired. just a~ Indian cj,·jJ strvanb adnpted th~

II Jradually they, too, be1an to experi~nt had spent most of the interveninJ yean in .-ith Weilem styles. Syria. He had traveled .-idely, read ex· ~ · Amir Abdur Rahman had a habit of knt;ively in European literature, and par­ ~ .... deponing hii political opponents and ticipated in the intellectual excitement of '~ their families to British India. Turkey, the Young Turk movement that eventu-7 ·.~·''.. and the Middle East. This too had a ally shaped modem Turkey. After return· dramatic effect on the WeJ~oterniz.ation of in~ to Afghanistan, Mahmud Tarzi came Afghan culture. to be an adviser to kings and an ardent Two brotherl'o, Sardan Mohammad spokesman for reform. f Asef and Mohammad Yusuf, who had In Srraj ui-Al.hbar, the newspaper he been exiled to India in 18HO when they founded in 1911 and edited until the end were in their twenties. were recalled of 1918, he called upon Muslims around 1900 with their numerous throughout the world to develop progres· Indian-born, thoroughly Westernized, sive attitudes so that they might bener 1(£$ 111/Jt/~ The childrtn ofSardar Enayatullah tnjoy Wrstrrn toys, as M'tll as dothrs ( /918).

Amir Habibullah was a prolific builder of palaces in the colonial style of British India. The interiors were sumptuously finished with imported wallpaper on which framed prints and all manner of bric-a-brac were ~eauered in cluttered profusion. Wood panelling, wainscoting, and ornately carved woodwork abounded. Immense crystal chandelien, carried to Kabul on the bacb of elephants, hung from delicately embos­ sed metal ceilings above massive carved furniture laden with objets d'an. In matters of dreu, Amir HabibuJiah 's tastes were similarly Victorian or even Edwardian. His regulation court toStume for men consisted of a black cloth , Amir Hahibu!lah in Engloh hunlin~ resist the dangers of encroaching co­ veil, trousers, white , and , clothe.\ displays a bag of wild goat. lonialism. He chastised his tradition­ all English--cut to a prescribed pattern. bound countrymen for their unwilling­ Mahmud Tarzi was partial to bow lies and teen-age children. Twenty years of exile ness to countenance new ideas, and be white buckskin . The Amir himself had impressed them with the trappings called upon women to take an active part aenerally ~ferrcd the tweeds and sports and grandeur of the imperial life-style, in development processes-an idea clothes typical of an English country and they had little understanding of the highly disturbing to conservative ele­ aentleman, for he was passionately de­ way~o of life in their homeland. ments inside Afghanistan. Voted to the hunt, as well as to aolf and After their return to Afghanistan. hov.·. Although Srraj ui-Akhbar was read far tennis, which were introduced durin& his ever. this family gained high favor with beyond the borders of Afghanistan (even reian. the Prince. Habibullah. When as far a!' Australia!), outsiders ofthis time It was women, however, who were Habibullah succeeded to the throne in described the country as a ''hermit na­ making the most astounding chanaes. In 1901 following the death of Amir Abdur tion," a ''forbidden land," and a place countries under Christian colonial admin­ Rahman, the brothers were honored with ''both mysterious and seductive." istration, women proudly kept to their the title of Musahiban (Cpmpanions), Entrance for foreigners still depended national dress as a visible measure of :md their influence became even more on the pleasure of one man. the Amir, and cultural independence. But in Afghanis• powerful. The new Amir v.·a!; fascinated not manl were invited. Had they been tan, which was never colonized. Western with imported luxuries and gadgetry. and given the opportunit)· to glance inside the clothin~ continued to be regarded as a the Musahiban encouragl·d thi~ taJ~ote. hornf's of Kahul"s ruling elite, however, mart of distinction indicative of broader. Other exiles soon Oocil.ed to Kabul they would have been amazed at the rapid more worldly attitudes. after Amir Habibullah declared a 'eneral ch110~e!\ laking place. Thty would, no It is not surprising. therefore, that the amnesty in 1903. One of them. Mahmud douht. have felt disturbingly at home: in new trends were set larJcly by Mahmud Be~ Tarzi. had been 17 years old when he this land they considered so insulated Tarzi 'i daughters, two of whom •ere followed his father into exile in 188 I and from foreign influence. married to sons of Amir Habibullah. ltant tnodcmization. There was nochin& measured about hi!> approach, and his headlong dash disturbed even hb most reform-minded adviser, M»hmud Tarzi. To emphasize the new directioft, the Amir determined to build a new capital some six miles south of Kabul, lftd he invited engineers and architects from Germany, France, Italy, and Turkey 10 participate in the project. In addition, the little hill town of Paghman, II miles above Kabul, was rapidly transformed into a Continental-style resort, replete with public gardens studded wilh statu· k;-$ JAI ~J.,: If~ Their prominent pos1t10n at court and V~i/rd only by dusurs, thr futur~ Quun their enthusiasm for European fashions Soraya and Huriyu Tarz.i go driving. influenced the entire court-oriented c lite. including the Amir's large harem. , came even more significant changes of In 1909 Sardar Enayatullah, eldest son outlook. Sardar Enayatullah. for in­ of the Amir, who was well-known for hi~ stance, refused to take a second wife in sartorial elegance, married Khayriya spite of the fact that his father, the Amir, Tarzi. Following her lead, youn~ Jad1es who had four lawfully-wedded wives and began to wear with nipped-in untold consort!>. repeatedly urged him to waists, tucked yokes, frilled stand-up do so. Women from elite families also collars, and lcg·of-mutton sleeve~. ~ began to feel that women should be ac­ perched high on pompadour!> were piled corded an equal and mcanin1ful position with plumes, flowc~. and ribbons. in society and be given an education that With the adoption of Western drc!'s would prepare them to go\lcrn their own affairs. The progressive tastes and allitudcs affecting these ruling elites were natu­ rally imparted to their offspring From the time they were born, children were dres!>Cd exclusively in Western . Their playthings were imported or made in Kahul on Wc!>tern models. Secular education was considered imperative: Boys were sent to the first secular school, founded by the Amir in 1904, and girls were tutored at home. Just one generation after Amir Abdur Rahman initialed his programs of mea­ sured reform. the urban, court-oriented elite was so strongly Westernized that the new Jcncration came to look upon tra­ Thi!> IY17 .fluppa is R":iya. sistrr of ditional dress and conservative attitudes Amir Ammmlluh. afl(·r her mc~rriagr. with scorn. When Amir Habibullah ·s third son. cues and fountains. played as the Amanullah, succeeded to the throne in elite tathcred for afternoon tea at lhe 1919 following his father's assassination cafe, or promenaded alon~ walks lined by political opponents, the pace of with flower btds. Amir Amanullah was change 1rcw c\·en more rapid. Amir clearly attracted b) Europe. rather than Amanullah immediately bombarded the b)' British India. and in 1923 he changed nation with social. economic. and politi­ hi" title to King in order to identify cal reform .. designed to brin~ about in- himself more clo!>od) with his European collcagu.:... :4 mn••l•n •!I '''' prr•grc.\.\il't' Tar:i jillli­ Amanullah's wife. Queen Soraya. ill, J/1,-i\cl. 1\1'<11 1 c 1'("1/ill,l: ,/rl".\.1 ( /IJ/5) dau~htl·r of Mahmult Tar1i and )Oun~cr - .

Tht Jovemment brought in by the civil Daoud (a nephew of King Nadir) an­ within the uniquene!>s of Afrhan 4;ulture. war held K~bul for barely nine months nounced its suppon of the voluntary They ask for a redefinition of what consti­ before the city was wrested from it b)' five shedding of the chadri, score~ of women tutes honorable behavior on the modern IOnS of Sardar Mohammad Yusuf. the emerged fully prepared to take up an r.cene. youn~er Musahiban brother during Amir active place in society. The trend con_.i Many have succeeded in their ~n Habibullah '1 reign. One of the Sardar 's linued when the kingdom became a re­ career~ becau!i.C they have tem~recflhelr wn~ became King Mohammad Nadir. public and Mohammad Daoud it" pre!>i· nev. freedom!> with the basic ideals of The rule of King Nadir (1929-33) was dent in J973. Since Daoud's recent as­ their culture, demonstrating that profes· far more conservative than that of Kin~ ~asination, there is no evidence that the sionalism, even in politics, can be en­ Amanullah, but the overall direction of new government of Nur Mohammad hanced by a dignified modesty. policy remained the same. The Musahi­ Tataki plans to reverse the trend. Following their example, an increasin1 ban brothers. after all, had been born in Theoretically, at least ,Islam proclaims number of women each year enter lhe exile and also wught outward-looking the equality of all individuals before mainstream of Afghan life, particularly in aoals for the nation. The pace of prog­ Allah and demand!> fuJI social justice the urban areas. • ress, however, was slower and more measured. Women were returned to seclusion and the chadri. But within their confinement they were encouraged to develop their' abilities. More and more girl!- attended ~ehools wearing Western unifonns and dresses under their chadri. Western (Jress continued to distinguish the outward­ oriented from the traditionally-oriented. Jn I 959, therefore. when the goverfl­ ment of Prime Minister Mohammad

H'omt'n have rrcrntly joined men in the rlrctriciry lab at Kabul Unil't'TJiry .

• without regard to race or sex. And the Siner the 1959 decru permiTting thr shl'tl­ 1977 Constitution of the Republic of dillg of the chadri. i11creo.~in~: numhcrJ (!f Afghanistan guarantees women full equal women, like these medical studl'll15, attrn.l rights. The enforced seclusion and the Kabul Unil'ersity. veil that we associate with Islam v.·ere actually adopted by Arab Muslims hun­ dreds of yean; after Muhammad, follow­ Further Rradln& ing their conquest of the Christian • Rahman. Amir Abdur. Thr Lifr of AbJur Byzantine Empire and the Zoroastrian Rohman. Amir of Afthnniston. Edited b)" Sullan Sasanian (Per!iian) Empire. Mohomrd Khan. London. 1900 • Du~r. Louis. "1\tahmud Tarzi For1o11rn Natie>nalitl'' AUFS Like other modernists in the Muslim Rrporu Sourh Asia Srrirs. Vol. viii. no. I. Jan. world. Afghanistan ·s urban, educated, 1964. • Durree. L.oui~. Afthunisron. Princrton. liberated women believe that the funda­ 1973. • FleminJ. Jaclson Fivr anicle• 011 KinJ mental beliefs of Islam have been per­ Amanullah's return frum EurOJI( and tilt 1921 vened by discriminatory restrictions on PaJhman Jcr.hn in Asia Vol. nia. 1929. • GreJorian. Vanan. Tilt EmrrJtllrt II{ Mrtdtrrt women. Yet they are also well aware that AfrlrDniston. Stanford. 1969 • Gil'). Joh11 Alfred. in Afghan culture women symbolize the ,_,. RtsidtN("t at tltt C ourr rrf rllt Amir. Lolldon. honor of the family. the tribe. and the 119~. 8 Jev.en. A.C. Arr Amtrl<'OII EIIJirtttr irt nation. a belief which traditionally has Aftthorlisturl. Edited by 1\t Brll. Mirmeapolia. meant that ideal female behavior was 194!1. • Katral... Sohra!l. Tltmutth Amunwllall's Aftthummm Karat"hi 19::!9 8 Poullada. UOII pa!isive, modest. anJ obedient. Rrf"'"' .,,,/ Rd•.-1/i"" ;, A.flll,.minun: 1919-19:!9. In sed in~ to realize full> the constitu­ C'nrnrll. 197.l 8 Slt~&arl. Rhu F~rr ;, tional ri~ht!\ ~uaranteed them. the!>e AJ!flluniJ~om: IY/4-/IJ~Y. "'''" 'fllrl. 197.l. • woml'n do not anad, Islam. nor do they Thurnh•n. E ,. ,o\ Lrcll t'.' ,,,.,, till A/ttllun ,fie rupl•coc•t l.o•n•h•n. 1~10 8 Mtnt~lr~ of attempt 1t1 dcstnl) the \'aluc ~'~ !otCm uf ln!"urmillh•n ami Cuhur,• H ,,.,,., ;, A/Khmri~IUII." ' their !>t"ICiet)·. Rather. the) !i.CCk an e\ lllu­ .4 l'r,•,:ro .. Rc·p.•rl. K~hul. l'li7 tion favnrahk to wonwn within hlam and

·~ ..

Thr lot~st in ~o/fM·ear ( 19/8) is spnrtrd family appeared in similar in lhc by Sordor EMyotuflah a.s hr sinh a p1111. public 1ardens of Paghman. The young and the courageous favored pastel shades; -#'~ I .. newly estabJi,.hed women's hospiual. and the le~s couraJeous selected dark.cr editing both the first periodical devo&cd to pade~o. Whate\ler their color, the ~. ' women and the four-page weekly news­ were provocati\le and the raised hemlines paper published for children. decidedly shocking. / Again, both the King and the Queen · At this time. King Amanullah issued ' , considered dress of prime imponance in black -coated suits, felt , lind ~-'" ' promoting progressive atlitude~o. Girls at­ English boots to the 700 delegates sum­ lending school, whose numbers totalled moned to a Great Parliamentary Council 700 by 1927, _wore !. of Western at Paghman, and commanded that they style. Western clothin~ was mandatory in don these dreary Western garments in the new capital, in Paghman, and in place of their colorful and . cenain sections of Kabul; and the King . Conservative elements had long chafed levied fines on those who disregarded his at the King'a; refonns, but these fashion directives. dictates pro\led to be the last straw. Three Nevenheless. many men. even among months after the Great Council met in ,those holding prominent positions at August 1928, lhe first of several tribal coun. dared to incur the King's displea­ uprisings occurred. The leaders de­ sure by refusing to allow their wives to manded that insistence on Western dress shed the chadri and put on Western dress. be dropped entirely and bobbed hair for ·For these wives. and for other women women be forbidden. Most importantly who themselves refused to adopt Western they demanded that the King di\lorce styles. the new dress codes were inhibit­ Queen Soraya because of her shameless ing. For the more progressive women. behavior and expel the entire Tarzi family however. the styles then in vogue in Europe symbolized the freedom they Among the 11omads of AfKham.•tan. sought. Hemlines rose. sleeves almost women rarely k·eur thf' urban chudri. disappeared. and relued spons clothes ster of the fashion-conscious Khayriya. were worn with bobbed hairstyles. as ~an equally enthusiastic reformer. Not In I 928 the King and Queen made a .Jrprisingl;. therefore. many of the nev. seven-month tour of Europe during which fonns dealt with the emancipation of the Queen. her sister Huriya, and the omen. The fir~t school for ~irb opened King's young sister Nur us-Seraj ap­ 1921 under the Queen's patronage and peared at public functions in decollete .e directorllhip of her mother, Rasmiya. without veils. On their return. the yrian wife of Mahmud Tarzi. The teach­ Queen rode into Kabul in an open car lg s1aff included women from France. wearing a shon diaphanous voile veil iem1any. and Tur~ey. Women were also tacked to the brim of her stylish cloche 1couraged, but not ordered. to shed the hat. A month later women from the royal 1adri so that they might better take up :tivities outside the home. Their occupa­ The.\c roilc \'eil.s. ,\O shockin.r: Ill Afglian ()n~ included teaching. nursing at the i'_\"l'l, arc• worn by t·ourl lt~dies in I 9"28.

from Afghanistan. To the tribal chiefs the Tarzi family symbolized the drastic trans­ formations endangering traditional Af- ahan culture. . No accommodation could be made. and by May 1929 King AmanuiJah and Queen Soraya. together with a majority of the royal family. had been forced into exile. Their failure to appreciate tra­ ditional values, thtir blithe ipnorunce of \ Af(lhan realities, and their too precipi­ i tou,, uncnmprnmising rur,.uit of Wcst­ erni7cd i!llals had thomu~hl)· alienated lhlt!oC t~·~ SOU!!ht h) ruk.

... .. -~.~•'\.