Afghan Independence Day

Afghan Independence Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919[1] and relinquishment from protected state status.[2] The treaty granted a complete neutral relation between Afghanistan and Britain. Afghanistan had become a British protectorate after it was defeated in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Afghanistan Independence Day
  • د افغانستان د خپلواکۍ ورځ
    Da Afġānistān da Khpalwakey wraz  (Pashto)
  • روز استقلال افغانستان
    Roz-e Isteqlal-e Afġānestān  (Persian)
President Hamid Karzai observing the honor guard of the Afghan Armed Forces during the 2011 Afghan Independence Day in Kabul.
Observed by Afghanistan
SignificanceMarks Afghanistan's regaining of full independence from British influence in 1919.
Date19 August
Next time19 August 2021 (2021-08-19)
Frequencyannual
Amanullah Khan, then Afghan emir who proclaimed independence

Background

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842) led to the British force taking and occupying Kabul. After this, due to strategic errors by Elphinstone, the entire British-led Indian invasion force was defeated by Afghan forces under Akbar Khan somewhere at the Kabul-Jalalabad Road, near the city of Jalalabad.[3] After this defeat, the British-led forces returned to Afghanistan on a special mission to rescue their prisoners of war (POWs) and afterward withdrew until coming back in order to commence the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80) first led to the British defeat followed by their victory at the Battle of Kandahar, which led to Abdur Rahman Khan becoming the new emir and the start of friendly British-Afghan relations. The British were given control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs in exchange for protection against the Russians and Persians. The Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 led the British to give up control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs finally in 1921.[4]

Observances
The Paghman victory arch, which commemorates the war against the United Kingdom
  • 2011
  • 2011
  • 2011

See also

References
  1. "The World Factbook: Afghanistan". Central Intelligence Agency. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  2. Onley, James. (2007), "The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the Nineteenth-Century Gulf" Oxford University Press. p. 24
  3. "War-battered Afghanistan celebrates independence day". Associated Press. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  4. Watkins, Thomas (17 August 2019). "Afghan palace emerges from ruins in Kabul". Asia Times. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  5. https://khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai/dubais-burj-khalifa-to-showcase-afghanistan-flag-today.


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