Amanullah's reforms and the fall of Kabul
Between 1927 and 1929 King Amanullah Khan pushed rapid Westernizing reforms in Afghanistan, including European dress, the unveiling of women and modern schooling. This provoked a rebellion that brought Bacha-e-Saqao, a water-carrier's son turned brigand, into Kabul in January 1929 and drove the king into flight. The author, a young Bengali teacher in the city, lived through the siege, the hunger and the breakdown of order before being evacuated by air.