Rebelling, and subsequently governing Saqqawist (Saqāwīhā) forces under Habibullāh Kalakāni fought against various opposing tribes and rival monarchs in the Kingdom of Afghanistan, among whom Mohammed Nādir Khān eventually achieved a preponderant role.

Although this revolt was quelled by a force led by Ali Ahmad Khan, a concurrent Saqqawist uprising in the north managed to capture the besieged city of Jabal al-Siraj, before attacking Kabul on 14 December 1928.

In his attempts to end British control of Afghan foreign policy, Amanullah sent an emissary to Moscow in 1919; Vladimir Lenin received the envoy warmly and responded by sending a Soviet representative to Kabul to offer aid to Amānullāh's government.

Whereas the Soviets sought Amanullah's assistance in suppressing anti-Bolshevik elements in Central Asia in return for help against the British, the Afghans were more interested in regaining lands across the Amu Darya lost to Russia in the nineteenth century.

Mahmud Tarzi, Amanullah's father-in-law and Foreign Minister, encouraged the monarch's interest in social and political reform but urged that it be gradually built upon the basis of a strong central government, as had occurred in Turkey under Kemal Atatürk.

Amanullah's minister of war, General Muhammad Nadir Khan, a member of the Musahiban branch of the royal family, opposed these changes, preferring instead to recognize tribal sensitivities.

His economic reforms included restructuring, reorganizing and rationalizing the entire tax structure, anti-smuggling and anti-corruption campaigns, a livestock census for taxation purposes, the first budget (in 1922), implementing the metric system (which did not take hold), establishing the Bank-i-Melli (National Bank) in 1928, and introducing the Afghani as the new unit of currency in 1923.

The political and judicial reforms Amānullāh proposed were equally radical for the time and included the creation of Afghanistan's first constitution (in 1923), the guarantee of civil rights (first by decree and later constitutionally), national registration and identity cards for the citizenry, the establishment of a legislative assembly, a court system to enforce new secular penal, civil and commercial codes, prohibition of blood money, and abolition of subsidies and privileges for tribal chiefs and the royal family.

There can be no doubt, however, that behind the stance of official neutrality which the British maintained throughout the crisis of 1929 lay an unwillingness to help Amān-Allāh to reconquer his throne and a benevolence toward the moves of Nāder Khan.

[22] The Iranian military attache, Colonel Ali Khan, was under instruction by Reza Shah to protect the Shiite community of Afghanistan to the greatest possible extent that would not invite a Saqqawist attack on Iran.

[29] On 3 December 1928, Amanullah then decided to send his brother-in-law, Ali Ahmad Khan Luynab, to deal with the problem, and sent him off with regular troops, militia levies, and a sizable treasury with which to conciliate the tribal leaders.

As it turned out, there was no need to send them to Jalalabad, Ali Ahmad managed to conciliate the Shinwari leaders and put an end to the uprising, but as it took a while for this news to spread through the countryside, the levy tribesmen continued to arrive in the capital.

In late November, they besieged Jabal al-Siraj, north of Kabul, and on either 11 or 12 December, after 18 days of siege, Ahmad Ali Lodi peacefully surrendered the citadel, handing over all government funds as well as 18 machine guns, and an unspecified number of heavy weapons and rifles.

[29] The rebels also managed to enter the house and fortress tower of Shahr Ara, which was defended by Shawkat Beg, a Turkish officer who was the son of Muhammad Akbar Khan.

To make matters worse for Amanullah, Some Waziri, Mangal and Ahmadzai tribesmen defected to Kalakani, took up positions on the Asmai Hill in the center of Kabul, and fired on the Emir's troops.

[30] Ghulam Ghaws, Whose father, Malik Jahandad Ahmadzai, had been executed following a rebellion, headed towards his hometown costs, carrying with him more than 300 rifles, armed the people there, and rose up against the government.

[30] The battle took a drastic turn on 25 December, when Kalakani was wounded in the shoulder from an aerial bomb, causing him to retreat 20 kilometers north, to Murad Beg Fort, in the Kuhdaman region.

[32] Rejoiced, Kalakani and 28 armed men, accompanied by a group of unarmed Kuhdamanis passed through the village of Dih-i Afghanan and attacked the capital, shouting "ya chahar yar" slogans and firing guns at the air.

When Abd al-Wakil reached the village of Bini Badam and Qalah-i Durrani, 30 miles (48 kilometres) from Kabul, he halted there to deal with Karim Khan Wardak's forces, only then to proceed.

Once your army has passed through, we promise to go to Kabul and offer our oath of allegiance to the Amir with sincere hearts.Abd al-Wakil accepted this message at face value,[40] and he sent the Model Battalion, which at the time numbered 1,800 men and was stationed at Qal ah-yi Durrani, to march on Shaykhabad along with 400 royal cavalry and 800 Kuhistani and Kuhdamani infantry militia which had halted near the village of Bini Badam.

On the 25th, Purdil Khan managed to capture Maydan, but the great casualties inflicted prevented him from advancing towards Wardak and Ghazni, and he withdrew to Arghandah and Qalah[c] the following day.

[44] On the 30th, the anti-Saqqawist tribes renewed the battle, and this time they managed to almost completely expel Hamid Allah's forces from Maydan, except for a few detachments which were surrounded in the fortress known as Qalah-i Abd al-Ghani Khan Beg Samandi, about 14 miles (23 km) west of Shaykhabad.

[46] Fayz Muhammed reports that Kalakani suffered a major defeat near Ghazni on 9 April and that his forces fled to Qalah-i Durrani, but historian Robert D. McChesney believes this to be false.

129 troops were also dispatched by Kalakani to the Logar Valley, which were defeated at Waghjan Gorge (Between Kushi in Kulangar and Shikar Qalah), forcing them to retreat to Rishkhur, south of Kabul.

[51] On 8 May, Hashim (Nadir Khan's brother) persuaded tribes of the Eastern province to unite against Kalakani, who agreed to raise 40,000 troops who would advance in three formations through Tagab, Tangi Gharu, Ghakari and Lataband to attack Kuhdaman, Kuhistan and Kabul.

[57] On 10 May, word had spread in Kabul that Ghulam Jalani Khan had occupied Andarab and Khanabad in Qataghan and the governor of Qataghan-Badakhshan Province, Mir Baba Sahib Charikari had been killed.

On that same day, one of Kalakani's generals, Abd Al-Wakil Khan captured Fayzabad in Badakhshan while some of his units reached Farjaghan (at the head of the Alishang Valley near Tagab and Najrab).

[59] On the 26th, Sayyid Husayn returned to Kabul alive and well, dispelling rumours about his death, and by the beginning of June, the routes via the Ghurband Valley and the Salang and Khawak Passes were firmly in the hands of Kalakani.

On 15 August, Hazara militias launched an offensive against Turkmen tribes who had pledged allegiance to Kalakani on 31 July, occupying positions in Darrah-i Suf, Kuh-i Shadyan and Marmal, and besieged fort Dih Dadi (a garrison village midway between the site of ancient balkh and Mazar-i Sharif).

[18] Another incident, which took place on 23 July 1929, was described by contemporary Afghan historian Fayz Muhammad as follows:[76]Today, the Shiite sayyid Abu'l-Qasim, who had a house and plot of land in Takanah, prepared loaves of bread made from one and a half Kabuli seers of flour, a skin of fresh buttermilk, some oil, and a roasted sheep he had slaughtered at midday.