Afghan Independence Day

Afghan Independence Day (Pashto: د افغانستان د خپلواکۍ ورځ, romanized: Də Afğānistān də Xpəlwākəy Wraź; Dari: روز استقلال افغانستان, romanized: Rōz-i Istiqlāl-i Afğānistān), locally known as Afghan Liberation Day, is celebrated as a national holiday in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and the relinquishment from its de-jure British protected-state status. The treaty established a completely neutral relation between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the United Kingdom and was the start of Afghanistan's relations with other countries, as well as Amanullah Khan's modernization campaigns.

Background

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42) led to the British force taking and occupying Kabul. After this, due to strategic errors by Elphinstone, the British force was annihilated by Afghan forces under the command of Akbar Khan somewhere at the Kabul–Jalalabad Road, near the city of Jalalabad. After this defeat, the British-Indian forces returned to Afghanistan on a special mission to rescue their prisoners of war (POWs) and then withdrew. The British returned later in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

At the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80), Abdur Rahman Khan who was an opponent to the British, became the new emir and established friendly British-Afghan relations. The British were given control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs in exchange for the prevention of a British resident in Kabul, as was one of the British objectives, and protection against the Russians and Persians.

In 1919, the Third Anglo-Afghan War led the British to give up control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs.

Observances

The Taq-e Zafar was built in Paghman to commemorate independence in 1928.