Contents

Abbreviations for Archival Sources

Various Va’adot: An Explanatory Note

Glossary of Terms

Rulers of Afghanistan (1747–1973)

Note on Hebrew Transliteration

Chapter 1 Introduction

Entrepreneurial Minorities and Anti-Semitism in Afghanistan

Encountering Nationalist Sentiments in Afghanistan

Historiographical Trends

Archival Sources

Chapter 2 Modern Jewish Settlement in Afghanistan: Origins and Customs

Theories on the Origins of Afghanistani Jewry

Jewish Settlement in Mashhad

Jewish Settlement in Afghanistan

The Forcible Conversion of the Mashhadi Community

The Persian Siege of Herat

Daily Life among the Jews of Afghanistan

Betrothal and Marriage Customs

Women’s Experiences

Men’s Lives

Communal Structures and Social Control

Peddlers and Merchants

Inter-Communal Ties: The Turkmen-Jewish Relationship

International Connections through Trade

Chapter 3 A Survey of the Modern Political and Economic History of Afghanistan (1747–1933)

Afghanistan’s Foundation

The First Anglo-Afghan War: Encountering the British Empire

Dost Muhammad Khan: Consolidating Afghanistan’s Borders

Second Anglo-Afghan War: Limiting Afghanistan’s Independence

Shattering Afghanistan’s Ethnic Mosaic: The Rule of the ‘Iron Amir’

Negotiating ʻAbd al-Rahman’s Rule: The Challenges to the Jewish Community

Habibullah Khan: Edging Towards Full Sovereignty

The Jewish Community under Habibullah: A Resumption of Commerce

World War I and Its Political Legacy

Amanullah: Imagination without Grounding

Minorities under Amanullah: A Time of Tolerance

Hindus

The Hazara

Jews

Amanullah’s Encouragement of Education

Patterns of Jewish Education

A Less Tolerated Minority: The Ahmadiyas

Reform and Revolt

Habibullah Kalakani: Reign of Terror

Minorities under Kalakani

Muhammad Nadir’s Rise

The Rule of Muhammad Nadir Shah: Pacification and Consolidation

Chapter 4 Northern Afghanistan’s Soviet Refugee Crisis (1932–1936)

Causes of the Refugee Crisis

Consequences for Central Asian Jewry

Afghan Response to Refugees

Muslim Refugees

Christian Refugees

Jewish Refugees: Petitioning for Assistance

Viewing Refugees as Spies: Afghan and British Perceptions

Comparing Refugee Policy in Afghanistan and Persia

The Expulsion of the Local Jewish Population

Riot in Herat during the Summer of 1935

Implications of the Expulsion of the Afghanistani Jews from the North

British Jewry’s Reactions to the Afghanistani Community

Official British Response

Conclusion

Chapter 5 Afghan Economic Policies in the 1930s

Economic Policies: The Bank-i Milli and the Rise of the MonopolySystem

The Shirkat System’s Impact on the Karakul Trade

Political Aims of the Monopoly System: Limiting Soviet Influence

Case Study: Jacob Pinhas, a Jewish Karakul Trader

Consequences of the Monopoly System: An Economic Downturn

Successful Opposition to the Shirkat System: The Fruit Trade

Da Afghanistan Bank: A Failed Check on the Power of the Bank-i Milli

Conclusion

Chapter 6 World War II’s Impact on Afghanistan

Pre-War Anxiety

German Influence

The Nazi Party in Afghanistan

Nazi Influenced Anti-Semitism

‘Abd al-Majid Khan: Primary Negotiator with the Third Reich

Link between anti-Communism and anti-Semitism in Afghan Policy

Replacing German Specialists with Jews: First Contact between Afghanistan and the Yishuv

The Precarious Situation of Jews in Afghanistan during World War II

Refugee Crisis in India: A Precarious Medical and Legal Situation

Causes of Refugee Crisis

Deportation from Peshawar

Negotiating with British Authorities

Conflict between the Jewish Agency and Afghanistani Va’adot in Eretz Yisrael

Legal Emigration from Afghanistan: The Role of JewishOrganizations

Persecution in the Muslim World

Afghan Rationale for Legal Emigration: Gaining Supportfor Pashtunistan

Prejudice against the Jewish Community Lessened through Afghan Myth of Ethnogenesis

Emigration Commences

Afghanistani Jews Entering and Languishing in Iran

Situation Improves After 1952

Forcible Conversion in the 1950s: Tova Shamualoff’s Kidnapping

The Last Jew of Kabul

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Patterns of Jewish Correspondencein the 1930s

Bibliography

Plate Section: Daily Life in 1940s Kabul

Index