Niranjan Das was an Afghan Hindu who headed the Department of Taxation in the Emirate of Afghanistan under the premiership of Amanullah Khan (r. 1919 - 1926).[1][a] Carrying the honorary rank of a Civil Colonel, Das commanded over four hundred Mohammadzai and Barakzai officers.[3] In 1919, Khan included him among the ten delegates to represent Afghanistan in the Rawalpindi-Mussourie Peace Conference with the United Kingdom — it was probably the first time a Hindu had political representation in the Afghan Emirate.[3][b] After Khan abdicated in the face of a popular rebellion by Saqqawists, Das fled Afghanistan and settled in India.
Notes
^The contemporary British Gazeteer held the post equivalent of the Accountant general.[2]
^Khan is widely hailed as the unsuccessful harbinger of liberalism in Afghanistan. He removed a range of discriminatory practices imposed on non-Muslims, and provided them an equal opportunity in affairs of the state.[4]
References
^Shah, Ikbal Ali (1933). The tragedy of Amanullah. London: Alexander-Ouseley Limited. p. 131.
^Hanifi, Shah Mahmoud (2011). Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press. p. 48. ISBN9780804777773.
^ abStewart, Rhea Talley (1973). Fire in Afghanistan, 1914-1929; faith, hope, and the British Empire. Newyork: Doubleday Company. pp. 79, 87. ISBN0-385-08742-X.
^Abdul Ghani (1921). A Review of the Political Situation in Central Asia, Lahore: Khosla Brothers
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