Letter of Amir Habibullah Khan (1901-1919)

Habibullah Khan, son of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan (1880 – 1901) – the Pushtun ruler of Afghanistan that committed genocide of Hazaras in Hazarajat – addressed this letter in 1904 to the Hazaras to return back to their lands in Hazarajat (a land that is illegally annexed into today’s Afghanistan). This letter is a confession of the distribution of Hazara lands to the Pushtun refugees following the ethnically cleansed of over 60% of Hazaras and thousands of Hazaras sold as slaves.

See Diaries of Kandahar – the Genocide of Hazaras during 1890s
See Hazara Slavery

Download:

Habib Letter – English
Habib Letter – Urdu

English Translation:

The Symbol of the God-given state of Afghanistan

Let me make it clear to all Hazara Mirs, Arbabs, intellectuals and other subjects that it has always been my wish to develop the government and people of Afghanistan. I have therefore made efforts to the best of my abilities to focus on this objective, so that the people and government, by the grace of Almighty, may prosper and both may benefit from this highway of progress and prosperity. You are also part of the Afghanistan government but since you offered opposition and defiance to this government, this resulted in some punishment to the Hazara people. But since you have disassociated yourself from such past activities, I entrust your future acts to God Almighty and to you. I have released the Uzbeks and others incarcerated in the capital and allowed them to proceed to their ancestral lands. I have also allowed the Pashtun people, who had escaped to the tribal areas, to return to their native lands. I therefore do not want that you Hazara people who are also my subjects, should be deprived from my kindness and generosity. Consequently I order, through this decree, that your lands and properties, which were until now, distributed among the Pashtun refugees, will no more be given to the Pashtun refugees, provided you cultivate such lands. Secondly I also order those Hazaras who have fled to neighboring countries to return to their native lands with complete confidence. All Hazara nobility should also return so that their needs could be assessed. If their lands have so far not been given to the Pashtun refugees, they would henceforth not be so given. They should reoccupy their own lands and begin their prosperity. But the lands which have already been given to Pashtun refugees will not be returned to Hazaras. In their place, the Hazaras will be given lands which have recently been made arable as a result of new canals having been dug, so that they could live a life of prosperity and progress, God willing. I warn those who have fled to neighboring countries that if they do not return to their native lands by the lunar month of Meezan, the year of snake i.e. 1323 Hijri (September 1905), their lands will not be kept abandoned. I hereby order that such lands be given to the Pashtun refugees. This decree is for all the Hazara tribes. If the Shaikh Ali Hazaras of Taala wa Barfag, the Hazaras of Char Sid and Qaom Sultan who have fled Afghanistan return they will be given lands in other parts of the country in accordance with their needs. They will never be given lands in the three areas mentioned above. I pray to God Almighty for the prosperity of the people of my country and the continued progress of this Islamic state.

Wassalam
12 Ramazan 1322 Hijri (Sunday 20 November, 1904)

Royal Stamp of Amir Habibullah Khan

habibullah letter 1904