Taliban Amir Haibatollah has issued multiple decrees dealing with land ownership issues. He follows in an historic tradition. Ownership and control of land have played a key role in Afghanistan’s history and in each stage of the modern conflict. One of the key themes in the development of the modern state has been how Afghan Amirs, from Ahmad Shah Durrani onwards, conducted military campaigns to stamp their authority onto outlying provinces and then followed up by settling their followers and loyal populations on land in the conquered territories.

In the modern conflict, the early PDPA regime announced land reforms, which were supposed to break up the holdings of “feudal landlords” and distribute forfeited land to peasants. In the Republic many of the powerful figures of the Republic used their influence to lead and profit from a property boom as millions of Afghans shifted to the cities.

Podcast produced by Colm Heatley.