COLD OPEN

The year was 1926. A crowd of hundreds of people was gathered in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to watch their royal leaders celebrate the country’s independence. The Afghan people had freed themselves from British control just seven years earlier.

All eyes were on Queen Soraya Tarzi as she started to speak. On her head she wore a tiara with seven diamond studded stars.

“Independence belongs to all of us,” she said, her voice clear and strong. “Do you think that our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam.”

As she spoke, some in the audience gasped. Others leaned forward, absolutely captivated. What Queen Soraya was saying? It was revolutionary.

Before Queen Soraya, Afghan Queens would never have addressed the public like this, let alone encouraged women to get more involved. This was unheard of.

But Queen Soraya was used to breaking barriers. She was about to set in motion changes that would echo for generations – and challenge what people thought women could do. She was ready to lead her country into the future.

I’m Gabrielle Puyat. And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

A fairy tale podcast about the real-life rebel women who inspire us.

On this episode, Soraya Tarzi, the queen who fought to revolutionize Afghanistan.

Soraya was born in Syria in November of 1899. She grew up far from Afghanistan, playing in the ancient cobbled streets of Damascus.

Her father was an intellectual who had been forced to leave Afghanistan because of his ideas. His progressive values about freedom didn’t sit well with the country’s ruler.

Soraya learned a lot from her father. He was her first teacher and tutor. He taught her to think for herself and to question traditions that didn’t make sense. When she got older, she took classes with the most respected Islamic scholar of the era.

But then, when Soraya was a teenager, things started to change. Nearly 2,000 miles away in her father’s homeland, a new king took the reins. The king agreed with much of her father’s thinking. He invited Soraya’s family to come back to Afghanistan, where her father would become an important advisor in the royal court.

So, Soraya and her family moved to the capital city of Kabul. It was her first time in the country. She’d grown up dreaming about all the places her father had told her about – she couldn’t believe she’d finally get to see them herself. Her family navigated their way through the busy streets, passing by bustling bazaars and markets. She smelled spices from the food she’d only dreamed about. Then, at long last, Soraya and her family arrived at an expansive building that sat at the feet of an impressive mountain range. They had finally made it to the royal palace.

It was in the palace that Soraya met Prince Amanullah Khan, the king’s favorite son. Soraya and Amanullah struck up a friendship and in time, the two fell in love. It was a love that would change not just their lives, but the future of their country.

In 1913, Soraya and Amanullah got married and Soraya became a princess. But she didn’t want just any ordinary royal marriage. Before the wedding, Soraya made a bold request – she asked Amanullah to promise that he would never take another wife, even though Muslim men at the time could have multiple wives. Amanullah agreed. This was the first of many ways that Soraya would break with tradition. And she was just getting started.

[SEGMENT 2]

Six years after they got married, Prince Amanullah claimed the throne. So at only 19 years old, Soraya Tarzi became Queen of Afghanistan. Typically, an Afghan queen’s main job was to have children, and not much else. But Soraya had other plans. She and King Amanullah would rule the country together.

Soraya attended cabinet meetings with the King. The two rode horses and went on hunting trips together. And she became the first Muslim queen to appear in public alongside her husband. This alone shocked many traditional Afghans – they believed women should remain hidden from public view.

Just three months after becoming king, Amanullah made a daring move. On May 3, 1919, he declared war on the mighty British Empire – the same empire that controlled much of the world at that time, including neighboring India. Queen Soraya supported this effort – she believed Afghans needed to be in control of their own destiny. She visited wounded soldiers in their tents, helping to raise their spirits.

The War of Independence was a daring gamble, but it paid off. Later that summer, Britain – exhausted from World War I – agreed to stop fighting. Two years later, the King signed a treaty with Britain recognizing Afghanistan’s full independence.

Afghanistan was finally free from foreign control.

King Amanullah, Queen Soraya, and other royal leaders wrote drafts of a constitution, which included some radical ideas for the time.

Soraya and Amanullah made sure the constitution stressed equality. Slavery became a thing of the past. They passed laws to end child marriage and granted women the right to vote. This meant that Afghan women could vote in 1919 – one year before women in the United States.

The King and Queen were laying the groundwork to keep transforming their country for the better. And they were doing it together, as a powerful team.

[SEGMENT 3]

Queen Soraya treasured her early education, first with her father, then with renowned scholars. She wanted all girls to have that same access to education. So just one year into being Queen, she made another big move – she opened Afghanistan’s first school for girls. Her two eldest daughters joined the school’s first group of students. It was just the beginning of her campaign for women’s education.

Next, she became the Minister of Education, making her one of the first female government ministers in the world. In this important role, she helped fifteen girls get government scholarships so they could travel to Turkey to further their education.

Her dedication to empowering women went beyond the classroom doors she was opening. She founded a hospital dedicated to women’s health, and asked the smartest women she knew to work with her. Then, she founded a women’s magazine with her mother, where the two wrote about successful women in history.

Recognizing that not all women had gentle and supportive husbands, Queen Soraya created a women’s rights organization where any woman could file a complaint if they were being mistreated by their husband or brother.

Queen Soraya made speech after speech about the value of education and advocated for women to have a role in society beyond the home. She was trying to change the perception of women in society. With some success under their belts, there was another huge rule the King and Queen wanted to challenge.

At this ti me in Afghanistan, Muslim women were expected to cover their hair and body when they were out in public.

One day, the king and queen were attending a gala. King Amanulla declared that Islam did not require women to cover their bodies or wear any special veil. Some people in the crowd looked shocked. Then, Queen Soraya did something monumental. She removed her veil. She looked beside her, and saw the wives of other government officials following her example. This was the first time a Queen in Afghanistan went without the veil in public.

News of Queen Soraya spread around the world. There’s photos of her looking strikingly powerful with her fashionable short hair, elegant dresses, and confident expression. On her head she wore a tiara with seven diamond studded stars.

Queen Soraya’s influence was having a real impact. Many Afghan girls got to step into school for the first time ever. Women were exercising their most basic rights. And some felt less social pressure to wear a veil.

Unfortunately, not everyone was happy with these changes. Queen Soraya lived in the city, where new, more progressive ideas could take root. But most Afghanis lived in the rural countryside, where tradition was highly valued. Many leaders in rural communities were outraged. The royal couple was modernizing Afghanistan at a pace that some parts of the country didn’t like. But Queen Soraya didn’t let their pushback stop her.

[SEGMENT 4]

In December 1927, the king and queen embarked on a tour of Europe. They were setting out to learn from the rest of the world so they could bring new technology and ideas to Afghanistan.

Soraya and Amanulla traveled on horse drawn carriages through city streets in France, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. She wore her glittering diamond tiara as she mingled with other royalty. Everywhere they went, the pair were treated as celebrities.

In the European press, Queen Soraya was celebrated as a beautiful queen who was helping to modernize Afghanistan. Oxford University even awarded her an honorary degree, recognizing her work expanding women’s access to education.

But back in Afghanistan, trouble was brewing. Rumors were spreading. Traditional leaders were stirring up opposition. In more rural provinces, uprisings started taking shape.

By the time the royal couple returned to Afghanistan in July 1928, they faced a country on the brink of civil war. Rebellions were building momentum, and despite attempts to compromise, King Amanullah could not regain control. Uprisings spread across the country, until even Kabul was under threat.

So just months after they returned from Europe, King Amanullah was forced to give up the throne.

Soraya, now 29 years old, fled the country with her husband and their children. They settled in Rome, where they would spend the rest of their lives. They were outside their country, but they were safe, and they were together.

Though her time as queen was brief, Soraya Tarzi’s impact would be felt for generations. Some of the schools she inspired still stand today. In the 1970s, Afghanistan experienced another wave of reform that echoed many of Soraya’s ideas from 50 years before, like encouraging women’s education and representation in political life.

When India and other nearby countries fought for independence from colonial rule in the 1940s, they remembered Queen Soraya and King Amanullah’s early success against the British Empire. It pushed them to fight for freedom of their own.

Today, many Afghans – especially women – look to Queen Soraya as a symbol of what is possible. A woman ahead of her time, she showed that Afghan women could be educated, empowered, and equal partners in building the nation.

Queen Soraya’s brief but brilliant effort to change Afghanistan may have been cut short, but in a region where powerful women have often been silenced, Soraya Tarzi’s voice still echoes. Reminding us that one determined woman can indeed change history.