"Back to Barbarism!"

Bitterly did King Amanullah of Afghanistan regret, last week, that he had ever sought to sow "reforms" among his people (TIME, Sept. 10), for it began to seem that he had reaped a revolution quite capable of toppling down his throne.

Spurred by reform-hating, fanatically religious Mullahs, the rebels again surrounded Kabul on three sides, last week, after having been repulsed last fortnight to a distance of 40 miles (TIME, Jan. 7).

Though drastic censorship precluded exact knowledge of what was taking place, a symposium of rumors confirmed reports that His Majesty had proclaimed the termination of all "reforms"--such as the edict requiring men to wear pants (TIME, Sept. 10)--and was making desperate efforts to rally his troops and recover the loyalty of his people as a whole.

It was reported from Moscow, where the Soviet radio station is directly in touch with Kabul, that King Amanullah had delegated his Royal powers to a "Council of Fifty," composed of "leading Mullahs and Khans of the Realm." Since these persons would unquestionably revoke all the newfangled decrees issued by King Amanullah after returning from his famed tour of Europe (TIME, Jan. 23-- June 4. '28), joyous Afghans prepared for a new order, "Back to Barbarism!"

Expectations that His Majesty's position would quickly become untenable were strengthened by reports, possibly premature, that he had fled Kabul by airplane, established himself in Kandahar and abdicated in favor of his brother Inayatullah Khan.