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162 and steps were taken to introduce machinery and other modern conveniences, such as hydro-electricity and water pipes into Afghanistan. A weekly paper, Sirajul Akhbar, was started, and it was entrusted to the well-known Afghan writer, Mahmud-i- Tarzi. This paper infused a new life throughout the country and had a great part in the national awakening. European games, including football, hockey, cricket, tennis and badminton were also encouraged and the Amir personally took part in some of them, distributing prizes among the winners. In 1907, the Amir visited India at the invitation of the British Indian Government. He observed strict neutrality in World War I. A German-Turkish Mission reached Kabul in October, 1915, to try to induce the Amir to declare a holy war against the British, but the Amir was able to stick to his neutral- ity throughout the War. In February 1919, feeling that the time had come when he might claim the reward of his steadfast- ness during the war, and to vindicate his policy before his people, he wrote to the Viceroy, demanding written recognition by the Peace Conference of Afghanistan's "absolute liberty, freedom of action and perpetual independence". But on the night of the 20th of February, he was assassinated in his shooting camp at Kala-gosh in the Laghman Valley. His younger brother, Sardar Nasrulla, Khan, who was then at Jalalabad, proclaimed himself King. Meanwhile in Kabul, Sardar Amanullah Khan, the third son of the Amir, took possession of the citadel. On the 29th of February he proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan in the presence of all civil and military officials in Kabul. The army in Jalalabad rallied around the cause of Amanullah and forced Nasrullah Khan, to abdicate. King Amanullah : Amanullah's first act after accession was to proclaim the independence of Afghanistan both in