And then there was purdah—the requirement that women be veiled from men outside their own family. Afghanistan observed the strictest purdah in the world. Afghan women who went out in public had to wear a bag-like garment called a chad’ri or burqa over their bodies, which covered them from head to toe, leaving only a tiny patch of mesh for them to look through. Amanullah’s code said no law could require the burqa. Women could wear one if they wanted, but no one could force them to wear one, not even their husbands. This was truly radical stuff.
