Mohammad Zahir Shah
Mohammad Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: محمد ظاهر شاه; 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973.[2] Ruling for 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the foundation of the Durrani Empire in the 18th century.
Mohammad Zahir Shah
8 November 1933 – 17 July 1973
8 November 1933
Monarchy abolished (Daoud Khan as President of Afghanistan)
17 July 1978 – 23 July 2007
Prince Daoud (As President of Afghanistan)
23 July 2007 (aged 92)
Kabul, Afghanistan[b]
Princess Bilqis Begum
Prince Muhammed Akbar Khan
Crown Prince Ahmad Shah Khan
Princess Maryam Begum
Prince Muhammed Nadir Khan
Prince Shah Mahmoud Khan
Prince Muhammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan
Prince Mirwais Khan
He expanded Afghanistan's diplomatic relations with many countries, including with both sides of the Cold War.[3] In the 1950s, Zahir Shah began modernizing the country, culminating in the creation of a new constitution and a constitutional monarchy system. Demonstrating nonpartisanism,[4] his long reign was marked by peace in the country which was lost afterwards with the onset of the Afghan conflict.[5]
In 1973, while Zahir Shah was undergoing medical treatment in Italy,[6] his regime was overthrown in a coup d'état by his cousin and former prime minister, Mohammad Daoud Khan, who established a single-party republic, ending more than 225 years of continuous monarchical government.[7] He remained in exile near Rome until 2002, returning to Afghanistan after the end of the Taliban government. He was given the title Father of the Nation, which he held until his death in 2007.[1]
Family background and early life[edit]
Zahir Shah was born on 15 October 1914, in a city quarter called Deh Afghanan in Kabul, Afghanistan to a Pashtun family.[1] He was the son of Mohammad Nadir Shah (1883–1933) a senior member of the Mohammadzai Royal family. and commander in chief of the Royal Afghan Army for former king Amanullah Khan, and of Begum Mah Parwar Begum (d. 1941), a Pashtun tribe woman. Nadir Shah assumed the throne after the execution of the self-proclaimed ruler of Afghanistan Habibullah Kalakani on 1 November 1929.[8] Mohammad Zahir's father, son of Sardar Mohammad Yusuf Khan, was born in Dehradun, British India, his family having been exiled after the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Nadir Shah was a descendant of Sardar Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai, half-brother of Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. His grandfather Mohammad Yahya Khan (father in law of Emir Yaqub Khan) was in charge of the negotiations with the British resulting in the Treaty of Gandamak. After the British invasion after the killing of Sir Louis Cavagnari during 1879, Yaqub Khan, Yahya Khan and his sons Princes Mohammad Yusuf Khan and Mohammad Asef Khan were taken captive by the British and transferred to the British Raj, where they remained forcibly until the two princes were invited back to Afghanistan by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan during the last year of his reign (1901). During the reign of Amir Habibullah they received the title of Companions of the King (Musahiban).
Zahir Shah was educated in a special class for princes at Elementary Primary, built in 1904 by the United Kingdom, and Habibia High School, where many subjects were taught in English. For his secondary education, he went to the Amaniya High School (built during the reign of King Amanullah by France, where many subjects were taught in French. This school was renamed by Nadir Shah as Esteqlal High School)[9] after the fall of King Amanullah. Zahir Shah studied at the Infanterie Military School in the winter (school year in Kabul, 21 March to November). He was then sent to France for further training.[10] He continued his education in France where his father had served as a diplomatic envoy, studying at the Pasteur Institute and the University of Montpellier.[11] When he returned to Afghanistan he helped his father and uncles restore order and reassert government control during a period of lawlessness in the country.[12] He was later enrolled at an Infantry School and appointed a privy counsellor. Zahir Shah served in the government positions of deputy war minister and minister of education.[10]
Styles of
Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan
Your Majesty