Mohammed Zahir Shah

Mohammed Zahir Shah (born October 16, 1914) was the last King of Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973.

Related Topics:
October 16 - 1914 - King - Afghanistan - 1933 - 1973

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On November 8, 1933, he was proclaimed king after his father, Mohammed Nadir Shah, was assassinated. In 1964, he promulgated a new constitution.

Related Topics:
November 8 - 1933 - Mohammed Nadir Shah - 1964

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Shah was born into a family of Pashtuns (of the Durrani Popalzay clan) Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, he was also educated in the elite culture of Afghanistan's Persians, giving him access to both groups.

Related Topics:
Pashtun - Durrani - Popalzay - Persian

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He instituted programs of political and economic modernization, ushering in a democratic legislature, education for women and other such changes. These reforms put him at odds with the religious militants who opposed him.

Related Topics:
Modernization - Democratic - Legislature - Militant

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His cousin and former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan staged a coup coup d'état in 1973, and established a republican government while Mohammed Zahir Shah was abroad. Following this coup, Zahir Shah abdicated in August and lived in exile in Italy for twenty-nine years.

Related Topics:
Mohammed Daoud Khan - Coup d'état - 1973 - Exile - Italy

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He refused to return as a puppet leader during Soviet-backed Communist rule in the late 1970s, and remained aloof from the bloody feuds that followed the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Related Topics:
Puppet leader - Soviet - Communist - 1970s - 1989

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In April 2002, he returned to Afghanistan to open the Loya jirga scheduled for June 2002. He moved back into his old palace in central Kabul but did not seek to regain the throne. He is seen as a symbol of unity for Afghanistan, and has been given the title "Father of the Nation." However, critics contend that in Afghanistan's most difficult moments, he remained comfortably secluded in Italy and refused to speak out against the Taliban. Other criticisms include his kindness toward India and his policy toward the Durand Line, in which he has favored the break off of northwest Pakistan into a separate Afghan ethnic homeland.

Related Topics:
April - 2002 - Loya jirga - June - Kabul - Taliban - India - Durand Line - Pakistan

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While in France for a medical check-up, he broke his femur by slipping in a bathroom, June 21, 2003. Rumors of his death followed both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In an October 2002 visit to France, he had also slipped in a bathroom, bruising his ribs.

Related Topics:
France - Femur - Bathroom - June 21 - 2003

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On February 3, 2004, he was flown from Kabul to New Delhi, India for medical treatment after complaining of an intestinal problem. He was hospitalized for two weeks, and remains in New Delhi under observation. On May 18 he was brought to a hospital in the United Arab Emirates because of nose bleeding caused by heat. He was reported in stable condition as of May 2004. He was next scheduled to visit France to cure his stomach disease. He attended the December 7 2004 swearing in of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan in Kabul.

Related Topics:
February 3 - 2004 - Kabul - New Delhi - India - Intestinal - May 18 - United Arab Emirates - As of May 2004 - France - December 7 - Hamid Karzai

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See the reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah for more detailed information on his rule.

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