Mohammad Daoud Khan (
Dari
Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...
/) also
romanized
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan; 18July 190928April 1978) was an Afghan head of state, military officer and politician who served as
prime minister of Afghanistan
The prime minister of Afghanistan, officially the prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the head of government of Afghanistan.
The position was created in 1927 as an official appointed by the king of Afghanistan. The holder ...
from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the
1973 Afghan coup d'état
The 1973 Afghan coup d'état, also called by Afghans as the Coup of 26 Saratan () and self-proclaimed as the Revolution of 26 Saratan 1352, was led by Army General and prince Mohammad Daoud Khan against his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, on ...
which overthrew the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
, served as the first
president of Afghanistan from 1973 until he himself was deposed in a coup and killed in the
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...
.
Born into the
Afghan royal family and addressed by the prefix "
Sardar
Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...
", Khan started as a provincial governor and later a
military officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
before being appointed as prime minister by his cousin, King
Mohammad Zahir Shah, serving for a decade. Having failed to persuade the King to implement a one-party system, Khan
overthrew the monarchy in a virtually bloodless coup with the backing of
Afghan Army
The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...
officers, and proclaimed himself the first president of the
Republic of Afghanistan, establishing an autocratic
one-party system under his
National Revolutionary Party.
Khan was known for his
autocratic rule,
and for his educational and progressive social reforms. Under his regime, he headed a purge of
communists
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...
in the government, and many of his policies also displeased religious conservatives and liberals who were in favor of restoring the multiparty system that existed under the monarchy. Social and economic reforms implemented under his ruling were successful, but his foreign policy led to tense relations with neighboring countries. In 1978, he was deposed and assassinated during the
1978 Afghan coup d'état, led by the Afghan military and the communist
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), known as the Homeland Party ( Dari: , ) from June 1990, was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 ...
(PDPA). His body was discovered 30 years later and was identified by a small golden
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
gifted by
King Khalid of
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
he always carried. He received a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
.
Early life
Mohammad Daoud Khan was born in
Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
,
Emirate of Afghanistan
The Emirate of Afghanistan, known as the Emirate of Kabul until 1855, was an emirate in Central Asia and South Asia that encompassed present-day Afghanistan and parts of present-day Pakistan (before 1893). The emirate emerged from the Durrani ...
, into a
Barakzai Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
family and was the eldest son of the diplomat Prince
Mohammad Aziz Khan (1877–1933; an older half-brother of King
Mohammad Nadir Shah) and his wife, Khurshid
Begum. His father was assassinated in 1933 in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, while serving as the Afghan Ambassador to Germany. He and his brother Prince Naim Khan (1911–1978) then came under the tutelage of their uncle
Mohammad Hashim Khan (1884–1953). Daoud proved to be an apt student of politics.
Educated in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, he served as a senior administrator in the
Kingdom of Afghanistan
The Kingdom of Afghanistan (; ) was a monarchy in Southern Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the ...
, serving as Governor of the Eastern Province in 1934–35 and in 1938–39, and was Governor of
Kandahar Province from 1935 to 1938.
In 1939, Khan was promoted to Commander of the Central Forces.
As commander, he led Afghan forces against the
Safi during the
Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947.
From 1946 to 1948, he served as
Defense Minister
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
, then
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
from 1949 to 1951.
In 1948, he served as Afghan Ambassador to France.
In 1951, he was promoted to General and served in that capacity as Commander of the
Central Corps of the
Afghan Armed Forces in Kabul from 1951 to 1953.
Royal Prime Minister
Khan was appointed
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
in September 1953 through an intra-family transfer of power, replacing
Shah Mahmud Khan. His ten-year tenure was noted for his foreign policy turn to the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, the completion of the
Helmand Valley project, which dramatically improved living conditions in southwestern Afghanistan, as well as tentative steps towards the emancipation of women, giving women a higher public presence, which led to significant amounts of freedom and educational opportunities for them.
With the creation of an independent
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
in August 1947, Prime Minister Daoud Khan had rejected the
Durand Line
The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China.
The D ...
, which had been accepted as international border by successive Afghan governments for over a half a century. Khan supported a nationalistic reunification of the Pakistani
Pashtun people
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
with Afghanistan, but this would have involved taking a considerable amount of territory from the new nation of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and was in direct opposition to an older plan of the 1940s whereby a confederation between the two countries was proposed. The move further worried the non-Pashtun populations of Afghanistan such as the minority
Hazara,
Tajik, and
Uzbek, who suspected his intention was to increase the Pashtuns' disproportionate hold on political power.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan (founder of
Khudai Khidmatgar movement), stated "that Daoud Khan only exploited the idea of reunification of Pashtun people to meet his own political ends. The idea of reunification of Pashtun people never helped Pashtuns and it only caused trouble for Pakistan. In fact it was never a reality". Moreover, Daoud Khan's project for the reunification of the Pashtun people failed to gain support from the majority of
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
in
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
In 1960, Khan
sent troops across the poorly-marked Durand Line into the
Bajaur Agency
Bajaur District (, ), formerly Bajaur Agency, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Prior to 2018, Bajaur Agency was the northernmost component of the Federally Administered Tribal ...
of Pakistan in an attempt to manipulate events in that area and to press the Pashtunistan issue, but the Afghan forces were defeated by the Pashtun Tribal militias. During this period, the propaganda war from Afghanistan, carried on by radio, was relentless. In 1961, Daoud Khan made another attempt to invade Bajaur with larger Afghan army this time. However, Pakistan employed
F-86 Sabres jets which inflicted heavy casualties against the Afghan army unit and the tribesmen from
Kunar province
Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- ...
who were supporting the Afghan army. Several Afghan soldiers were also captured and were paraded in front of international media, which in turn caused embarrassment for Daoud Khan.
In 1961, as a result of his policies and support to militias in areas along the Durand Line, Pakistan closed its borders with Afghanistan and the latter severed ties, causing an economic crisis and greater dependence on the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The USSR became Afghanistan's principal trading partner. Within a few months, the USSR sent jet
airplane
An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
s,
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
s,
heavy and
light artillery, for a heavily discounted price tag of $25 million, to Afghanistan. That same year he attended the
1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
making Afghanistan one of the founding members of the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...
.
As a result of continued resentment against Daoud's
autocratic rule, close ties with the USSR and economic downturn because of the blockade imposed by Pakistan, Daoud Khan was asked to resign. Instead of resigning, Daoud Khan requested King
Zahir Shah to approve new 'one-party constitution' proposed by him which would in turn increase Daoud Khan's already considerable power. Upon rejection, Daoud Khan angrily resigned.
The crisis was finally resolved with his forced resignation in March 1963 and the re-opening of the border in May. Pakistan continued to remain suspicious of Afghan intentions and Daoud's policy left a negative impression in the eyes of many Tajiks who felt they were being disenfranchised for the sake of
Pashtun nationalism. He was succeeded by
Mohammad Yusuf.
In 1964, King Zahir Shah introduced a
new constitution, for the first time excluding all members of the royal family from the Council of Ministers. Khan had already stepped down. In addition to having been prime minister, he had also held the portfolios of Minister of Defense and Minister of Planning until 1963.
Presidency and death

Khan was unsatisfied with King Zahir Shah's constitutional parliamentary system and lack of progress. He planned rebellion for more than a year before he seized power from the King on 17 July 1973. The
coup was bloodless, and backed by a large number of army officers who were loyal to him, facing no resistance.
Departing from tradition, and for the first time in Afghan history, he did not proclaim himself ''
Shah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
'', establishing instead a
republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
with himself as
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
. The role of pro-communist
Parchamite officers in the coup led to him receiving the nickname "''Red Prince''" by some.
King Zahir Shah's constitution establishing a parliament with elected members and the separation of powers was replaced by a now largely nominated
loya jirga (meaning "grand assembly"). The parliament was disbanded.
Although he was close to the Soviet Union during his prime ministership, Khan continued the Afghan policy of
non-alignment with the Cold War superpowers. Nor did he bring drastic pro-Soviet change to the economic system.
In Khan's new cabinet, many ministers were fresh faced politicians, and only Dr Abdul Majid was a ministerial carryover from Khan's Prime Minister era (1953–1963); Majid was Minister of Education from 1953 to 1957, and from 1973 was appointed Minister of Justice until 1977. Initially about half of the new cabinet were either current members, former members or sympathizers of the
PDPA, but over time their influence would be eradicated by Khan.
A coup against Khan, which may have been planned before he took power, was repressed shortly after his seizure of power. In October 1973,
Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, a former prime minister and a highly respected former diplomat, was arrested in a coup plot and died in prison before his trial set for December 1973. This was at a time when Parchamites controlled the Ministry of Interior under circumstances corroborating the widespread belief that he had been tortured to death by the leftists. According to one account, Daoud Khan planned to appoint Maiwandwal as prime minister, leading to the
Parchamite Minister of Interior,
Faiz Mohammad, along with fellow communists, framing Maiwandwal in a coup plot, then torturing him to death without Daoud Khan's knowledge.
Louis Dupree wrote that Maiwandwal, one of few Afghan politicians with an international reputation, could have been a leader in a democratic process and therefore a target for communists. One of the army generals arrested under suspicion of this plot with Maiwandwal was
Mohammed Asif Safi, who was later released. Khan personally apologized to him for the arrest.
In 1974, he signed one of two economic packages that aimed to greatly increase the capability of the Afghan military. At this time, there were increasing concerns that Afghanistan lacked a modern army comparable to the militaries of Iran and Pakistan.
In 1975, his government
nationalized all banks in Afghanistan, including
Da Afghanistan Bank, Afghanistan's
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
.
Khan wanted to lessen the country's dependence on the Soviet Union and attempted to promote a new foreign policy. In 1975 he visited some countries in the Middle East, including
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, all of which were anti-Soviet states,
to ask for aid,
He also visited
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
Regarding the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...
summit in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, Khan said that <div class=)
"only pretends to be non-aligned."
Surprisingly, he did not renew the Pashtunistan agitation; relations with Pakistan improved thanks to interventions from the US and the
Shah of Iran
The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...
. These moves alerted the Soviets.
Constitution of 1977
In 1977, he established his own political party, the
National Revolutionary Party, which became the focus of all political activity. In January 1977, a
loya jirga approved a new constitution. It wrote in several new articles and amended others - one of these was the creation of a
presidential one-party system of government.
He also began to moderate his socialist policies, although the 1977 constitution had a nationalist bend in addition to previous socialism and Islam.
In 1978, there was a rift with the PDPA. Internally he attempted to distance himself from the communist elements within the coup. He was concerned about the tenor of many communists in his government and Afghanistan's growing dependency on the Soviet Union. These moves were highly criticized by
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, which feared that Afghanistan would soon become closer to the West, especially the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
; the Soviets had always feared that the United States could find a way to influence the government in Kabul.
During his latter years in charge, his purge of communists in his government strained his relations with them, while his desire for one person rule created conflicts with the liberals who had been in charge during the monarchy. At the same time, his persecution of religious conservatives engendered enmity with them and their followers as well.
Relations with Pakistan
As during his time as prime minister, Daoud Khan again pressed on the question of
Pashtunistan, again leading to sometimes tense relations with Pakistan.
Daoud hosted General Secretary of the
National Awami Party Khan Abdul Wali Khan
Khan Abdul Wali Khan (; ; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pashtuns, Pashtun Pakistani democratic socialist politician who served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar Kha ...
,
Ajmal Khattak, Juma Khan Sufi, Baluch guerrillas, and others. Khan's government and forces also commenced training of anti-Pakistani groups to conduct militant action and sabotage in Pakistan. The campaign was significant enough that even one of Bhutto's senior colleagues, minister of interior and head of the provincial branch of
Bhutto's party of/in the then-
North-West Frontier Province (renamed
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
in 2010),
Hayat Sherpao, was killed, ostensibly on the orders of the later-acquitted Awami Party. As a result, Afghanistan's already strained relationship with Pakistan further dipped and Pakistan likewise started similar kinds of cross-border interference. By 1975,
Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, through its
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...
(ISI), had begun to engage in promoting a
proxy war
In political science, a proxy war is an armed conflict where at least one of the belligerents is directed or supported by an external third-party power. In the term ''proxy war'', a belligerent with external support is the ''proxy''; both bel ...
in Afghanistan.
Since coming to power, under pressure from the PDPA and to increase domestic Pashtun support, Khan took a stronger line on the Pashtunistan issue and promoted a proxy war in Pakistan. Trade and transit agreements with Pakistan were subsequently severely affected.
The year 1975 was a watershed in Afghan-Pakistan relations. Pakistan blamed Afghanistan for unrest in
Bajaur agency
Bajaur District (, ), formerly Bajaur Agency, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Prior to 2018, Bajaur Agency was the northernmost component of the Federally Administered Tribal ...
and the bombing of a
PIA B707 at Islamabad airport in 1975.
The 130 passengers of PIA B707 had deplaned before the explosion took place and thus no one was harmed in the explosion inside the aircraft.
At the same time, Afghanistan also faced several short lived uprisings in retaliation in eastern Afghanistan and in
Panjshir valley, which Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan. There was also deployment of additional troops by both the countries along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The same year Kabul was also quietly negotiating with Islamabad to defuse the tensions between the two countries.
In early 1976, relations between the two countries improved and the leaders of the two countries, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Douad Khan, exchanged visits. Daoud Khan was also worried about the growing power of communists within his government so he started improving his relations with Pakistan and Iran.
The same year Pakistan also provided aid to Afghanistan to help alleviate the suffering caused by earthquake and floods in northern Afghanistan. This gesture by Pakistan had helped mollify Afghan public opinion about Pakistan.
By October 1976, the head of Pakistan intelligence agency,
Jilani was informing a US diplomat that Afghanistan was no longer creating troubles for Pakistan.
By August 1976 relations with Pakistan had improved to a high degree.
Later on, while promoting his new foreign policy doctrine, Daoud Khan came to a tentative agreement on a solution to the Pashtunistan problem with Ali Bhutto.
Diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
Khan met
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...
on a state visit to Moscow from 12 to 15 April 1977. He had asked for a private meeting with the Soviet leader to discuss with him the increased pattern of Soviet actions in Afghanistan. In particular, he discussed the intensified Soviet attempt to unite the two factions of the Afghan communist parties,
Parcham
Parcham (Pashto/ Dari: پرچم, ) was the more moderate socialist faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led by Afghan communist politician Babrak Karmal. It was later turned into the Watan (Homeland) Party with a mor ...
and
Khalq
Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...
. Brezhnev described Afghanistan's non-alignment as important to the USSR and essential to the promotion of peace in Asia, and warned him about the presence of experts from NATO countries stationed in the northern parts of Afghanistan. Daoud bluntly replied:
"we will never allow you to dictate to us how to run our country and whom to employ in Afghanistan. How and where we employ the foreign experts will remain the exclusive prerogative of the Afghan state. Afghanistan shall remain poor, if necessary, but free in its acts and decisions"
After returning to Afghanistan, he made plans that his government would downscale its relationship with the Soviet Union, and instead forge closer contacts with the West as well as the oil-rich
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Afghanistan signed a co-operative military treaty with
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and by 1977, the Afghan military and police force were being trained by
Egyptian Armed Forces
The Egyptian Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Egypt, Arab Republic of Egypt. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces directs (a) Egyptian Army forces, (b) the Egyptian Navy, (c) Egyptian Air Force and (d) Egyptian Air Defense Forces. ...
. This angered the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
because
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
took the same route in 1974 in distancing itself from the Soviet Union.
Communist coup and assassination
After the murder of
Mir Akbar Khyber, the prominent
Parchamite ideologue, his funeral on 19 April 1978 served as a rallying point for the Afghan communists. An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 people gathered to hear speeches by PDPA leaders such as
Nur Muhammad Taraki,
Hafizullah Amin and
Babrak Karmal.
Shocked by this demonstration of communist unity, Khan ordered the arrest of the PDPA leaders, but he acted too slowly. It took him a week to arrest Taraki, Karmal managed to escape to the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, and Amin was merely placed under house arrest. Khan had misjudged the situation and believed that Karmal's Parcham faction was the main communist threat. In fact, according to PDPA documents, Amin's Khalq faction had extensively infiltrated the military and they outnumbered Parcham cells by a factor of 2 to 3. Amin sent complete orders for the coup from his home while it was under armed guard, using his family members as messengers.
The army had been put on alert on 26 April because of a presumed coup. On 27 April 1978, a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
, beginning with troop movements at the military base at
Kabul International Airport, gained ground slowly over the next twenty-four hours as rebels battled units loyal to Daoud Khan in and around the capital.
Khan and most of his family were
assassinated during the coup by members of the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), known as the Homeland Party ( Dari: , ) from June 1990, was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 ...
(PDPA). The coup climaxed in
the Arg, the former chief royal palace, during the early hours of 28 April 1978, involving heavy fighting and many deaths. Shortly afterwards, the new military leaders announced that Khan had been killed for refusing to pledge allegiance to the new regime by Lieutenant Imamuddin of the 444th Commando Battalion. Upon Daoud's assassination, Afghan singer Fazal Ghani wrote the song “
Khalq
Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...
i Nizam” which mocked the former president for his baldness and for being “finished with one strike”, which was aired on
Radio Television Afghanistan.
Body and state funeral
On 28 June 2008, his body and those of his family were found in two separate mass graves outside the walls of
Pul-e-Charkhi prison,
District 12 of Kabul city. Initial reports indicate that sixteen corpses were in one grave and twelve in the other.
[ On 4 December 2008, the Afghan Health Ministry announced that Daoud's body had been identified on the basis of teeth molds and a small golden Quran, a present he had received from the ]King of Saudi Arabia
The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (; ''Malik al-Mamlakat al-ʿArabiyat as-Suʿūdiyya''), is head of state and of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi ...
, found near the body.
On 17 March 2009, General Daoud was given a state funeral. His only surviving child, Dorkhanai, attended the funeral.
Daoud and following family members that were killed on the same day on 28 April 1978 are buried at an incomplete hilltop tomb located 2.5 km west of Darul Aman Palace
Darul Aman Palace (; ; 'Abode of Peace' or, in a double meaning, 'Abode of Aman llah) is a three-story palace located in Darulaman locality, about south-west of the center of Kabul, Afghanistan. Surrounding the palace are the following buildin ...
, Kabul.
Public image
News sources in the 1970s claimed that General Daoud Khan said he was happiest when he could "light his American cigarettes with Soviet matches."
Mohammad Daoud Khan was retrospectively described as an "old-fashioned statesman, compassionate yet reserved and authoritarian" by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
s Nushin Arbabzadeh. Then-President Hamid Karzai hailed Khan's courage and patriotism in comments after his 2009 state funeral, saying he was "always thinking of the advancement and prosperity of the country." Some Afghans fondly consider him to be the best leader their country has had in modern times.
During his time as prime minister and president, Khan was highly unpopular among the non-Pashtun minorities in Afghanistan because of his alleged Pashtun favouritism. During his regime, all significant positions in the government, army and educational institutions were held by Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
. His attempt at the Pashtunisation of Afghanistan reached such an extent that the word 'Afghan' started being used to refer only to Pashtuns and not to the other minority groups who collectively formed a majority in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Armed Forces were allied with Daoud Khan and supported his goal of promoting Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
to higher posts in the Afghan Armed Forces. In 1963, Afghan Uzbeks
The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...
were barred from becoming high-ranking officers in the Afghan armed forces. Similarly only a few Tajiks
Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...
were allowed to hold the position of officer in the Afghan army, while other ethnicities were excluded from those positions, despite making up more than 50% of the Royal Afghan Army’s personnel.
Daoud Khan viewed the Afghan armed forces as a crucial vector in the Pashtunisation of Afghan state. The Panjshir uprising in 1975 is also believed to be result of anti-Pashtun frustration which had been building up in Panjshir valley as result of Daoud Khan's policies.
Personal life
In September 1934, Daoud Khan married his cousin, Princess
Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...
Zamina Begum (11 January 1917 – 28 April 1978), sister of King Zahir (15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007). The couple had four sons and four daughters:
*1. Zarlasht Daoud Khan (1953 – k. 1978)
*2. Khalid Daoud Khan (1947 – k. 1978). Had a son:
**Tariq Daoud Khan
*3. Wais Daoud Khan (1947 – k. 1978). Had four children:
** Turan Daoud Khan (1972–)
** Ares Daoud Khan (1973 – k. 1978)
** Waygal Daoud Khan (1976 – k. 1978)
** Zahra Khanum (1970–)
*4. Muhammad Umar Daoud Khan (1934 – k. 1978). Had two daughters:
** Hila Khanum (1961 – k. 1978)
** Ghazala Khanum (1964 – k. 1978)
*5. Dorkhanai Begum
*6. Shinkay Begum (1940 – k. 1978). Had two daughters:
** Ariane Heila Khanum Ghazi (1961–)
** Hawa Khanum Ghazi (1963–)
*7. Torpekay Begum. Had three children:
** Shah Mahmud Khan Ghazi
** Daud Khan Ghazi
** Zahra Khanum Ghazi
Ancestry
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Mohammad Daoud
1909 births
1978 deaths
20th-century heads of state of Afghanistan
Presidents of Afghanistan
Political office-holders of the Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)
Leaders who took power by coup
Deaths by firearm in Afghanistan
Defence ministers of Afghanistan
Foreign ministers of Afghanistan
Interior ministers of Afghanistan
Prime ministers of Afghanistan
People murdered in Afghanistan
Military personnel from Kabul
Politicians from Kabul
1970s in Afghanistan
Pashtun nationalists
Politicide perpetrators
Barakzai dynasty
Assassinated presidents in Asia
Asian politicians assassinated in the 1970s
Afghan politicians assassinated in the 20th century
20th-century Afghan politicians
Politicians assassinated in 1978
Ambassadors of Afghanistan to France
Politicians of Kabul Province