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King Of Afghanistan
1933
1933
Profile: Mohamed
Zahir Shah
Tim Judah
Sunday September 23, 2001
The Observer
Born in 1914, Mohamed Zahir Shah, the former king of Afghanistan now being
touted as possible leader of a post-Taliban country, lives in a modest
four-bedroom villa north of Rome. He was educated in Kabul and in France.
He was proclaimed king in 1933, a few hours after his father had been
assassinated. He had previously helped his father and brothers reassert
government control during a period of lawlessness and had served as a
Minister. The young king took the title, 'Confident in God, Follower of the
Firm Religion of Islam'. Afghanistan's monarchy had been established in
1919.
During the early years of his reign, power was actually exercised by his
uncles, who ruled the country through the powerful office of Prime Minister.
Throughout the Second World War and afterwards, the king helped steer the
country on a path of neutrality. In 1953 his cousin Mohamed Daud became
premier but Zahir Shah forced his resignation in 1963, after which he began
to assert his own power to the full.
In 1964 he promulgated reforms which provided for a parliament, elections
and a free press. Members of the royal family were also banned from holding
public office. Parties were not strictly legal but tolerated. Social reforms
included attempts to improve the status of women. Foreign aid flowed from
both east and west but, apart from roads and irrigation projects, this help
made little impact outside the Kabul area.
Throughout his reign many potential advances and reforms were stymied
through factionalism and constant political infighting. Zahir Shah himself
was frequently accused of indecisiveness. However, his reign did see a long
period of peace to which many Afghans now look back with nostalgia.
During the early 1970s, however, Afghanistan was beset by drought and
famine and the demands of Pashtun tribes along the border with Pakistan for
autonomy.
Zahir Shah frequently traveled abroad and it was during one trip in 1973,
while taking mudbaths near Naples for his lumbago, that he was overthrown.
The coup was led by Mohamed Daud, who declared a republic and himself
president.
Although it is almost three decades since he has seen his homeland the
former king says he is more than willing to head a transitional government
as head of state rather than king.
There is a symmetrical
relationship between the commencement of the reign of the King of
Afghanistan and the stock market perils of 1933 and 2001.
To be Continued...
| Afghanistan
Encarta Encyclopedia
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I.
Introduction
Afghanistan,
officially Islamic State of Afghanistan, republic in southwestern
Asia, bounded on the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and
Tajikistan; on the east by China and the part of the disputed
territory of Jammu and Kashmir controlled by Pakistan; on the south by
Pakistan; and on the west by Iran. Afghanistan was a monarchy from
1747 to 1973, when the king was overthrown by military officers and
the country was proclaimed a republic; the republic dissolved in 1992
as the country erupted in civil war. Afghanistan lies across ancient
trade and invasion routes from Central Asia into India. This position
has been the greatest influence on its history because the invaders
often settled there. Today the population includes many different
ethnic groups. Most of the present borders of the country were drawn
up in the 19th century, when Afghanistan became a buffer state, or
neutral zone, between Russia and British India. Kabul
is the capital and largest city.
II.
Land and Resources
Afghanistan
is shaped roughly like a clenched fist with the thumb of the Vakhan
Corridor extended out to the northeast. Afghanistan covers an area of
652,225 sq km (251,825 sq mi). Its maximum length from east to west is
about 1,240 km (about 770 mi); from north to south it is about 1,015
km (about 630 mi). The northwestern, western, and southern border
areas are primarily desert plains and rocky ranges, whereas the
southeast and northeast borders rise progressively higher into the
major, glacier-covered peaks of the Hindu
Kush, an extension of the western Himalayas. The northern border
is formed by the Amu
Darya river and its tributary, the Panj.
A.
Natural Regions
High
mountains cover much of Afghanistan, with about one-half of the land
over 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation. Small glaciers and year-round
snowfields are common. The highest peak, Nowshak (Noshaq), rises 7,485
m (24,557 ft) on the northeast border and is a lower spur of the
Tirich Mir peak in Pakistan. The Hindu Kush range extends across the
country in a southwesterly direction from the Vakhan Corridor almost
to the Iranian border. From the Hindu Kush, other lower ranges radiate
in all directions. Some of the major mountain systems include the
Pamirs in the upper northeast of the Vakhan Corridor, the Badakhshan
Ranges in the northeast, the Paropamisus Range in the north, and the Safed
Koh range, which forms part of the frontier between Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Lowland areas are concentrated in the south and west and
include the Turkistan Plains, the Herat-Ferah Lowlands of the extreme
northwest, the Sistan Basin and Helmand River valley of the southwest,
and the Rigestan Desert of the south.
Except
for the river valleys and a few places in the lowlands where
underground fresh water makes irrigation possible, agriculture is
difficult. Only 12 percent of the land is cultivated. Moreover, a war
with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the 1980s and
the subsequent civil war in the 1990s left some of that land unusable
because of neglect, the planting of explosive mines, and other
problems. In general, sheep and goat grazing make up the main
agricultural land use. In eastern and southeastern Afghanistan, forest
lands amounted to 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres), or 2
percent of the country's land area in 1995. The ravages of war, the
scarcity of fuel, and the need for firewood for cooking and heating
have caused rapid deforestation.
Because
Afghanistan has so many high mountains, the passes through them have
been of profound importance in both the history of invasion of the
country and in commerce. In the 320s BC Alexander the
Great invaded the country through the Kushan Pass (about 4,370 m/about
14,340 ft) in the west and left it to the east through the low Khyber
Pass (1,072 m/
3,517 ft) to invade India. These same passes were used by the Mughal
emperor Babur to conquer both Afghanistan and India in the 1500s. The
famous Salang Pass (3,880 m/12,720 ft) and its Soviet-built tunnel in
the central Hindu Kush was one of the main routes the Soviets used to
invade Afghanistan in 1979. |
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