Amir_of_Afghanistan

List of heads of state of Afghanistan

List of heads of state of Afghanistan

Heads of state of Afghanistan since the first Afghan state from 1709

"Emir of Afghanistan" and "Leader of Afghanistan" redirect here. For the leader of the Islamic Emirate, see Supreme Leader of Afghanistan.

This article lists the heads of state of Afghanistan since the foundation of the first modern Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709.

History

The Hotak Empire was formed after a successful uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan tribal chiefs from the Kandahar region against Mughal and Safavid Persian rule.[1][2][3]

After a long series of wars, the Hotak Empire was eventually replaced by the Durrani Afghan Empire, founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747.[4][5]

After the collapse of the Durrani Empire in 1823, the Barakzai dynasty founded the Emirate of Kabul, later known as the Emirate of Afghanistan. The Durrani dynasty regained power in 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, when former ruler Shah Shujah Durrani seized the throne under the British auspices. Shah Shujah was assassinated in 1842, following the British retreat. Afterwards the Barakzai dynasty regained power, eventually transformed the Emirate into the Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926, and ruled the country (with an interruption in 1929) until the last king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, was deposed in the 1973 coup d'état, led by his first cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan. Despite being part of the Barakzai dynasty, Daoud Khan departed from tradition and did not proclaim himself Shah, instead abolished the monarchy and established the Republic of Afghanistan, with himself as President.[6][7] The Republic lasted until the PDPA–led Saur Revolution in 1978.[8]

Since 1978, Afghanistan has been in a state of continuous internal conflict and foreign interventions.

President Hamid Karzai became the first ever democratically elected head of state of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004. His successor, Ashraf Ghani, was in power from 29 September 2014 to 15 August 2021, when he fled the country as Kabul fell to the Taliban following its 2021 offensive.[9]

Upon its recapture of Kabul, the Taliban reinstated the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its supreme leader since 2016, Islamic scholar Hibatullah Akhundzada, de facto succeeded Ghani as head of state.[10]

List of heads of state

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Monarchs

Quick Facts Monarch of Afghanistan, Details ...

Hotak Empire (1709–1738)

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Durrani Empire (1747–1823)

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Emirate of Kabul / Emirate of Afghanistan (1823–1926)

More information Name, Lifespan ...

Kingdom of Afghanistan (1926–1929)

More information Name, Lifespan ...

Saqqawist Emirate and the 1928–1929 civil war

More information Name, Lifespan ...

Kingdom of Afghanistan (restored; 1929–1973)

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Local monarchs

Some rulers tried to take advantage of internal conflicts in Afghanistan to claim the throne. However, their rule was limited only to certain areas.

More information Name, Lifespan ...

Non-monarchs

More information Name, Portrait ...

Family tree of monarchs

More information Family tree of Afghan monarchs ...

Timeline from 1880

Hibatullah AkhundzadaAshraf GhaniHamid KarzaiMullah OmarBurhanuddin RabbaniSibghatullah MojaddediMohammad NajibullahHaji Mohammad ChamkaniBabrak KarmalHafizullah AminNur Muhammad TarakiAbdul Qadir (Afghan communist)Mohammad Daoud KhanSalemaiMohammad Zahir ShahMohammad Nadir ShahHabibullāh KalakāniInayatullah KhanAmanullah KhanNasrullah KhanHabibullah KhanAbdur Rahman Khan

Standards of heads of state

See also

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Most notably Herat (see Herat campaign of 1862–1863) and Qandahar (see Conquest of Kandahar).
  2. [N 2]
    Most sources list 17 January 1929, the day that Kalakāni captured Kabul, as the date that his reign began.[11][12] However, he had been formally claiming the title of emir since 14 December 1928.[13]
  3. [N 3]
    Kalakāni referred to himself as both "king"[14] and "emir".[15]
  4. [N 4]
    "The late King was always fondly referred to by all Afghans, cutting across ethnic boundaries, as "Baba-e-Millat" or 'Father of the Nation', a position given to him in the country's Constitution promulgated in January 2004, about two years after the collapse of Taliban rule. The title of the 'Father of the Nation' dissolves with his death." "Last King of Afghanistan dies at 92". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.

References

  1. [1]
    "An Outline Of The History Of Persia During The Last Two Centuries (A.D. 1722-1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 29. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  2. [2]
    Otfinoski, Steven (2004). Afghanistan. Infobase Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 0-8160-5056-2. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  3. [3]
    Malleson, George Bruce (1878). History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878. London: Elibron.com. p. 227. ISBN 1-4021-7278-8. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  4. [4]
    "Afghanistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747.
  5. [5]
    "Last Afghan empire". Louis Dupree, Nancy Hatch Dupree and others. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Version. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  6. [6]
    "Afghan King Overthrown; A Republic Is Proclaimed". The New York Times. 18 July 1973. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  7. [7]
    Barfield, Thomas (25 March 2012). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics). Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691154411.
  8. [8]
    William Borders (28 April 1978). "Coup Is Reported in Afghanistan". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  9. [9]
    "President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban enters Kabul". South China Morning Post. Reuters. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  10. [10]
  11. [11]
    Qassem, Dr Ahmad Shayeq (28 March 2013). Afghanistan's Political Stability: A Dream Unrealised. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 175. ISBN 9781409499428.
  12. [12]
    Wazir, Azmatullah Khan (2002). The immediate solution of Afghan crisis. A.K. Wazir. p. 8.
  13. [13]
    Muḥammad, Fayz̤; McChesney, R. D. (1999). Kabul under siege: Fayz Muhammad's account of the 1929 Uprising. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 37. ISBN 9781558761544.
  14. [14]
    "ExecutedToday.com » 1929: Habibullah Kalakani, Tajik bandit-king". 1 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  15. [15]
    Muḥammad, Fayz̤; Hazārah, Fayz̤ Muḥammad Kātib; Muḥammad, Faiḍ (1999). Kabul Under Siege: Fayz Muhammad's Account of the 1929 Uprising. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-55876-155-1.
  16. [16]
    "Rebel Becomes King in Afghanistan". The New York Times. 18 January 1929. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  17. [17]
    "Afghan Usurper Yields to New King". The New York Times. 24 October 1929. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  18. [18]
    "Amanullah Hungry in Flight to India". The New York Times. 26 May 1929. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  19. [19]
    "Nadir Khan is Elected Amir of Afghanistan". The New York Times. 18 October 1929. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  20. [20]
    "King of Afghanistan Is Slain at Kabul; Stable Boy Won Throne by Military Skill". The New York Times. 9 November 1933. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  21. [21]
    "There was, therefore, little to hinder the assault mounted by the rebel 4th Armored Brigade, led by Major Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, who had also been prominent in Daoud's own coup five years before. Watanjar first secured the airport, where the other coup leader, Colonel Abdul Qadir, left by helicopter for the Bagram air base. There he took charge and organized air strikes on the presidential palace, where Daoud and the presidential guard were conducting a desperate defense. Fighting continued the whole day and into the night, when the defenders were finally overwhelmed. Daoud and almost all of his family members, including women and children, died in the fighting. Altogether there were possibly as many as two thousand fatalities, both military and civilian." p. 88 of Ewans, Martin (2002) Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics HarperCollins, New York, Page 88 ISBN 0-06-050507-9
  22. [22]
    "1978: Afghan coup rebels claim victory". 29 April 1978 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  23. [23]
    Ghaus, Abdul Samad (1988). The fall of Afghanistan: an insider's account. Washington: Pergamon-Brassey's Intern. Defense Publ. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-08-034701-1.
  24. [24]
    "How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palace". BBC. 27 December 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  25. [25]
    "Afghan Fundamentalists Sweep Into Kabul". The New York Times. 27 September 1996. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  26. [26]
    "Bonn Agreement" (PDF). United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. 5 December 2001. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  27. [27]
    "Security Council 1988 Committee Amends 105 Entries on Its Sanctions List | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  28. [28]
    David S. Rohde with Dexter Filkins (13 November 2001). "Taliban Troops Abandon Capital Without a Fight". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  29. [29]
    David S. Rohde with Norimitsu Onishi (8 December 2001). "TALIBAN ABANDON LAST STRONGHOLD; OMAR IS NOT FOUND". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  30. [30]
    Dam, Bette (2019). "The Secret Life of Mullah Omar" (PDF). Zomia Center. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  31. [31]
    Trofimov, Yaroslav (13 September 2021). "As Taliban Seek International Acceptance, Countries Seek to Engage—but Stop Short of Recognition". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
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