Kingdom of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, 1926–1973. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Kingdom of Afghanistan, also known as the Sublime State of Afghanistan, was a monarchy operating under a unitary state in 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 throne. The monarchy ended in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état. Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, was eventually overthrown by his own cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan who successfully ended the centuries-old monarchy and established a republic.
Seat of power: Kabul
Rulers
Amanullah Khan
King of Afghanistan, 1926–1929
On 14 January 1929, Amanullah abdicated and fled to neighbouring British India as the Afghan Civil War began to escalate. He did not fully succeed in achieving this objective due to an uprising by Habibullah Kalakani and his followers.
Portrait of Amanullah Khan: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Habibullāh Kalakāni
King of Afghanistan, 1928–1929
Habibullah Kalakani was the Emir of Afghanistan from 17 January to 13 October 1929, and the former leader of the Saqqawists. During the 1928–1929 Afghan Civil War, he contested the Afghan throne with King Amanullah Khan. No country recognized Kalakani as ruler of Afghanistan.
Portrait of Habibullāh Kalakāni: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Mohammed Nadir Shah
King of Afghanistan, 1929–1933
Mohammad Nadir Shah was King of Afghanistan from 1929 until his assassination in 1933. He became the king after crushing the Afghan Civil War of 1928–1929. Previously, he served as Minister of War, Afghan Ambassador to France, and as a general in the Royal Afghan Army.
Portrait of Mohammed Nadir Shah: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Inayatullah Khan
King of Afghanistan, 1929–1929
Inayatullah Khan Barakzai was the King of Afghanistan for three days in January 1929. Inayatullah's response was that he had never sought nor wished to be king and agreed to abdicate and proclaim Kalakani as king on 17 January 1929.
Portrait of Inayatullah Khan: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Mohammed Zahir Shah
King of Afghanistan, 1933–1973
Mohammad Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Ruling for almost 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the foundation of the Durrani Empire in the 18th century. He expanded Afghanistan's diplomatic relations with many countries, including with both sides of the Cold War.
Portrait of Mohammed Zahir Shah: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- The 150-room Darul Aman Palace was originally built in the 1920s, during the reign of Amanullah Khan.
- Amanullah Khan invited 22 architects from Germany and France to build the palace.
- On 27 September 1934, during the reign of Zahir Shah, the Kingdom of Afghanistan joined the League of Nations.
- Afghanistan was admitted into the United Nations on 29 August 1946.
Picture
Darul Aman Palace is a three-story palace located in Darulaman locality, about 16 km south-west of the center of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Image: ВАДИМ ЧУПРИНА, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.