Mohammed Zahir Shah Biography

Mohammed Zahir Shah was the king of Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973 and during his time as the monarch he transformed the country in more ways than one as a result of which he is regarded as a towering figure in the country’s history. Mohammad Zahir Shah was educated in his native Kabul and in France and right from the time he was a teenager he served as a diplomatic envoy of his country to France. After returning to his native Afghanistan he served in different capacities in the government and in 1933, when he was only 19 years old he became the king after the assassination of his father. Shah proved himself to be a very able ruler as he allowed people more experienced than himself to govern the country while he gathered enough experience and in 1963 he assumed full control of the country. He ushered in a new era of democratic republic, established a parliament and did a lot to make sure that the country moved in the right direction. Shah wanted to modernise Afghanistan right from his early days as the king but in 1973 his government was overthrown and he spent nearly thirty years in exile. However, he did return to Afghanistan and helped establish a democratic government after the Taliban were overthrown.