King zahir shah afghanistan

During Mohammad Zahir Shah's 40-year rule of Afghanistan, the country was transformed into a modern democracy.

In 2002, the ex-king returned home after nearly three decades in exile, to become a unifying symbol of peace and freedom among his former people.

Born in Kabul in 1914, Zahir Shah was educated in France.

Mohammed zahir shah family tree

The last monarch of a 200-year-old Pashtun dynasty, he ascended the throne, aged 19, in 1933, following the assassination of his father, Nadir Shah.

During World War II, the king safeguarded his country's neutrality and, throughout his reign, Afghanistan enjoyed a period of stability.

Foreign advisers helped the king modernise his nation and, in 1964, his new constitution transformed the country into one with free elections, civil rights, female emancipation and universal suffrage.

He built the country's first university, and developed cultural and commercial bonds with the West.

Travellers began to view Afghani