Humaira Begum
| Humaira Begum | |
|---|---|
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Humaira Begum at the White House with her husband, Mohammed Zahir Shah.
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| Queen consort of Afghanistan | |
| Tenure | 8 November 1933 – 17 July 1973 |
| Installation | 8 November 1933 |
| Predecessor | Mah Parwar Begum |
| Successor | Monarchy abolished (Zamina Begum as First Lady of Afghanistan) |
| Born | 24 July 1918 Emirate of Afghanistan |
| Died | 26 June 2002 (aged 83) Rome, Italy |
| Burial | Maranjan Hill |
| Spouse | Mohammed Zahir Shah |
| Issue | Princess Bilqis Begum Prince Muhammed Akbar Khan Crown Prince Ahmad Shah Khan Princess Maryam Begum Prince Muhammed Nadir Khan Prince Shah Mahmoud Khan Prince Muhammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan Prince Mir Wais Khan |
| House | Barakzai |
| Father | Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan |
| Mother | Zarin Begum |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Humaira Begum (24 July 1918 – 26 June 2002) (Pashto: حميرا بېگم) was the wife and first cousin of King Mohammed Zahir Shah and the last Queen consort of Afghanistan.
Humaira Begum was the daughter of Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan and his first wife Zarin Begum. She married her first cousin, the Crown Prince of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir on 7 November 1931 in Kabul. Together they had six sons and two daughters:
On 8 November 1933 after the assassination of her father in law Mohammed Nadir Shah her husband was proclaimed King and Humaira became Queen of Afghanistan.
In 1946 Queen Humaira created the Women's Society which was the first ever women's institute in Afghanistan. In 1959 she supported the call by the Prime minister Mohammed Daoud Khan for women to voluntary remove their veil by removing her own.
In 1973, while her husband was in Italy undergoing eye surgery as well as therapy for lumbago, his cousin and former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan staged a coup d'état and established a republican government. Daoud Khan had been removed from office by Zahir Shah a decade earlier. In the August following this coup, Zahir Shah abdicated rather than risk an all-out civil war.
Humaira and Zahir Shah spent their twenty-nine years in exile in Italy living in a relatively modest four-bedroom villa in the affluent community of Olgiata on Via Cassia, north of the city of Rome. The king never had feathered any nests in foreign bank accounts, and he depended on the generosity of friends.
Just weeks before she was to return to Afghanistan and be reunited with her husband who recently had returned, Begum was admitted to hospital with breathing problems and heart trouble and died two days later.
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Wikipedia