List of leaders of Afghanistan

The following is a list of heads of state of Afghanistan since the establishment of the first Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709.

The Hotak Empire was formed after a successful uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan tribal chiefs from Kandahar against Mughal and Persian rule.

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

After the collapse of the Durrani Empire in 1823, the Barakzai dynasty founded the Emirate of Afghanistan (transformed into the Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926) and ruled Afghanistan until 1973, when the last King Mohammed Zahir Shah was deposed in a coup d'état, led by his first cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan. Daoud then established the Republic of Afghanistan, which lasted until the Saur Revolution in 1978.

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

The former president Hamid Karzai became the first ever democratically elected head of state of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004. The current president is Ashraf Ghani, since 29 September 2014.

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Standard of the King of Afghanistan, 1931–1973.

Standard of the President of Afghanistan, 2004–present.

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