Mohammed Daoud Khan
| Mohammed Daoud Khan | |
|---|---|
Daoud Khan in the 1960s
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| 1st President of Afghanistan | |
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In office 17 July 1973 – 28 April 1978 |
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| Preceded by | King Zahir Shah |
| Succeeded by |
Abdul Qadir (acting) Nur Muhammad Taraki |
| Prime Minister of Afghanistan | |
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In office 7 September 1953 – 10 March 1963 |
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| Monarch | Zahir Shah |
| Preceded by | Shah Mahmud Khan |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Yusuf |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 July 1909 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 28 April 1978 (aged 68) Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Political party | National Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | HRH Princess Zamina Begum, sister of King Zahir Shah |
| Children | 7 |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan or Daud Khan (July 18, 1909 – April 28, 1978) was the Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963, and later became the first President of Afghanistan. He overthrew the Musahiban monarchy of his first cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah and declared himself as the first President of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978 as a result of the Saur Revolution led by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Daoud Khan was known for his progressive policies, his efforts for the improvement of women's rights and for initiating two five-year modernization plans which increased the labor force by about 50 percent.
Prince Daoud was born in Kabul, the eldest son of the diplomat HRH Prince Mohammed Aziz Khan (1877–1933) (an older half-brother of King Mohammed Nadir Shah) and his wife, Khurshid Begum. He lost his father to an assassination in Berlin in 1933, while his father was serving as the Afghan Ambassador to Germany. He and his brother Naim Khan (1911–1978) then came under the tutelage of their uncle HRH Prince Hashim Khan (1884–1953). Daoud proved to be an apt student of politics. Educated in France, he served as Governor of the Eastern Province in 1934-35 and in 1938–39, and was Governor of Kandahar Province from 1935 to 1938.
In 1939, Daoud Khan was promoted to Lieutenant-General and commander of the important Kabul Army Corps until 1946. From 1946 to 1948, he served as Defense Minister, then Interior Minister from 1949 to 1951. In 1948, he served as Afghan Ambassador to France. In 1951, he was promoted to General and served in that capacity as Commander of the Central Corps of the Afghan Armed Forces in Kabul from 1951 to 1953.
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