Editing Mohammad Daoud Khan (section)

== Presidency and death ==
{{Further|President of Afghanistan}}
[[File:Daudkhan003.jpg|thumb|200px|Daoud Khan visiting [[National Iranian Radio and Television]] in Iran, c. 1974.]]
Khan was unsatisfied with King Zahir Shah's constitutional parliamentary system and lack of progress. He planned rebellion for more than a year<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/28.htm|title=Afghanistan – Daoud's Republic, July 1973 – April 1978|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> before he seized power from the King on 17 July 1973. The [[1973 Afghan coup d'état|coup was bloodless]], and backed by a large number of army officers who were loyal to him, facing no resistance.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REwmr2bFYfkC&pg=PA57|title=Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective|first=Anthony|last=Arnold|date= 1985|publisher=Hoover Press|isbn=978-0817982133|via=Google Books}}</ref> Departing from tradition, and for the first time in Afghan history, he did not proclaim himself ''[[Shah]]'', establishing instead a [[republic]] with himself as [[President (government title)|president]]. The role of pro-communist [[Parchamite]] officers in the coup led to him receiving the nickname "''Red Prince''" by some.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/21/afghanistan|title=Nushin Arbabzadah: Sardar Daud Khan remembered|date=21 March 2009|website=the Guardian}}</ref>

King Zahir Shah's constitution establishing a parliament with elected members and the separation of powers was replaced by a now largely nominated [[loya jirga]] (meaning "grand assembly"). The parliament was disbanded.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksC-BL2WivUC|title=Law in Afghanistan: A Study of the Constitutions, Matrimonial Law and the Judiciary|first=Mohammad Hashim|last=Kamali|date=1985|publisher=Brill|isbn=9004071288|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Although he was close to the Soviet Union during his prime ministership, Khan continued the Afghan policy of [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-alignment]] with the Cold War superpowers. Nor did he bring drastic pro-Soviet change to the economic system.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2643235|title=Afghanistan under Daud: Relations with Neighboring States|author=Mukerjee, Dilip|year=1975|journal=Asian Survey|volume=15|issue=4|pages=301–312|doi=10.2307/2643235|jstor=2643235}}</ref>

In Khan's new cabinet, many ministers were fresh faced politicians, and only Dr Abdul Majid was a ministerial carryover from Khan's Prime Minister era (1953–1963); Majid was Minister of Education from 1953 to 1957, and from 1973 was appointed Minister of Justice until 1977. Initially about half of the new cabinet were either current members, former members or sympathizers of the [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA]], but over time their influence would be eradicated by Khan.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAHna6aqtX4C&pg=PR49|title=Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan|first=Ludwig W.|last=Adamec|date=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810878150|via=Google Books}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" width=60% style="float:right; margin:0 15px;"
!colspan="9" align="center" | Daoud cabinet (1973)
|-
!Office
!Incumbent
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|Deputy Prime Minister
|[[Mohammad Hassan Sharq]]
|2 August 1973
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Education (Afghanistan)|Minister of Education]]
|[[Niamatullah Pazhwak]]
|2 August 1973
|December 1974
|-
|[[Ministry of Agriculture (Afghanistan)|Minister of Agriculture]]
|[[Ghulam Jalani Bakhtari]]
|2 August 1973
|September 1975
|-
|[[Ministry of Communications (Afghanistan)|Minister of Communications]]
|[[Abdul Hamid Mohtat]]
|2 August 1973
|April 1974
|-
|Minister of Frontier and Tribal Affairs
|[[Pacha Gul Wafadar]]
|2 August 1973
|April 1974
|-
|[[Minister of Interior (Afghanistan)|Minister of Interior]]
|[[Faiz Mohammed (Afghan communist)|Faiz Mohammad]]
|2 August 1973
|September 1975
|-
|[[Minister of Finance (Afghanistan)|Minister of Finance]]
|Abdulillah
|2 August 1973
|
|-
|[[Minister of Justice (Afghanistan)|Minister of Justice]]
|Abdul Majid
|2 August 1973
|
|-
|Minister of Mines, Industries
|Abdul Qayyum
|2 August 1973
|
|-
|[[Minister of Information (Afghanistan)|Minister of Information]]
|Abdul Rahim Nawin
|2 August 1973
|
|-
|[[Minister of Health (Afghanistan)|Minister of Health]]
|Nazar Mohammad Sikandar
|2 August 1973
|
|}

A coup against Khan, which may have been planned before he took power, was repressed shortly after his seizure of power. In October 1973, [[Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal]], a former prime minister and a highly respected former diplomat, was arrested in a coup plot and died in prison before his trial set for December 1973. This was at a time when Parchamites controlled the Ministry of Interior under circumstances corroborating the widespread belief that he had been tortured to death by the leftists. According to one account, Daoud Khan planned to appoint Maiwandwal as prime minister, leading to the [[Parcham|Parchamite]] Minister of Interior, [[Faiz Mohammed (Afghan communist)|Faiz Mohammad]], along with fellow communists, framing Maiwandwal in a coup plot, then torturing him to death without Daoud Khan's knowledge. [[Louis Dupree (professor)|Louis Dupree]] wrote that Maiwandwal, one of few Afghan politicians with an international reputation, could have been a leader in a democratic process and therefore a target for communists.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzIDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT371|title=Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan: 1700–2014|first=Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan|last=MSc|date=2015|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1503573000|via=Google Books}}</ref> One of the army generals arrested under suspicion of this plot with Maiwandwal was [[Mohammed Asif Safi]], who was later released. Khan personally apologized to him for the arrest.

In 1974, he signed one of two economic packages that aimed to greatly increase the capability of the Afghan military. At this time, there were increasing concerns that Afghanistan lacked a modern army comparable to the militaries of Iran and Pakistan.

In 1975, his government [[Nationalization|nationalized]] all banks in Afghanistan, including [[Da Afghanistan Bank]], Afghanistan's [[central bank]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://afghanmagazine.com/post/186474964049/the-life-of-a-102-year-old-afghan-entrepreneur-an|title=The Life of a 102-year-old Afghan Entrepreneur: An Economic Perspective|website=AfghanMagazine}}</ref>

Khan wanted to lessen the country's dependence on the Soviet Union and attempted to promote a new foreign policy. In 1975 he visited some countries in the Middle East, including [[Egypt]], Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, all of which were anti-Soviet states,<ref name="auto6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86w4DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT92|title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers|first=Peter|last=Tomsen|date=2013|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1610394123|via=Google Books}}</ref> to ask for aid,<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXQ6j9LqU9IC&pg=PA30|title=Politics of the Dispossessed: Superpowers and Developments in the Middle East|first=Hafizullah|last=Emadi|date= 2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0275973650|via=Google Books}}</ref> He also visited [[India]].<ref name="auto5"/> Regarding the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] summit in [[Havana]], Khan said that [[Cuba]] "only pretends to be non-aligned."<ref name="auto6"/> Surprisingly, he did not renew the Pashtunistan agitation; relations with Pakistan improved thanks to interventions from the US and the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]]. These moves alerted the Soviets.

===Constitution of 1977===
In 1977, he established his own political party, the [[National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan|National Revolutionary Party]], which became the focus of all political activity. In January 1977, a [[loya jirga]] approved a new constitution. It wrote in several new articles and amended others - one of these was the creation of a [[President (government title)|presidential]] one-party system of government.

He also began to moderate his socialist policies, although the 1977 constitution had a nationalist bend in addition to previous socialism and Islam.<ref name="auto3"/> In 1978, there was a rift with the PDPA. Internally he attempted to distance himself from the communist elements within the coup. He was concerned about the tenor of many communists in his government and Afghanistan's growing dependency on the Soviet Union. These moves were highly criticized by [[Moscow]], which feared that Afghanistan would soon become closer to the West, especially the [[United States]]; the Soviets had always feared that the United States could find a way to influence the government in Kabul.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" width=60% style="float:right; margin:0 15px;"
!colspan="9" align="center" | Daoud cabinet (1977)
|-
!Office
!Incumbent
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|[[Ministry of Planning (Afghanistan)|Minister of Planning]]
|[[Ali Ahmad Khurram]]
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Minister of Defence (Afghanistan)|Minister of Defence]]
|[[Ghulam Haidar Rasuli]]
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of the Interior (Afghanistan)|Minister of Interior]]
|[[Abdul Qadir Nuristani]]
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Education (Afghanistan)|Minister of Education]]
|Ibrahim Majid Siraj
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)|Minister of Finance]]
|Sayyid Abdullah
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|Minister of Commerce
|Mohammad Khan Jalalar
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|Ministry of Public Works
|Ghausuddin Fayeq
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Border and Tribes (Afghanistan)|Minister of Border Affairs]]
|Abdul Qayyum
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)|Minister of Justice]]
|Wafiyullah Sami'i
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Communications (Afghanistan)|Minister of Communications]]
|Abdul Karim Atayi
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Mines, Industries|Minister of Mines, Industries]]
|Abdul Tawab Asefi
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Water, Power (Afghanistan)|Minister of Water, Power]]
|Juma Muhammad Muhammadi
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Higher Education (Afghanistan)|Minister of Higher Education]]
|Ghulam Siddiq Muhibi
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Health (Afghanistan)|Minister of Health]]
|Abdullah Omar
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry of Agriculture (Afghanistan)|Minister of Agriculture]]
|Azizullah Wasefi
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|Ministry of Information
|Abdul Rahim Navin
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|[[Ministry without portfolio]]
|Abdul Majid
|13 March 1977
|
|-
|Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
|Wahid Abdullah
|13 March 1977
|
|}
During his latter years in charge, his purge of communists in his government strained his relations with them, while his desire for one person rule created conflicts with the liberals who had been in charge during the monarchy. At the same time, his persecution of religious conservatives engendered enmity with them and their followers as well.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksC-BL2WivUC&q=republican+coup+1973+afghanistan&pg=PA51 |title = Law in Afghanistan: A Study of the Constitutions, Matrimonial Law and the Judiciary|isbn = 9004071288|last1 = Kamali|first1 = Mohammad Hashim|date = 1985| publisher=Brill }}</ref>

===Relations with Pakistan===
{{further|Durand Line}}
As during his time as prime minister, Daoud Khan again pressed on the question of [[Pashtunistan]], again leading to sometimes tense relations with Pakistan.

Daoud hosted General Secretary of the [[National Awami Party (Wali)|National Awami Party]] [[Khan Abdul Wali Khan]], [[Ajmal Khattak]], Juma Khan Sufi, Baluch guerrillas, and others. Khan's government and forces also commenced training of anti-Pakistani groups to conduct militant action and sabotage in Pakistan. The campaign was significant enough that even one of Bhutto's senior colleagues, minister of interior and head of the provincial branch of [[Pakistan Peoples Party|Bhutto's party]] of/in the then-[[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|North-West Frontier Province]] (renamed [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] in 2010), [[Hayat Sherpao]], was killed, ostensibly on the orders of the later-acquitted Awami Party. As a result, Afghanistan's already strained relationship with Pakistan further dipped and Pakistan likewise started similar kinds of cross-border interference. By 1975, [[List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan|Pakistani Prime Minister]] [[Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto]], through its [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI), had begun to engage in promoting a [[proxy war]] in Afghanistan.

Since coming to power, under pressure from the PDPA and to increase domestic Pashtun support, Khan took a stronger line on the Pashtunistan issue and promoted a proxy war in Pakistan. Trade and transit agreements with Pakistan were subsequently severely affected.

The year 1975 was a watershed in Afghan-Pakistan relations. Pakistan blamed Afghanistan for unrest in [[Bajaur District|Bajaur agency]] and the bombing of a [[Pakistan International Airline|PIA]] B707 at Islamabad airport in 1975.<ref name="ISI-2016">{{cite book |last1=Sirrs |first1=Owen L. |title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate: Covert Action and Internal Operations |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-19608-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzGTDAAAQBAJ&q=b707 |language=en}}</ref> The 130 passengers of PIA B707 had deplaned before the explosion took place and thus no one was harmed in the explosion inside the aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ranter |first1=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-373C AP-AWV Islamabad International Airport (ISB) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19750705-1 |website=aviation-safety.net |access-date=28 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Blast Hits a Jet in Pakistan After Passengers Debark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/07/archives/blast-hits-a-jet-in-pakistan-after-passengers-debark.html |website=The New York Times |date=7 July 1975}}</ref>

At the same time, Afghanistan also faced several short lived uprisings in retaliation in eastern Afghanistan and in [[Panjshir Valley#History|Panjshir valley]], which Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan. There was also deployment of additional troops by both the countries along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.<ref name="ISI-2016"/>

The same year Kabul was also quietly negotiating with Islamabad to defuse the tensions between the two countries.<ref name="Soviet-1985"/> In early 1976, relations between the two countries improved and the leaders of the two countries, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Douad Khan, exchanged visits. Daoud Khan was also worried about the growing power of communists within his government so he started improving his relations with Pakistan and Iran.<ref name="ISI-2016"/> The same year Pakistan also provided aid to Afghanistan to help alleviate the suffering caused by earthquake and floods in northern Afghanistan. This gesture by Pakistan had helped mollify Afghan public opinion about Pakistan.<ref name="Soviet-1985">{{cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=Anthony |title=Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective |date=1985 |publisher=Hoover Press |isbn=978-0-8179-8213-3 |pages=63–64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REwmr2bFYfkC&pg=PA64 |language=en}}</ref>

By October 1976, the head of Pakistan intelligence agency, [[Ghulam Jilani Khan|Jilani]] was informing a US diplomat that Afghanistan was no longer creating troubles for Pakistan.<ref name="ISI-2016"/> By August 1976 relations with Pakistan had improved to a high degree.<ref name="Soviet-1985"/> Later on, while promoting his new foreign policy doctrine, Daoud Khan came to a tentative agreement on a solution to the Pashtunistan problem with Ali Bhutto.<ref>{{cite web |title=Afghanistan – Mohammad Zahir Shah (1933–73) {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Afghanistan/Mohammad-Zahir-Shah-1933-73 |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=28 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union ===
{{Further|Afghanistan–Russia relations}}
Khan met [[Leonid Brezhnev]] on a state visit to Moscow from 12 to 15 April 1977. He had asked for a private meeting with the Soviet leader to discuss with him the increased pattern of Soviet actions in Afghanistan. In particular, he discussed the intensified Soviet attempt to unite the two factions of the Afghan communist parties, [[Parcham]] and [[Khalq]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Hamid Karzai: President of Afghanistan |last=Wolny |first=Philip |year=2007 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4042-1902-1 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENd1WzPTqe8C&pg=PA8 }}</ref> Brezhnev described Afghanistan's non-alignment as important to the USSR and essential to the promotion of peace in Asia, and warned him about the presence of experts from NATO countries stationed in the northern parts of Afghanistan. Daoud bluntly replied:<blockquote>"we will never allow you to dictate to us how to run our country and whom to employ in Afghanistan. How and where we employ the foreign experts will remain the exclusive prerogative of the Afghan state. Afghanistan shall remain poor, if necessary, but free in its acts and decisions"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghaus |first=Abdul Samad |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3616 |title=The fall of Afghanistan: an insider's account |date=1988 |publisher=Pergamon-Brassey's Intern. Defense Publ |isbn=978-0-08-034701-1 |location=Washington |pages=179}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pazira |first=Nelofer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGVxdbQ-33wC&pg=PA70 |title=A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=0-7432-9000-3 |page=70}}</ref> </blockquote>{{quote box
 |quote  = "All of his life experience is evidence that Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan would not bow to foreigners, regardless of their nationality. Particularly, in his last meeting with [Soviet leader] Leonid Brezhnev, he proved his bravery and patriotism. But KGB deceptions and the games that they played could have benefited from Daoud Khan's influence in the armed forces. So Daoud Khan, indirectly and with total unawareness, could have been manipulated by the KGB."
 |author = [[Sayed Makhdoom Raheen]] in 2003<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1103837.html|title=Afghanistan: History of 1973 Coup Sheds Light on Relations With Pakistan|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=9 April 2008 |last1=Synovitz |first1=Ron }}</ref>
 |align  = right
 |salign = right
 |width  = 25em
 |bgcolor= Lavender
}}

After returning to Afghanistan, he made plans that his government would downscale its relationship with the Soviet Union, and instead forge closer contacts with the West as well as the oil-rich [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Pahlavi dynasty|Iran]]. Afghanistan signed a co-operative military treaty with [[Egypt]] and by 1977, the Afghan military and police force were being trained by [[Egyptian Armed Forces]]. This angered the [[Soviet Union]] because [[Egypt]] took the same route in 1974 in distancing itself from the Soviet Union.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

=== Communist coup and assassination ===
{{Further|Saur Revolution}}
[[File:Day after Saur revolution in Kabul (773).jpg|thumb|250px|Outside the front gates of [[Arg (Kabul)|the Arg]] (the presidential palace, formerly the chief royal palace) in Kabul, the day after the [[Saur Revolution]] (28 April 1978)]]

After the murder of [[Mir Akbar Khyber]], the prominent [[Parcham|Parchamite]] ideologue, his funeral on 19 April 1978 served as a rallying point for the Afghan communists. An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 people gathered to hear speeches by PDPA leaders such as [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]], [[Hafizullah Amin]] and [[Babrak Karmal]].<ref>Ishiyama, John (2005). "The Sickle and the Minaret: Communist Successor Parties in Yemen and Afghanistan After the Cold War". ''Middle East Review of International Affairs''</ref>

Shocked by this demonstration of communist unity, Khan ordered the arrest of the PDPA leaders, but he acted too slowly. It took him a week to arrest Taraki, Karmal managed to escape to the [[USSR]], and Amin was merely placed under house arrest. Khan had misjudged the situation and believed that Karmal's Parcham faction was the main communist threat. In fact, according to PDPA documents, Amin's Khalq faction had extensively infiltrated the military and they outnumbered Parcham cells by a factor of 2 to 3. Amin sent complete orders for the coup from his home while it was under armed guard, using his family members as messengers.

The army had been put on alert on 26 April because of a presumed coup. On 27 April 1978, a [[coup d'état]], beginning with troop movements at the military base at [[Kabul International Airport]], gained ground slowly over the next twenty-four hours as rebels battled units loyal to Daoud Khan in and around the capital.

Khan and most of his family were [[assassinated]] during the coup by members of the [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]] (PDPA). The coup climaxed in [[Arg (Kabul)|the Arg]], the former chief royal palace, during the early hours of 28 April 1978,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghaus |first=Abdul Samad |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3616 |title=The fall of Afghanistan: an insider's account |date=1988 |publisher=Pergamon-Brassey's Intern. Defense Publ |isbn=978-0-08-034701-1 |location=Washington |pages=200}}</ref> involving heavy fighting and many deaths.<ref>"There was, therefore, little to hinder the assault mounted by the rebel 4th Armored Brigade, led by Major Mohammad [[Aslam Watanjar]], who had also been prominent in Daoud's own coup five years before. Watanjar first secured the airport, where the other coup leader, Colonel Abdul Qadir, left by helicopter for the [[Bagram Airfield|Bagram air base]]. There he took charge and organized air strikes on the royal palace, where Daoud and the presidential guard were conducting a desperate defense. Fighting continued the whole day and into the night, when the defenders were finally overwhelmed. Daoud and almost all of his family members, including women and children, died in the fighting. Altogether there were possibly as many as two thousand fatalities, both military and civilian." p. 88 of Ewans, Martin (2002) ''Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics'' HarperCollins, New York, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rpS-j5uSetAC&pg=RA1-PA88&sig=QtdTpTnFrys0BuZxn37-RdB8QEU p. 88] {{ISBN|0-06-050507-9}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the new military leaders announced that Khan had been killed for refusing to pledge allegiance to the new regime by Lieutenant Imamuddin of the 444th Commando Battalion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/29/newsid_2970000/2970317.stm|title=1978: Afghan coup rebels claim victory|date=29 April 1978|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Upon Daoud's assassination, Afghan singer Fazal Ghani wrote the song “[[Khalq]]i Nizam” which mocked the former president for his baldness and for being “finished with one strike”, which was aired on [[Radio Television Afghanistan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-05 |title=Fazal Ghani (PDPA) Fazal ghani فضل غنی ورته وګنډی خراړی - video Dailymotion |url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2irr3e |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Dailymotion |language=en}}</ref>