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| See also: | Other events of 1972 List of years in Afghanistan | ||||
Events in the year 1972 in Afghanistan .
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| See also: | Other events of 1972 List of years in Afghanistan | ||||
Events in the year 1972 in Afghanistan .
Domestic politics are overshadowed by economic hardship resulting from the worst drought the country has ever experienced. The lack of rain over large areas in 1971 has decimated the sheep population, which constitute the principal source of protein for a meat-eating nation; food crops also suffered severely. The year 1972 brings little relief, and the flow of people into Pakistan and Iran in quest of food continues. Both these countries again respond generously to the government's appeal for external assistance, and later in the year UN agencies give substantial help. Even so, by the fall the situation in some provinces, particularly Ghor, becomes desperate. Some 50,000-100,000 people, many of them women and children, face starvation. At this juncture, the UN Children's Emergency Fund rushes food, medicine, and clothing to the distressed area, and many people who would otherwise have perished are kept alive. The king and his government work tirelessly to overcome the national emergency, but the country's resources are still limited, communication with many outlying regions is not easy, and effective relief work is handicapped by local traditions of autonomy. One bright spot is the growing importance of the tourist industry. Foreign travelers naturally follow the excellent roads, constructed mainly with Soviet and U.S. help, that link the major cities, and are little tempted to go beyond the direct overland route from Europe to India and Nepal, in which Afghanistan is an essential link. Thus they are little affected by the distress in the outlying areas, and the foreign exchange that they bring into the country proves invaluable to the government. In foreign affairs Afghanistan's traditional policy of neutrality is strictly observed, and relations with all its neighbours remain friendly. No attempt is made to take advantage of Pakistan's difficulties, but, at the same time, economic and cultural contacts with India continue.
After a massive vote of no confidence in the lower house of parliament, King Zahir Shah accepts the resignation of the government of Abdul Zahir, which had come under severe criticism for its alleged failure to cope with the emergency. The king appoints Mohammad Musa Shafiq to form a new administration which takes office later in the month. Shafiq had been prominent in shaping the constitution of 1964, which banned members of the royal family from public office, and had thereby brought to an end the quasi-dictatorship of Gen. Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law, who had virtually ruled Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963. The new prime minister sets to work to deal with the economic crisis, mobilizing young officials, students, and army officers into a relief corps to distribute the foreign aid that pours into the country from the U.S. and from international agencies. Even so, it is estimated that approximately 80,000 people have died of starvation before supplies could reach them.
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Mohammad Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Ruling for 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the foundation of the Durrani Empire in the 18th century.
Mohammad Daoud Khan was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état which overthrew the monarchy, served as the first president of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in the Saur Revolution.
The following lists events that happened during 1991 in Afghanistan.
The following details notable events from the year 1971 in Afghanistan. The Afghan Islamic Republic, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Greater Middle East.
Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi was an Afghan diplomat and politician.
Muḥammad Mūsá Shafīq was Prime Minister of Afghanistan for eight months. He was an Afghan politician and poet. He became Foreign Minister in 1971 and Prime Minister in December 1972. He lost both positions when Mohammed Zahir Shah was overthrown on July 17, 1973. He survived throughout the regime of Mohammed Daoud Khan, but was arrested after the 1978 communist coup d'état and executed along with many other anti-communist politicians in 1979.
The following lists events that happened during 1952 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1955 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1957 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1958 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1960 in the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1969 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1973 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1988 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1989 in Afghanistan.
The Barakzai dynasty, also known as the Muhammadzai dynasty, ruled what is now Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978, when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammad Zahir Shah and de facto under his cousin Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durrani dynasty of Ahmad Shah Durrani was removed from power. As the Pahlavi era in Iran, the Muhammadzai era was known for its progressivist modernity, practice of Sufism, peaceful security and neutrality, in which Afghanistan was referred to as the "Switzerland of Asia".
The Kingdom of Afghanistan was a monarchy in Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the throne. The monarchy ended in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état.
The Republic of Afghanistan was the first republic in Afghanistan. It is often called the Daoud Republic, as it was established in July 1973 after General Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan of the Barakzai dynasty alongside senior Barakzai Princes deposed his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a coup d'état. The occcasion for the coup was the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan, that took power from most members of the royal family, in favour of the centralization under Zahir Shah and his offspring under the tenet of democracy. Daoud Khan was known for his autocracy and attempts to modernize the country with help from both the Soviet Union and the United States, among others.
The 1973 Afghan coup d'état, also called by Afghans as the Coup of 26 Saratan and self-proclaimed as the Revolution of 26 Saratan 1352, was led by Army General and prince Mohammad Daoud Khan against his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, on 17 July 1973, which resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan under a one-party system led by Daoud Khan.
