Republic of Afghanistan: Map & History
The Republic of Afghanistan, also known as the Republican State of Afghanistan, was the first republic in Afghanistan.
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The Republic of Afghanistan, also known as the Republican State of Afghanistan, was the first republic in Afghanistan. It is often called the Daoud Republic, as it was established in July 1973 by General Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan of the Barakzai dynasty who deposed his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a coup d'état. The occasion for the coup was the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan which took power from most members of the royal family in favour of 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.
Modern Countries Once Part of Republic of Afghanistan
At its mapped extent, Republic of Afghanistan covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Republic of Afghanistan's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Republic of Afghanistan in Depth
History
In July 1973, while King Mohammad Zahir Shah, the reigning Afghan monarch at the time, was in Italy undergoing eye surgery as well as therapy for lumbago, his cousin and brother-in-law, General Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, the former prime minister, staged a coup d'état in Kabul. This coup overthrew the Kingdom of Afghanistan and established the Republic of Afghanistan in its place, which was a single-party state. General Daoud had been forced to resign as prime minister by King Zahir a decade earlier. The King abdicated the following month rather than risk an all-out civil war.
After seizing power, Daoud Khan, who had himself proclaimed as the first President of Afghanistan, established his own political party, the National Revolutionary Party.
Military
A few days after the coup, the former Royal Afghan Army under Zahir Shah was now being referred to as the Afghan Republican Army under Daoud Khan in The Kabul Times newspaper.
A 1973 United States Department of State report stated that there was a problem of allegiances within the Afghan military, describing the issue: “The population in general regards the armed forces as an instrument of government, rather than an organisation of citizens in service of the nation. The individual normally respects authority, but this respect is shown first and foremost to his own tribal chief or head of family”.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Republic of Afghanistan: Key Facts
| Capital | Kabul |
|---|---|
| Official languages | Pashto, Dari |
| Form of government | one-party state, presidential system |
| Currency | afghani |
| Founded | July 1973 |
| Dissolved | April 1978 |
Preceded by
Succeeded by
- Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Facts from Wikidata Q1415128 (CC0).
Republic of Afghanistan Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 644,005 km² in 1977 CE.
Republic of Afghanistan: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Republic of Afghanistan exist?
The Republic of Afghanistan is dated to 1973 CE – 1978 CE, in the Industrial era.
What was the capital of the Republic of Afghanistan?
The capital of the Republic of Afghanistan was Kabul.
How large was the Republic of Afghanistan at its peak?
At its peak in 1977 the Republic of Afghanistan covered about 644,005 km².
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