Daud, Muhammad
(1909–1978), Afghan political figure. Muhammad Daud belonged to the royal family of Afghanistan. Educated in Europe (1921–1930) while his father was in temporary exile, he joined the army on his return to Afghanistan. In 1934 he married the sister of the new Afghan king (and his cousin), Zahir Shah.
A resolute supporter of the modernization of Afghanistan, though not of its democratization, and a tough Pashtun nationalist, Daud became minister of defense in 1946, but in 1948, after a disagreement with the prime minister, he was sent to Paris as ambassador. A year later, he became minister of the interior and, in 1953, prime minister, holding that position until 1963.
During this period (the so-called Daud decade), he exacerbated the question of Pashtunistan—the creation of a single state for all the Pashtun—which poisoned relations with Pakistan, since that state had a strong Pashtun minority. For his policy of modernization, he looked for military aid and economic assistance from both the U.S.S.R. and the United States, cunningly playing on their rivalry.
In 1963 he was forced to resign in order to prevent a serious confrontation with Pakistan and was excluded from active political life. Nevertheless, Daud maintained strong ties with the army and the communist activists. In 1973 he seized power with a bloodless coup, declaring Afghanistan a republic and becoming its president. The worsening of his relations with the Afghan communist activists and with Moscow weakened his position. In April 1978 he was killed, along with his family, during the communist coup, which paved the way for the Soviet invasion of 1979.
Further Reading
Adamec, Ludwig W. (1987) A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Afghanistan. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt.
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