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Zahir Shah, the former King of Afghanistan, has died at the age of 92 following a long illness. He died at his Kabul residence in the presidential palace compound. He had returned to Kabul in 2002 after 29 years in exile, mostly spent in Italy. Zahir Shah was deposed in 1973 and went into exile, but returned to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taleban. Many Afghans had a deep love and respect for Zahir Shah, whose lengthy reign was associated with peace, security and modest political reform, BBC reported.
Zahir Sha’s 40-year reign saw women receiving education and voting in elections, and a free press. Zahir Shah reigned as monarch from 1933 to 1973 - a time when Afghanistan underwent some democratization but remained underdeveloped economically. During his long exile, the former king witnessed his country laid low by war, and the rise of the harsh Islamic regime of the Taleban. Born in Kabul in 1914, Zahir Shah was educated in France and was only 19 when he ascended the throne in 1933 after his father was assassinated. After World War II, in which he succeeded in maintaining both Afghanistan’s neutrality and its borders, the king recognized the need for modernization.
Zahir Shah brought in foreign advisers, founded the first modern university, and fostered cultural and commercial relations with Europe. But amid the modernization, dark undercurrents of wrangling between the country’s tribal factions remained. In July 1973, while he was in Italy receiving medical treatment for an eye condition, Zahir Shah was ousted in a coup orchestrated by his cousin, Mohammad Daoud. Daoud opposed his efforts to open up the country and develop contacts with the West.
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