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Last King of Afghanistan Dead at 92

Zahir Shah reigned for 40 years, returned from exile after occupation

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 23, 2007 7:50 AM CDT

(Newser) – The former king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, has died at the age of 92. Zahir Shah's 40-year reign ended along with the Afghan monarchy in a 1973 coup, and many Afghans have come to look back at the period as a time of peace, prosperity, and modernization. After living in exile in Italy for 29 years, the former king returned his homeland in 2002.

Zahir Shah ascended to the throne when he was only 19. During his rule, he opened up Afghanistan to Western contact, gave women the vote, and founded the country's first modern university. He was deposed by his cousin while in Italy receiving medical treatment. Many Afghans still regard him as the "father of the nation."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announces the death of Afghanistan's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah to the media at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 23, 2007. Shah, the last... (Associated Press)

Mohammad Zahir Shah is seen in this July 16, 1963 file photo. Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan who returned from three decades of exile to bless his war-battered country's fragile course toward... (Associated Press)

Former Afghan King Zahir Shah, left, is supported by an unidentified officer as he salutes the presidential guard of honor before proceeding to pray at a Presidential Palace mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan... (Associated Press)

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Last King of Afghanistan Dead at 92

Zahir Shah reigned for 40 years, returned from exile after occupation

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