# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/mohammed-zahir-shah
# Generated: 2026-09-06T13:56:20.657Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/mohammed-zahir-shah"
name: "Mohammed Zahir Shah"
slug: "mohammed-zahir-shah"
description: "The last king of Afghanistan ruled for forty years through Cold War crosswinds and kept the peace — until a cousin's coup in 1973 sent him into exile for three decades."
tagline: "King of Afghanistan (1933-1973)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/King_Zahir_Shah_of_Afghanistan_in_1963.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1914-10-15"
deathDate: "2007-07-23"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           62.98
  momentum:             34.83230832308323
  historical:           25.741356
  currentAttention:     25.25
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6600690/"
    handle:    "nm6600690"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q152265"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Mohammed%20Zahir%20Shah"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87"
    title: "محمد ظاهر شاه"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C9%99h%C9%99mm%C9%99d_Zahir_%C5%9Fah"
    title: "Məhəmməd Zahir şah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohammad Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D1%85%D1%96%D1%80-%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%85"
    title: "Захір-шах"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4_%D0%97%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B8%D1%80_%D0%A8%D0%B0%D1%85"
    title: "Мохамед Захир Шах"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A6_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B9"
    title: "মুহাম্মদ জহির শাহ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohammed Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Z%C3%A1hir_%C5%A0%C3%A1h"
    title: "Muhammad Záhir Šáh"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohammed Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Schah"
    title: "Mohammed Zahir Schah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohammad Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_%C5%9Caho"
    title: "Mohammed Zahir Ŝaho"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohamed Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo%E1%B8%A9ammad_Z%C4%81her_Sh%C4%81h"
    title: "Moḩammad Zāher Shāh"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Mohammed Zahir Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87"
    title: "محمد ظاهرشاه"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Zahir_%C5%A0ah"
    title: "Muhammad Zahir Šah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zaher_Shah"
    title: "Mohammad Zaher Shah"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Zahir_de_Afganist%C3%A1n"
    title: "Mohamed Zahir de Afganistán"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%93_%D7%96%D7%90%D7%94%D7%A8_%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%94"
    title: "מוחמד זאהר שאה"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A6_%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9"
    title: "मोहम्मद ज़ाहिर शाह"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohammed_Zahir_Shah"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zaher_Szah"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4_%D0%97%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B8%D1%80"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%BF%CF%87%CE%AC%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BD%CF%84_%CE%96%CE%B1%CF%87%CE%AF%CF%81_%CE%A3%CE%B1%CF%87"
    title: "Μοχάμεντ Ζαχίρ Σαχ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87"
    title: "محمد ظاهر شاه"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Mohammad Zahir Shah took the throne on 8 November 1933 and would hold it longer than any Afghan ruler since the Durrani Empire rose in the 18th century. Through the 1950s he modernized the country and opened diplomatic channels with both Cold War blocs, then ushered in a new constitution that made Afghanistan a constitutional monarchy. His reign was marked by a stability the country would not see again. In 1973, while he was in Italy for medical treatment, his cousin and former prime minister Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan staged a coup and declared a republic, ending more than two centuries of unbroken monarchy. Zahir Shah stayed near Rome until 2002, when the fall of the Taliban let him return. He came back not as king but as Father of the Nation, a title he carried until his death in 2007.