Mohammed Daoud Khan

Born into the Afghan royal family in 1909, Mohammad Daoud Khan served as a provincial governor and military officer before his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, appointed him prime minister in 1953. After a decade in the role, frustrated that the King wouldn't adopt a one-party system, Khan seized power in 1973 with backing from Afghan Army officers and declared himself president of the new Republic of Afghanistan. He ruled through an autocratic one-party structure under his National Revolutionary Party, pursuing educational and social reforms while purging communists from government - policies that alienated both religious conservatives and liberals who wanted the monarchy's multiparty system restored. In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and elements of the military overthrew and assassinated him. His body, discovered three decades later, was identified by a small golden Quran from King Khalid of Saudi Arabia that he'd always carried.