This article lists the heads of state of Afghanistan since the foundation of the first modern Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709.

History The Hotak Empire was formed after a successful uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan tribal chiefs from the Kandahar region against Mughal and Safavid Persian rule.

After a long series of wars, the Hotak Empire was eventually replaced by the Durrani Afghan Empire, founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747.

After the collapse of the Durrani Empire in 1823, the Barakzai dynasty founded the Emirate of Kabul, later known as the Emirate of Afghanistan. The Durrani dynasty regained power in 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, when former ruler Shah Shujah Durrani seized the throne under the British auspices. Shah Shujah was assassinated in 1842, following the British retreat. Afterwards the Barakzai dynasty regained power, eventually transformed the Emirate into the Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926, and ruled the country (with an interruption in 1929) until the last king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, was deposed in the 1973 coup d'état, led by his first cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan. Despite being part of the Barakzai dynasty, Daoud Khan departed from tradition and did not proclaim himself Shah, instead abolished the monarchy and established the Republic of Afghanistan, with himself as President. The Republic lasted until the PDPA–led Saur Revolution in 1978.

Since 1978, Afghanistan has been in a state of continuous internal conflict and foreign interventions.

President Hamid Karzai became the first ever democratically elected head of state of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004. His successor, Ashraf Ghani, was in power from 29 September 2014 to 15 August 2021, when he fled the country as Kabul fell to the Taliban following its 2021 offensive.

Upon its recapture of Kabul, the Taliban reinstated the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its supreme leader since 2016, Islamic scholar Hibatullah Akhundzada, de facto succeeded Ghani as head of state.

List of heads of state

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Monarchs

Hotak Empire (1709–1738)

Durrani Empire (1747–1823; 1839–1842)

Emirate of Kabul / Emirate of Afghanistan (1823–1839; 1842–1926)

Kingdom of Afghanistan (1926–1929)

Saqqawist Emirate and the 1928–1929 civil war

Kingdom of Afghanistan (restored; 1929–1973)

Local monarchs Some rulers tried to take advantage of internal conflicts in Afghanistan to claim the throne. However, their rule was limited only to certain areas.

Non-monarchs Name Portrait Lifespan Term of office Political affiliation Took office Left office Time in office Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Mohammad Daoud Khan 1909–1978 17 July 1973 28 April 1978 Independent National Revolutionary Party ColonelAbdul Qadir 1944–2014 28 April 1978 30 April 1978 People's Democratic Party Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992) Nur Muhammad Taraki 1917–1979 30 April 1978 14 September 1979 People's Democratic Party Hafizullah Amin 1929–1979 14 September 1979 27 December 1979 People's Democratic Party Babrak Karmal 1929–1996 27 December 1979 24 November 1986 People's Democratic Party Haji Mohammad Chamkani 1947–2012 24 November 1986 30 September 1987 Independent Mohammad Najibullah 1947–1996 30 September 1987 16 April 1992 People's Democratic Party Homeland Party Abdul Rahim Hatif 1926–2013 16 April 1992 28 April 1992 Homeland Party Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–2002) Sibghatullah Mojaddedi 1926–2019 28 April 1992 28 June 1992 National Liberation Front of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani 1940–2011 28 June 1992 22 December 2001 Jamiat-e Islami Hamid Karzai born 1957 22 December 2001 19 June 2002Gupwell, D. Loya Jirga Elects Karzai as New Head of State EIAS, June 2002 Independent Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001) MullahMohammed Omar between 1953 and 1966 – 2013 27 September 1996 13 November 2001 Taliban Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (2002–2004) Hamid Karzai born 1957 19 June 2002 7 December 2004 Independent Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) Hamid Karzai born 1957 7 December 2004 29 September 2014 Independent Ashraf Ghani born 1949 29 September 2014 15 August 2021 Independent Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021–present) MullahMawlawiHibatullah Akhundzada born 1967 15 August 2021 Incumbent Taliban

Family tree of monarchs

Timeline This is a graphical timeline of the heads of state of Afghanistan from 1880. They are listed in order of first assuming office.

The following chart lists heads of state by lifespan (living heads of state on the green line), with the years outside of their tenure in beige. Heads of state with an unknown birth date or death date are shown with only their tenure or their earlier or later life.

The following chart shows heads of state by their age (living heads of state in green), with the years of their tenure in blue. Heads of state with an unknown birth or death date are excluded. The vertical black line at 40 years indicates the minimum age to be president during the existence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Standards of heads of state

Notes

See also President of Afghanistan Supreme Leader of Afghanistan Prime Minister of Afghanistan Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan Chief Executive (Afghanistan) List of Durrani Wazirs Politics of Afghanistan History of Afghanistan List of Pashtun empires and dynasties Name of Afghanistan Afghan (ethnonym)

References

External links Presidency of Afghanistan (15 August 2021 archive)