a house divided, 1933–73to go. There followed a tense stand-off that lasted for several months until
finally, in mid-September, the king forced Shah Mahmud’s resignation,
threatening to abdicate if his uncle did not step down. In his place Zahir
Shah appointed Da’ud. The premiership of Muhammad Da’ud was a water-
shed in Afghan dynastic history, since his appointment marked the end of
the reign of Nadir Shah and his brothers. Many of the second generation of
the Musahiban family, as well as other Muhammadzais, had been educated
in America or Europe and were dedicated reformers and modernizers.
More often than not, they were part of the Wish Zalmiyan network.
Prime Minister Da’ud, Pakistan and PushtunistanOne consequence of this change of leadership was that the state, led by
Prime Minister Da’ud, promoted the creation of Pushtunistan as part of
government policy. The idea of Pushtunistan was nothing new. It had
been first mooted in 1916 by Dr Aurang Shah, a California-based Pushtun,
who established the Azad Pakhtunistan [sic] Association of America. Yet
As Prime Minister, Sardar Muhammad Da’ud made it compulsory for all official maps
to show Pushtunistan, as shown in this insert from a 1965 tourist map.