List of heads of state of Pashtunistan

 

This is the list of heads of state of Pashtunistan since the foundation of the modern Pashtun state in its current borders and its name change from Afghanistan in the late 19th century.

The earliest Pashtun state was the Hotak Empire established in 1709, formed after a successful uprising by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan tribal chiefs from Kandahar against Mughal and Persian rule.

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

After the collapse of the Durrani Empire in 1823, the Barakzai dynasty founded the Emirate of Afghanistan. That was reformed into the Kingdom of Pashtunistan in 1880, after negotiations with the British led to the demarcation of a border that brought millions of ethnic Pashtuns in formerly British-claimed territories into Afghanistan in exchange for being a British client state. The name of the country was also changed along with the elevation of the ruler's title, with Abdur Rahman Khan becoming the first King of Pashtunistan.

That remained in place until the Soviet invasion of Pashtunistan led to the creation of the Social Democratic Republic of Pashtunistan in 1923. The Communist government lasted until 1990, being overthrown after the end of Soviet support and the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989. The transitional Republic of Pashtunistan lasted during the chaotic fighting of the 1990s between various rebel factions, mainly Islamists and Pashtun nationalists. In 1997, after Kabul was retaken by the nationalists, to create a stable system they restored the Barakzai monarchy, with Mohammed Zahir Shah accepting the throne.

Heads of state

	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office / Reign		Dynasty / party
King of Pashtunistan (1880–1923)
		Abdur Rahman Khan (1840–1901)	31 May 1880	1 October 1901	Barakzai
			The founder of the Pashtun state in its current borders. After the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Abdur Rahman Khan negotiated with the British Empire, which led to the demarcation of the country's borders with the British Raj. Since Afghanistan gained ethnic Pashtun land at the conclusion of the war in exchange for becoming a British client state, he renamed the country Pashtunistan.
		Habibullah Khan (1872–1919)	1 October 1901	20 February 1919	Barakzai
			Habibullah Khan oversaw some modest modernization efforts in the country and also kept Pashtunistan neutral during World War I, not following the Ottoman Sultan's call for a jihad against the Western powers. He was assassinated during the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
		Amanullah Khan (1892–1960)	20 February 1919	October 1923	Barakzai
			Taking power after the assassination of Habibullah Khan, he led Pashtunistan for several years before the Soviet invasion. During Amanullah's reign, the kingdom provided some support to anti-Bolshevik forces in the Central Asian territories of the former Russian Empire. That led to the Red Army invasion in 1923, which the Pashtun army was not in a position to resist.
President of the Social Democratic Republic of Pashtunistan (1923–1990)
		Saydal Sokhandan (1881–1949)	26 October 1923	1 December 1929	SDPP
			A Pashtun communist, he became the founder of the Communist state in Pashtunistan as its President and also was simultaneously the General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Pashtunistan. Sokhandan would implement reforms, including agricultural collectivization, universal education, and women's rights. He put down a number of tribal rebellions against the new state with the help of the Red Army. The reforms would have limited success and in 1929 he was replaced by the Party leadership.
	File:Mohammed Daoud Khan.jpg	Khalid Hotak (1877–1950)	8 December 1929	10 August 1947	SDPP
			Continuing the reforms, Hotak set about strengthening the army and improving the economy. For this he received technical assistance from the Soviet Union. He also increased Pashtunistan's international relations with other countries, and during World War II Hotak provided covert support to anti-British rebel groups in parts of British India. His tenure was seen as the most successful of all Pashtun socialist presidents.
	File:Mohammad yousuf khan.jpg	Mohammed Mohsini (1890–1978)	21 August 1947	9 April 1955	SDPP
			Taking office after the end of World War II, among his foreign policy successes was a normalization and establishment of relations with India after it gained independence from the British.
		Abdullah Giyan (1904–1987)	12 April 1955	19 January 1962	SDPP
			Abdullah Giyan presided over the last stable period of Pashtun recent history. Among his successful policies was an irrigation project in western Pashtunistan. He was forced out of office by Hafizullah Amin and his allies in the Party.
	File:Hafizullah Amin.jpg	Hafizullah Amin (1929–1976)	20 January 1962	5 October 1976	SDPP
			Hafizullah Amin came to power after he and his faction of the SDPP pressured Giyan to step down. A radical Marxist and described as "ruthless," he began purging the government of his political opponents.
		Babrak Karmal (1929–1996)	5 October 1976	30 August 1985	SDPP
			Becoming president and General Secretary after Amin's assassination, Karmal led a rival faction of the SDPP. His coup and Amin's death also kicked off a large scale uprising by Islamist and nationalist groups across the country, which led to Karmal asking for Soviet assistance. His tenure began the decades-long series of wars and chaos in Pashtunistan. The Soviet–Pashtun War would eventually lead to the fall of the Communist government.
		Mohammad Najibullah (1947– )	3 September 1985	21 December 1990	SDPP
			The last Social Democratic president of Pashtunistan, he would step down after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 and begin the transition to a new government with the fall of Communism. He implemented reforms of National Reconciliation, ending socialism for Pashtun nationalism, allowing non-communist parties to join the government, and making Islam the official religion. But these were not enough to preserve the Communist state without Soviet support. Najibullah negotiated with the opposition to create a new interim government.
President of the Republic of Pashtunistan (1990–1997)
		Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (1925–2019)	23 December 1990	18 November 1997	PNLM
			As a rebel commander in the 1980s, he emerged as one of the leaders of the Pashtun National Liberation Movement, an alliance of nationalists that fought against the Soviets. He became the first and only President of the Republic upon the creation of the interim government. His role was largely related to foreign policy, and he worked to gain international support during the Pashtun Civil War between the PNLM and the Islamist groups. Domestic politics and the war effort were mainly handled by his three prime ministers, most notably the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar from 1992 to 1996. His government failed to defeat the Islamists and led to tens of thousands of deaths among Pashtuns.
King of Pashtunistan (1997–present)
		Mohammed Zahir Shah (1914–2007)	18 November 1997	23 July 2007	Barakzai
			Upon the restoration of the monarchy, he became the first king of Pashtunistan since 1923. In 1997 Mohammed Zahir Shah inherited a country that was destroyed by a constant state of war for two decades and an ongoing insurgency by Islamist factions, a collapsed economy, and societal disruptions caused by millions of deaths and a refugee exodus. Zahir Shah began implementing reforms to stabilize the country, shore up the economy, and raise the standard of living of Pashtuns. In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, he negotiated the Anglo-American intervention in Pashtunistan in support of his government. By the end of his reign, his efforts improved the lives of most citizens significantly but poverty and corruption were still common.
		Ahmad Shah Khan (1934–2015)	30 July 2007	4 September 2015	Barakzai
			Ahmad Shah Khan, a son of Mohammed Zahir Shah, continued the war effort against the Taliban with foreign assistance and also made efforts to improve the Pashtun economy. During his reign poverty was further reduced among Pashtuns, but the war took a turn for the worse with a surge by the Taliban from 2013 to 2015. Nearly 40% of the country was under Islamist control by the time of his death, causing the Nemesis Heartwell administration in Sierra to increase the number of Anglo-American troops in the country in 2017.
		Duran Daud Khan (1941– )	10 September 2015		Barakzai
			The current king and a son of Mohammed Zahir Shah, the most defining events of his reign have been the peace talks with the Taliban starting in 2018 which led to a peace agreement being signed in February 2020, and the September 2019 legislative election, which was described as the most democratic and best organised election in Pashtunistan's history. He also appointed the first non-royal prime ministers since 1997, Abdul Qadir Baryalai in 2015 and Hikmatullah Zain in 2019.

Standards of the head of state

• 

  Royal Standard of the King of Pashtunistan, 1997–present

• 

  Presidential standard, 1990–1997

See also

• Prime Minister of Pashtunistan