He died during an exchange of fire in the city of Herat between supporters of Zahir Nayebzada, a commander for the central government, and Ismail Khan.

He died in 1965 in Salzburg, Austria and was buried in Zahir o-dowleh cemetery, Darband, Tehran.

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971 – 72 drought, former Prime Minister Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan seized power in a non-violent coup on July 17, 1973, while Zahir Shah was receiving treatment for eye problems and therapy for lumbago in Italy.

Zahir Shah was an ethnic Pashtun who was born on 15 October 1914, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Zahir Khan was proclaimed King ( Shah ) on 8 November 1933 at the age of 19, after the assassination of his father Mohammed Nadir Shah.

Zahir Shah was able to govern on his own in 1963 and despite the factionalism and political infighting a new constitution was introduced in 1964 which turned Afghanistan into a modern democratic state by introducing free elections, a parliament, civil rights, women's rights and universal suffrage.

Zahir Shah lived in exile in Italy for twenty-nine years in a modest four-bedroom villa in the affluent community of Olgiata on Via Cassia, north of the city of Rome where he spent his time playing golf and chess, as well as tending to his garden.

In 1991, Zahir Shah survived an attempt on his life by a knife-wielding assassin who pretended to be a Portuguese journalist.

Zahir Shah is seated at the far right during the oath ceremony of Hamid Karzai on 7 December 2004.

Zahir Shah himself let it be known that he would accept whatever responsibility was placed on him by the Loya Jirga.

He is persuaded to continue as head of the government until his successor, Abdul Zahir, who was ambassador in Rome, is confirmed as prime minister on June 9.

Zahir makes earnest efforts to reach a good understanding with parliament ; and when he presents his list of ministers to the king in July, he is able to put forward the general desire that the administration concentrate attention on the difficulties of low-income groups.

Even so, Miss Noorzai's elevation to cabinet rank is regarded as a striking illustration of the determination of King Mohammad Zahir Shah and of the government headed by Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal to bring the country into line with modern ideas on the political and social status of women.

Under its enlightened monarch Zahir Shah the country is advancing steadily in education and in the industries which are expected to exercise a civilizing influence on its turbulent people.

According to the myth, everything on earth has the propensity to be a Zahir, but " the Almighty does not allow more than one thing at a time to be it, since one alone can seduce multitudes ".

When all men on earth think day and night of the Zahir, which one will be a dream and which a reality, the earth or the Zahir.

Zahir was born on 14 June 1946 ( Jauza 24, 1325 of the Jalali calendar ) in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Zahir began his solo career composing songs based on well-recognized Persian poems.

The Zahir professionally was on the scene of Afghan Music for only 10 years at the most ; however, Zahir managed to record more than 30 albums.

He married Payal Nath, daughter of an Army officer, Major General Ram Nath from Delhi on 1 September 1994, and the couple have two sons, Zahir and Zamir.

It is reported that in 1745 Zahir al-Umar, who grew up in the town, built a fortress on the hilltop above Saffuriya.

* The All India Writers ' Association was set up in Lucknow on 10 April 1936 under the leadership of Syed Sajjad Zahir and Ahmed Ali.

According to Nasrat's personal account, he was first discovered after singing the songs of Ahmad Zahir on a national radio broadcast.

* June 14 – Ahmad Zahir, Afghan singer and composer ( b. 1946 )

* February 14 – Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah, founder of the Moghul dynasty ( d. 1530 )

Ahmad Zahir ( – Aḥmad Zāhir ; 14 June 1946 – 14 June 1979 ) was a singer, songwriter, and composer from Afghanistan.

In April 2002, while the country was no longer under Taliban rule, Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan to open the Loya Jirga, which met in June 2002.

At the June, 2002, Loya Jirga to select the Head of State, representatives of the US convinced the former king of Afghanistan, 87-year old Zahir Shah, to withdraw from consideration, even though a majority of Loya Jirga delegates supported him, a move which angered Pashtuns who were concerned with the disproportionate power of the Northern Alliance in the Karzai government.

" On 10 June the US representative Zalmay Khalilzad gave a press conference in which he declared that Zahir Shah was not a candidate.

* Ahmad Zahir ( 1946 – 1979 ), Singer from Afghanistan

In 1933, after the assassination of Nadir Khan, Mohammed Zahir Shah became king.

* Mohammad Zahir Khan, Dacoity in Chambal Valley.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973.

Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah.

In 1946, another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected.

From 1963 until 1973, Zahir Shah took a more active role.

In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a bicameral legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies.

* 1973 – King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.

King Nader Khan was assassinated in 1933 and the throne was left to his 19-year-old son, Zahir Shah, who became the long lasting King of Afghanistan.

When Zahir Shah took power in 1933 Kabul had the only 6 miles of rail in the country, few internal telegraph or phone lines and few roads.

In July 1973, Zahir Shah was ousted in a nonviolent coup and Kabul became the capital of a republic under Mohammed Daoud Khan, the new President.

Conversely, some of the people of Kabul who lived under King Zahir Shah describe the period before the April 1978 Saur Revolution as a sort of golden age.

From Amanullah until the reign of Mohammed Zahir Shah ( 1933 – 1973 ) and Mohammed Daoud Khan ( 1973 – 1978 ) the Jirga was recognized as a common meeting of regional Pashtun leaders.

* 1941 — Called by Mohammed Zahir Shah to approve neutrality in World War II.

* September 1964 — A meeting of 452 called by Mohammed Zahir Shah to approve a new constitution.

** The first was based in Rome around Mohammed Zahir Shah, and it reflected the interests of moderate Pashtuns from Afghanistan.

It was modernized during King Amanullah Khan's rule in the early 20th century, and upgraded during King Zahir Shah's forty year rule.

The military of Afghanistan was reconstructed and improved during King Zahir Shah's reign, which reached a strength of 70, 000 in 1933.

After the exile of King Zahir Shah in 1973, President Daud Khan forged stronger ties with the Soviets by signing two highly controversial military aid packages for his nation in 1973 and 1975.

Defense Ministry Spokesman, Mohammad Zahir Azimi, with German Army Brigadier | Brig.

After King Zahir Shah's exile in 1973, President Daoud Khan made attempts to create a strong Afghan military in the Greater Middle East-South Asia region.

Mohammed Zahir Shah ( 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007 ) was the last King ( Padishah ) of Afghanistan, reigning for four decades, from 1933 until he was ousted by a coup in 1973.

Zahir Shah was educated in a special class for princes at Habibia High School in Kabul.