Humaira Begum

Humaira Begum
Humaira Begum
	Humaira Begum at the White House with her husband, Mohammed Zahir Shah.
Queen consort of Afghanistan
Tenure	8 November 1933 – 17 July 1973
Installation	8 November 1933
Born	24 July 1918; Emirate of Afghanistan
Died	26 June 2002 (aged 83); Rome, Italy
Burial	Maranjan Hill
Spouse	Mohammed Zahir Shah
Issue	Princess Bilqis Begum; Prince Muhammed Akbar Khan; Crown Prince Ahmad Shah Khan; Princess Maryam Begum; Prince Muhammed Nadir Khan; Prince Shah Mahmoud Khan; Prince Muhammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan; Prince Mir Wais Khan
House	Barakzai
Father	Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan
Mother	Zarin Begum
Religion	Sunni Islam

Humaira Begum (Persian: حميرا بیگم‎; 24 July 1918 – 26 June 2002) was the wife and first cousin of King Mohammed Zahir Shah and the last queen consort of Afghanistan.

Marriage

Humaira Begum was the daughter of Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan and his first wife Zarin Begum. She married her first cousin, the Crown Prince of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir on 7 November 1931 in Kabul.[1] Together they had six sons and two daughters:

Princess Bilqis Begum (born 17 April 1932).
Prince Muhammed Akbar Khan (4 August 1933 – 26 November 1942).
Crown Prince Ahmad Shah (born 23 September 1934).
Princess Maryam Begum (born 2 November 1936).
Prince Muhammed Nadir Khan (born 21 May 1941).
Prince Shah Mahmoud Khan (15 November 1946 – 7 December 2002).
Prince Muhammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan (born 14 April 1949).
Prince Mir Wais Khan (born 7 January 1957).

Queen of Afghanistan

On 8 November 1933 after the assassination of her father in law Mohammed Nadir Shah her husband was proclaimed King and Humaira became Queen of Afghanistan.

In 1946 Queen Humaira created the Women's Society which was the first ever women's institute in Afghanistan. In 1959 she supported the call by the Prime minister Mohammed Daoud Khan for women to voluntary remove their veil by removing her own.[2]

Exile

In 1973, while her husband was in Italy undergoing eye surgery as well as therapy for lumbago, his cousin and former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan staged a coup d'état and established a republican government. Daoud Khan had been removed from office by Zahir Shah a decade earlier. In the August following this coup, Zahir Shah abdicated rather than risk an all-out civil war.

Humaira and Zahir Shah spent their twenty-nine years in exile in Italy living in a relatively modest four-bedroom villa in the affluent community of Olgiata on Via Cassia, north of the city of Rome. The king never had feathered any nests in foreign bank accounts, and he depended on the generosity of friends.

Death

Just weeks before she was to return to Afghanistan and be reunited with her husband who recently had returned, Begum was admitted to hospital with breathing problems and heart trouble and died two days later.[3]

Her body was returned to Afghanistan and was greeted at the airport by military personnel, tribal representatives in traditional robes, and cabinet ministers from Hamid Karzai's government. Memorial and funeral services were also held for her in two Kabul mosques. Her remains were buried in the Royal Mausoleum in Kabul.[4]

Honours

National honours

Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Supreme Sun[5]

Foreign honours

France: Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour[6][7]
Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Special Issue[8]
Iranian Imperial Family: Dame Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of the Pleiades, 1st Class
Japan: Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

Ancestry

Ancestors of Humaira Begum

16. Sultan Muhammad Khan Telai, Governor of Kabul, Peshawar and Koha

8. Sardar Mohammad Yahya Khan, Governor of Kabul

17. a Popalzai lady

4. Sardar Muhammad Asif Khan

18. Sardar Muhammad Akbar Khan

9. Hamdan Sultana Begum

2. Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan

5. Murwarid Begum

1. Humaira Begum

12. Loinab Sher Dil Khan, Governor of Balkh

6. Loinab Khush Dil Khan, Governor of Kabul and Kandahar

3. Zarin Begum

28. Sardar Payinda Muhammad Khan

14. Sardar Dost Mohammad Khan

29. Zainab Begum

7. Sahira Begum

30. Sardar Agha Muhammad Khan Qizilbash

15. a daughter of Sardar Agha Muhammad Khan Qizilbash

gollark: Wow, webhooks are cool.

gollark: Replace them with these monkey emojimoticons.

gollark: 🐒everyone

gollark: Did what?

gollark: So secret you're discussing it on public discord, yes.

References

Soszynski, Henry. "AFGHANISTAN". members.iinet.net.au. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
Morgan, Robin (1996). Sisterhood is Global. Feminist Press. pp. 40. ISBN 1-55861-160-6.
"Afghan king's wife dies in Rome". BBC. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
"Ex-queen buried in Afghanistan". BBC. 30 June 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
"Photo". cloudfront.net.
"Photo". cloudfront.net.
"Afghan Queen Homeira (L), French Preside".
Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische. "Deutschlands Engagement in Afghanistan - www.bpb.de". www.bpb.de.

External links

Dinner in honor of King Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan

Royal titles
Preceded by Mah Parwar Begum	Queen consort of Afghanistan 1933–1973	Monarchy abolished

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Soszynski, Henry. "AFGHANISTAN". members.iinet.net.au. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.

[2] Morgan, Robin (1996). Sisterhood is Global. Feminist Press. pp. 40. ISBN 1-55861-160-6.

[3] "Afghan king's wife dies in Rome". BBC. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2008.

[4] "Ex-queen buried in Afghanistan". BBC. 30 June 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2008.

[5] "Photo". cloudfront.net.

[6] "Photo". cloudfront.net.

[7] "Afghan Queen Homeira (L), French Preside".

[8] Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische. "Deutschlands Engagement in Afghanistan - www.bpb.de". www.bpb.de.