Mohammed Naim Khan

Sardar Muhammad Naim Khan was an Afghan politician, a member of the Barakzai royal family, the brother-in-law of King Zahir Shah, and the brother of Daoud Khan.

Early life and education

Sardar Muhammad Naim Khan was born in 1911 to Sardar Muhammad Aziz Khan, a member of the Muhammadzai clan of the Barakzai dynasty. He was educated in Afghanistan and abroad, and married the eldest sister of King Zahir Shah in 1934.

Naim Khan entered the Afghan government in 1930 as an Under-Secretary in the Foreign Office, was appointed Minister to Italy in 1932 until 1934, and later served in various roles including Extra Secretary and First Secretary in the Foreign Ministry, before becoming Minister of Education in 1937; he also served as Acting Foreign Minister in 1937 and 1938, Assistant to the Prime Minister in 1939, Officiating Minister of National Economy in 1941, and Officiating Prime Minister in 1943; in 1953, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Mohammad Daoud Khan, where he played a key role in shaping Afghanistan’s foreign policy, meeting world leaders such as U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and securing foreign aid while maintaining Afghanistan’s neutral stance in the Cold War.

On April 27, 1978, the Saur Revolution led by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan overthrew the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan. During the coup, Naim Khan and his family were assassinated alongside Mohammad Daoud Khan at the Presidential Palace in Kabul.