Mohammad Aref Khan
Lieutenant-General Sardar Mohammad Aref Khan | |
|---|---|
محمد عارف خان | |
| Minister of Defense | |
| In office 20 September 1953 – 6 December 1955 | |
| Monarch | Mohammed Zahir Shah |
| Prime Minister | Mohammed Daoud Khan |
| Preceded by | General Mohammad Umar |
| Succeeded by | Office assumed by Prime Minister Mohammad Daoud Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1907 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 1984 (aged 76–77) Bonn, West Germany |
| Spouse | Amina Begum |
| Children | Muhammad Wali Khan Aref Muhammad Tariq Khan Aref Princess Fatima Aref Zaher |
| Relatives | Mohammad Hanif Khan (brother) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Afghanistan |
| Branch/service | Afghan National Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Kabul Army Corps, 2nd Division Kabul |
Mohammad Aref Khan (Kabul, Afghanistan, ca. 1907– Bonn, West-Germany, ca. 1984) was an Afghan military general, diplomat, and Minister of Defense under King Mohammed Zahir Shah. A member of the prominent Mohammadzai branch of the Barakzai dynasty, he held key positions in Afghanistan's military and diplomatic affairs during crucial decades of the 20th century. Following the republican coup in 1973, Aref Khan lived in exile in Bonn, West Germany, until his death.
Early Life and Family Background
[edit]Mohammad Aref Khan was born in Kabul in 1907. His father, Sardar Mohammad Asif Khan, was a senior provincial governor and descendant of Payinda Khan, patriarch of the Barakzai dynasty. His younger brother was Sardar Mohammad Hanif Khan, who served as governor of several Afghan provinces.[1]
In 1941, Aref Khan married Amina Begum, niece of Prime Minister Shah Mahmud Khan of the Musahiban royal family. Their union linked two prominent branches of the Barakzai dynasty.[2] They had two sons, Mohammad Wali Khan Aref and Mohammad Tariq Khan Aref, and a daughter, Princess Fatima Aref Zaher, who married Prince Mohammad Daoud Pashtunyar Khan, son of King Zahir Shah.[1]
Education
[edit]Aref Khan studied at the German Amani Lyceum in Kabul and subsequently attended the Military Staff College in Ankara, Turkey, completing his advanced military training in 1938. The same year, he was dispatched to Germany to procure military equipment for the Afghan army.[2]
Military Career
[edit]Upon his return to Afghanistan in 1939, Aref Khan was appointed Director of Military Training at the Afghan Ministry of War. In 1940, he became Chief-of-Staff to Prince Mohammed Daoud Khan, then Commander of the Kabul Army Corps. Aref Khan rapidly advanced through military ranks, serving as a brigade commander in 1944, and was part of an Afghan military delegation to British India in December that year.[2]
Promoted to Major General in 1946, he took command of the Kabul-based 2nd Division. He successfully suppressed the Safi tribal rebellion in the Kunar Valley in 1947. By 1948, Aref Khan was appointed General Officer Commanding of the Kabul Army Corps, achieving the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1949.[2]
Minister of Defense (1953–1955)
[edit]When Prince Mohammad Daoud Khan assumed the role of Prime Minister in 1953, Aref Khan became Minister of Defense, succeeding General Mohammad Umar.[3] During his ministry, Afghanistan embarked on substantial military modernization, establishing significant military training and equipment acquisition programs from both the United States and the Soviet Union. His tenure coincided with increasing Cold War tensions and the Pashtunistan crisis.[3]
He stepped down on 6 December 1955, after political disagreements within the cabinet. Prime Minister Daoud Khan subsequently took over the defense portfolio himself.[4]
Diplomatic Service
[edit]After leaving the Defense Ministry, Aref Khan transitioned to diplomatic roles. From 1956 to 1960, he served simultaneously as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary. Subsequently, he was appointed Ambassador to the Soviet Union, serving during the significant expansion of Soviet-Afghan cooperation in the 1960s.[4]
In August 1965, during King Zahir Shah's state visit to Moscow, Ambassador Aref Khan signed the Afghan-Soviet non-aggression and neutrality treaty renewal in the Kremlin alongside Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin.[5]
Exile and Later Life
[edit]Following the republican coup by Mohammad Daoud Khan on 17 July 1973, which abolished the monarchy, Aref Khan refused to serve under the new republican regime. He chose exile in Bonn, West Germany, joining many Afghan royalists and former officials who sought refuge there.[4] During his exile years, he maintained a low public profile, although he continued to provide informal advice to Afghan exile communities and remained in contact with the exiled royal family in Italy. He passed away in Bonn in 1984 at the age of 77.[4]
Personal Life and Descendants
[edit]Aref Khan's son Mohammad Wali Khan Aref settled permanently in Germany, while his second son Mohammad Tariq Khan Aref married Princess Humaira Wali, granddaughter of King Zahir Shah, later becoming active in Afghan political resistance movements.[1]
His daughter, Princess Fatima Aref Zaher, served as First Secretary and Chargé d'Affaires at the Afghan Embassy in Rome from 2005 to 2021. Her daughter, Princess Noal Zaher Shah, married Prince Mohammad Ali of Egypt, thus linking the Afghan Barakzai dynasty to the Egyptian royal family.[6]
Ancestry
[edit]Aref Khan was directly descended from Sardar Payinda Khan through his great-grandfather Sardar Said Mohammad Khan ("Peshawar Sardar") and grandfather Mohammad Husain Khan. His father was Sardar Asif Khan, a provincial governor, and his mother, Bibi Jan Begum, was the daughter of Jan Mahomed Khan, a senior official in the court of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.
See Also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Afghanistan - Barakzai Dynasty: Telai Branch". Royal Ark. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d Malcolm Yapp, ed. (1950). British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print, Part IV, Series B, Near and Middle East 1950, vol. 9. University Publications of America. pp. Entry 42.
- ^ a b "Cabinet of Afghanistan". Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Afghanistan: Index Ar–As". Rulers.org. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Afghan–Soviet treaty signing, Moscow, August 1965". Getty Images. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Noal, Princess of the Sa'id". Retrieved 25 June 2025.