Mohammed Arif Khan
General Sardar Mohammed Arif 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 | Muhammad Umar |
| Succeeded by | Office assumed by Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1907 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 1984 (aged 76–77) Bonn, West Germany |
| Spouse | Amina Begum |
| Children | Mohammed Wali Khan Arif Mohammed Tariq Khan Arif Princess Fatima Arif Zaher |
| Relatives | Mohammed Hanif Khan (brother) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Afghanistan |
| Branch/service | Afghan National Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Kabul Army Corps, 2nd Division Kabul |
Mohammed Arif Khan (Kabul, Afghanistan, ca. 1907– Bonn, West-Germany, ca. 1983) was an Afghan military general, diplomat, and Minister of Defense under King Mohammed Zahir Shah. A member of the prominent Mohammedzai 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, Arif Khan lived in exile in Bonn, West Germany, until his death.
Early Life and Family Background
[edit]Mohammed Arif Khan was born in Kabul in 1907. His father, Sardar Mohammed Asif Khan, was a senior provincial governor and descendant of Payinda Khan, patriarch of the Barakzai dynasty. His younger brother was Sardar Mohammed Hanif Khan, who served as governor of several Afghan provinces.[1]
In 1941, Arif 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, Mohammed Wali Khan Arif and Mohammed Tariq Khan Arif, and a daughter, Princess Fatima Arif Zaher, who married Prince Mohammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan, son of King Zahir Shah.[1]
Education
[edit]Arif 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, Arif 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. Arif 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, Arif 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 Mohammed Daoud Khan assumed the role of Prime Minister in 1953, Arif Khan became Minister of Defense, succeeding General Mohammed 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, Arif 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 Arif 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 Mohammed Daoud Khan on 17 July 1973, which abolished the monarchy, Arif 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]Arif Khan's son Mohammed Wali Khan Arif settled permanently in Germany, while his second son Mohammed Tariq Khan Arif married Princess Humaira Wali, granddaughter of King Zahir Shah, later becoming active in Afghan political resistance movements.[1]
His daughter, Princess Fatima Arif 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 Mohammed Ali of Egypt, thus linking the Afghan Barakzai dynasty to the Egyptian royal family.[6]
Ancestry
[edit]Arif Khan was directly descended from Sardar Payinda Khan through his great-grandfather Sardar Said Mohammed Khan ("Peshawar Sardar") and grandfather Mohammed 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.