Startling advances in transportation were perhaps the most re-markable developments noted by visitors to Afghanistan. Wide paved highways enabled them to travel in hours distances which used to take days. Air service to provincial cities permitted fuller, more exciting itineraries. International flights from east and west, north and south, came to Kabul's modern airport. To accommodate the steady increase in tourists, facilities were expanded and a luxury hotel was built on a crest overlooking the capital city of Kabul.

Mohammad Zahir Shah ruled for forty years but his experiment in constitutional democracy failed. On 17 July 1973 General Mohammad Daoud, with the assistance of the military, declared the monarchy overthrown and proclaimed the new Republic of Afghanistan with himself as President and Prime Minister.

On the 30th of January 1977 a Loya Jirga on Great National Assembly gathered in Kabul to consider a draft Constitution for the Republic. After fifteen days of lively debate, during which several articles were rewritten and added to reflect the thinking of the entire nation, the Assembly of almost 400 members passed a 137-article Constitution. The next day, on the 14th of February 1977, they elected Mohammad Daoud President of the Republic of Afghanistan, for a period of six years.

In foreign affairs, the Republic of Afghanistan continues the traditional non-aligned posture and refuses to join military pacts. Internally, economic development has accelerated.

Thus Afghanistan moves forward and its people look for dy-namic reappraisals and programmes. A pride of nationhood radi-ates throughout this country which offers the spectacle of an awesome scenery, the excitement of a developing present, and the fascination of a rich past. Its citizens, confident and self-reliant, are, however, Afghanistan's greatest asset. As this discussion has shown, the Afghan area has occupied a pivotal position since prehistoric times. People have come from the wild steppes of Central Asia, from Persia, and from India, some accompanied by conquering armies, others with caravans, still others bearing new religions. There is evidence of all these diverse peoples and their cultures in Afghanistan today. This makes travel here fascinating. Even so, the ruggedness of the terrain and the individualism of the people have made of them something which is very much their own, very particular-very Afghan.

On April 27, 1978, a coup d'état beginning with troop movements at the military base at Kabul International Airport, gained ground slowly over the next twenty-four hours as rebels battled units loyal to Daoud in and around the capital. Daoud and most of his family were shot in the presidential palace the following day. Two hundred and thirty-one years of royal rule by Ahmad Shah and his descendants had ended, but it was less clear what kind of regime had succeeded them.

.

Source:Iran National Library