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Zamina Begum (11 January 1917 – 28 April 1978), also known as Zainab Begum, was an Afghan princess. She was the First Lady of Afghanistan in 1973–1978, as the wife of the first President of Afghanistan, '' Sardar'' Mohammed Daoud Khan.


Life

She was the daughter of King Mohammed Nadir Shah and Mah Parwar Begum, and the sister of King Zahir. Her brother succeeded her father in November 1933. She married Daoud in September 1934. Zamina Begum famously played a role in the women's emancipation policy of her husband's government, notably by appearing unveiled in public. The Prime Minister prepared women's emancipation carefully and gradually. He began by introducing women workers at the Radio Kabul in 1957, by sending women delegates to the Asian Women's Conference in Kairo, and by employing forty girls to the government pottery factory in 1958.Tamim Ansary (2012
Games without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan
/ref> When this was met with no riots, the government decided it was time for the very controversial step of unveiling. In August 1959, on the second day of the festival of Jeshyn, Princess Zamina appeared unveiled alongside Queen Humaira and Princess Bilqis in the Royal Box at the military parade. A group of Islamic clerics sent a letter of protest to the Prime Minister to protest and demand that the words of
sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
be respected. The Prime Minister answered by inviting them to the capital and present proof to him that the holy scripture indeed demanded the
chadri A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Exampl ...
. When the clerics could not find such a passage, the Prime Minister declared that the female members of the Royal Family would no longer wear veils, because the Islamic law did not demand it. While the chadri was never banned, the example of the Queen and the Prime Minister's wife was followed by the wives and daughters of government officials as well as by other urban women of the upperclass and middle class, with
Kubra Noorzai Kubra Noorzai (1932–1986) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician. She was the first woman to become a government minister in the country, serving as Ministry of Public Health (Afghanistan), Minister of Public Health between 1965 and 1969. Biogr ...
and
Masuma Esmati-Wardak Masuma Esmati-Wardak was an Afghan writer and politician. She was jointly one of the first women to serve in the Afghan parliament and served as Minister of Education. In 1953 she graduated from Kabul Women's College, and received a degree in bu ...
, who is known as the first commoner pioneers. She was killed during the
Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
on 28 April 1978 at the Arg. She was reburied in the Deh Sabz District in Kabul along with her husband and other family members in 2009.


Family

The couple had four sons and four daughters: *1. Zarlasht Daoud Khan *2. Khalid Daoud Khan (1947–1978). Had a son: **Tariq Daoud Khan *3. Wais Daoud Khan (1947–1978). Had four children: ** Turan Daoud Khan (1972-) ** Ares Daoud Khan (1973 – k. 1978) ** Waygal Daoud Khan (1975 – k. 1978) ** Zahra Khanum (1970-) *4. Muhammad Umar Daoud Khan (k. 1978). Had two daughters: ** Hila Khanum (1961 – k. 1978) ** Ghazala Khanum (1964 – k. 1978) *5. Dorkhanai Begum *6. Zarlasht Begum (k. 1978) *7. Shinkay Begum (k. 1978). Had two daughters: ** Ariane Heila Khanum Ghazi (1961-) ** Hawa Khanum Ghazi (1963-) *8. Torpekay Begum. Had three children: ** Shah Mahmud Khan Ghazi ** Daud Khan Ghazi ** Zahra Khanum Ghazi


Ancestry


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Zamina 1917 births 1978 deaths First ladies of Afghanistan People from Kabul Afghan princesses