The ruler of Afghanistan is a man of many accomplishments. At 51, Mohammed Zahir Shah can snag the wiliest trout in the Hindu Kush, swoop down a ski slope at 60 m.p.h., or drop a brace of partridge as deftly as a skeet cham pion. He rides like Lochinvar, golfs near par on any course, and betweentimes collects rare books and Oriental art. On his experimental farm outside the ancient capital of Kabul, he raises mutant grapes, outsize apricots, and dairy cattle that can withstand the rigors of Afghan altitude with milky aplomb. But as one of his courtiers puts it, "the King has a conscience." Accordingly, in the past two years, Zahir Shah has mastered a new art: politics. For Afghanistan, that is the kingliest accomplishment of all.
Power & Pingpong. For 30 years, the King had put up with despotic rule. When he came to power in 1933 after his father's assassination, Zahir Shah let his uncles run the country while he played games and grew vegetables. In 1953 Zahir Shah's cousin, Prince Mohammed Daoud, took over and continued the tough stuff. Secret police snooped everywhere; the press was heavily censored. After Daoud quarreled with his finance minister, that official and his family disappeared. Balding, haughty and highhanded, Daoud alienated Afghanistan's slowly developing intellectual class and won the distaste—if not outright dislike—of the nation's 13 million poverty-stricken subjects.
Still, by playing a diplomatic ping-pong game with Moscow and Washington, Daoud managed to build an economic infrastructure for his country. Soviet engineers cut the world's highest road tunnel through the Hindu Kush escarpment at Salang Pass; Americans erected a vaulting jet airport at Kandahar, the country's second city; together, they have pushed miles of highway across the high, harsh plateau. Along the Helmand River, eight U.S.-financed hydroelectric dams began rising.
But rising just as powerfully was resentment at Daoud's dictatorial ways, and in 1963 Zahir Shah forced his cousin to retire. For the first time in Afghan history, a commoner, Mohammed Yusuf, was appointed Prime Minister; his main job was to oversee the drafting of a new constitution. What evolved is a document that brings the criminal code into the 20th century and forbids members of the royal family to serve in either the Cabinet or the 216-seat Wolesi Jirga (People's Council or Parliament). Though the King may veto laws, the Parliament can overrule him with a two-thirds majority. By contrast, Zahir Shah's father in 1931 hamstrung the legislature, demanding that the King be mentioned in Friday prayers at the mosque, and hewed closely to Koranic justice that lopped off the hands of a thief.
Elections & Flowers. Most important, the new constitution provided for fresh elections. When they were held last September, every seat in the Wolesi Jirga was contested—in some cases by as many as twelve candidates—and 45% of Afghanistan's eligible voters (everybody above 20) turned out. The resulting legislature included the widest array ever of Afghans: from doctors to shepherds, from liberal lawyers to ultra-conservative mullahs (Moslem teachers), as well as four women and six former political prisoners.