People / group

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

1965–1992 · 20th century · Also known as PDPA

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was a Marxist-Leninist party founded in Kabul in 1965 by Nur Muhammad Taraki, Babrak Karmal and others. Split into the Khalq and Parcham factions, it seized power in the Saur Revolution of April 1978 and ruled the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan with Soviet backing. Renamed the Watan Party in 1990, it lost power when the mujahideen took Kabul in 1992.

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Image: Falerístico · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Republic of Afghanistan (1973-1978)Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/peoples-democratic-party-of-afghanistan
MLA
“People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/peoples-democratic-party-of-afghanistan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/peoples-democratic-party-of-afghanistan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/peoples-democratic-party-of-afghanistan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻