Abdul Majid Zabuli (August 14, 1896 – November 23, 1998) was one of the most transformative figures in Afghanistan's modern economic history. He was a man driven by a singular, powerful conviction that a nation cannot be truly free if it is not economically self-reliant. Throughout his life, he argued that political independence was a hollow shell without the substance of a strong domestic economy.

In pursuit of this vision, Zabuli became the driving force behind Afghanistan's first modern banking institutions, pioneering an industrial revolution that shifted the country from a closed agrarian society toward a modern economy boldly linked with global markets. His legacy is defined not only by the institutions he built but also by his unwavering belief in economic sovereignty, that Afghanistan could conquer poverty by unlocking the potential of its own capital and people.

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Roots and Early Life

Abdul Majid Zabuli was born in Herat in 1896 into a merchant family; his father, Abdul Hakim Taraky, maintained extensive trade links across Central Asia. This environment provided Zabuli with an early window into the vast world of international commerce. After completing his primary and higher education in Herat, he pursued advanced studies in Tashkent. There, he gained first-hand exposure to diverse economic models that would later serve as the blueprint for his institutional reforms in Afghanistan.

Zabuli's patriotism was never just a sentiment, it was a series of actions. In a remarkable display of personal commitment, he donated his own residential home to the Afghan government in the 1920s to serve as its embassy in Moscow. This spirit of self-sacrifice met its greatest challenge in 1929. Following the political upheavals of that year, King Mohammed Nadir Shah assumed power over a nation in a dire fiscal crisis; the national treasury reportedly held a mere 8,000 Afghanis, an amount so small it barely registered for a nation in need. Recognizing Zabuli's extraordinary acumen, the King invited him to return from Germany to undertake the monumental task of resurrecting a fractured economy.

During his residence in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, Zabuli became the focus of a high-stakes diplomatic confrontation. Soviet authorities, wary of his commercial reach and shareholdings in cross-border enterprises, reportedly sought to detain him and seize his assets. Kabul intervened, detaining several Soviet nationals and using their release as leverage to secure Zabuli's safe crossing back into Afghanistan. This was an episode that underscored the risks he took and the value the state placed on his work.

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The Golden Decade of Development (1932–1942)

Upon his return, Zabuli ignited a period of industrialization that remains unparalleled in Afghan history. This era represented the nation's first sustained, state-supported effort to build a modern economy. In 1932 (1311), he founded the Ashami Company, a joint-stock company aimed at widening ownership to Afghan shareholders and weakening the hold of foreign trading monopolies — a structural step toward genuine economic sovereignty. This allowed small investors to pool capital through share ownership which later flourished into Bank-e-Millie Afghan (National Bank of Afghanistan) in 1933, the country's first modern financial institution.

In 1939, this was followed by the establishment of Da Afghanistan Bank to serve as the central bank, a move that safeguarded the nation's monetary sovereignty and stabilized its very identity. Zabuli later reflected on this era as a "Golden Decade," a testament to the unprecedented progress achieved under his stewardship. In his memoirs he wrote: "Our mission was to ensure that Afghanistan's heart beats with its own capital and its own industry, by transforming dormant domestic wealth into active industrial investment, we would free the nation from foreign economic dependence."

To break the long-standing grip of foreign monopolies, Zabuli launched a massive industrial drive with an initial capital of only 7 million Afghanis. By mobilizing private investors alongside the state, he revolutionized Afghan trade, moving it from informal practices toward a robust system of joint-stock companies. Through the Afghan American Trading Company in New York, he bridged the gap between Afghanistan and the West, ensuring that Afghan exports reached international markets directly and with dignity.

These policies yielded extraordinary results. Under Zabuli's wartime management, Afghanistan accumulated gold and foreign-currency reserves valued at over $31 million — reserves that would anchor the Afghani's stability for the next half-century. At the same time, his administration implemented concrete measures during World War II to protect ordinary households, using targeted distribution systems and trade controls to keep prices of petrol, textiles, sugar and other essentials stable for nearly a decade.

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Industrialization and Social Welfare

For Zabuli, industrial expansion was never solely about profit; it was about human dignity. He directed investments into major infrastructure and manufacturing projects, including the Spinzar Cotton Company in Kunduz, textile mills in Pul-e-Khumri and Gulbahar, and the Baghlan Sugar Factory. These projects were the catalysts that transformed small towns like Kunduz and Taloqan into thriving urban centers.

His belief in the well-being of the worker was decades ahead of its time. Zabuli constructed approximately 1,000 housing units for employees and established free hospitals, clubs, and libraries. In a radical act of economic justice, he introduced a system where workers shared in the annual profits of their companies. This fostered a deep sense of ownership and loyalty, proving that economic growth and social welfare are two sides of the same coin.

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Economic Policy and State Planning

Serving as Minister of National Economy between 1936 and 1951, Zabuli drafted the master plans that modernized Afghanistan's agriculture and power grid. He championed the Helmand Valley project and expanded electricity through plants in Wardak and Sarobi. His planning consistently returned to the same aim: strengthening Afghanistan's economic sovereignty by relying first on domestic resources and institutions. However, as an advocate of open-market principles, he eventually found himself at odds with government policies that constrained private initiative. Refusing to compromise his belief in self-reliance over heavy foreign debt, he resigned and moved to the United States, choosing his principles over his position.

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A Lasting Legacy for Education

Zabuli's late-life philanthropy was motivated by the same goal — to build the human capital necessary for lasting economic sovereignty. He believed sustainable progress required a new generation of educated Afghans. In this spirit, he donated all his immovable properties to the state for the national interest in 1979.

His will established a Trust Fund for Kabul University with a visionary mandate:

• Dormitories: Ensuring that the most talented students from the provinces could afford to live and study in the capital, regardless of their family's wealth.
• Global Scholarships: Funding advanced degrees in Science, Technology, and Public Health at the world's leading institutions.
• Service to the Nation: To combat the "brain drain," he attached a strict condition: scholarship recipients must return and serve Afghanistan for at least 14 years.

Abdul Majid Zabuli passed away at the age of 102 in 1998. He left behind not just a banking system, but a blueprint for national survival. His life is a testament to the power of integrity, strategic planning, and the belief that a nation can rise from poverty to prosperity through the strength of its own will. The Majid Zabuli Center for Economic Research & Policy Analysis now honors his name, continuing his lifelong mission to foster the economic literacy and self-reliance that he knew were the true keys to Afghanistan's future.