Afghanistan ? Afghanistan’s last king, a symbol of unity who oversaw four decades of peace before a 1973 palace coup ousted him and war shattered his country, died Monday. He was 92.

Mohammad Zahir Shah’s demise ended the last vestige of Afghanistan’s monarchy and triggered three days of national mourning for a man still feted as the “Father of the Nation” since his return from exile after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.

When the fall of the Taliban in 2001 offered fresh hope for national reconciliation, many clamored for Zahir Shah’s return – not only to his homeland but to the throne.

When he did come back from Italy in April 2002, he stood aside in favor of an anti-Taliban tribesman, now-President Hamid Karzai. A new constitution passed in January 2004 consigned the monarchy to history, with Zahir Shah named the ceremonial Father of the Nation, a position that dissolves with his death.