Babrak Karmal he descended from Hindu ancestors of Kashmir. In 1986, Karmal announced that he, and his brother Mahmud Baryalay, were Pashtun because their mother came from the Mullakhel branch of the Pashtuns. However, this was controversial, considering that lineage in Afghanistan is supposed to be traced through the father, not the mother. The accusation that he was of Indian Muslim ancestry comes from the fact that his birthname, Sultan Hussein, is a common Indian Muslim name. In addition, Karmal's own father denied his own ethnicity; Karmal's father was a Tajik. To further confuse the matter, Karmal spoke Dari (Persian) and not
Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia 1960, allowing Saud to reclaim the reins of government, but continued discontent saw Faisal return as prime minister in 1962. After the deposition of Saud in 1964, Faisal succeeded him as king, while remaining prime minister. Since then the two offices have been merged. However, since the reign of King Khalid, others have done much of the "heavy lifting" as the king was either unwilling or unable to carry the workload, especially as the kingdom became a gerontocracy during the 1990s and 2000s. Royal Favorites achieved power to become "de facto" prime ministers. The current one is the King's son