Babrak Karmal (, born
Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan
politician and statesman during the
Cold War. Karmal was born in
Kamari and educated at
Kabul University. When the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed, Karmal became one of its leading members, having been introduced to
Marxism by
Mir Akbar Khyber during his imprisonment for activities deemed too radical by the government. He eventually became the leader of the
Parcham faction. When the PDPA split in 1967, the Parcham-faction established a Parcham PDPA, while their ideological nemeses, the
Khalqs, established a Khalqist PDPA. Under Karmal's leadership, the Parchamite PDPA participated in
Mohammad Daoud Khan's rise to power, and his subsequent regime. While relations were good at the beginning, Daoud began a major purge of leftist influence in the mid-1970s. This in turn led to the reformation of the PDPA in 1977. The PDPA took power in the 1978
Saur Revolution.