Babrak Karmal and Nur Muhammad Taraki established the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan in 1965. The organization fractured into two distinct sects known as Parcham and Khalq by 1967.
Parchamites drew their primary support from middle-class residents living within urban city centers. These supporters were predominantly ethnic Tajiks rather than Pashtuns.
Opponents derisively labeled them the Royal Communist Party due to their links with the Kingdom of Afghanistan. Parcham initially wished to keep the constitutional monarchy intact rather than destroy it immediately while publishing a weekly magazine from 1968 through 1969.
Parchamites were again purged from the government very soon after the Saur Revolution of 1978. Muhammad Taraki ordered mass executions against them, and many Parchamis who were accused of deviating from Marxism-Leninism ended up jailed or executed.
In June 1990, the Parcham-led PDPA converted itself into the Watan Party. They adopted a uniquely Afghan version of Islamic socialism instead of references to Marxism-Leninism.