Ahmad Shah

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See Ahmad Shah Qajar for the Persian ruler (1909-1925).

Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah (1724–1773), founder of the Durrani dynasty in Afghanistan, was the son of Zaman-Khan, hereditary chief of the Abdali tribe. The name 'Durrani' or 'Durr-i-Durran' means the 'pearl of pearls' in Persian and was given to the Abdali tribe in 1747 when Ahmad Shah Abdali united the Pashtun tribes following a loya jirga and changed his own name to Ahmad Shah Durrani when he became the king of Afghanistan and founded the Durrani Empire. Ahmad Shah and his sons were the first Pashtun rulers of Afghanistan, from the Sadozai line of the Abdali or Durrani group of clans. It was under the leadership of Ahmad Shah that the nation of Afghanistan began to take shape following centuries of fragmentation and exploitation.

Nadir Shah, then ruler of Persia, gave Ahmad Shah the command of a body of cavalry composed chiefly of Abdalis. On the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747, Ahmad retreated to Afghanistan and persuaded local tribes to join him for a jihad against Hindus. He took with him the Koh-i-noor diamond, given to him by Shah Rukh, Nadir's grandson.

He first crossed the Indus River in 1748, when he took Lahore, and in 1751, he inflicted a heavy defeat on the Sikhs of Lahore. In 1750 he took Nishapur, and in 1752 subdued Kashmir. In 1756 he stripped and looted every corner of Delhi and took the treasures of the Mughul Empire. The Maratha chiefs declared holy war on Ahmad ; Ahmad crossed the Indus again and attacked them and, despite being outnumbered 5 to 1, crushed the Indian armies. In 1758 the Marathas obtained possession of the Punjab, but in January 1761 they were routed by Ahmad in the great Battle of Panipat. In a later expedition he inflicted a severe defeat upon the Sikhs, but had to hasten westward immediately afterwards in order to quell an insurrection in Afghanistan. Meanwhile the Sikhs again rose, and Ahmad was now forced to abandon all hope of retaining the command of the Punjab. He died in 1773, leaving to his son Timur the great kingdom he had founded. Unfortunately, within 50 years after Ahmad's death, Afghanistan would be embroiled in civil war.

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