Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah Durrani, originally named Ahmad Khan Abdali, was born between 1720 and 1722 and died in October 1772. He established the Durrani Empire and is widely considered the creator of modern Afghanistan. For more than 25 years, he commanded military operations across West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, building one of the largest Islamic empires of its time. Its territory included present-day Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, the Iranian region of Khorasan, and parts of northern India. His early life is uncertain. He was born either in Herat (in modern Afghanistan) or Multan (in modern Pakistan); modern scholars mostly favor Multan, though a primary source commissioned by Ahmad Shah himself states Herat. His father, Zaman Khan, was the Sultan of Herat and died in 1721. Ahmad Shah and his brother Zulfiqar Khan were raised in Shindand and Farah. In the mid-1720s, Zulfiqar Khan was invited to rule Herat. Ahmad Shah next appears in records around 1731–1732, when Nader Shah of Iran defeated Zulfiqar Khan, forcing both brothers to flee to Kandahar. There, they were held as political prisoners by the Hotak king, Hussain Hotak. After Nader Shah captured Kandahar, the brothers were freed. Ahmad Shah then served under Nader Shah, accompanying him on his invasion of India in 1738–1739. He and his brother were later resettled in Mazandaran; some sources say Ahmad Shah may have been appointed its governor. Following his brother’s death, Ahmad Shah joined the Afsharid military in 1742. During Nader Shah’s Indian campaign, Ahmad Shah possibly led a regiment of Durrani tribesmen and took part in the sacking of Delhi and related massacres. A legend claims that the Mughal governor Nizam ul-Mulk predicted Ahmad Shah would become king, and that Nader Shah clipped part of his ear as a reminder. Historians are skeptical of this story, and evidence of Ahmad Shah’s full involvement in the campaign is inconclusive. In 1744, Ahmad Shah was promoted to Nader Shah’s personal staff. During a campaign against the Ottomans, he distinguished himself and was allowed to raise a force of 3,000 to 4,000 Durrani tribesmen. This unit became one of Nader Shah’s most trusted, used to counterbalance other commanders suspected of plotting rebellion. After Nader Shah’s assassination in 1747, the Afsharid Empire broke apart. Ahmad Shah seized the opportunity, was crowned near Kandahar, and established his rule in Afghanistan, founding the Durrani Empire. He also changed his tribe’s name from Abdali to Durrani, forbidding the old name to ward off rival claimants. In 1748, he invaded the Mughal Empire, beginning a series of incursions into India that lasted 24 years. After his third invasion, he annexed Punjab and Kashmir from the Mughals. During his fourth invasion in 1757, he occupied and sacked Delhi. His fifth invasion culminated in the Third Battle of Panipat, the largest battle of the 18th century, where he annihilated the Maratha armies. Outside India, he campaigned in Khorasan and Afghan Turkestan, subduing the Afsharids, fighting the Khanate of Bukhara, and even clashing with Qing China. In his later years, he launched many campaigns against the Sikhs to hold Punjab. Constant warfare wore down his health, and he died in 1772 in Maruf, buried in his own mausoleum in Kandahar. Over his reign, Ahmad Shah fought more than fifteen major campaigns: nine in present-day India, three in Khorasan, and three in Afghan Turkestan. He rarely lost a battle, and historians regard him as a brilliant military leader and tactician, often compared to figures like Marlborough, Mahmud of Ghazni, Babur, and Nader Shah. He has been called one of the greatest military leaders of 18th-century Asia, the “greatest general of Asia of his time,” and one of the greatest conquerors in Asian history. However, his campaigns left India in chaos and contributed to the decline of Muslim power in northern India. Afghan soldiers under his command carried out indiscriminate massacres, pillaging, and mass enslavement.