Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah Durrani

(born c. 1722, Multan, Punjab—died Oct. 16?, 1772, Toba Ma'ruf, Afg.) Founder of modern Afghanistan. The son of an Afghan chief, he became shah in 1747 on the death of the Persian conqueror Nadir Shah, in whose army he had served. He proceeded to invade India nine times over the next 22 years in an attempt to control the trade routes between northern India and central and western Asia and became ruler of an empire that extended from the Amu Darya to the Indian Ocean and from Khorasan to present-day northern India. His hold on the Punjab, governed by his son Timur Shah, was weakened by rebellions at home, and he ultimately lost control of it to the Sikhs. Much of his empire disintegrated after his death.

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Ahmad Shah Durrani 

Born circa 1721; died 1773. Founder of the independent Afghan Durrani state: shah from 1747. Member of the Sadozai clan of the Durrani tribe.

Ahmad Shah Durrani participated in the campaigns of the Iranian Nadir Shah and displayed great military ability. After Nadir Shah’s death (1747), he went to Afghanistan at the head of the Afghan detachments of the Iranian army. He united all the Afghan tribes under his regime and carried out expeditions to India, Iran, and southern Turkestan. Between 1748 and 1757 he conquered the Punjab, Kashmir, Sirhind, Sind, Khurasan, Balkh, and Baluchistan. He inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marathas in 1761 in the battle at Panipat. Under Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first friendly contacts between Afghanistan and Russia were established.