Ahmad Shah Durrani احمد شاه دراني | |||||||||
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Padishah Ghazi Shāh Durr-i-Durrān ("King, Pearl of Pearls") | |||||||||
1st Emir of the Durrani Empire | |||||||||
Reign | June 1747–4 June 1772 | ||||||||
Coronation | June 1747[1] | ||||||||
Predecessor | Position established | ||||||||
Successor | Timur Shah Durrani | ||||||||
Born | Ahmad Khan Abdali c. 1722[2][3]: 287 Herat, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat (present-day Afghanistan)[4][5] or Multan, Multan Subah, Punjab, Mughal Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)[6][7][8] | ||||||||
Died | (aged 49–52)[2]: 409 Maruf, Kandahar Province, Durrani Empire (present-day Afghanistan) | ||||||||
Burial | June 1772 | ||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||
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Dynasty | House of Durrani | ||||||||
Father | Mohammad Zaman Khan Abdali | ||||||||
Mother | Zarghona Anaa[9] | ||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Royal seal |
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (Pashto: احمد شاه دراني; Persian: احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (Pashto: احمد شاه ابدالي), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan.[10][11][12] In June 1747, he was appointed as King of the Afghans by a loya jirga in Kandahar, where he set up his capital.[13]
Primarily with the support of Pashtun tribes,[14] Ahmad Shah pushed eastward to the Mughal and Maratha Empires of India, westward to the disintegrating Afsharid Empire of Iran, and northward to the Khanate of Bukhara of Turkestan. Within a few years, he extended his control from Khorasan in the west to North India in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.[15][11][16]
Soon after his accession, Ahmad Shah adopted the epithet Shāh Durr-i-Durrān, "King, Pearl of Pearls", and changed the name of his "Tareen" Abdali tribe to "Durrani" after himself. His tomb is in the center of Kandahar, adjacent to Kirka Sharif (Shrine of the Cloak), which contains a cloak believed to have been worn by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Afghans often call him Ahmad Shāh Bābā, "Ahmad Shah the Father".[17][18][19]
When Ahmad Shah had, on the death of Nadir Shah declared his independence at Quandahar (June 1747)...
The fact that numerous sources composed in the ruler's lifetime consistently connect him in his youth to Herat justifies the stance of Ghubār and others that Aḥmad Shāh was, in fact, born in the Herat region, around the time his father passed away and when the Abdālī leadership still exercised authority over the province.
Ahmad Shah (ruled 1747–72), the ephemeral empire's founder, was born in Multan in 1722.
It was in Multan that the future Aḥmad Shāh Sadūzāʾī was born of Khudādād's lineage.
Ahmad Shah Abdali (1722–72): Born in Multan, Ahmad Shah rose to power in the service of the Persian warlord Nadir Shah.
According to the Taẕkira of Anand Ram "Mukhliṣ," He issued a royal edict on 15 July 1747, appointing Muḥammad Hāshim Afrīdī as chief of the Afrīdī of the Peshawar region. This appears to affirm that his accession took place no later than mid-July.
Afghans refer to him as Ahmad Shah Baba (Ahmad Shah, the father).