Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah Durrani
احمد شاه دراني
Padishah
Ghazi
Shāh Durr-i-Durrān ("King, Pearl of Pearls")
Portrait of Ahmad Shah Durrani, c. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France
1st Emir of the Durrani Empire
ReignJuly 1747–4 June 1772
CoronationJuly 1747
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorTimur Shah Durrani
BornAhmad Khan Abdali
1720–1722
Herat, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat (present-day Afghanistan) or
Multan, Mughal Empire (present-day Pakistan)
Died (aged 49–52)
Maruf, Kandahar Province, Durrani Empire
(present-day Afghanistan)
BurialJune 1772
Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani, Kandahar, Afghanistan
31°37′10″N 65°42′25″E / 31.61944°N 65.70694°E / 31.61944; 65.70694
Spouse
(m. 1757)
(m. 1757)
Names
Ahmad Shah Abdali
DynastyHouse of Durrani
FatherMohammad Zaman Khan Abdali
MotherZarghona Anaa[1]
ReligionSunni Islam
Royal sealAhmad Shah Durrani احمد شاه دراني's signature

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.

Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought over fifteen major military campaigns. Nine of them being centered in India, three in Khorasan, and three in Afghan Turkestan.[2] A brilliant military leader and tactician, Ahmad Shah is typically compared to rulers such as Mahmud of Ghazni, Babur, and as well as Nader Shah.[3] He has also been referred to as the "greatest general of Asia of his time".[4]

  1. ^ "Afghan first lady in shadow of 1920s queen?". 1 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020 – via www.aljazeera.com.
  2. ^ Lee 2022, p. 118.
  3. ^ Lee 2022, p. 141.
  4. ^ Gupta 1978, p. 192: "The Afghans fought with equal valour and energy and displayed strategy under the leadership of the greatest general of Asia of his time..."