Ahmad Shah Durrani

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Founder of the Durrani Empire (r. 1747–1772)

"Ahmed Shah Durrani" redirects here. For the cricket umpire, see Ahmed Shah Durrani (umpire).

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
Reign| July 1747–4 June 1772
Coronation| July 1747
Predecessor| Position established
Successor| Timur Shah Durrani
Born| Ahmad Khan Abdali
1720–1722
Herat, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat (present-day Afghanistan) or
Multan, Mughal Empire (present-day Pakistan)
Died| 4 June 1772 (aged 49–52)
Maruf, Kandahar Province, Durrani Empire
(present-day Afghanistan)
Burial| June 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|

Hazrat Begum

(m. 1757)​

Iffat-un-Nissa Begum

(m. 1757)​

| Names

Ahmad Shah Abdali
Dynasty| House of Durrani
Father| Mohammad Zaman Khan Abdali
Mother| Zarghona Anaa[1]
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.

## Name and title

[edit]

His birth name was Ahmad Khan, with his tribe name being Abdali. After his Jirga in 1747, he became known as Ahmad Shah. His tribe followed suit, changing the name from Abdali to Durrani.[2][3][4] Afghans often call him Ahmad Shāh Bābā, meaning "Ahmad Shah the Father".[5][6]

In historical sources, his tribal name is interchangeably used between Abdali and Durrani, with other common names for him being Ahmad Shah Abdali.[2][7][2]

## Early life

[edit]

Ahmad Shah was born between 1720–1722 in either Herat, Afghanistan, or Multan, Pakistan. Sources are disputed on where he was born.[8] Contemporary scholarship came to the consensus that Ahmad Shah was born in Multan, but this is disputed by Nejatie, who states that the majority of sources from Ahmad Shah's time state that he was born in Herat, rather than Multan, including the Tarikh-i Ahmad Shahi.[9]

His father, Zaman Khan, was the ruler of the Sadozai Sultanate of Herat. Zaman Khan had died in 1721, leading to Ahmad Shah being raised alongside his brother Zulfiqar Khan in Shindand and Farah. In the mid 1720s, Zulfiqar Khan was invited to rule Herat. Nothing else is heard of Ahmad Shah until 1731–1732, when Zulfiqar Khan was defeated by Nader Shah, forcing both Zulfiqar Khan and Ahmad Shah to flee to Kandahar, where they remained political prisoners of Hussain Hotak.[10][11][12]

## Poetry

[edit]

Durrani wrote a collection of odes in his native Pashto. He was also the author of several poems in Persian. One of his most famous Pashto poems was Love of a Nation:[13][14][15]

> ستا د عشق له وينو ډک سول ځيګرونه
>  By blood, we are immersed in love of you
>  ستا په لاره کښې بايلي زلمي سرونه
>  The youth lose their heads for your sake
>  تا ته راسمه زړګی زما فارغ سي
>  I come to you and my heart finds rest
>  بې له تا مې اندېښنې د زړه مارونه
>  Away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake
>  که هر څو مې د دنيا ملکونه ډېر سي
>  Whatever countries I conquer in the world,
>  زما به هېر نه سي دا ستا ښکلي باغونه
>  I will never forget your beautiful gardens
>  د ډیلي تخت هېرومه چې را ياد کړم
>  I forget the throne of Delhi when I remember,
>  زما د ښکلي پښتونخوا د غرو سرونه
>  The mountain tops of my beautiful Pashtunkhwa
>  د فريد او د حميد دور به بيا سي
>  The eras of Farid [Sher Shah Suri] and Hamid [Lodi] will return,
>  چې زه وکاندم پر هر لوري تاختونه
>  When I launch attacks on all sides
>  که تمامه دنيا يو خوا ته بل خوا يې
>  If I must choose between the world and you,
>  زما خوښ دي ستا خالي تش ډګرونه
>  I shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own

## In popular culture

[edit]

* In 'Panipat' 1988 novel written by Vishwas Patil about Third Battle of Panipat (1761) Ahamed Shah Abdali appears as a notorious invading Afghani Shah. Patil later wrote a stage play on his this novel titled Ranagan (transl. Battlefield).[16]
* In the 1994 television series The Great Maratha, the character of Ahmad Shah Durrani is portrayed by Bob Christo.[17]
* In the 2019 Bollywood war drama Panipat film, Ahmad Shah Abdali appears as the primary antagonist who invaded the Maratha Empire, and is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt.

## See also

[edit]

* List of monarchs of Afghanistan

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

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. ^ a b c Mehta 2005, p. 246.
3. ^ Barfield 2022, p. 98.
4. ^ Balland 1995.
5. ^ Singh 1959, p. 459.
6. ^ Runion 2007, p. 71.
7. ^ Chaurasia 2002, p. 321.
8. ^ Nejatie 2017, p. 287.
9. ^ Nejatie 2017, p. 287-293.
10. ^ Nejatie 2017, p. 294.
11. ^ Singh 1959, p. 15-16.
12. ^ Lee 2022, p. 87.
13. ^ "Ahmad Shah Durrani (Pashto Poet)". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
14. ^ "A Profile of Afghanistan – Ahmad Shah Durrani (Pashto Poet)". Kimberly Kim. Mine Action Information Center. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
15. ^ Akbar, Said Hyder (December 2008). Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781596919976. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
16. ^ Indian express https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/panipat-film-controversy-author-vishwas-patil-6149918/lite/&ved=2ahUKEwjPi9CrvI_8AhU8S2wGHT6yBp0QFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2AA4HtFoJB8BbrnrPq6395. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)
17. ^ "Mr Christos Mojo – Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 16 April 2022.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Barfield, Thomas (6 December 2022). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, Second Edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-23856-2.
* Singh, Ganḍā (1959). Ahmad Shah Durrani: Father of Modern Afghanistan. Asia Publishing House. p. 457\. ISBN 978-1-4021-7278-6. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
* Runion, Meredith L. (2007). The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
* Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1 January 2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6.
* Balland, Daniel (15 December 1995). "DORRĀNĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
* Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (2002). History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 978-81-269-0123-4.
* Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD). University of Toronto. p. 293\. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019.

* Lee, Jonathan L. (8 March 2022). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78914-019-4.

Regnal titles

Preceded by

Position established

|  Emir of Afghanistan
1747–1772  | Succeeded by

Timur Shah Durrani

* v
* t
* e

Monarchs of Afghanistan

Hotak Empire|

* Mirwais Hotak
* Abdul Aziz Hotak
* Mahmud Hotak
* Ashraf Hotak
* Hussain Hotak

Durrani Empire|

* Ahmad Shah Durrani
* Timur Shah Durrani
* Zaman Shah Durrani
* Mahmud Shah Durrani
* Shah Shujah Durrani
* Ali Shah Durrani
* Ayub Shah Durrani

Barakzai Emirate|

* Sultan Mohammad Khan
* Dost Mohammad Khan
* Akbar Khan
* Sher Ali Khan
* Mohammad Afzal Khan
* Mohammad Azam Khan
* Mohammad Yaqub Khan
* Ayub Khan
* Abdur Rahman Khan
* Habibullah Khan
* Jehandad Khan
* Nasrullah Khan

Barakzai Kingdom|

* Amanullah Khan
* Abd-al Karim
* Inayatullah Khan

Saqqawist Emirate (unrecognized)|

* Habibullāh Kalakāni

Barakzai Kingdom (restored)|

* Mohammad Nadir Shah
* Mohammad Zahir Shah
* Salemai

* Italics indicates localized rebel monarchs

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* e

Durrani dynasty (1747–1842)

Rulers|

* Ahmad Shah Durrani
* Timur Shah Durrani
* Zaman Shah Durrani
* Mahmud Shah Durrani
* Shuja Shah Durrani
* Ali Shah Durrani
* Ayub Shah Durrani
* Kamran Shah Durrani
* Mohammad Yusuf Durrani

* Afghanistan portal

Events|

* Maratha conquest of North-west India
* Third battle of Panipat

Adversaries|

* Sadashivrao Bhau
* Ranjit Singh
* Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
* Mohammad Shah Qajar
* Dost Mohammad Khan

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Pashtun-related topics

Dynasties|

* Lodi dynasty
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Key figures|

* Alauddin Khilji
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* Aimal Khan Mohmand
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* Mirwais Hotak
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* Ahmad Shah Durrani
* Najib Khan Yousafzai
* Dost Mohammad Khan
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Culture|

* Pashtun culture
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* Pashto media
* Pashto singers
* Pashtun tribes
* Loya jirga
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Poets|

* Amir Kror Suri
* Pir Roshan
* Rahman Baba
* Khushal Khattak
* Nazo Tokhi
* Abdul Hamid Baba
* Hussain Hotak
* Ahmad Shah Durrani
* Hamza Baba
* Ajmal Khattak
* Kabir Stori
* Ghani Khan

Groups|

| Citizens' groups|

* Khudai Khidmatgar
* Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
* People's Peace Movement

|

Religious-military|

* Taliban

Topics and
controversies|

* Pashtun nationalism
* Pashtunistan
* Afghan (ethnonym)
* Durand Line
* Bannu Resolution
* Kalabagh Dam
* Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
* Anti-Pashtun sentiment

Battles and
conflicts|

* First Battle of Panipat
* Battle of Chausa
* Malandari Pass
* Battle of Gulnabad
* Third Battle of Panipat
* Battle of Nowshera
* Battle of Jamrud
* Herat War
* First Afghan War
* Ambela Pass
* Second Anglo-Afghan War
* Battle of Maiwand
* Tirah campaign
* Siege of Malakand
* Afghan War of Independence
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* Second Waziristan
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* War in North-West Pakistan

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