Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali, Pashto: احمد خان ابدالی (* 1722 in Herat or in Multan [today: Pakistan ]; † June 1772 in Kandahar, Afghanistan ), the founder of the Durrani dynasty, was against the surrounding regional powers, it has established the independence of the previously warring with each other Pashtun tribes. Thus his kingdom that extended from time to time from the east of modern Iran to northern India is, as the nucleus of present day Afghanistan.

The Pashtuns often call him honorable Ahmad Shah Baba. Other items are Padschah ( the Durrani Empire or Padschah -i - Ghazi ) and major -i - Durran ( ' pearl of pearls " ).

Historical situation

The existing since about 1500 the Safavid Persian Empire comprised around 1700 next to the area of today's Iran are also large parts of the present states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The kingdom was at that time, however, in a period of weakness. One contributing factor was that the Sunnis in the kingdom, should be forcibly converted to the state religion Shi'a Islam. Predominantly Sunni were the Pashtuns with their ( hostile ) largest tribes, the Ghilzai and the Abdali in the east of the empire. 1719 rose the Ghilzai. They succeeded in 1722 to conquer the capital of the empire, Isfahan. The dynasty of the Safavids was thus essentially (see same) finished.

The Ghilzai founded a new, but short-lived, dynasty, the Hotaki dynasty. 1709 in the East, in Kandahar, arose, they had the dominion in 1722 acquired also in the central part of Persia after the uprising of 1719. This she lost already back in 1729 by a defeat against Nadir Shah, which they 1736/1737 finally defeated in Kandahar and 1738.

Nadir Shah was a military leader of Kermanshah, a predominantly Shiite people in the northeast of present-day Iran. He fought formal first for the Safavids and continued their dynasty again a (1729-1732, 1732-1736), in 1736 he crowned himself, however, and founded the dynasty of the Afschariden. Even this was short-lived and reigned after his death in 1747 mostly only over a part of the Persian Empire, since 1760 only about the province of Khorasan. 1796 ended the dynasty there.

Youth

The later Ahmad Shah Durrani was born in 1722 when Ahmad Khan in Multan. He belonged to the Sadozai, a branch of the already mentioned Abdali. He was the second son of Mohammed Zaman Khan, chief of the Abdali clan, his mother was Zarghoona Alakozai. The Alakozai also formed a branch of the Abdali.

Ahmad Khan, like his older brother, Zulfikar Khan, in his youth a prisoner of Hussein Khan, the resident in Kandahar governor of the Hotaki dynasty. Both were released only when Nadir Shah 1736/1737 Kandahar conquered.

Rise to Power

The clan of the Abdali soon became one of the followers Nadir Shah; Ahmad Khan now commanded a cavalry unit of about 4,000 men. When Nadir Shah died in 1747, broke up his kingdom. The East was Ahmad Khan, who was appointed by a Loya Jirga to popular leader and now Ahmad Shah said, bring in a short time under his control. He soon conquered Ghazni from the Ghilzai and overthrew the local rulers of Kabul, now dominated the most part of today's Afghanistan. He was Emir of the resulting new empire.

Between 1747 and 1753, Ahmad Shah fell three times in Punjab. In 1748 he crossed the Indus and threatened the Mughal Empire. Fearing an attack on their capital, Delhi, the Mughals in 1749 leaving him the regions of Sindh and Punjab. 1750 came Herat and Nishapur and Meshed in 1751 under his rule. Ahmad Shah's rule over the Punjab, however, was provided by the Sihks in question who conquered Lahore; In 1751 he pushed it back. The following year, Ahmad Shah led a campaign to Kashmir and wanted to conquer the area north of the Hindu Kush. On another campaign 1756/1757 to India, Ahmad Shah sacked Delhi. The dynasty of the Mughals he did not fall, but set up a puppet, Alamgir II. This later became the father of Ahmad Shah son of Timur Shah.

On his way back to Afghanistan in 1757, Ahmad Shah attacked the holiest of Sihks to, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and caused a bloodbath.

With the decline of the Mughal other Indian principalities were harder, the British colonization of India began in this period. Thus strengthened, the Marathas in 1758 and fell one in Punjab. They expelled Timur Shah and his administration. Ahmad Shah then declared a jihad against the Marathas, which earned him some Muslim support. 1759, he reached Lahore and in January 1761 came at the Third Battle of Panipat Panipat. Ahmad Shah won - this was the height of its power. He now ruled by the Ottoman largest Muslim empire.

However, the power over the Punjab was uncertain. End of 1761 and again in 1764 had reflected Ahmad Shah rebellions of the Sikhs. And they remained uncertain: In a later campaign Afghans lost under General Jahan Khan with heavy losses ( 5,000 dead ) against the Sikhs.

Ahmad Shah was already ill at that time. 1764 began his battle with cancer, a tumor in the face to come to light. He spent his last days in Afghanistan and died in June 1772.

Mujahideen (1992-1996) and Taliban government (1996-2001) Sibghatullah Modschaddedi | Burhanuddin Rabbani | Mohammad Omar

President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (since 2001) Burhanuddin Rabbani | Hamid Karzai

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