Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani احمد شاه دراني | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Padishah Ghazi Shāh Durr-i-Durrān ("King, Pearl of Pearls") | |||||||||
1st Emir of the Durrani Empire | |||||||||
Reign | 1747–1772 | ||||||||
Coronation | June 1747[1] | ||||||||
Predecessor | Position established | ||||||||
Successor | Timur Shah Durrani | ||||||||
Born | Ahmad Khan Abdali 1720–1722[2]: 287 Herat, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat (present-day Afghanistan)[3][4] or | ||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||
| |||||||||
House of Durrani | |||||||||
Father | Mohammad Zaman Khan Abdali | ||||||||
Mother | Zarghona Anaa[8] | ||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Royal seal |
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (
Primarily with the support of the
Soon after accession, Ahmad Shah adopted the
Early years
Ahmad's father, Mohammad Zaman Khan, was the Governor of Herat and chief of the Pashtun Abdali tribe, while his mother, Zarghona Anaa, was daughter of Khalu Khan Alakozai and belonged to the Alakozai tribe. Ahmad was born in Herat (then Sadozai Sultanate of Herat, present-day Afghanistan),[3] or Multan (then Mughal Empire, present-day Pakistan) in 1720–1722 around the time of his father's death, when the Abdali leadership still controlled the Herat region.[19][20]
It is disputed among historians whether Durrani was born in Herat or in Multan, present-day Pakistan. Contemporary historians tend toward Herat in poetic accounts of his life.
According to
Shah by Nizam-al Din Ishrat, a poet from Sialkot, Punjab is hinting about Durrani while writing about Durrani's father, Muhammad Zaman Khan:[citation needed]
چو از عبر احسان پرواردیگار
Since through the Creator's cloud of beneficience
محمد زمان خان شده مایه دار
Muhammad Zaman Khan had become bountiful
زمین مرده کوه و دشت هرات
The lifeless mountains and plains of Herat
دیگر تازه جان شد زی آب حیات
Were again restored through the water of life
In June 1729, the Abdali forces under Zulfiqar had surrendered to Nader Shah Afshar, the rising new ruler of Persia. They soon began a rebellion and took over Herat as well as Mashad. In July 1730, he defeated Ibrahim Khan, a military commander and brother of Nader Shah. This prompted Nader Shah to retake Mashad and also intervene in the power struggle of Harat. By July 1731, Zulfiqar returned to his capital Farah where he had been serving as the governor since 1726. A year later Nadir's brother Ibrahim Khan took control of Farah. During this time Zulfiqar and the young Durrani fled to Kandahar where they took refuge with the Ghiljis. They were later made political prisoners by Hussain Hotak, the Ghilji ruler of the Kandahar region.[21]
Nader Shah had been enlisting the Abdalis in his army since around 1729. After
Durrani proved himself in Nader Shah's service and was promoted from a personal attendant (yasāwal) to command the Abdali Regiment, a cavalry of four thousand soldiers and officers. The Abdali Regiment was part of Nader Shah's military during his invasion of the Mughal Empire in 1738.[23]
Popular history has it that the Shah could see the talent in his young commander. Later on, according to Pashtun legend, it is said that in Delhi Nader Shah summoned Durrani, and said, "Come forward Ahmad Abdali. Remember Ahmad Khan Abdali, that after me the Kingship will pass on to you.[24] Nader Shah recruited him because of his "impressive personality and valour" also because of his "loyalty to the Persian monarch".[25]
Rise to power
Nader Shah's rule abruptly ended in June 1747 when he was assassinated by his own guards. The guards involved in the assassination did so secretly so as to prevent the Abdalis from coming to their King's rescue. Durrani was told the Shah had been killed by one of his wives. Despite the danger of being attacked, the Abdali contingent led by Durrani rushed either to save the Shah or to confirm what happened. Upon reaching the Shah's tent, they were only to see his body and severed head. Having served him so loyally, the Abdalis wept at having failed their leader,[26] and headed back to Kandahar. Before the retreat to Kandahar, he had "removed" the royal seal from Nader Shah's finger and the Koh-i-Noor diamond tied "around the arm of his deceased master". On their way back to Kandahar, the Abdalis had "unanimously accepted" Durrani as their new leader. Hence he "assumed the insignia of royalty" as the "sovereign ruler of Afghanistan".[27]
At the time of Nadir's death, he commanded a contingent of Abdali Pashtuns. Realizing that his life was in jeopardy if he stayed among the Persians who had murdered Nader Shah, he decided to leave the Persian camp, and with his 4,000 troops he proceeded to Qandahar. Along the way and by sheer luck, they managed to capture a caravan with booty from India. He and his troops were rich; moreover, they were experienced fighters. In short, they formed a formidable force of young Pashtun soldiers who were loyal to their high-ranking leader.[28]
One of Durrani's first acts as chief was to adopt the epithet Shāh Durr-i-Durrān, "King, Pearl of Pearls."[9]
Last Afghan empire
Although Ahmad Shah appointed his fellow Durrani (Abdali) clansmen for most senior military posts, his army was otherwise ethnically diverse with soldiers also from various other ethnic and tribal groups, including non-Durrani Pashtun tribes like the Ghilji and Yusufzai, and non-Pashtun groups such as Qizilbash, Hazaras, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Baloch.[22] He began his military conquest by capturing Qalati Ghilji from its governor Ashraf Tokhi and installed his own governor in Ghazni. He then wrestled Kabul and Peshawar from Mughal-appointed governor Nasir Khan, and conquered the area up to the Indus River. On 15 July 1747, Ahmad Shah appointed Muhammad Hashim Afridi as chief of the Afridi of Peshawar.[12][27] Ahmad Shah conquered Herat in 1750, Balkh and Badakhshan in 1751, and Kashmir in 1752.[29]
He also made two campaigns into Khorasan (1750–51 and
Indian invasions
Early invasions
Peshawar served as a convenient point for Ahmad Shah for his military conquests in Hindustan. From 1748 to 1767, he invaded Hindustan eight times. He first crossed the Indus River in 1748, the year after his ascension – his forces sacked and absorbed
Third battle of Panipat
The Mughal power in northern India had been declining since the reign of
In 1761, Durrani set out on his campaign to win back lost territories. The early skirmishes ended in victory for the Afghans against the Maratha garrisons in northwest India. By 1759, Durrani and his army had reached Lahore and were poised to confront the Marathas. By 1760, the Maratha groups had coalesced into a big enough army under the command of
Central Asia
The Afaqi brothers died in Badakhshan and the ruler Sultan Shah delivered their bodies to the Qing. Ahmad Shah Durrani accused Sultan Shah of having caused the Afaqi brothers to die.[36]
Durrani dispatched troops to Kokand after rumours that the Qing dynasty planned to launch an expedition to Samarkand, but the alleged expedition never happened and Ahmad Shah subsequently withdrew his forces when his attempt at an anti-Qing alliance among Central Asian states failed.[37] Durrani then sent envoys to Beijing to discuss the situation regarding the Afaqi Khojas.[38]
Death and legacy
Ahmad Shah may have suffered an injury due to a flying brick striking his nose when the Harimandir Sahib was destroyed with gunpowder. [39] Other sources state that he Ahmad Shah suffered from what Afghan sources described as a "gangrenous ulcer", which may attribute to numerous illnesses, such as Leprosy, Syphilis, or a tumor.[40]
Lee writes: "Ahmad Shah gained poor health as a result of all his campaigns. Despite all attempts to treat it, a wound in his nose remained. The ulcer in his later years began eating into his brain".[41] Following the advice of his physicians, he spent part of the summer in the cooler climate of the Margha plain in the Toba Achakzai range during the last few years of his life. He died of his illness on 4 June 1772 (2 Rabi' al-Awwal 1186) in Maruf, Toba Achakzai, east of Kandahar. Some other sources state that he died on 16 October 1772.[42][43]
Ahmad Shah was buried in the city of Kandahar adjacent to the
Under the shimmering turquoise dome that dominates the sand-blown city of Kandahar lies the body of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the young Kandahari warrior who in 1747 became the region's first Durrani king. The mausoleum is covered in deep blue and white tiles behind a small grove of trees, one of which is said to cure toothache, and is a place of pilgrimage. In front of it is a small mosque with a marble vault containing one of the holiest relics in the Islamic World, a kherqa, the Sacred Cloak of Mohammed that was given to Ahmad Shah by
Bokhara. The Sacred Cloak is kept locked away, taken out only at times of great crisis but the mausoleum is open and there is a constant line of men leaving their sandals at the door and shuffling through to marvel at the surprisingly long marble tomb and touch the glass case containing Ahmad Shah's brass helmet. Before leaving they bend to kiss a length of pink velvet said to be from his robe. It bears the unmistakable scent of jasmine.[44]
In his tomb his epitaph is written:
The King of high rank, Ahmad Shah Durrani,
Was equal toKisrain managing the affairs of his government.
In his time, from the awe of his glory and greatness,
The lioness nourished the stag with her milk.
From all sides in the ear of his enemies there arrived
A thousand reproofs from the tongue of his dagger.
The date of his departure for the house of mortality
Was the year of the Hijra 1186 (1772 A.D.)[45]
Durrani's victory over the Marathas influenced the history of the subcontinent and, in particular, the policies of the
His military courage and activity are spoken of with admiration, both by his own subjects and the nations with whom he was engaged, either in wars or alliances. He seems to have been naturally disposed to mildness and clemency and though it is impossible to acquire sovereign power and perhaps, in Asia, to maintain it, without crimes; yet the memory of no eastern prince is stained with fewer acts of cruelty and injustice.
His successors, beginning with his son
In Pakistan, a short-range ballistic missile Abdali-I, is named in the honour of Ahmad Shah Abdali.[47]
Poetry
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:[48][49][50]
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 ofHamid[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
Personal life
During
|
In popular culture
- In 'Panipat' 1988 novel written by Vishwas Patil about Third Battle of Panipat (1761) Ahamed Shah Abdali appears as a notorious invading Afgani Shah. Patil later wrote a stage play on his this novel titled Ranagan (transl. Battlefield).[51]
- In the 1994 television series The Great Maratha, the character of Ahmad Shah Durrani is portrayed by Bob Christo.[52]
- In the 2019 Maratha Empire, and is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt.
See also
- List of monarchs of Afghanistan
References
- ^ Khān, Tahmās (1967). Tahmas Nama, the Autobiography of a Slave. Popular Prakashan. p. 7. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
When Ahmad Shah had, on the death of Nadir Shah declared his independence at Quandahar (June 1747)...
- ^ a b Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD). University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ a b 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.
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.
- ^ a b Afghanistan In The Course of History us.archive.org
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Ahmad Shah (ruled 1747–72), the ephemeral empire's founder, was born in Multan in 1722.
- ISSN 1873-9830.
It was in Multan that the future Aḥmad Shāh Sadūzāʾī was born of Khudādād's lineage.
- ISBN 978-1408818305.
Ahmad Shah Abdali (1722–72): Born in Multan, Ahmad Shah rose to power in the service of the Persian warlord Nadir Shah.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "Ahmad Shah and the Durrani Empire". Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan. 1997. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ a b Friedrich Engels (1857). "Afghanistan". Andy Blunden. The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-402-8. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ a b 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.
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.
- ^ D. Balland. "Afghanistan: x. Political History". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 1982. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ "Aḥmad Shah Durrānī". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4021-7278-6. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
- ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
Afghans refer to him as Ahmad Shah Baba (Ahmad Shah, the father).
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- ISSN 1873-9830.
- ISBN 978-1408818305.
- ^ Sarkar, p. 124
- ^ a b C. Collin-Davies (1999). "Ahmad Shah Durrani". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0).
- ^ Griffiths, John. C (2001) Afghanistan: A History of Conflict p. 12
- ^ Singer, Andre (1983). Lords of the Khyber: The story of the North West Frontier.
- ^ a b Mehta, p. 247
- ^ Olaf Caroe, The Pathans (1981 reprint)
- ^ a b Mehta, p. 248
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- ^ ISBN 978-3-7001-7202-4.
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- ISBN 978-1-4437-2408-1p. 76
- ^ Patil, Vishwas. Panipat.
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- ISBN 978-90-04-14550-4.
- ISBN 9788173045806.
- ISBN 978-1-63557-076-2.)
Few possessors of the Koh-i-Noor have led happy lives, and while Ahmad Shah rarely lost a battle, he was eventually defeated by a foe more intractable than any army. From early on in his reign, his face began to be eaten away by what the Afghan sources call a 'gangrenous ulcer', possibly leprosy, syphilis or some form of tumour. Even as he was winning his greatest victory at Panipat, Ahmad Shah's disease had already consumed his nose, and a diamond-studded substitute was attached in its place.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 9781789140101.
- ISBN 9781642490060.
In the following years Abdali's face became disfigured due to the wound inflicted on his nose by the flying brick. To cover it up, he got a nose of silver made. As ordained by Providance, maggot's formation took place in his nose, throat and brain. So much so that it became difficult for him to swallow the food. Maggots would slip down his throat. Attendants, tried to feed him milk by spoon but maggots would fall from his nose in the spoon. His condition became miserable and on the night of 16th Oct, 1772 at Toba Maruf in Suilleman hills he met with a terrible end.
- ISBN 9780341781523. Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ISBN 0-06-050527-3.
- Nancy Hatch Dupree– An Historical Guide To Afghanistan – The South (Chapter 16)
- ^ a b "Central Asia". The British Library. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ "Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Ahmad Shah Durrani (Pashto Poet)". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- Mine Action Information Center. Archivedfrom the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ISBN 9781596919976. Archivedfrom the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ 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) - ^ "Mr Christos Mojo – Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
Notes
- Jaswant Lal Mehta (1 January 2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. ISBN 9781932705546.
- L. J. Newby (2005). The Empire And the Khanate. BRILL. ISBN 9789004145504.
- ISBN 9780861317493.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-19-577221-0.
- Clements, Frank. Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia Archived 7 February 2023 at the ISBN 1-85109-402-4.
- Dupree, Nancy Hatch. An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Air Authority, Afghan Tourist Organization, 1977.
- Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1819. An account of the kingdom of Caubul, and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India: Comprising a view of the Afghaun nation, and a history of the Dooraunee monarchy Archived 5 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and J. Murry, 1819.
- Griffiths, John C. (1981). Afghanistan: a history of conflict Archived 23 January 2024 at the ISBN 1-84222-597-9.
- Gommans, Jos J. L. (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710–1780. Brill.
- ISBN 1-58736-169-8.
- Hopkins, B. D. 2008. The Making of Modern Afghanistan Archived 23 January 2024 at the ISBN 0-230-55421-0.
- ISBN 1-4021-7278-8.
- Romano, Amy. A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan Archived 23 January 2024 at the ISBN 0-8239-3863-8.
- Singh, Ganda (1959). Ahmad Shah Durrani, father of modern Afghanistan. Asia Publishing House, Bombay. (PDF version "Ahmad Shah Durrani profile]" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2014.)
- Vogelsang, Willem. The Afghans Archived 12 April 2023 at the ISBN 0-631-19841-5.
- Alikuzai, Hamid Wahed: A Concise History of Afghanistan A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes Archived 17 October 2023 at the
Further reading
- Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). "Iranian Migrations in the Durrani Empire". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 37. Project Muse: 494–509. S2CID 148940975.