Durrani Empire

Afghanistan, 1747–1826. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Durrani Empire, colloquially known as the Kingdom of Afghanistan, the Afghan Empire, or the Sadozai Kingdom, was an Afghan empire founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, of the Pashtun Durrani tribe. The empire spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. Following Ahmad's death in 1772, his son Timur Shah Durrani became the next ruler of the Durrani dynasty. The Durrani Empire is considered the foundational polity of the modern nation-state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad being credited as its Father of the Nation.

Seat of power: Kabul

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• In early 1757, Ahmad Shah sacked Delhi, but permitted Mughal emperor Alamgir II to remain in nominal control as long as he acknowledged Afghan suzerainty over the regions south of the Indus River, up to the Sutlej River.
• Under Ahmad, the Afghans invaded India on eight occasions, subjugating parts of Kashmir and the majority of Punjab.
• Under Timur, Kabul became the new capital of the Durrani Empire, while Peshawar served as its winter capital.
• Alongside the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani Empire is considered one of the most significant Islamic empires of the second half of the 18th century.

Picture

The Durrani Empire was an Afghan empire founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Image: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Sources

• Durrani Empire (Wikipedia)
• Durrani Empire (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.