Durrani Empire
Pakistan, 1747–1826. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Durrani Empire was an Afghan empire founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, of the Pashtun Durrani tribe. At its peak, it ruled over present-day Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, parts of northeastern and southeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India. Under Ahmad, the Afghans invaded India on eight occasions, subjugating parts of Kashmir and the majority of Punjab. The empire lost Peshawar, Multan, and Kashmir to the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century.
Seat of power: Kabul
No rulers documented for this era yet.
Culture
- In 1749 the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur was induced to cede Sindh, the Punjab region and the important trans Indus River to Ahmad Shah Durrani in order to save his capital from Afghan attack.
- Under Timur, Kabul became the new capital of the Durrani Empire, while Peshawar served as its winter capital.
- 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.
Picture
The Lahore Fort is a citadel in the Walled City of Lahore that was almost entirely rebuilt in the 17th century, when the Mughal Empire was at its zenith.
Image: Rohaan Bhatti, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.