Ahmad Shah
Ahmad Shah
(äkhmäd` shä`), c.1723–1773, Afghan ruler (1747–73), founder of the Durani dynasty. His success in commanding Afghan forces in India for Nadir ShahNadir Shahor Nader Shah
, 1688–1747, shah of Iran (1736–47), sometimes considered the last of the great Asian conquerors. He was a member of the Afshar tribe.
..... Click the link for more information. of Iran won him the rule of Afghanistan on Nadir's death (1747). He twice (1756, 1760) occupied and sacked Delhi, the capital of the Mughal empire. He conquered a vast territory, extending roughly from the Oxus (Amu Darya) to the Indus rivers and from Tibet to Khorasan, but he was unable to consolidate this empire and it soon disintegrated. He united and strengthened Afghanistan, however, and is therefore often considered its modern founder. His family retained power until the rise of Dost MuhammadDost Muhammad
, 1793–1863, emir of Afghanistan. He and his family struggled to get the emirate for years before he finally succeeded in establishing himself in 1826.
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