Ahmad Shah Durrani

Born circa 1721; died 1773. Founder of the independent Afghan Durrani state: shah from 1747. Member of the Sadozai clan of the Durrani tribe.

Ahmad Shah Durrani participated in the campaigns of the Iranian Nadir Shah and displayed great military ability. After Nadir Shah’s death (1747), he went to Afghanistan at the head of the Afghan detachments of the Iranian army. He united all the Afghan tribes under his regime and carried out expeditions to India, Iran, and southern Turkestan. Between 1748 and 1757 he conquered the Punjab, Kashmir, Sirhind, Sind, Khurasan, Balkh, and Baluchistan. He inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marathas in 1761 in the battle at Panipat. Under Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first friendly contacts between Afghanistan and Russia were established.