Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (c. 1722 – 16 October 1772) (Pashto: احمد شاه دراني), also known as Ahmad Khān Abdālī (Pashto: احمد خان ابدالي), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan. He began his career by enlisting as a young soldier in the military of the Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose to become a commander of the Abdali Regiment, a cavalry of four thousand Abdali Pashtun soldiers.

After the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani was chosen as King of Afghanistan. Rallying his Afghan tribes and allies, he pushed east towards the Mughal and the Maratha empires of India, west towards the disintegrating Afsharid Empire of Persia, and north toward the Khanate of Bukhara. Within a few years, he extended his control from Khorasan in the west to Kashmir and North India in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

Durrani's mausoleum is located at Kandahar, Afghanistan, adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak in the center of the city. Afghans often refer to him as Ahmad Shāh Bābā ("Ahmad Shah the Father").

Ahmad Shah

Ahmed Shah or Ahmad Shah is the name of:

Ahmad Shah (Taliban)

Ahmad Shah (nom de guerre Mohammad Ismail; c. 1970 – c. April 2008) was a local (to the Kunar Province of Afghanistan) who commanded a group of fighters operating in eastern Afghanistan and was linked to Gulbadin Hekmatyar.

Ahmad Shah was from the Kuz Kunar District of Nangarhar Province. His full name was "Ahmad Shah Dara-I-Nur" meaning "Ahmad Shah of the Valley of the Enlightened Ones". While he was not part of the Taliban, he sought allegiance with them. He was most closely associated with Gulbadin Hekmatyar. He led a small armed group of Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) fighters who ambushed a team of four U.S. Navy SEALs and then shot down an MH-47 helicopter dispatched as part of a quick reaction force for the SEALs, killing a total of 19 U.S. special operations personnel during Operation Red Wings in late June 2005. In the fire fight with the four SEALs his group had an estimated 35 casualties as a result of a last stand by the four SEALs. The Marine Battalion that conceived and planned Operation Red Wings, the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment developed the operation to disrupt Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) activity in the Pech District of the Kunar Province with a focus on Shah. Through human intelligence and signals intelligence they determined Ahmad Shah had a force of 10 to 20 fighters. Shah and the fighters under his command exacted heavy casualties to the Navy SEALs and Marines.

Ahmad Shah of Malacca

Sultan Ahmad Shah of Malacca (died 1513) was a sultan of what is now Malaya.

The son of Sultan Mahmud Shah, Ahmad Shah's rule began in 1511 when his father stepped aside. It ended in 1513 when he died during the kingdom's war with Portugal: His father stabbed him after failing the attack to conquer Malacca. He was succeeded in rule by his father.

Sultan Ahmad Shah was also involved in the Putri Gunung Ledang Myth where the putri requested a bowl of Raja Ahmad's blood in order to marry her.

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See also

Durrani

Durrani (Pashto: دراني‎) or Abdali (Pashto: ابدالی‎) is the name of a chief Sarbani Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Originally known by their ancient name Abdali, which may derive from the more ancient Ebodalo (Bactrian: ηβοδαλο / "Hephthalites"), they have been called Durrani since the beginning of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The number of Durranis are estimated to be roughly 16% of the population of Afghanistan or 5 million individuals. Durrani are found throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan; although large concentrations are found in southern Afghanistan, they are also found to a lesser extent in east, west and central Afghanistan. Many Durranis are found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. The Durrani Pashtuns of the Afghan capital Kabul are usually bilingual in Pashto and Dari Persian. The ruling Sadozai and Barakzai dynasties of Afghanistan were originally from the Durrani.

History

They were known in the past as Abdalis, from approximately the 7th century until the mid-18th century when Ahmad Shah Durrani was chosen as the new Emir and the Durrani Empire was established. One of Ahmad Shah's first acts as Emir was to adopt the title padshah durr-i durran ('King, "pearl of the age"). He united the Pashtun tribes following a loya jirga in western Kandahar and changed his own name from Ahmad Shah Abdali to Ahmad Shah Durrani. Since that period, the kings of Afghanistan have been of Durrani extraction.

Durrani (disambiguation)

Durrani (Pashto: دراني‎) or Abdali (Pashto: ابدالی‎) is the name of a chief Sarbani Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is a surname found in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.