Durrani Empire

The Durrani Empire, Durrani Tulukamani, Durrani Wakmani, Durrani Emirate (Pashto: د درانیانو واکمني‎), also called the Sadozai Kingdom and the Last Afghan Empire, was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani with its capital at Kandahar, in present-day Afghanistan. The Durrani Empire at its maximum extent encompassed present-day Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan (including the Panjdeh oasis), most of Pakistan, and northwestern India, including the Kashmir region. Durrani's Pashtun soldiers also instigated the Sikh holocaust of 1762 when they killed thousands of Sikhs in the Punjab. With the support of various tribal leaders, Ahmad Shah Durrani with his Baloch allies extended Afghan control from Khorasan in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

The Afghan army began their conquests by capturing Ghazni and Kabul from the local rulers. In 1749 the Mughal ruler ceded sovereignty over what is now Pakistan and northwestern India to the Afghans. Ahmad Shah then set out westward to take possession of Herat, which was ruled by Shahrukh Afshar. He next sent an army to subdue the areas north of the Hindu Kush and in short order all the different tribes began joining his cause. Ahmad Shah and his forces invaded India four times, taking control of the Kashmir and the Punjab region. Early in 1757, he sacked Delhi, but permitted the Mughal dynasty to remain in nominal control as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad Shah's suzerainty over the Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir.

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.