Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Nichols, Robert
Leiden
Brill
(1,421 words)
Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī (r. 1160-86/1747-72), of the Sadozay section of the Popalzay lineage of the Abdālī Afghans, was the first Sadozay ruler of Afghanistan, founding the Durrānī empire in 1160/1747. Born in Multān (which was disputed with Herat) as Aḥmad Khān, second son of Zamān Khān Abdālī (d. 1135/1722), then governor of Herat, he arose from the lineage, regional, and imperial competitions of the age to establish an independent Afghan power. In 1121/1709, Mīr Ways (d. 1127/1715), leader of the Hotakī clan of