ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Khān - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Tarzi, Amin
Leiden
Brill
(396 words)
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Khān (1843 or 1844-1901) was amīr (lit., "commander") of Afghanistan (r. 1880-1901) and the only son of Amīr Muḥammad Afḍal Khān (r. 1866-7). He is credited with the creation of the modern Afghan state. After Afḍal Khān, two of his brothers and a nephew had ruled in Afghanistan, namely Muḥammad Aʿẓam Khān (r. 1867-8), Shīr ʿAlī Khān (r. 1868-79), Muḥammad Yaʿqūb Khān (r. very briefly in 1879 after his father Shīr ʿAlī left Kabul - his rule was terminated with the British invasion).