Ahmad Shah Durrani - Early Years

Early Years

Durrani was born as Ahmad Khan between 1722 and 1723 in either Multan, Mughal India, or the city of Herat in modern-day Afghanistan. Some claim that he was born in Multan (now in Pakistan) and taken as an infant with his mother (Zarghuna Alakozai) to the city of Herat where his father had served as the governor. On the contrary, several historians assert that he was born in Herat. One of the historians relied on primary sources such as Mahmud-ul-Musanna's Tarikh-i-Ahmad Shahi of 1753 and Imam-uddin al-Hussaini's Tarikh-i-Hussain Shahi of 1798.

Durrani's father, Mohammed Zaman Khan, was chief of the Abdalis Pashtuns. He was killed in a battle with the Hotakis between 1722 and 1723, around the time of Ahmad Khan's birth. His family were from the Sadozai section of the Popalzai clan of the Abdalis. In 1729, after the invasion of Nader Shah, the young Ahmad Khan fled with his family south to Kandahar and took refuge with the Ghilzais. He and his brother, Zulfikar, were later imprisoned inside a fortress by Hussain Hotaki, the Ghilzai ruler of southern Afghanistan. Shah Hussain commanded a powerful tribe of Pashtun fighters, having conquered the eastern part of Persia in 1722 with his brother Mahmud, and trodden the throne of the Persian Safavids.

In around 1731, Nader Shah Afshar, the rising new ruler of Persia, began enlisting the Abdali Pashtuns from Herat in his army. After conquering Kandahar in 1738, Ahmad Khan and his brother were freed by Nader Shah and provided with leading careers in his administration. The Ghilzais were pushed eastward while the Abdalis began to re-settle in and around the city of Kandahar.