Timur Shah Durrani

Timur Shah Durrani, (Pashto, Persian, Urdu, Arabic: ‏‌ تیمور شاہ درانی ; 1748 – May 18, 1793) was the second ruler of the Durrani Empire, from October 16, 1772 until his death in 1793.^[1] An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second and eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Early life

Timur Shah was born in Mashhad^[2] in 1748 and had a quick rise to power by marrying the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II. He received the city of Sirhind as a wedding gift and was later made the Governor of Punjab, Kashmir and the Sirhind district in 1757 (when he was only 9 years old), by his father Ahmad Shah Durrani. He ruled from Lahore under the regency of his Wazir, General Jahan Khan, who administered these territories for approximately one year, from May 1757 until April 1758.

The Sikhs also assisted by Adina Beg Khan, Governor of the Julundur Doab, along with Raghunath Rao who was leading the Maratha Empire, forced Timur Shah and Jahan from Punjab and put in place their own government under Adina.

Succession

When Timur Shah succeeded his father in 1772, the regional chieftains only reluctantly accepted him, and most of his reign was spent reasserting his rule over the Durrani Empire. He was noted for his use of the Bala Hisar Fort in Peshawar, as the winter capital of his Empire.^[2]

In 1776, Timur Shah compelled his uncle Abdul Qadir Khan Durrani to leave Afghanistan. Abdul left Afghanistan and sent his family including his: wife Zarnaab Bibi, sisters Azer Khela and Unaar Khela, brother Saifullah Khan Durrani, nephews Mohammad Umer Durrani, Basheer Ahmad Khan Durrani and Shams ur Rehman Durrani and two sons, Faizullah Khan Durrani and Abdullah Khan Durrani to Akora Khattak, in present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He himself went to Damascus (Syria), where he (Abdul Qadir Khan Durrani) died in 1781.

Changes in rule

During his reign, the Durrani Empire began to shrink. In an attempt to move away from disaffected Pashtun tribes, he shifted the capital from Kandahar to Kabul and chose Peshawar as the winter capital in 1776. His court was heavily influenced by Persian culture and he became reliant on the Qizilbash bodyguard for his personal protection.

Death

Timur Shah died in 1793, and was then succeeded by his fifth son Zaman Shah Durrani. His tomb is located in Kabul.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Timur Shah Durrani.

• An old portrait of Timur Shah Durrani
• Britannica - Timur Shah (ruler of Afghanistan)
• The British Library - Chronology: from the emergence of the Afghan Kingdom to the Mission of Mountstuart Elphistone, 1747-1809

Monarchs of Afghanistan Hotaki dynasty Mir Wais Hotak Abdul Aziz Hotak Mahmud Hotaki Ashraf Hotaki Hussain Hotaki Durrani dynasty Ahmad Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani Zaman Shah Durrani Mahmud Shah Durrani Shuja Shah Durrani Ali Shah Durrani Ayub Shah Durrani Emirate (Barakzai dynasty) Dost Mohammad Khan Akbar Khan Sher Ali Khan Mohammad Afzal Khan Mohammad Azam Khan Mohammad Yaqub Khan Ayub Khan Abdur Rahman Khan Habibullah Khan Nasrullah Khan Kingdom Amanullah Khan Inayatullah Khan Habibullah Kalakani Mohammed Nadir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah