| Zaman Shah Durrani زمان شاہ درانی | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shah of the Durrani Empire King, Pearl of Pearls[a] | |||||
 | |||||
| Shah of the Durrani Empire | |||||
| Reign | 20 May 1793 – 25 July 1801 | ||||
| Coronation | 1793 | ||||
| Predecessor | Timur Shah Durrani | ||||
| Successor | Mahmud Shah Durrani | ||||
| Born | 1767 Durrani Empire | ||||
| Died | 13 September 1845 (aged 77–78) Ludhiana,Sikh Empire (Present dayIndia) | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Issue | Qaisar Shah | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Durrani | ||||
| Father | Timur Shah Durrani | ||||
| Mother | MaryamBegum[1] | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Battles / wars | Afghan Civil War (1793–1823) First Anglo-Afghan War | ||||
Zaman Shah Durrani, orZaman Shah Abdali (Pashto:زمان شاه دراني;Persian:زمان شاہ درانی, 1767 – 1845) wasthe third King of theDurrani Empire from 1793 until 1801. An ethnicPashtun of the Sadozai clan, Zaman Shah was the grandson ofAhmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son ofTimur Shah Durrani.
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Zaman Shah was born toTimur Shah Durrani. The year of his birth is disputed however.Fayz Muhammad gives 1767 as his year of birth,[2] while Noelle-Karimi gives the year as 1770.[3] Zaman Shah had always wanted to follow his father,Timur Shah Durrani with his conquests inPunjab, however Timur Shah Durrani did not allow it, and Zaman Shah very early grew interests of being like his grandfather,Ahmad Shah Durrani, as a child he had dreamt of conqueringHindustan, but his father did not allow Zaman Shah to accompany him on his campaigns. Zaman Shah Durrani took the Durrani throne in 1793 after his father's death.
When Zaman had taken the throne, he was opposed by many of his brothers, among whom wereMahmud Shah Durrani and Humayun who had their respective regional zones of influence. To deal with these claims over succession, an election was held inKabul over who the next Durrani ruler would be. Abbas Mirza was a running candidate and would have taken the vote if the election was held right after Timur Shah Durrani's death. However with the given time,Barakzai tribal leaders and Zaman's influence had by then grew, allowing him to receive the popular vote and become the ruler, specifically supported by ChiefPayandah Khan.[4]
Having now been declared King of theDurrani Empire and recognized by all but his brothers, he led his brothers to Kabul, where he imprisoned his opposing brothers. He implicated a diet to starve his brothers, with a diet of two to three ounces of bread each day, with the effect, the brothers gave in on the sixth day, where they had given in and recognized Zaman Shah as the King of the Durrani Empire. The Princes were then freed but kept under surveillance in theBala Hissar, Kabul.[5]
Zaman Shah had wanted a ministry and cabinet that would be loyal to him and of his people, as a result he had replaced his old ministry and replaced them with loyalPashtuns devoted to Zaman Shah, strengthening his position on the throne. Zaman Shah had also led hard campaigns to tie himself to the chiefs who had opposed him in the Kabul election, where in most cases he succeeded, bringing more strength to his rule and throne, to those who did oppose him still as the chiefs, he put them to death.[6]
Zaman Shah, wanting to further secure his throne from the growing popularity of Mahmud Shah in Herat and older brother Humayun in Kandahar wanted to mobilise his army to march on Kandahar to prevent them uniting against his rule. Humayun, disregarded the advice to stay in defense within Kandahar's great walls and wait for Mahmud Shah reinforcements to arrive from Herat, and marched out to meet Zaman Shah's army and was defeated atQalati Ghilji and forced to flee toBaluchistan. With his victory, Zaman Shah, secured Kandahar.
Before being able to move against Mahmud Shah in Herat, he had received news of possible rebellion on the outer provinces of the empire, and that his presence was urgently required in Kabul. He signed a truce with Mahmud Shah and returned to Kabul as a result.[7]
Having then recapturedKandahar and being recalled, he had led a reign of terror, seeing his father,Timur Shah Durrani's implicated systems as too lenient, every person correlating to any influence within the Durrani Empire was watched upon. Zaman Shah also ordered the execution of anybody who opposed him, often leading to massacres within the city to rout out small groups of resistance and opposition. The sameBarakzai tribal leaders, who had led Zaman Shah in effort to consolidate his holdings and capture the throne were deprived of all power, with other chiefs also being arrested, or put to death.[8] The outerlying provinces of the empire, having heard of the news in the capital had led prolific revolts in return, not wanting to meet the same fate as many of the nobles in Kabul; revolts broke out inKashmir and Punjab; andSindh had severed itself of influence and correlation to the Durrani Empire; and theUzbeks had crossed the Oxus.[9]
Zaman Shah, now seeing his realm disintegrating, had marched toPeshawar, where he heard the news of his brother, Humayun, with the assistance of theTalpur inSindh had seized Kandahar. He turned from Peshawar to meet him atKandahar. Humayun was betrayed by the Afghans in Kandahar, forcing him to flee again, this time toSindh, but then attempted to escape toHerat in the domain of his brother Mahmud Shah. Humayun was captured with a detachment of horses and ordered by Zaman Shah to be put to death, making sure Kandahar wouldn't be under threat from him once again.[10]
Zaman Shah, having been forced to turn his expedition because of theTalpur had marched on Sindh, enraged and with the ideal of reintegrating the province into the Durrani Empire ever since it started to drift off from his father,Timur Shah Durrani's reign. When Zaman Shah entered Sindh, he heard the news of his brother, Mahmud Shah had been marching on Kandahar to cut him off from Afghanistan. Zaman Shah had then spared theTalpur but put under the conditions that they would tribute to the Durrani Empire once again, and confirmed the Talpur chief, Fath Ali Khan. With the Talpur's dealt with, he returned to Kandahar to deal with his brother Mahmud Shah.[11]
Zaman Shah, after dealing with the Talpur had marched back to Kandahar to prevent Mahmud Shah from seizing Kandahar. Mahmud Shah, having heard the news of his brother returning had set up position in the Siah-band range, remaining there until he heard further news of Zaman Shah's movements. Mahmud Shahhad heard his brother, Zaman Shah, was but three marches away from him after leaving Kandahar, as a result he broke up his armies and moved to the plains, meeting Zaman Shah's army at Gurak Village. The two armies had fought, with the fight seemingly a close victory for Mahmud Shah initially, however his men finally gave way, leading to the decisive victory for Zaman Shah. Mahmud Shah had first fled toFarah, Afghanistan, then moving to Herat, where by inciting the Uzbeks to attack had made Mahmud Shah pardoned by Zaman Shah, allowing Mahmud Shah to continue his affairs in government.[12]
Zaman Shah, having dealt with Mahmud Shah had coerced theUzbeks into a treaty after they heard of Mahmud Shah's defeat in Garuk Village. In revolt,Kashmir was also put down by a dispatchment of forces under Zaman Shah. Now having consolidated his realm, Zaman Shah, wanting to remake his grandfather's conquests in India had mobilized inPeshawar, planning to invadePunjab. In November 1796, Zaman Shah had readied his army and was prepared to march to Punjab, however there was pressing issues throughout the empire that always needed him, when he marched on Punjab, and had just capturedLahore. However, intelligence inKabul had notified Zaman Shah aboutAgha Mohammad Khan Qajar's invasion of Khorasan Province and had takenMashhad on May 14,[13] which was ruled by theAfsharid dynasty (vassals of the Durrani Empire). As a result, Zaman Shah was forced to withdraw and prepare an army to invade Khorasan. However, due to Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's assassination on 17 June 1797,one of Nader's grandsons had resumed control and declared his independence.[14][3]
Zaman Shah, seeingMahmud Shah as a future threat if the Persians had ever invaded again, had decided to try and retakeHerat and strip Mahmud of his administrative titles. Zaman Shah had met Mahmud at a battle nearGirishk. He defeated Mahmud Shah and this allowed him to besiege Herat. The city however, held out. Eventually, Mahmud Shah's mother had broken a deal between the two brothers. The terms of which would be Zaman Shah being recognized as King of theDurrani Empire in exchange for keeping his governorship of Herat. However, nobody had seemed to give notice to Kamran Mirza, Son of Mahmud Shah. Kamran Shah, with the army of the city, noticing Zaman Shah leaving back to Helmand, led his armies in pursuit. Once Kamran had left, Qilij Khan, the governor of Herat in place for Kamran, while he was on his campaign had led a rebellion and opened the gates to Zaman Shah. Mahmud Shah and Kamran had then fled to Tehran in Persia.[15]
With theKhorasan Province situation having blown over, Zaman Shah had returned toPeshawar to invadePunjab again, he advanced as far asLahore and had planned to further invade into India. Zaman Shah had then heard the news that Mahmud Shah was in revolt and was planning to march onKandahar once again. Zaman Shah, annoyed, and having enough of these constant issues had brought over one of Mahmud Shah's chief generals, occupied Herat, and forced him to flee to Persia.[16]
Having now dealt with Mahmud Shah, Zaman Shah had resumed his plans for invading Punjab and India, he led his armies to Peshawar and had advanced as far as Lahore once again, before he was recalled by his intelligence, that thePersians, underFath-Ali Shah Qajar, were threatening Khorasan Province once again, this had forced Zaman Shah to withdraw to Peshawar and then Herat. The action that had prompted theQajars to threaten the Durranis was provocated by theBritish East India Company, where the East India company had heard of Zaman Shah's attempts to repeat his fathers success inHindustan. However, despite the Persian invasion, its attempted were foiled as Fath-Ali Shah Qajar had advanced as far as Sabzwar, and then withdrew. Though the invasion had failed, it had distracted Zaman Shah and forced him to hole in Kandahar for the winter.[17] According to historian Hari Gupta, Zaman Shah's costly failed campaigns against the Sikhs, specifically failure to reach Delhi, led him to lose his crown as well as his eyes.[18]
Mahmud Shah, having seen Zaman Shah distracted, had mobilized a force of over 10,000 men from the outer lying provinces of Persia, he had then led these forces to Herat, where Zaman Shah, having heard of the news had also led his armies to march to Herat. However, Mahmud Shah's allies had seen how he failed against Zaman Shah before, as a result they had little confidence and low morale for the circumstances he was facing. Zaman Shah, seeing this had capitalized on this by creating doubts and fights in Mahmud Shah's camp. With this, Zaman Shah had broken Mahmud Shah's morale and his allies belief to fight, as a result, Mahmud Shah had then fled toKhiva, and then the court of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, where he led a petition to depose his brother, Zaman Shah.[19] Mahmud Shah had attempted to seek help from Persia to invade the Durrani Empire to topple Zaman Shah's regime, however, nobody sought to help him. As a result, Mahmud Shah, retired to the mountains of Persia.[20]
With Zaman Shah at his zenith of power, he ushered through an era of prosperity not seen for a while within theDurrani Empire, however all was not good, with theBarakzai chiefs then planning to topple Zaman Shah, they had laid the constituent articles that Zaman Shah should be overthrown and replaced by his brother,Sujah Mirza, the Durrani crown should be elective, with the chiefs voting in for these. And that the kings who have been proven unworthy can be deposed by the chiefs.[22]
Despite setting their main framework of ideals and plans, Zaman Shah's prime minister, Wafadar Khan, had found out about this, and invited the Barakzai chiefs separately to the palace, where he had executed them. One of his victims was Payandah Khan, one of the same chiefs that helped Zaman Shah to the Durrani throne. However it did not stop there, with Wafadar Khan then ordering the complete capture of allMohammadzai and Barakzai chiefs. Prominent of this was Fathi Khan, the son of Payandah Khan. Fathi Khan had fled toKhorasan Province, where he met Mahmud Shah Durrani. Mahmud Shah had given up on his attempts of capturing the Durrani throne, however, after hearing news of what happened, Mahmud Shah had agreed, where they had marched toFarah with 18 supporters. Mahmud Shah had led fiery speeches and rallies against Zaman Shah, talking about his oppressive government and the tyrannies of Zaman Shah and Wafadar Khan. He had announced his intention to become the Durrani king and march onKabul with their support. With this, the Barakzais had risen and flocked to his support, with many of theDurrani doing the same, with his support now large, Mahmud Shah had marched on Kandahar.[23][24]
Mahmud Shah had begun sieging the city, for 42 days the city garrison held fierce, however, on the 43rd day, Fathi Khan had managed to gain the support of two tribal chiefs in Kandahar. With insurrection now fighting in the city and Mahmud Shah closing in, Kandahar fell to Mahmud Shah's forces. Zaman Shah, unaware of the events at Kandahar, had been focused on the King of Persia's movements, or what the Barakzais might do next in Kabul had then faced the reality of the situation. Instead of sending a force against his rebel brother, he left most of his forces withShah Shujah Durrani atPeshawar. Zaman Shah, sensing his weakened position in Kabul had retreated in form toJalalabad and had attempted to raise a large army, he failed to do this and only rallied around 400 artillerymen, and 200 cavalrymen. He marched to a fort not far from theLataband Pass, where he appealed to the Afghans and tried to rally more support. Zaman Shah had succeeded in doing so, with many partisan fighters also flocking to his support such as Ahmad Khan. With this, his force numbered around 30,000. With Zaman Shah now ready, he marched ahead to meet Mahmud Shah once again in battle. The two armies met nearZabul. Ahmad Khan, leading the advance of Zaman Shah's army had flocked and deserted to Mahmud Shah's army.[25] Zaman Shah, recognizing his situation had fled to a fort near again the Lataband Pass. Zaman Shah had also heard the news that Mahmud Shah had then captured Kabul. Mahmud Shah Durrani had led efforts to imprison Zaman Shah, with Zaman Shah leading a messenger to Mahmud Shah. The next day, Zaman Shah found out that he would be prisoner to Mahmud Shah, after conflicting with himself, he resigned to his fate, hiding his jewels including theKoh-i-Noor diamond, he was then led by a guard to Kabul. He had then met Asad Khan, a surgeon, where he was ordered to blind Zaman Shah from orders of Mahmud Shah. With Zaman Shah being defeated, Mahmud Durrani had now started his first reign on the Durrani throne.[23][24]
Zaman Shah escaped out of Kabul and took refuge atRawalpindi where he was met byRanjit Singh who gave him a house to stay in but later due to his safety concerns, Ranjit Singh welcomed him to stay inLahore, with a monthly allowance of 1,500 rupees.[24][18] Later, from Lahore, Zaman Shah moved to Ludhiana where he lived for the rest of his life.[18]
Zaman Shah died at Ludhiana on 13 September 1845.[26] He is buried at theAhmad al-Fārūqī al-SirhindīMazar inSirhind,Punjab (India).[26]
Zaman Shah was seen by many Afghans as a kind and strong leader, however, after Wafadar Khan had begun murdering prominent tribal leaders, especially from theBarakzais, Zaman Shah and his regime were seen as cruel. Zaman Shah had attempted to repeat his Grandfathers success in India, advancing as far asLahore, however having to give up the campaign due to many issues complicating things, usually being Zaman's brother, Mahmud Shah in open revolt, or the Persians threateningDurrani northern territories inKhorasan Province. Despite all these, under Zaman Shah, theDurrani Empire had faced a prosperous state once again, having not been seen since the times of Zaman Shah's grandfather,Ahmad Shah Abdali. From all of Zaman Shah's efforts, he fell as he rose, having attempted to consolidate power through brutal methods, usually by killing tribal chiefs who opposed him, including stripping people of their ranks, and thwarting their influence.[citation needed]
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Emir of Afghanistan 18 May 1793 – 25 July 1801 | Succeeded by |
 Hotak Empire | |
|---|---|
 Durrani Empire | |
 Barakzai Emirate | |
 Barakzai Kingdom | |
 Saqqawist Emirate(unrecognized) | |
| Barakzai Kingdom(restored) | |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
