History of the Pashtun people
Pashto was spoken in Rampur region of Uttar Pradesh as late as 1815 AD. This was reported by Mountsuart Elphinstone in his book “the account of kingdom of Cabul” which was published in 1815. Elphinstone had visited Afghanistan in 1808 as ambassdor of British East India Company and met Shah Shuja Durrani in Peshawar. He … Read more
When you google “the flag of Ahmad Shah Durrani”, this black triangular flag pops up. It is fake. Iranica Encyclopaedia says: “Almost nothing is known about the flags of Afghanistan during the reign of the Sadōzay dynasty and the early decades of the Moḥammadzay dynasty. Traditionally, nonstandard flags of different colors were used in … Read more
Notes and seals on folios of a large 17th century Safavid illustrated and illuminated manuscript of the Shahnamah state that by the mid-18th century the manuscript was in the library of Ahmad Shah Abdali. By 1822 it had passed to his great-grandson, Kamran Shah Saddozai of Herat. In 1837, the army of Muhammad Shah of … Read more
A scene from an Indian tv series. Ibrahim Khan Gardi is portrayed as a ‘patriotic’ Indian Muslim with unwavering loyalty to Marathas and his ‘country’. In reality, the mercenary was ready to join Ahmad Shah Abdali after he was captured. According to an eyewitness account (Kashiraj), when the captured Ibrahim Khan Gardi was presented before … Read more
On the seal-ring of Ahmad Shah Durrani was engraved the phrase: “الحکم لله، یا هو، یا فتاح، احمد شاه در درّانی” (“Judgment is God’s, O Conqueror—Ahmad Shah, Durr-i Durrani”) He had the great seal made in the shape of a peacock’s fan, round and elongated like a flask, and it was used on all decrees … Read more
The image of Ahmad Shah Durrani is largely shaped and dominated by 20th century Indian writings. Indian writers portrayed the Sikh misls as dauntless heroes and Ahmad Shah Abdali as a hideous villain. One of the historical events that they have distorted, is a battle referred to as “Vadda Ghallughara” by Sikhs. The Indian editors … Read more
In a letter Ahmad Shah Abdali to in a letter written to Raja Madho Singh (the ruler of Jaipur), Ahmad Shah Durrani reveals very important information. He informs Madho Singh that on the day of the battle of Panipat, Marathas came out with 200,000 (two lakh) cavalry and foot besides artillery and a force of … Read more
Screenshot from “A concise history of Afghanistan” by Wahid Hamid Alikuzai, p-291 Its a local myth that Ahmad Shah Abdali conducted census of Wazir and Mahsud tribes. They were not part of his empire so number of their fighting men did not need to be estimated. Syed Ghulam Muhammad surveyed Waziristan during the reign of … Read more
The Abdali historical tradition (recorded in early 19th century) relates that a grand jirga of Abdali clans around Kandahar was held in 1589 AD. To get rid of the feuds between the various clans of Abdali, they decided that the entire tribe should have one malik as had been the case when the tribe dwelt … Read more
In his fresh book William Dalrymple is making a claim that Ahmad Shah Abdali’s face was getting eaten away by disease from “early on in his reign” [while I have read that he suffered from the disease in the last years of his reign]. He further says that his nose was already consumed by the … Read more