Home Region:  Afghanistan (Central and Northern Eurasia)

Durrani Empire

1747 CE 1826 CE

D G SC WF EC HS PT EQ 2020  af_durrani_emp / AfDurrn

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Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
[continuity; Afsharid Dynasty] [continuity]   Update here

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The Duranni Empire (1747-1826 CE) was a political entity that lasted 79 years by plundering its higher populated and wealthier neighbors. [1] Founded by a former soldier of the Afsharid Kingdom named Ahmad Shah Durrani, at its maximum extent it covered over 1.5 million KM2 of territory surrounding modern-day Afganistan. [1]
Ahmad Shah Durrani had been elected to the monarchy by an inter-tribal assembly called the Loya Jirga. [1] Following his death in 1772 CE , rebellion and internal strife led to a loss of power so that by 1818 CE, the Durrani controlled a small territory surrounding the capital of Kabul. [2] The regime was finally extinguished when Afghanistan fell into a period of sustained civil war. The eventual victors were members of the Barkzai dynasty, who came to power in 1837 CE . [2]
The Durrani state was an empire sustained and governed through the maintenance of a large number of armed horseman primarily recruited from the Pashtun peoples, although conquests in the period of 1747-1752 CE added horsemen from the Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, and Hazara tribes to the King’s army. [2] The army was organized under a hierarchical tribal confederacy. [3]
As a loose confederation of tribes there was not much in the way of an administration except for that possessed by conquered elites, who were largely left alone if they made their tribute payments. What short term central administrative posts that did exist were given to members of the governing tribes. [4] Soldiers received almost all the money: paid through generous land grants called Jegeirs, while the remaining revenue was spent on meeting the costs of the large army [5] which expanded rapidly from 16,000 in 1747 to about 120,000 in 1761 CE. [1]

[1]: (Barfield 2010, 97-109) Thomas Barfield. 2010. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press.

[2]: (Runion 2007, 69-73) Meredith L Runion. 2007. The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group.

[3]: (Barfield 2010, 100) Thomas Barfield. 2010. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press.

[4]: (Saikal 2006, 22-24) Amin Saikal. 2006 Modern Afghanistan: A struggle for Survival. I.B. Tauris.

[5]: Lothar Brock. Hans-Henrik Holm. Georg Sørensen. Michael Stohl. 2011. Fragile states. polity, 2011 comments on the problems of governing such a loose confederation; for a brief look at the decline, see http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/21395/Nadir-Shah

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Durrani Empire (af_durrani_emp) was in:
 (1748 CE 1826 CE)   Kachi Plain
Home NGA: Kachi Plain

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
42 N
[1747, 1826]

Original Name:
Durrani Empire
[1747, 1826]

Capital:
Peshwar
[1747, 1826]

Kabul: 1747-1776 CE; Peshwar 1776-1818 CE; Herat 1818-1826 CE [1] [2]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[2]: Runion, Meredith L. The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.pp. 69-73

Capital:
Kabul
[1747, 1826]

Kabul: 1747-1776 CE; Peshwar 1776-1818 CE; Herat 1818-1826 CE [1] [2]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[2]: Runion, Meredith L. The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.pp. 69-73

Capital:
Herat
[1747, 1826]

Kabul: 1747-1776 CE; Peshwar 1776-1818 CE; Herat 1818-1826 CE [1] [2]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[2]: Runion, Meredith L. The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.pp. 69-73


Alternative Name:
Sadozai Kingdom
[1747, 1826]
Alternative Name:
Last Afghan Empire
[1747, 1826]

Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
1761 CE
 

Durrani power reached its peak in the aftermath of the Third Battle of Panipat during the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722 CE-1772 CE) [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109


Duration:
[1747 CE ➜ 1826 CE]
 

The Dynasty was founded by a former soldier of the Afsharid kindgom, and eventual emir of Khorasan who conquered a large swath of territory. The Durrani dynasty was extinguished when Afghanistan fell into a period of sustained civil war in the period between 1818 CE-1826 CE. The British attempted to install a puppet from the family line but this was not successful. The eventual victor was the the Barkzai dynasty, which came to power in 1837. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
none
[1747, 1826]

The Durrani Empire was independent of other kingdoms and empires, although there were attempts to bring Afghanistan under control of external power e.g. the British. [1]

[1]: Dani, Ahmad Hasan, V. M Masson, J Harmatta, Baij Nath Puri, G. F Etemadi, Boris Anatolʹevich Litvinskiĭ, Guangda Zhang, et al. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. V The Sixteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Centuries. Paris: Unesco, 1992., pp.288-301.


Succeeding Entity:
Barkzai Dynasty
[1747, 1826]

Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity
[1747, 1826]

The Dynasty was founded by a former soldier of the Afsharid kindgom, and eventual emir of Khorasan who conquered a large swath of territory. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109


Preceding Entity:
continuity; Afsharid Dynasty [continuity]    Update here
 

The Dynasty was founded by a former soldier of the Afsharid kindgom, and eventual emir of Khorasan who conquered a large swath of territory. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109


Degree of Centralization:
loose
[1747, 1826]

Ahmad Sh¯ah Durr¯an¯ı, Tim¯ ur Sh¯ah and later kings ruled through uniting the tribal groups in Afghanistan under them. However, there were internal rebellions from tribal chiefs and other ethnic groups. The kings after Tim¯ ur Sh¯ah were much less successful in holding the tribes together. [1]

[1]: Dani, Ahmad Hasan, V. M Masson, J Harmatta, Baij Nath Puri, G. F Etemadi, Boris Anatolʹevich Litvinskiĭ, Guangda Zhang, et al. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. V The Sixteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Centuries. Paris: Unesco, 1992., pp.288-301.


Language
Linguistic Family:
Indo-European
[1747, 1826]

Language:
Pashto
[1747, 1826]

inferred from geographic region

Language:
Persian
[1747, 1826]

inferred from geographic region


Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Polity Territory:
1,792,000 km2
1772 CE

squared kilometers. 1,792,327: 1772 CE; 489,172: 1819 CE Inferred: the 1772 CE estimate is an approximation based on the modern day territory of the component territories of Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, and the former Iranian province of Khorasan. The second date reflects the loss of external territories by the beginning of the nineteenth century. [1]
Conquests including former territory of the Mughal and Maratha Empires in India, the Afsharid Empire of Persia, and the Khanate of Bukhara. [2]
In 1757 CE, the Durrani sacked Delhi and dealt a deathblow to the formerly powerful Moghul Empire. This resulted in the conquest of Punjab, the Sindh, and the Kachi plains. [3]
After 1809 CE, the East India company signed the Treaty of Amritsar with a Sikh Maharaja named Ranjit Singh. Following an agreement to halt expansion southward, Singh conquered Multan and the Kachi plains in 1818 CE, Kashmir in 1819 CE, and finally Peshawar in 1823 CE. [3]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. pp. 99-100

[2]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[3]: Qassem, Ahmad Shayeq. Afghanistan’s political stability: a dream unrealised. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009. p. 24

Polity Territory:
[1,790,000 to 490,000] km2
1800 CE

squared kilometers. 1,792,327: 1772 CE; 489,172: 1819 CE Inferred: the 1772 CE estimate is an approximation based on the modern day territory of the component territories of Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, and the former Iranian province of Khorasan. The second date reflects the loss of external territories by the beginning of the nineteenth century. [1]
Conquests including former territory of the Mughal and Maratha Empires in India, the Afsharid Empire of Persia, and the Khanate of Bukhara. [2]
In 1757 CE, the Durrani sacked Delhi and dealt a deathblow to the formerly powerful Moghul Empire. This resulted in the conquest of Punjab, the Sindh, and the Kachi plains. [3]
After 1809 CE, the East India company signed the Treaty of Amritsar with a Sikh Maharaja named Ranjit Singh. Following an agreement to halt expansion southward, Singh conquered Multan and the Kachi plains in 1818 CE, Kashmir in 1819 CE, and finally Peshawar in 1823 CE. [3]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. pp. 99-100

[2]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[3]: Qassem, Ahmad Shayeq. Afghanistan’s political stability: a dream unrealised. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009. p. 24

Polity Territory:
489,000 km2
1819 CE

squared kilometers. 1,792,327: 1772 CE; 489,172: 1819 CE Inferred: the 1772 CE estimate is an approximation based on the modern day territory of the component territories of Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, and the former Iranian province of Khorasan. The second date reflects the loss of external territories by the beginning of the nineteenth century. [1]
Conquests including former territory of the Mughal and Maratha Empires in India, the Afsharid Empire of Persia, and the Khanate of Bukhara. [2]
In 1757 CE, the Durrani sacked Delhi and dealt a deathblow to the formerly powerful Moghul Empire. This resulted in the conquest of Punjab, the Sindh, and the Kachi plains. [3]
After 1809 CE, the East India company signed the Treaty of Amritsar with a Sikh Maharaja named Ranjit Singh. Following an agreement to halt expansion southward, Singh conquered Multan and the Kachi plains in 1818 CE, Kashmir in 1819 CE, and finally Peshawar in 1823 CE. [3]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. pp. 99-100

[2]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109

[3]: Qassem, Ahmad Shayeq. Afghanistan’s political stability: a dream unrealised. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009. p. 24


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
[3 to 4]
[1747, 1826]

3: 1766 CE; 1: 1779 CE. The Durrani ruled from the sparsely populated and rural Pashtun region of Afghanistan. As such, the settlement hierarchy was inverse to the majority of empires in that the large populated cities were underneath the power of a much smaller and extractive rural elite. After the death of the first Shah, internal conflict meant that effective control was limited to the city of Kabul and the surrounding countryside. [1]
1766 CE
1. Kandahār(capital)
2. Provincial capitals (Sind, Punjab, Kashmir, Khosasan, Turkistan)
3. towns
4. Villages
1779 CE
1. Kabul

[1]: Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: a cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010. pp. 97-109


Religious Level:
[1 to 2]
[1747, 1826]

1. Caliphate
2. All Muslims
In theory the Caliphate and governors were the head of the Sunni faith, but in practice local religious scholars (ulama) attracted the wider populace as definers of doctrine. Unlike the Orthodox or Catholic faith, the structure of the Islamic faiths were not clearly hierarchical as all were theoretically equal before Allah. [1]
1. Ruler
2. Imam

[1]: Lapidus 2002, p. 82, p. 215


Military Level:
4
[1747, 1826]

The Army of the Durrani was organized under a hierarchical tribal confederacy. One third were regular troops largely made up of cavalry and some supporting artillery, with the remaining two thirds made up of irregular seasonal troops serving for a campaign. The standing army hierarchy is reflected below. They were paid in cash or with military fiefs in the rich provinces in India. Irregular troops were raised via a coercive levy imposed on subjected tribes, districts and chieftains, and these areas were required to equip the troops themselves. [1]
1. Shah
2. Tribal commanders
3. Permanent soldiers (cavalry and artillery)
4. Irregular seasonal levies (calvary and infantry)
The Army of the Durrani was organized under a hierarchical tribal confederacy. one third were regular troops largely made up of cavalry and some supporting artillery, with the remaining two thirds made up of seasonal irregulars serving for a campaign. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas, Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History p. 100


Administrative Level:
5
[1747, 1826]

The Durrani empire was a loose confederation of tribes and principalities that evaded attempts to create or maintain central control. Military service was rewarded with the granting of autonomous land grants called Jegeirs that skimmed up to sixty percent of state revenues, with the remainder going to the maintenance of a large army. The local elites were mantained and largely autonomous if appropriate tribute was paid to the tribal elites. [1]
1. Shah
2. Immediate dynastic family and tribe
3. Tribal chieftains and holders of Jageirs (land grants)
4. Subjugated provincial elites
5. Local administrations of conquered territory

[1]: Brock, Lothar, Hans-Henrik Holm, Georg Sørensen, and Michael Stohl. Fragile states. polity, 2011 comments on the problems of governing such a loose confederation; for a brief look at the decline, see http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/21395/Nadir-Shah


Professions
Professional Soldier:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Roughly one in three members of the Durrani military were full time professional fighters. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas, Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History pp. 98-99


Professional Priesthood:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Sunni Islam did not have the equivalent of a professional priest. The leader of the daily prayers was given a special title and a person widely thought to be learned would be awarded a title of Imam, but this did not connote a hierarchy of belief. Certain originators of judiciary schools were awarded special titles, but these rare individuals were not the equivalent of saints. The increasing fractured nature of Sunni and Shiite religious controversy led to a divergence in the use of titles to members of the umma. In Afghanistan, local practice could be widely divergent from mainstream Islam. [1]

[1]: Lapidus, 2002, pp. 133-155


Professional Military Officer:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The founder of the Dynasty himself had originally been the head officer of Nadir Shah’s personal bodyguard and took the four thousand-strong horse cavalry he had commanded with him when he defected to Afghanistan. He also had access to the Turkish Shiite Qizilbash. [1]

[1]: Barfield, Thomas, Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History pp. 98-99


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
Present
[1747, 1826]

In conquered territories the existing Persian and Indian specialized building were directly annexed into the Durrani empire. See entries of related polities for details. [1]

[1]: Dr. M. P. Singh, Towns, Markets, Mints & Ports in the Mughal Empire (2007)


Merit Promotion:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Military skill and the fluid nature of the hierarchy in jurga meant ranks were very fluid. [1] This doesn’t correspond to regular, institutionalized procedures for promotion based on performance.

[1]: Saikal, Amin, Modern Afghanistan: A struggle for Survival pp. 22-24


Full Time Bureaucrat:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

The Duranni empire was based on the accretion of political power with-in a pre-existing authoritarian-tribal rule of the Abdali Pashtuns and the Shah as its unchallenged leader. It was not based on a defined permanent theory of statecraft, but rather a synthesis of of Islamic concepts of kingship. Governance took place in part through a loose council of Durrani Sadozai Chieftans. What short term Administrative post that did exist were given to members of the governing tribes. The Duranni were a nation in arms rather than bureaucrats. [1]

[1]: Saikal, Amin, Modern Afghanistan: A struggle for Survival pp. 22-24


Examination System:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Inferred as the few administrative posts given according to membership of tribes, not merit or examination. [1]

[1]: Saikal, Amin, Modern Afghanistan: A struggle for Survival pp. 22-24


Law
Professional Lawyer:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

The code of Patshtunwali was a personal code of honor rather than a formalized code, with justice taking place between clans and individuals. [1]

[1]: Rosman, Abraham, Paula G. Rubel, and Maxine Weisgrau. The tapestry of culture: An introduction to cultural anthropology. Rowman Altamira, 2009. p.349


Judge:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

The Ulama were scholars of Islamic thought who also served as lawyers. [1] Not a specialized function.

[1]: Gommans, Jos JL. The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. Vol. 8. Brill, 1995. pp. 54-55


Formal Legal Code:
Present
[1747, 1826]

A legal code was inherited from conquered areas, but it is unclear if this was actually practiced. [1]
Shari’a law functioned at a local level, but an overarching legal structure was not present given the fractured nature of the empire and the focus on coercive extraction. Legal rights seem to have been, like the late Mugals, restricted to Muslims. Unbelievers were to be kept subdued, and be made to pay the traditional poll tax. [2] In legitimizing their conquest, the Durrani seem to have followed the Sunni school of law of maḏāhib. The presence of Shiite practioners in Khorasan seem to have been tolerated. Pitshtunwali, a legal and moral code that determines social order and responsibilities in Pashtun culture was at odds with the formalized Islamic code, having existed before the islamic conquest of the 7th century and enduring to the present day in the Pashtun border regions. [3]

[1]: Black, Antony. The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present. Edinburgh University Press, 2011. pp. 252-255

[2]: Black, Antony. The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present. Edinburgh University Press, 2011. p. 54

[3]: Gommans, Jos J.L. The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. Vol. 8. Brill, 1995. p. 54


Court:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

There were no courts under Patshtunwali, rather ’justice’ took place outside of a formalized structure. [1]

[1]: Rosman, Abraham, Paula G. Rubel, and Maxine Weisgrau. The tapestry of culture: An introduction to cultural anthropology. Rowman Altamira, 2009. p.349


Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Kandarhar was an important market city. [1]

[1]: Noelle, Christine. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, 1826-1863. Psychology Press, 1997.


Irrigation System:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Taxes were used to maintain a vital irrigation network in the southern part of Afganistan. Furthermore, existing networks of irrigation were present in conquered areas. [1]

[1]: Noelle, Christine. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, 1826-1863. Psychology Press, 1997.


Food Storage Site:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Granaries and chaff storage were present for cavalry forces. [1]

[1]: Noelle, Christine. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, 1826-1863. Psychology Press, 1997.


Drinking Water Supply System:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

wells, inferred.


Transport Infrastructure
Road:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

The Duranni ’state’ was not in a position to maintain infrastructure. It was a very loose institution. What maintenance or road building that was done was at the local level. In areas that were conquered these assets had been maintained by the previous state in areas like the Sind and India. [1]

[1]: Noelle, Christine. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, 1826-1863. Psychology Press, 1997. section 4 , Dost Muhammed Khan’s Occupation of Qandahar and His Administration source is unpaginated.


Port:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Canal:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Bridge:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
Present
[1747, 1826]

e.g. tribute tabulations and tax receipts. Or the commercial records kept by the Hindkis merchants. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah Mahmoud. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2011, p.37.


Script:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Persian [1]

[1]: Spooner, Brian, and William L. Hanaway, eds. Literacy in the Persianate World: Writing and the Social Order. Univ of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. p. x


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Persian is a phonetic language. [1]

[1]: Samare, Y. "Phonetics in Persian language." Tehran: Nashre Daneshgahi (1989).


Nonwritten Record:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

e.g. tribute tabulations and tax receipts. Or the commercial records kept by the Hindkis merchants. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah Mahmoud. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2011, p.37.


Non Phonetic Writing:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Sacred Text:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Qu’ran [1]

[1]: McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, ed. The cambridge companion to the qur’an. Cambridge University Press, 2006.


Religious Literature:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Ulaman, or religious scholars, were producing religious texts in Persian, Arabic and local dialects. [1]

[1]: Rahman, Tariq. "Islamic texts in the indigenous languages of Pakistan." Islamic studies 40, no. 1 (2001): 25-48.


Practical Literature:
Present
[1747, 1826]

In the sense of textbooks giving instructions to ordinary people on how to perform rituals and daily prayers. [1]

[1]: "Islamic texts in the indigenous languages of Pakistan." Islamic studies 40, no. 1 (2001): 25-48.


Philosophy:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Makhzan al-Isldm contains discussions of the reality of the phenomenal world. [1]

[1]: Islamic texts in the indigenous languages of Pakistan." Islamic studies 40, no. 1 (2001): 31.


Lists Tables and Classification:
Present
[1747, 1826]

These included tribute tabulations and tax receipts from India.


History:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Tarkikh-i Ahmad Shahi, a historical work. [1]

[1]: Spooner, Brian, and William L. Hanaway, eds. Literacy in the Persianate World:Writing and the Social Order. Univ of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. p. 244


Fiction:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Love poetry and romantic stories were present in written and oral form. [1]

[1]: "Islamic texts in the indigenous languages of Pakistan." Islamic studies 40, no. 1 (2001): 25-48.


Calendar:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Lunar Arabic Calendar was used, although it had Pashtun replacements of some terminology. [1]

[1]: K. Ferdinand, Preliminary Notes on Hazāra Culture, Hist. Filos. Medd. Dan. Vid. Selsk. 37, no. 5, Copenhagen, 1959, esp. Appendix I, pp. 40-46.


Information / Money
Token:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Paper Currency:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Bills of exchange in Multan called hundi chalan. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Indigenous Coin:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The coins produced at mints in the Durrani empire. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Foreign Coin:
Present
[1747, 1826]

At least eight currencies were being circulated in the region [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Article:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1] The Durrani empire produced coins at a number of mints in territories conquered during the initial expansion. Coins made of copper, gold, and silver were issued in Kandahar, Kabul, Peshawar, Attock, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Sind, Lahore, and other regions in the local mints, leading to a wide dispersal of coinage. Multan served as a regional trade centre, with trade links between Afghanistan and the North, and links to access Chinese silk and caravans of indigo. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

State was not providing either postal stations or a general postal service.


General Postal Service:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

State was not providing either postal stations or a general postal service.


Courier:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1] Individual merchants may have had more advanced message capacities, but the state was not providing either postal stations or a general postal service.

[1]: Gommans, Jos JL. The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. p. 81


Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Mud brick palisades protected both private dwellings and larger communities. The lands conquered by the Durrani empire had long traditions of fortifications and modern fortifications were present in the Sind and Persia. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 37-45


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Stone Walls Mortared:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Stone used in fortifications. [1] "Built on the grand scale by Ahmad Shah Durrani - the dashing young cavalryman who founded the great Durrani Empire - with huge walls surrounded by a moat and pierced by six massive gates, Kandahar was designed to impress the approaching traveller, friend or foe. The walls were pulled down in the 1940s..." [2]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35

[2]: (Gall 2012, 19) Sandy Gall. 2012. War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan. Bloomsbury. London.


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Modern Fortification:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Moat:
Present
[1747, 1826]

"Built on the grand scale by Ahmad Shah Durrani - the dashing young cavalryman who founded the great Durrani Empire - with huge walls surrounded by a moat and pierced by six massive gates, Kandahar was designed to impress the approaching traveller, friend or foe. The walls were pulled down in the 1940s..." [1] Inferred because this is not a specialist source.

[1]: (Gall 2012, 19) Sandy Gall. 2012. War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan. Bloomsbury. London.


Fortified Camp:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Armies did fortify their camps in this period. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Earth Rampart:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The mud brick palisades used to defend smaller settlements. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Ditch:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Complex Fortification:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Citadel of Herat ’سکندرۍ کلا’ [1]

[1]: Alikuzai, Hamid Wahed. A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes. Trafford Publishing. pp. 41-45


Long Wall:
absent
[1747, 1826]

Military use of Metals
Steel:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Steel used for armour. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Iron:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Copper:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Inferred from the presence of higher metals.


Bronze:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Inferred from the presence of higher metals.


Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Sling Siege Engine:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

Sling:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1]

[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4


Self Bow:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups equipped with bows. [1]

[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4


Javelin:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups equipped with spears. [1] The Durrani was a gunpowder empire. The other weapons listed below were available, but not a major component to battle. The Persian influx of ḵompāra pistols, the tapānča and żarbza cannons, the bādlīj and ṣaff-pūzan show the presence of antiquated firearms by European standards, but these weapons were sufficient for conquest in the region. High quality firearms were also taken from the Sind and Mughal territories. However, common soldiers and levies could be equipped with the small caliber Snaphance hunting rifle or more primitive arms. Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups went into battle equipped with spears, battle axes, bows and arrows, or a single pistol during the period. [1]

[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4


Handheld Firearm:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Primarily matchlocks, made in Kabul, the Sind and other areas. Domestic manufacture was possible, as well as importation of barrels from Constantinople. [1] The elite corps brought in from Persia by the founding Shah of the Durrani were equipped with flintlocks, as the wakīl personal body guard were armed with flintlocks. [2]

[1]: Elgood, Robert, ed. Firearms of the Islamic World: In the Tared Rajab Museum, Kuwait. IB Tauris Publishers, 1995. p. 161-181

[2]: J. Perry, Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747-1779, Chicago, 1979. p. 280


Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Durrani utilized artillery in both siege craft and open battle. [1]

[1]: Indian Warfare and Afghan Innovation During the Eighteenth Century Studies in History August 1995 11: 261-280


Crossbow:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1]

[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4


Composite Bow:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups equipped with bows, whic would have been compound bows. [1]

[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4


Atlatl:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

new world weapon


Handheld weapons
War Club:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Sword:
Present
[1747, 1826]

At Panipat 1761 CE the Afghans and Mahrattas "fought on both sides with spears, swords, battle-axes, and even daggers". [1]

[1]: (Egerton 2002, 28-29) Lord Egerton of Tatton. 2002 (1896). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.


Spear:
Present
[1747, 1826]

At Panipat 1761 CE the Afghans and Mahrattas "fought on both sides with spears, swords, battle-axes, and even daggers". [1]

[1]: (Egerton 2002, 28-29) Lord Egerton of Tatton. 2002 (1896). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.


Polearm:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Dagger:
Present
[1747, 1826]

At Panipat 1761 CE the Afghans and Mahrattas "fought on both sides with spears, swords, battle-axes, and even daggers". [1]

[1]: (Egerton 2002, 28-29) Lord Egerton of Tatton. 2002 (1896). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.


Battle Axe:
Present
[1747, 1826]

At Panipat 1761 CE the Afghans and Mahrattas "fought on both sides with spears, swords, battle-axes, and even daggers". [1]

[1]: (Egerton 2002, 28-29) Lord Egerton of Tatton. 2002 (1896). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.


Animals used in warfare
Horse:
Present
[1747, 1826]

[1] The Durrani state was an empire sustained and governed through the maintenance of a large number of armed horseman primarily recruited from the Pashtun peoples, a diverse group of ethnic groups linked through the use of the Pashto language. [2] Quick conquest in the period of 1747 CE-1752 CE added Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, and Hazara tribes to the growing number of horsemen in the King’s army. [2]

[1]: Indian Warfare and Afghan Innovation During the Eighteenth Century Studies in History August 1995 11: 261-280

[2]: Runion, Meredith L. The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.pp. 69-73


Donkey:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Actually Mules, a crossbreed between a donkey and a horse. [1]

[1]: Hanifi, Shah. Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford University Press, 2011. pp. 44-54


Dog:
Unknown
[1747, 1826]

Camel:
Present
[1747, 1826]

zanbūrak (little bee), was a type of swivel gun mounted on the back of a camel (Plate I). Zanbūraks were often fired from a kneeling camel, but could be employed from a trotting one as well [1] Two musketeers armed with zamburaq (swivel gun) were mounted on the back of a camels. More often, shutrnals (what were they?) were mounted on camels. [2]

[1]: A. Dupré, Voyage en Perse fait dans les années 1807, 1808, 1809, en traversant la Natolie [sic] et la Mésopotamie, 2 vols., Paris, 1819. p. 297

[2]: (Egerton 2002, 28-29) Lord Egerton of Tatton. 2002 (1896). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.


Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
Present
[1747, 1826]

e.g. for shields. [1] From the late seventeenth century all armies in the region used varying amounts of personal protection. The infantry were armed with swords, spears and matchlocks, whereas the cavalry was equipped with steel Armour and steel armour. Plate was increasingly replaced with chain-mail and armoured helmets and was available for purchase of as booty. Poorer tribesmen would have been armored with looted materials or the cloth turbans and clothes on their backs. [2]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35

[2]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. p.


Shield:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Shields in use by some soldiers. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Scaled Armor:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Plate Armor:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Limb Protection:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Leather Cloth:
Present
[1747, 1826]

e.g. for shields. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Laminar Armor:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Helmet:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Armoured helmets worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Breastplate:
Present
[1747, 1826]

Worn by cavalry. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

As the Durrani were a land based power, coded absent. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
Present
[1747, 1826]

The Durrani were a land based power, at most using river craft for logistical purposes. [1] As the Durrani were a land based power, coded absent. [2]

[1]: Indian Warfare and Afghan Innovation During the Eighteenth Century Studies in History August 1995 11: 261-280

[2]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
Absent
[1747, 1826]

As the Durrani were a land based power, coded absent. [1]

[1]: Roy, Kaushik. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis, 2011. pp. 30-35



Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Luxury Goods
[1747, 1826]
Luxury Precious Metal: Inferred Present
Place(s) of Provenance: suspected unknown
Consumption by Ruler: Inferred Present

“During recent survey of the site and interactive discussion with the community living nearby village, some other objects made of terracotta, metal, semi-precious metal, stone, ivory and shell were also collected. Although millions of potsherds are found scattered at every inch of the site, a god number of artifacts have also been recovered from the site. These objects include broken shell bangles, fired bricks, fragments of terra-cotta objects, particularly animal figures, beads which local people find most often after rainfall.” [Hameed_Bukhari 2021, p. 291] Much of the Durrani Empire’s success was built with treasure seized from formerly Mughal-ruled territories in northern India. Ahmad Shah used these resources to fund campaigns across large portions of Khorasan, Turkistan, and into the former Safavid provinces, seizing the cities of Herat and Mashhad. He drew upon Mughal but especially Safavid models of governance, relying on members of the Qizilbash community (a Turkish group that had been at the core of the Safavid regime) to fulfill the state’s administrative requirements. [Archambault 2023, p. 14] “The riches of India were the main incentive for the invaders and the big disaster came from a Muslim Afghan, Nadir Shah Durrani, who plundered Delhi Darbar and took away the main treasures of Mughals in 1739. Traditions narrate that 70 camels traveled back to Afghanistan, laden only with the gems and jewels that included Koh-iNoor, Draya-i-Noor, Akbar Shah, the Shah and the world famous Takht-e-Taus (Peacock throne). Unfortunately most of these jewels were divided in such manner that they are lost in the mist of time except for a very few”. [Kanwal 2015, p. 43]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Spices Incense And Dyes: Present
Place(s) of Provenance: Durrani Empire
Consumption by Ruler: Inferred Present

“Indigo was one of the most important items in long-distance trade between northwest India and central Asia in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and was typical of the sorts of cash crops whose cultivation was encouraged by regional rulers for trade and the revenues deriving therefrom. Indigo thus serves as a prism through which to refract various aspects of Durrani political economy, including those related to production, trade, and taxation, and to link it to developments elsewhere in south and central Asia during the colonial transition”. [LALLY 2018, p. 376] “An inquiry into the state of the canals in Multan’s indigo tracts compiled shortly after the British conquest of Punjab notes the Sikhs were able to realise five times more revenue around the River Sutlej than the Durrani authorities had collected a few decades earlier, and without considerably changing the rate of revenue assessment. This resulted, in part, from the extension or elaboration of earlier Afghan initiatives. But it was also because each authority focussed their efforts in different areas—the Afghans focussing on canal cleaning or construction around the Chenab, the Sikhs around the Sutlej—as each nevertheless realised the revenue potential of producing larger surpluses for export. More remarkable, however, was the connection of these initiatives to the production and trade of indigo dye. In the seventeenth century, Lahori, Kabuli, and western Asian traders competed with others buyers for the best indigo in the tracts near Agra, east of Delhi, well beyond Punjab. In contrast, Punjabi indigo receives no mention in Indian and European sources that speak of the best sources of indigo supply, and early eighteenth-century Punjabi sources are similarly silent on indigo”. [LALLY 2018, p. 390] “ The expansion of the Durrani Empire in the lands between central and south Asia, empowered the trade networks of Afghani merchants in South Asia. The author investigates the process of transformation in manufacturing and exchange of indigo dye, horse trade, silk yarn, and cotton cloth”. [Khaliyarov 2023, p. 283] “The Durrani Empire not only emerged from this context; it also nurtured the development of a similar type of economy and set of political-economic relations, as refracted into view through the prism of indigo production and trade, for example”. [LALLY 2018, p. 395]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Manufactured Goods: Inferred Present
Place(s) of Provenance: Durrani Empire
Consumption by Ruler: Present
Consumption by Elite: Present

“For the role of the Afghans, Gommans makes large assertions, arguing that the formal claims of the Durrani empire coincided exactly with the world of the Afghan trader. More interesting than this apparent attempt to suggest that the Durrani empire was as much an empire of trade as one of the swords is the author's careful examination of the horse trade in Central Asia and India”. [Rafeq 1996] “Zooming into the Multan province, which remained under Durrani authority until it was lost to the Sikhs in 1818, it is argued that its Afghan rulers were typical of eighteenth-century elites elsewhere in south and central Asia in incentivising productive activities, especially the expansion of cultivation and the intensification of commercialisation, supported through the development of productive infrastructure such as canals, as revealed through an examination of the indigo economy. To conclude, this essay examines alternative formulations of the emergence and transformation of the Durrani state and the fruitfulness in world and imperial history of thinking beyond the narrative of tribal breakout”. [LALLY 2018, p. 373] “Of immediate significance to the rise of the Durrani polity in the mid-eighteenth century was the prior settlement of Abdali tribesmen near Multan, in western Punjab, where they traded in camels, presumably as nodes in a larger network reaching further into north India and Afghanistan. This Indo-Afghan diaspora proved instrumental in the successful contest with their Ghilzai opponents in Herat in 1717, prior to the Nadirid and Durrani campaigns, and it was within the community of Multani Abdalis that Ahmad Shah had either been born or else spent his early life”. (Lally 2018, 376) Lally, J. (2018). Beyond ‘Tribal Breakout’. Journal of World History, 29(3), 369-398. [LALLY 2018] " “Under Firozuddin, Bukharan caravans filled with gold sand and silver arrived two to three times a year, while there was a steady stream of commerce from both Kandahar and Meshad. But his successors increased the transit duties to onerous levels. Apart from the normal one in forty duty levied on entering the city, caravans had to pass through five duty collection points in transit, collecting a hefty Rs. 23 per camel. Yet even under the depressed state of Kamran’s rule, the Bukhara caravans alone were responsible for 600 tomans of tax revenue annually.142 Much of that commerce, including the Kashmiri shawls Leech valued at one crore of rupees, was later diverted via the Gulf. The indigo trade with Multan and Shikarpur, formerly worth Rs. 10,00,000 annually, plummeted to barely Rs. 10,000 under Kamran”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 154] " “Previous restrictions on imports from India had disappeared by the 1830s, making Indian cloth, indigo, cotton and sugar, as well as European manufactures Kabul’s chief imports. By the early 1830s, it was claimed Kabul imported Rs. 3,00,000 worth of British goods and Rs. 2,00,000 worth of Russian goods, although Leech claimed the Lohanis alone imported Rs. 6,00,000 annually from India. These goods were carried to Kabul in caravans of between 600 and 2000 camels, almost exclusively driven by the Lohanis. But the Bukharan trade nonetheless remained both important and profitable, with Naib Badruddin, the largest Kabuli merchant, importing Rs. 1,00,000 worth of silk from Bukhara in 1835 from an original investment of Rs. 40,000–50,000 made two years previously”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 154]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Glass Goods: Present

“The main trade goods carried between Russia and Bukhara included various types of cloth, predictable given the caravan traders’ economic need to carry goods with a high value to weight ratio, as well as cotton. Additionally, goods such as leather, gold and silver lace, copper, cooking pots, satin, Russian-made Chinaware, dye, knives, scissors, needles, paper, locks, sugar, glassware and beads were traded”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 141]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Food: Present

" “Jalalabad and then on to Peshawar via the Khyber Pass. Reportedly known as the ‘Switzerland of Khorrasan [sic]’ according to Masson, Jalalabad was a lively city with a considerable amount of its own agricultural produce, including rice, sugar cane, dates, grape, figs, plums and pomegranates. Like Ghazni, it fell under Kabul’s political paramountcy, providing the Kabul exchequer with Rs. 3,50,000 of revenue, mainly from land taxes.91 Yet in terms of trade and mercantile activity, Jalalabad was relatively poor. It produced only Rs. 12,000 in duty receipts, from a trade total of Rs. 48 lakhs of trade goods. 92 And despite his expectations of a lakh of rupees, Dost Muhammad’s extractions from the small Hindu trading community produced an anaemic Rs. 26,000”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 149]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Fabrics: Present
Place(s) of Provenance: Durrani Empire
Consumption by Elite: Present

“The Abdali tribesmen who dominated the new empire established patronage networks with merchants and agriculturalists in Multan, providing them with favorable conditions for expansion of agricultural trade. The expansion of the Durrani Empire in the lands between central and south Asia, empowered the trade networks of Afghani merchants in South Asia. The author investigates the process of transformation in manufacturing and exchange of indigo dye, horse trade, silk yarn, and cotton cloth. [Khaliyarov 2023, p. 283] The following suggests that luxury fabrics were NOT imported into this polity from other polities in the time period under consideration. “Previous restrictions on imports from India had disappeared by the 1830s, making Indian cloth, indigo, cotton and sugar, as well as European manufactures Kabul’s chief imports. By the early 1830s, it was claimed Kabul imported Rs. 3,00,000 worth of British goods and Rs. 2,00,000 worth of Russian goods, although Leech claimed the Lohanis alone imported Rs. 6,00,000 annually from India. These goods were carried to Kabul in caravans of between 600 and 2000 camels, almost exclusively driven by the Lohanis”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 147]


[1747, 1826]
Luxury Precious Stone: Present
Place(s) of Provenance: present
Consumption by Ruler: Present
Consumption by Elite: Present

“Before Abdali could set things right, Nadir Shah was assassinated. Ahmad Khan Abdali, however, managed to wrest the Kohinoor, and fled to Kandhar, where he founded his own kingdom, thus becoming Ahmad ‘Shah.’ Abdali then wore the diamond as an armlet alongside the Timur Ruby while assuming the throne of his new-born Durrani dynasty.12 The Durrani Empire had possession of the Kohinoor for approximately seventy years, beginning 1747. The stone passed on from Ahmad Shah to his son, Timur, and then to his successor Shah Zaman. We have already seen the fate of Shah Zaman at the hands of Ashiq Sinwari, and Sinwari in turn being killed by Shah Shuja, younger brother of Shah Zaman. Shah Shuja later sought asylum at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore”. [Ranjan_Ramani 2018, p. 56] “Under Firozuddin, Bukharan caravans filled with gold sand and silver arrived two to three times a year, while there was a steady stream of commerce from both Kandahar and Meshad. But his successors increased the transit duties to onerous levels. Apart from the normal one in forty duty levied on entering the city, caravans had to pass through five duty collection points in transit, collecting a hefty Rs. 23 per camel”. [Hopkins 2008, p. 154] “Later, the Taliban in Afghanistan also made claims to the stone, for the stone was in their territory for a good seventy years during the Durrani dynasty, and Shah Shuja had to part with it under duress. Iran also has claims on the gem, for the name is Persian, and Nadir Shah took it to Persia”. [Ranjan_Ramani 2018, p. 68] " “The riches of India were the main incentive for the invaders and the big disaster came from a Muslim Afghan, Nadir Shah Durrani, who plundered Delhi Darbar and took away the main treasures of Mughals in 1739. Traditions narrate that 70 camels traveled back to Afghanistan, laden only with the gems and jewels that included Koh-iNoor, Draya-i-Noor, Akbar Shah, the Shah and the world famous Takht-e-Taus (Peacock throne). Unfortunately most of these jewels were divided in such manner that they are lost in the mist of time except for a very few”. [Kanwal 2015, p. 43]



Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions