Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī, was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is often regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In June 1747, Ahmad Shah was appointed as King of the Afghans by a loya jirga in Kandahar, where he set up his capital. Primarily with the support of the Pashtun tribes, Ahmad Shah pushed east towards the Mughal and Maratha Empires of India, west towards the disintegrating Afsharid Empire of Iran, and north towards the Khanate of Bukhara of Turkestan. Within a few years, he extended his control from Khorasan in the west to North India in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.
The Durrani Empire or the Afghan Empire, also known as the Sadozai Kingdom, was an Afghan empire that was founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, that spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian Subcontinent. At its peak, it ruled over the present-day Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, parts of northeastern and southeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India. Next to the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani Empire is considered to be among the most significant Islamic Empires of the 18th century.
Herāt is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains in the fertile valley of the Hari River in the western part of the country. An ancient civilization on the Silk Road between West, Central and South Asia, it serves as a regional hub in the country's west.
Sultan Ahmad Khan bin Sardar 'Azim Mohammadzai, also known as Sultan Jan was the ruler of the Principality of Herat from September 1857 to April 1863. He was a nephew of Dost Mohammad Khan. In 1855-56, Sultan Ahmad Khan sent a petition to the Shahanshah. If they would support Sultan Ahmad Khan with an army he would overthrow the Amir-i Kabir and annex Afghanistan into the Guarded Domains. He was intercepted by Dost Mohammad Khan though and exiled Sultan Ahmad Khan to Iran. When the Anglo-Persian War ended he was installed as ruler of Herat by the Iranians. On May 24, 1857, he arrived in Herat. The Iranians evacuated Herat in September 1857 in accordance with the Treaty of Paris. During his reign, he was completely dependent on Iran and not only minted coins in the Shahanshah's name, but also repeatedly given support upon request against the Mohammadzais. Naser al-Din Shah bestowed the title of Sirkar on Sultan Ahmad Khan and bestowed the title of Amir Panji on Sultan Ahmad Khan's son, Shah Nawaz Khan.
Shahrokh Shah or Shahrokh Mirza, better known by his dynastic title of Shahrokh Shah was the Afsharid king (shah) of the western part of Khorasan from 1750 to 1796, with a two-month interruption. A grandson of the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah, Shahrokh was the son of Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar and his Safavid wife Fatemeh Soltan Begom, who was the sister of Tahmasp II, the penultimate Safavid shah of Iran. Shahrokh's half-Safavid descent made him stand out amongst his Afsharid relatives, and was used to bolster the legitimacy of his grandfather. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747, his nephew Ali-qoli Khan, ascended the throne in Mashhad and had all of Nader Shah's descendants in fortress of Kalat massacred. Shahrokh was spared in case his Safavid lineage would come to use, and was instead kept in the fortress as a prisoner. While Adel Shah was battling his rebellious younger brother Ebrahim Mirza, a party of Turkic, Kurdish, and Arab tribal leaders took advantage of his absence and installed Shahrokh on the throne. Both Adel Shah and Ebrahim were eventually defeated and killed, but Shahrokh was not long afterwards overthrown by a party of dissident tribal leaders, who installed the Safavid pretender Mir Sayyed Mohammad on the throne. Shahrokh was soon blinded at the instigation of Mir Alam Khan Khuzayma and other leading nobles, much against Suleiman II's will.
Sultan Husayn Bayqara Mirza was the Timurid ruler of Herat from 1469 until May 4, 1506, with a brief interruption in 1470.
The Hotak dynasty was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful rebellion against the declining Persian Safavid empire in the region of Loy Kandahar in what is now southern Afghanistan.
Alakozai is a Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan. They are one of the four tribes of the Zirak tribal confederacy of Durrani Pashtuns.
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, also known as Ghiyath al-Din Ghori or Ghiyassuddin Ghori born, Muhammad, was the Sultan of the Ghurid dynasty. During the diarchy of Ghiyath and his younger brother Muhammad of Ghor who governed the eastern realm of the Ghurid Empire, the Ghurids emerged as one of the greatest power of the eastern Islamic world.
Sultan Mahmud Mirza was a prince of Timurid branch of Transoxiana, son of Abu Sa'id Mirza.
Durmish (Dormish) Khan Shamlu was a Qizilbash officer of Turkoman origin, who occupied high offices under the Safavid king (shah) Ismail I and the latter's son Tahmasp I. Durmish Khan later died in 1525.
Farhād Khān Qarāmānlu, also known by his honorific title of Rokn al-Saltana, was a Turkoman military officer from the Qaramanlu family, and was the last member of the Qizilbash to serve as commander-in-chief (sipah-salar) of the Safavid Empire.
Mir Ali Heravi, also known as Mir Ali Hossein Heravi and Mir Jan, titled as Kateb-e Soltani, was a prominent Persian calligrapher and calligraphy teacher of Nastaʿlīq script in the 16th century. He was the second significant Persian calligrapher after Mir Emad. He had artistic influence on the later calligraphers.
The Khanate of Nishapur, also known as the Qara Bayat Amirdom, was a semi-independent state ruled by the Bayat tribe that existed in Khorasan from 1747 to 1800, whose capital was in the city of Nishapur.
The Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar was a revolt that occurred in Khorasan from 1846 to 1850. It began as a result of the power struggle in the Qajar court. One of the factions manifested itself in Khorasan by Hasan Khan Salar. Salar's revolt sought to promote Bahman Mirza and his claim to power.
The Herat campaign of 1862–1863 was a conflict between the Principality of Herat and the Emirate of Afghanistan, from March 1862, when Sultan Jan captured Farah from the Muhammadzai Emirs and continued through the 10-month long siege of Herat, ending on May 27, 1863, when the city fell to the Amir-i Kabir, thus completing the unification of Afghanistan.
The Fall of Herat was a battle and subsequent capture of Herat by Taliban fighters. The attack on the city started around 28 July 2021, and ended in Taliban victory by 13 August of the same year. Several of the surrounding districts fell to the Taliban from June to mid July, leaving only the city and two other districts in government hands by 10 July. The border crossings in Herat Province were captured by the Taliban on 9 July, raising prices of goods inside the city. Ismail Khan, former governor and warlord, led a public uprising force to assist the Afghan National Security Forces in defending the city.
The Principality of Herat, the Emirate of Herat, the Herat Khanate or simply Herat was a state in Afghanistan from 1793 to 1863, and one of the 3 main khanates in 19th century Afghanistan.
The Maimana Khanate was an Uzbek Khanate in Northern Afghanistan centered around the town of Maimana. It was founded in 1747 with the death of Nader Shah. The Mings had been the governors of Maimana since 1621. Hajji Bi Ming was the first independent ruler of the khanate. After the death of Ahmad Khan in 1814, Sar-i Pul seceded from the khanate. In the 1830s Sar-i Pul took the district of Gurziwan from Maimana. The Aimaq tribes of the Murghab broke away from Maimana by 1845. In 1847 and 1850 it resisted attempts by the Emirate of Herat to annex it. In 1875 the khanate rebelled against Afghanistan but it was crushed and the city sacked. In 1892 the khanate was annexed by Afghanistan.
The Second Herat War was the invasion of the surrounding realm of Herat and the successful siege of its citadel by the Qajar army led by Hesam o-Saltaneh, Soltan Morad Mirza. The 1856 siege was part of the concerted Qajar effort to compensate the recent territorial losses in the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 by reconquering western Afghanistan, which had historically been a part of Persia's domain. The conflict was also a part of the broader Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire.