Mahmud Shah Durrani


Mahmud Shah Durrani was born Prince and the ruler of the Durrani Empire between 1801 and 1803, and again between 1809 and 1818. An ethnic Sadduzai tribe section of the Popalzai sub clan of Durrani Abdali Pashtun, he was the son of Timur Shah Durrani and grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

His 1st and 2nd deposed

Mahmud Shah Durrani was the half-brother of his predecessor, Zaman Shah. On July 25, 1801, Zaman Shah was deposed, and Mahmud Shah ascended to ruler-ship. He then had a chequered career; he was deposed in 1803, restored in 1809, and finally deposed again in 1818.

Trouble with Barakzai tribe

The elder brother of Dost Mohammad Khan, the chief of the Barakzai, Fateh Khan, took an important part in raising Mahmud Shah Durrani to the sovereignty of Afghanistan in 1800 and in restoring him to the throne in 1809. The son of Mahmud Shah Durrani Shahzada Kamran Durrani was always in trouble with Amir Fateh Khan Barakzai, the brother of Dost Muhammad Khan. Mahmud Shah repaid Fateh Khan's services by having him assassinated in 1818. After the assassination of Fateh Khan Barakzai the fall of the Durrani Empires begun, thus incurring the enmity of his tribe. After a bloody conflict, Mahmud Shah was deprived of all his possessions but Herat, the rest of his dominions being divided among Fatteh Khan's brothers. King Mahmud Shah Durrani died in 1829. The country was then ruled by Shuja Shah Durrani; another of his half-brothers.