Timur Shah

Timur Shah Durrani (; ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – 20 May 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Early life (1746–1772)

Timur Shah was born in December 1746, in Mashhad.

He received the city of Sirhind as a wedding gift under his governorship, and was later given the title of Viceroy of Punjab, Kashmir and the Sirhind district in 1757 (when he was only 11 years old), by his father Ahmad Shah Durrani for one year, from May 1757 until April 1758. Ahmad Shah Durrani had immediately appointed Toryal Khan Afridi, the eldest son of his army's commander and his most trustworthy soldier, Awalmir Khan Afridi, to teach horseback riding and swordsmanship to Timur. Toryal Khan Afridi also had the responsibility for the safety and protection of Timur, so he continuously stayed with Timur in the royal palace.

Reign (1772–1793)

Timur Shah ascended to the throne of the Durrani Empire in November 1772 with Shah Humayun giving up his throne.

Timur Shah went to Peshawar to spend the winter there.

Timur Shah's campaign against the Sikhs (1776–1780)

Battle of Rohtas

A year before the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Sikhs conquered Multan in 1772. Timur Shah ascended to the throne of the Durrani Empire after his father's death. Due to Sikhs having been in possession of the provinces of Lahore and Multan, these provinces served as a barrier for any attempt by Timur Shah to invade, many chiefs and nobility, dependencies of Durranis, paid no respect to the Durrani sovereignty, such as Sindh which reduced the amount of tribute and hardly paid it, mostly due to its concurrent civil war between the Talpurs, and the Kalhoras; Nasir Khan Baloch, the ruler of the Khanate of Kalat under Timur Shah did not acknowledge the authority of Afghan monarch, as a result, inducing other Durrani chiefdoms to do the same, including the chief of Bahawalpur, who treated the authority of Timur Shah with no respect. Timur Shah thereupon tried to recover Multan by diplomacy and therefore sent Haji Ali Khan, as his agent, along with companions, to the Bhangi Sikh Chiefs to negotiate, with advice to behave and be polite, but instead, Haji Ali Khan threatened the Bhangi Chiefs to retire from Multan or face the royal wrath. The Bhangis tied Haji to the tree and shot him dead whereas his companions were left unharmed and sent back to report to Timur.Upon the news of death of his agent, Timur Shah detached a force of 18,000 men that included Yusufzais, Durranis, Mughals and Qizalbashes under general Zangi Khan, with orders to march by less known routes and fall upon the Sikhs unaware and Zangi Khan gave strict orders to his army to keep the movement secret. Zangi Khan halted 25 km from the Sikh camps with orders to imprison anyone who goes in the direction of the Sikh camp to make the Sikhs aware of their presence. Timur Shah positioned himself in the centre, at the head of 5,000 Yousafzai men. Little before daybreak, early morning, the Sikhs completely unaware of Afghan army's presence, were attacked, and though unorganized, the Sikhs gave tough resistance but were eventually overwhelmed. About 3000 Sikhs were killed, and 500 others drowned in river Jhelum in trying to cross it during the Sikh retreat, while 2000 escaped by successfully reaching the opposite bank of the river.

Siege of Multan (1780)

Timur Shah also marched on Multan, besieging the city in January 1780.

Kashmir Rebellion of Azad Khan (1783–1786)

Azad Khan was confirmed as successor and ruled Kashmir, beginning his rule from Srinagar in 1783, at the age of 18 years old.

Protecting Shah Alam II (1788)

By 1788, Timur Shah Durrani, attempted again to ford the plains of Punjab to rescue his brother-in-law, the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The emperor had been blinded by the Rohilla leader Ghulam Qadir, who occupied and plundered Delhi for two and a half months in 1788. Timur Shah prepared an invasion and wrote letters to the English authorities, including Earl Cornwallis, and pleaded for a quick restoration of Shah Alam II to the throne, but was informed that he already had been restored as emperor by the Marathas. Therefore, he retreated back again. Timur Shah ascertained this information by sending an ambassador to the Mughal court and later requested that the British protect and obey the Mughal dynasty.

March against Shah Murad, ruler of Bukhara (1788–1789)

Shah Murad demanded that Timur Shah's governor of Aqcha and Balkh be recalled. When Timur Shah failed to comply, Shah Murad crossed the Amu Darya in the summer of 1788.

Nonetheless, Timur Shah, with his army marched north, at a slow pace to make sure Shah Murad would not be notified of this attack. Timur Shah with his armies arrived at Aqcha on the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, Shah Murad was however prepared, and drew up his men for battle.

Death and legacy (1793)

After the death of Timur Shah, Zaman Shah Durrani ascended the throne, inheriting the Durrani Empire, five of his sons would eventually become rulers in their own right or contendents for power. According to Fayz Muhammad those sons were: # Humayun Mirza (would rebel after Timur Shah's death in Kandahar and would attempt to take the throne on 3 separate occasions), Mahmud Shah (ruled Afghanistan 1801–1803 and 1809–1818, ruled from 1818 to 1829 in Herat), Zaman Shah (ruled Afghanistan 1793–1801), Firuz al-Din Mirza (ruled Herat virtually independent from 1801 to 1818), Shuja ul-Mulk (ruled Afghanistan 1803–1809), controlled Peshawar briefly in 1810, fled into Sikh and later British protection, made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Kandahar in 1834, was installed as ruler of Afghanistan by the British from 7 August 1839 until his assassination on 5 April 1842) and Ali Shah (ruled Afghanistan 1818-1819).

References

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External links

An old portrait of Timur Shah Durrani
(archived)
Encyclopædia Britannica: Timur Shah (ruler of Afghanistan)
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrani Timur Shah
1746 births
1793 deaths
18th-century Afghan monarchs
Durrani dynasty
Emirs of Afghanistan
Pashtun people
People from Mashhad