Ahmad Shah Abdali

Ahmad Shah Abdali, also called Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722 to 1772), founded the Durrani empire of Afghanistan. After Nadir Shah was assassinated in June 1747, Afghan soldiers chose him as their leader near Kuchan, and he was crowned at Qandahar with the title Durr-i-Durran, Pearl of Pearls. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism counts nine Indian invasions between 1747 and 1769, and says that in Punjab he treated the Sikhs as his main threat and campaigned against them again and again.

Key moments

• 1748: the first of his invasions of Punjab.
• 1757: in his fourth invasion his forces sacked Amritsar, desecrated the sacred pool and killed many Sikhs, and his son Taimur destroyed shrines at Kartarpur. Jahan Khan, Taimur's deputy, razed the Ram Rauni fort and filled the pool. On 11 November 1757 Baba Deep Singh fell near the Harimandar while fighting his way toward it.
• 14 January 1761: he routed the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat. The Encyclopaedia says the Sikhs then became the main obstacle to his power.
• 5 February 1762: the Vadda Ghallughara, at Kup and Rahira near Malerkotla. The Dal Khalsa, moving its women, children and elderly to safety, was caught by his army. The Encyclopaedia gives 20,000 to 50,000 Sikhs killed, and treats the figures of 25,000 (the contemporary chronicler Miskin) and 30,000 (Ratan Singh Bhangu) as the more credible. Within three months the Sikhs attacked Sirhind, and its governor, Zain Khan, paid them Rs 50,000 in May 1762 to buy peace.
• April 1762: he blew up Sri Harmandir Sahib with gunpowder.
• December 1764: he came again but Sikh harassment forced him to turn back. He recognised Ala Singh of Patiala as ruler of the Sirhind territory with the title Raja. The Sikhs took Lahore on 17 April 1765.
• The last bid: the Encyclopaedia dates his last attempt to regain Punjab to the winter of 1766 to 1767 in one entry and to 1769 in another. By 1766, it says, the Sikhs controlled much of the Punjab.
• October 1772: he died near Qandahar (the Encyclopaedia gives 23 October, Wikipedia 16 October). The Encyclopaedia attributes his death to a cancerous wound on his nose, which it says came from a flying brick when the Harimandar was destroyed.

Remembered for: his invasions of Punjab, the Vadda Ghallughara and the destruction of the Harimandar, and for failing to hold Punjab. The Sikhs regrouped within months and, by the Encyclopaedia's account, held much of the province by the time he withdrew.