Zaman Shah Durrani

Zaman Shah Durrani became ruler of Afghanistan in 1793, aged about 23, after the death of his father Timur Shah, and held the throne until 1801. Wikipedia gives his birth year as 1767 or 1770. He declared that he meant to restore Afghan power in India, and he made four attempts to conquer it (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism).

The attempts on the Punjab

• About 1795: reached Hasan Abdal but turned back to put down a revolt by his brother Mahmud. On a later attempt he retook Hasan Abdal and seized Rohtas from the Sukerchakias. Ranjit Singh was the first Sikh chief to suffer his aggression, and soon recovered Rohtas.
• Autumn 1796: crossed the Indus for the third time with more than 30,000 men, aiming for Delhi. Sikh chiefs sent their families to the hills and gathered at Amritsar. Most wanted to retreat, but Ranjit Singh urged them to defend the plains and took command, surrounding Lahore and raiding its suburbs.
• January 1797: news of Mahmud's revolt made the Shah withdraw. The Sikhs followed him as far as the Jhelum and took much of his baggage.
• 27 November 1798: took Lahore without opposition. A detachment he sent toward Amritsar was met by Ranjit Singh and other sardars about ten kilometres out and driven back to the walls of Lahore. He then returned to Afghanistan to deal with Mahmud.
• July 1799: after Ranjit Singh took Lahore, he returned cannon the Afghans had lost on their retreat. The Shah then proposed to invest Ranjit Singh with a title, and Ranjit Singh accepted.

The Barakzais overthrew Zaman Shah and put Mahmud on the throne, and Mahmud had him blinded and expelled from Kabul (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism). Wikipedia names the surgeon as Asad Khan. He took refuge at Rawalpindi, where Ranjit Singh invited him to Lahore, gave him a monthly allowance of 1,500 rupees and received him in a manner fitting his rank. He later moved to Ludhiana and lived there as a pensioner of the British government. Wikipedia gives his death as 13 September 1845 and says he was buried at the Ahmad Sirhindi mazar in Sirhind.

Key moments

• 1793: becomes ruler of Afghanistan.
• Autumn 1796: the third crossing of the Indus.
• 27 November 1798: takes Lahore, without a fight.
• July 1799: Ranjit Singh takes Lahore and returns the lost cannon.
• 1801: deposed and blinded by Mahmud.
• 1845: dies at Ludhiana, per Wikipedia.

What he is remembered for. He is remembered in Punjab as the Durrani king whose campaigns failed against Sikh resistance, a resistance in which Ranjit Singh first came to command, and who later sheltered in the land he had tried to take, in Ranjit Singh's Lahore and then at Ludhiana.