In the year 1712, the Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah, a grandson of Aurangzeb sent gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmad III and refereed to himself as the Ottoman Sultan's devoted admirer.

Ahmad Shah Durrani ( c. 1722 – 1773 ) ( Pashto /), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī ( Pashto / Persian: احمد شاه ابدالي ) and born as Ahmad < u > Kh </ u > ān, was the founder of the Durrani Empire ( Afghan Empire ) in 1747 and is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan .</ poem >

Ahmad Shah Massoud ( Aḥmad Šāh Mas ' ūd ; September 2, 1953 – September 9, 2001 ) was a political and military leader in Afghanistan.

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The Durrani Empire (, also referred to as the Last Afghan Empire ) was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani with its capital at Kandahar, Afghanistan.

With the support of various tribal leaders, Ahmad Shah Durrani extended Afghan control from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

Ahmad Shah then set out westward to take possession of Herat, which was ruled by Shahrukh Afshar.

Ahmad Shah and his forces invaded India four times, taking control of the Kashmir and the Punjab region.

After the death of Ahmad Shah in about 1772, his son Timur Shah became the next ruler of the Durrani dynasty who decided to make Kabul the new capital of the empire, and used Peshawar as the winter capital.

The Durrani Empire is considered the foundation of the modern state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad Shah Durrani being credited as " Father of the Nation ".

In October 1747 a loya jirga ( grand council ) concluded near the city of Kandahar with Ahmad Shah Durrani being selected as the new leader of the Afghans, thus the Durrani dynasty was founded.

Despite being younger than the other contenders, Ahmad Shah had several overriding factors in his favor.

In 1749, the Mughal ruler was induced to cede Sindh, the Punjab region and the important trans Indus River to Ahmad Shah in order to save his capital from Afghan attack.

Having thus gained substantial territories to the east without a fight, Ahmad Shah turned westward to take possession of Herat, which was ruled by Nader Shah's grandson, Shah Rukh of Persia, and then Mashhad ( in present-day Iran ).

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Leaders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud received only minor aid compared to Hekmatyar and some of the other parties, although Massoud was named the " Afghan who won the cold war " by the Wall Street Journal.

The main forces involved during that period in Kabul, northern, central and eastern Afghanistan were the Hezb-i Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar directed by Pakistan, the Hezb-i Wahdat of Abdul Ali Mazari directed by Iran, the Ittehad-i Islami of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf supported by Saudi Arabia, the Junbish-i Milli of Abdul Rashid Dostum backed by Uzbekisten, the Harakat-i Islami of Hussain Anwari and the Shura-i Nazar operating as the regular Islamic State forces ( as agreed upon in the Peshawar Accords ) under the defense ministry of Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf send more troops against the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan | United Front of Ahmad Shah Massoud than the Afghan Taliban.

Map of the situation in Afghanistan in late 1996 ; Ahmad Shah Massoud | Massoud ( red ), Abdul Rashid Dostum | Dostum ( green ) and Taliban ( yellow ) territories.

The Taliban started shelling Kabul in early 1995 but were defeated by forces of the Islamic State government under Ahmad Shah Massoud.

After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on September 27, 1996, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum, two former archnemesis, created the United Front ( Northern Alliance ) against the Taliban that were preparing offensives against the remaining areas under the control of Massoud and those under the control of Dostum.

In the areas under his control Ahmad Shah Massoud set up democratic institutions and signed the Women's Rights Charter.

As a consequence many civilians fled to the area of Ahmad Shah Massoud.

On 9 September 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers inside Afghanistan and two days later about 3, 000 people became victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

With Ahmad Shah Massoud, he was one of the most respected mujahideen leaders.

::" Rare ceasefires, usually negotiated by representatives of Ahmad Shah Massoud, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi or Burhanuddin Rabbani ( the interim government ), or officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ), commonly collapsed within days.

Hekmatyar and Dostum in January 1994 conducted the worst mass bombardment of Kabul during that period, but were eventually repelled by Islamic State forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud.

In the Islamic times, a pseudo-etymology was produced by the historian Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri ( d. 892 ) quoting a folk story that the town was presumably founded by one " Abbad bin Hosayn " from the Arabian Tribe of Banu Tamim, who established a garrison there during the governorship of Hajjaj in the Ummayad period.

One of Ahmad Shah's first military action was the capture Ghazni from the Ghilzais, and then wresting Kabul from the local ruler.

Thus, upon his return to Kandahar in 1757, Ahmad was forced to return to India and face the formidable attacks of the Maratha Confederacy.

Despite decisively defeating the Marathas, what might have been Ahmad Shah's peaceful control of his domains was disrupted by many challenges.

The victory at Panipat was the high point of Ahmad Shah's — and Afghan — power.

Ahmad Shah's successors governed so ineptly during a period of profound unrest that within fifty years of his death, the Durrani empire per se was at an end, and Afghanistan was embroiled in civil war.

Ahmad Shah was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah, who had been deputed to administer his fathers conquests in northern India, but had been driven out by the Marathas.

On the African continent, the cannon was first used by the Somali Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate in his conquest of Ethiopia in 1529.

The faith was preached by Hamza ibn ' Alī ibn Ahmad, a Persian Ismaili mystic and scholar.

In 1632 Ahmad Koujak was named Lord of Damascus.

Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi freed Anwar, which was seen as a portent of a mild liberalisation.

While the Persians were contesting each other in Iran, the 25-year-old Ahmad Khan was busy in Afghanistan calling for a loya jirga (" grand assembly ") to select a leader among his people.

In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Kandahar where he died peacefully and was buried at a site that is now adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak.