Ahmed Shah Abdali

The Nose Mask of Abdali and the End of Durrani Empire

Face mask of an Muslim Ruler

Ahmad Shah Abdali, later known as Ahmad Shah Durrani, was the founder of modern Afghanistan. Respected by the Afghans as 'Baba", Ahmad Shah is known in Indian history as a genocidal maniac who massacred over 100,000 Indians, kidnapped their women, and plundered their properties. Not many know that Ahmad Shah Abdali wore a nose mask to hide a cancerous would inflicted by the Sikhs during the battle of Amritsar.

 

Before being elected king in 1747, Abdali was a cavalry general under the Persian emperor Nadir Shah Afshar. Abdali was part of Nadir Shah's army as it plundered Delhi and annexed the famous diamond Koh-i-Noor from the Mughal Emperor Muhamad Shah. 

Koh-i-Noor on British Royal Crown

Nader Shah was a ruler of Iran belonging to Turkish Afshars, a semi-nomadic Qizilbash tribe settled in the northern valleys of Khorasan, a province in the north-east of the Persian Empire. Nadir Shah was assassinated in a brawl between the Afghans and Persians of his army. Before departing from Nader Shah's royal tent where his dead body lay Ahmad Shah managed to remove the seal of Nader Shah from his finger, took possession of the Koh-i-Noor diamond and other property.

Abdali Incursions of India

Between 1747 and 1748, he conquered Ghazni from the Ghilzais Tribe, and worked his way up to Kabul and then to Peshawar. By 1749 Durrani and his army control Punjab, Sindh and Kashmir. Between 1747 and 1769, the Shah invaded (and looted) India nine times. Around this time, he married Hazrat Begum, who was the daughter of the then Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. Abdali and his army plundered everything they could from the cities of Delhi, Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan- with absolutely no intention of ruling those areas.

Abdali's Flag of terror

Sikhs and Abdali

In October 1757 Ahmed Shah Abdali launched his fourth invasion on India and defeated Marathas decisively at the Third Battle of Panipat. On his victorious return to Afghanistan, the Sikhs made the life of retreating Afghans very difficult. 

 

They would constantly harass his troops using guerrilla tactics and would rescue countless Indian women who were being kidnapped and taken to Afghanistan to be sold as slaves. These helpless women belonged to Delhi Mughals, elite Hindus, as well as the defeated Maratha. 

Desecration of Harmander Sahib

Enraged by loss of his booty to the Sikhs, Abdali returned to punish the Sikhs. In order to break the Sikh power base, he attacked and destroyed Sri Harmander Sahib in Amritsar completely in 1757. The sacred Sarovar was polluted with debris and carcasses of slaughtered cows.

Abdali orders destruction of Harmander Sahib

 The Sikhs decided to liberate Harmander Sahib under the leadership of Baba Deep Singh  in 1757. After a fierce battle, Baba Deep Singh was martyred but the Sikhs were successful in their quest and were able to celebrate Diwali there. They started the process of cleaning and rebuilding of the site on Vaisakhi of 1758. The numerically and materially superior Afghan had been humbled by the Sikhs. The shock victory led to Abdali vowing to exterminate the Sikhs once and for all.

Artist's depiction of liberation of Harmander Sahib by Sikhs led by Baba Deep Singh

Massacre of Sikhs

On 5th February 1762, an Afghan army numbering 150,000 soldiers fell upon a large camp of Sikh men, women and children. In the ensuing desperate battle, over 30,000 Sikhs were killed, mostly women, elderly, and children. This massacre became known as the Vadda Ghallughara ( The Great Holocaust).

Genocide of Sikhs by Afghans

 

After this event, Abdali had Sri Harmander Sahib blown up once again, and the Sarovar was polluted again with refuse and the entrails of cows and bullocks. During the cannon fire, a brick from Sri Harmander Sahib struck Abdali on the nose. This injury later became cancerous and led to his death in 1773.

Abdalis Nose Mask

A False Metallic Nose like Abdali's

 

By the early 1770's, "with cancer eating away at his face, and Sikhs eating away at his empire", he spent the last ten years of his life based out of Kabul, managing his domestic and foreign affairs from there. Legend has it that he wore a silver false nose as the cancer ate away at his face.

 

Artist's Impression of Ahmed Shah Abdali with Nose Mask

 

In June 1773, Abdali finally died of cancer in Murghah, in the Herat Province, at fifty years old. The Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani is located in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Beside his grave, there is a table holding a copy of the Holy Quran and a glass cabinet containing a gold-inlaid helmet and his nose mask.

Tomb of Ahmad Shah Abdali,

Decline of Durrani Empire

The decline in Abdali empire came when the Sikhs asserted their supremacy in Punjab. Durrani subdued them, but then again they resurfaced. This back and forth went on for a couple of years in the early 1760's, until he finally lost control over Punjab.

Ahmad Shah would dare not enter Punjab again and he was confined to Herat due to civil war among the Afghans. After his death, his successors governed so ineptly that within fifty years of his death, the Durrani empire came to an abrupt end. 

Defeat of Afghans at Gujranwala

As soon as Afghan army arrived on the banks of the Chenab, they came into conflict with Sardar Charat Singh of the Sukerchakia Misl. Charat Singh was assisted by the other Sikh Misls who had made a common cause against the Afghans. Charat Singh awaited the arrival of Afghans and then attacked them on his will. He followed up his victory by maintaining a vigorous pursuit of the fugitives.

Sardar Charat Singh of Gujranwala

The Afghans, about 12,000 in number, took refuge in the fort of Sialkot. The town was immediately besieged and the strictness of the watch was such that the supplies gave out and the garrison was brought to the verge of starvation. Afghan leader Nur-ud-din, finding his men demoralized and starving, abandoned them to their fate and disguised as a beggar sought refuge in flight. The garrison immediately surrendered, and were allowed to depart in peace. 

This victory over the well-trained troops of the greatest army of the day placed Charat Singh in the front rank of Sikh leaders, while the booty of Sialkot brought him a quantity of artillery and bounty. When all was over,  Charat Singh made a triumphant entry into his capital, Gujranwala. Incidentally, Charat Singh was the father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

End of Durrani Empire

Ahmad Shah's grandsons fought with each other for control of Afghanistan. Zaman Shah was blinded by his brother Mahmud Shah and he begged Maharaja Ranjit Singh to grant him for asylum in Punjab. Ranjt Singh granted refuge to Zaman Shah thus closing the chapter of conflicts with the Abdalis.

Zaman Shah Durrani (Abdali) in Ludhiana

Mahmud Shah's first reign lasted for only two years before he was replaced by Shah Shuja, another son of Taimur Shah. On June 7, 1809, Shuja Shah signed a treaty with the British which was seen as a defeat by the Afghans.

After annexation of Punjab, the British moved Zaman Shah to Ludhiana barracks where he lived out the rest of his life. Zaman Shah died in1844 as a refugee in the very land his grandfather once plundered.