1 APPENDIX B.
2 THE RULERS OF AFGHANISTAN.
3 Ahmad Shah Durani was the first ruler under whom Afghanistan
4 rose to importance. He reigned for twenty-six years, from 1747 to
5 1773, during which time he extended his kingdom westward to the
6 shores of the Caspian, and eastward to the banks of the Sutlej,
7 though his hold over his Indian possessions was never very strong.
8 He was styled Diir-i-durran, "Pearl of the Age," from which his
9 clan, that of the Abdalis, derived its name, the Durani.
10 Ahmad Shah's greatest achievement was the defeat of the Mah-
11 rattas at Panipat, on January 6, 1761. He was succeeded by his
12 son Timiir, who reigned for twenty years. Timur transferred his
13 capital from Kandahar to Kabul. He made no attempt to establish
14 his sway over the Punjab, and with difficulty staved off the anarchy
15 which followed his death. He left twenty-three sons, and was
16 succeeded by the fifth, Shah Zeman. Zeman held the throne for
17 six years, and was then ousted by his brother, Shah Mahmud, who,
18 three ' years later, suffered a like fate at the hands of another
19 brother, Shah Shuja.
20 For many years the country was given over to internecine
21 wars. In 1809, owing to the intrigues of Napoleon in Persia,
22 a mission under Mountstuart Elphinstone was dispatched to
23 Kabul by the Government of India. The mission was well re-
24 ceived, but soon after its departure Shah Mahmiid succeeded in
25 recovering his throne, and Shah Shuja and Shah Zeman sought
26 refuge in British territory. Mahmud was a puppet in the hands
27 of his minister Fateh Khan, the eldest of the famous Barakzai
28 brothers, and a redoubtable warrior and statesman.
29 Fateh Khan was brutally murdered in 1818 by Kamran, the
30 worthless son of Mahmud, and his brothers, whom he had placed
31 in charge of the various provinces of Afghanistan, united to avenge
32 his death. Mahmud was driven from Kabul and fled to Herat,
33 where with the aid of Kamran he managed to preserve for a time