Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c10.s4.1

v1.c10.s4.1

This tragedy took place near Kuchān at the extreme north-eastern corner of Khurāsān, on 9th June 1747. The death of Nādir Shāh left the field open for Ahmad Khān Abdāli.* His ancestors had their homes in the Herāt district and belonged to the Saddu-zāi clan of Afghāns. His father and grandfather having been slain in battle, young Ahmad fled for refuge to the Ghilzāi clan in Qandahār. When Nādir Shāh captured Qandahār (in 1737), he took Ahmad into his service as a personal attendant (*yasāwwal*.) The conqueror removed the Ghilzāi clan from their home in Qandahār to Māzendrān and Khurāsān, while he shifted the Abdāli clan wholesale from Herāt and Khurāsān to the Qandahār district, which henceforth became the land of the Abdālis.