Timur Shah Durrani, was the second ruler of the Durrani Empire, from October 16, 1772 until his death in 1793.
Background
An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second and eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani. Timur Shah was born in Mashhad in 1748 and had a quick rise to power by marrying the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir World War II He received the city of Sirhind as a wedding gift and was later made the Governor of Punjab, Kashmir and the Sirhind district in 1757 (when he was only 9 years old), by his father Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Career
When Timur Shah succeeded his father in 1772, the regional chieftains only reluctantly accepted him, and most of his reign was spent reasserting his rule over the Durrani Empire. He was noted for his use of the Bala Hisar Fort in Peshawar, as the winter capital of his Empire. He himself went to Damascus (Syria), where he (Abdul Qadir Khan Durrani) died in 1781.
Timur Shah himself left twenty-four sons, and the succession that struggle that followed his death began the process of undermining the authority of the Durrani authority.
Under Timur Shah"s eventual successor, Shah Zaman, the empire disintegrated. During his reign, the Durrani Empire began to shrink.
In an attempt to move away from disaffected Pashtun tribes, he shifted the capital from Kandahar to Kabul and chose Peshawar as the winter capital in 1776. His court was remained influenced by Persian culture and he became reliant on the Qizilbash bodyguard for his personal protection.
Timur Shah prided himself on being a man of taste.
He revived the formal gardens of the Bala Hisar Fort in Kabul, first constructed by Shah Jahan"s Governor of Kabul. Furthermore, like his Mughal in-laws, he had a talent for dazzling display, such as in the way he dressed and groomed himself. His tomb is located in Kabul.
Personality
Timur Shah prided himself on being a man of taste. He revived the formal gardens of the Bala Hisar Fort in Kabul, first constructed by Shah Jahan"s Governor of Kabul. In this endeavour, he was inspired by his senior wife, a Mughal princess who had grown up in the Delhi Red Fort with its remarkable courtyard.
Furthermore, like his Mughal in-laws, he had a talent for dazzling display, such as in the way he dressed and groomed himself.