How The Afghans Lost Their Empire | History Documentary @HikmaHistory
How The Afghans Lost Their Empire | History Documentary  @HikmaHistory
Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I want to thank Timur Khan for his invaluable help with the script. He is a PhD Candidate at Leiden University. His research focuses on Durrani rule in 18th and 19th century Peshawar. Check out his Academia page: https://leidenuni.academia.edu/TimurKhan

Afghans pride themselves on being warrior-like and defiant. This pride is furthered by their military victories and conquests throughout history, going on to establish numerous empires. In the mid-18th century, in the wake of Nader Shah Afshar’s death, his young Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Durrani would go on to create the last of the Afghan empires. The Durrani realm would encompass all of modern day Afghanistan, much of modern-day Pakistan and parts of India and Iran. Ahmad Shah’s reign was filled with glory, filling his coffers with war booty from India as he vanquished foes like the Mughals and the Marathas. After his death, the empire continued but could not replicate the grandeur achieved by its progenitor. By the 1820s, it was on its deathbed, as political intrigues and constant warfare with the formidable Sikhs in the Punjab eroded its power. From this vacuum arose the ever competent Dost Mohammad Khan, who attempted to salvage what was left of Ahmad Shah’s Empire.

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#Afghanistan #AhmadShah #historydocumentary

Images Used:

Music Used:

Doug Maxwell - Arabian Nightfall (Sting):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bRzD...

Epidemic Sound

If any of the images or songs are yours, please let me know I will amend them. Please don't report me straight away!

0:00 Intro
1:48 Past Afghan Glory
4:23 Timur Shah Tries to Hold His Father's Empire Together
12:13 Zaman Shah Emulates His Grandfather & Fails
15:44 Barakzai's Slowly Grab Power
22:20 The Dost Forms 'Afghanistan'
29:26 Britain Learns About the Graveyard of Empires
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How The Afghans Lost Their Empire | History Documentary

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