This was the first of Ahmad Shah Abdali’s ten Indian invasions. Only twenty-six in 1748, he belonged to the Abdali or Durrani tribe of the Pashtuns. His person was ‘tall and robust’, his face ‘remarkably broad, his beard very black, and his complexion moderately fair’. Though he mixed freely with his soldiers, his appearance was ‘expressive of an uncommon dignity’ and toughness.79 When Nadir Shah was killed, his Durrani (Abdali) contingents had unanimously ‘elected’ Ahmad Shah as the Persian king’s successor in the Pashtun country.
