Invasions of Ahmed Shah Abdali

INVASIONS OF AHMED SHAH ABDALIAfter the assassination of Nadir in 1747, one of his officers named Ahmad Shah, an Afghan chief of the Abdali clan, rose to power and succeeded in establishing himself as the independent ruler of Afghanistan. After having conquered Qandahar, Kabul, and Peshawar, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India for the first time, in Jan. 1748, with 12,000 veteran troops. But he was defeated at the battle of Manpur by Ahmad Shah, the Mughul heir-apparent, and Mir Manna, son of the deceased Wazir Qamar-ud-din, and was put to tight. Mir Mannu was appointed gevernor of the Punjab. However, before he could settle down, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded Punjab for the second time in AD 1750 and conquered it after defeating him. Unsupported by the Delhi court, the Punjab governor found all resistance futile and admitted to the invader.

Abdali invaded India the third time in Dec. 1751, when he again defeated Mir Mannu, conquered Kashmir, and forced the Mughul Emperor, Ahmad Shah, to cede to him the country as far east as Sirhind. Thus, the Mughul Empire was further reduced in extent. Mir Mannu was now left as the Abdali governor in Lahore. After the death of Mir Mannu in Nov 1753, and that of his infant son and successor in May 1754, the province of Punjab fell into disorder and anarchy due largely to the wilfulness and caprice of theregent-mcther, Mughlani Begam. Ahmad Abdali invaded India for the fourth time in Nov. 1756, with greater determination, and arrived before Delhi on 23rd Jan 1757. The imperial city was "plundered and its unhappy people again subjected to pillage". Imad-ul-mulk surrendered and was pardoned by the invader, who obtained from the Mughul Emperor the formal cession of the Punjab, Kashmir, Sind, and the Sirhird district. After plundering the Jat country, South of Delhi, Abdali retired from India in April, 1757, with immense booty and many captives, leaving his son, Timur Shah, as his viceroy at Lahore with Jahan Khan, the able Afghan general, as the latter's Wazir.

Though Ahmad Shah Abdali had to return hurriedly from India, his invasions affected the history of India in several ways. Firstly, it accelerated the dismemberment of the tottering Mughul Empire. Secondly, itoffered a serious check to the rapidly spreading Maratha imperialism. Thirdly, it indirectly helped the rise of the Sikh power. "His career in India," observes a modern writer, "is very intimately a part of the Sikh struggle for independence." Lastly, the menace of Afghar invasion kept the English East India Companyin great anxicty, both during the lifetime of Ahmad Shah Abdali and for some time after his death.

Sample Questions

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Question : 1

Who invaded India for the first time, in Jan. 1748, with 12,000 veteran troops.
A. Nadir Shah	B. Ahmad Shah Abdali	C. Ahmad Ali	D. None of these
Right Option : B
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Question : 2

What is the name of the officer of Nadir Shah who after the assassination of Nadir in 1747 rose to power?
A. Qamar-ud-din	B. Ahmad Ali	C. Ahmed Shah	D. None of these
Right Option : C
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Question : 3

In the Mughal era Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded India for the third time in ___________________.
A. 1761,	B. 1851	C. 1951	D. 1751
Right Option : D
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