Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (c. 1722 – 16 October 1772) (
Pashto: احمد شاه دراني), also known as
Ahmad Khān Abdālī (Pashto: احمد خان ابدالي), was the founder of the
Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern
state of
Afghanistan. He began his career by enlisting as a young soldier in the military of the
Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose to become a
commander of the Abdali Regiment, a
cavalry of four thousand
Abdali Pashtun soldiers.