In 1709,
Mirwais Hotak and his Afghan tribal chiefs from Kandahar organized themselves and successfully freed their land from Mughal and Persian rule. Mirwais built a large fortress for himself and turned the town of Kandahar to serve as the
capital of the
Hotak Empire. After a long series of wars, this empire was eventually replaced by the
Durrani Afghan Empire that was founded by
Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747. Ahmad Shah Durrani is regarded as "
the Father of the Nation", Mirwais Hotak as "the Grandfather" and
Mohammed Zahir Shah as the last King of Afghanistan.