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.