Hajji Jamal Khan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kandahar, Hotak Empire
| Hajji Jamal Khan حاجي جمال خان | |
|---|---|
| Hajji | |
| Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire | |
| Grand Vizier | 1747 – 1772 |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | Rahimdad Khan |
| Born | 1719 Kandahar, Hotak Empire |
| Died | 1772 (aged 52–53) Kandahar, Durrani Empire |
| Cause of death | Natural Causes |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | 4 sons and 1 daughter
|
| House | Barakzai dynasty |
| Father | Mohammad Yusuf Khan |
| Mother | A Ghilji lady |
Hajji Jamal Khan Barakzai[a] (born Jamal al-Din Khan Mohammadzai; 1719–1772) was chief of the Barakzai tribe,[1] Afsharid governor of Farah and Grishk,[2] and Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire[3] under the reigns of Ahmad Shah Durrani[4] and Timur Shah Durrani until his death in 1772.[5]
Rise to power
During a grand national assembly regarding electing a new Afghan king that took place in the city of Kandahar after the assassination of Nader Shah, Jamal Khan was a candidate alongside his Sadozai rival Ahmad Khan Abdali. The prominence of the Barakzai tribe of Pashtuns among the Abdali confederacy, as well as the status and seniority of Jamal Khan gave him more legitimacy and a right to claim the throne.[1]
However, Ahmad Khan then rose to fame under the intervention of Pir Sabir Shah who believed argued that Ahmad Khan's Sadozai lineage gave him a legitimate claim to the throne. Despite disagreements among other Abdali tribes, Sabir symbolically placed a turban with a sheaf wheat on Ahmad Khan's turban, declaring him King,[2]: 106 and ever since then he was called Ahmad Shah, while his tribal confederacy was changed from Abdali to Durrani in honor of bearing the title "Shah, Pearl of the Pearls".