Chronology 1600-1747
Ahmad Shah Durrani, First Ruler of the Saddozai dynasty, 1747-73. ©The British Library Board [Add Or 2685]
| 1600 | East India Company established |
| 1613 | First factory (trading post) set up at Surat on the west (Malabar) coast of India |
| 1616-23 | EIC factories set up in Persia |
| 1646-58 | Unsuccessful campaigns of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan, against Balkh |
| 1648 | Conflicts over Kandahar between the Mughals and Persians until it becomes a Persian city and province |
| 1713 | Revolt in Kandahar against the Persians; Mir Wais, a Ghilzai, proclaimed ruler |
| 1716 | Revolt in Herat against the Persians; Assadullah, a Saddozai Abdali, becomes ruler of the province |
| 1720 | Mahmud, son of the deceased Mir Wais, invades Persia; is proclaimed Shah over an area of Persia extending westwards as far as Isfahan |
| 1725 | Mahmud dies; succeeded in Persia by his cousin, Mir Ashraf, and in Kandahar by his brother, Husain |
| 1730 | Mir Ashraf and the Ghilzais expelled from Persia by Nadir Quli Khan |
| 1731-39 | Nadir Shah conquers Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and the Punjab |
| 1732 | Nadir Quli Khan becomes Nadir Shah of Persia |
| 1739 | Nadir Shah conquers and sacks Delhi |
| 1747 | Nadir Shah assassinated, Ahmad Shah Durrani elected leader of the independent nation of the Afghans at Kandahar |
Sources
Documents on Afghanistan in the India Office Records of the early period of the East India Company are likely to be sparse. Occasional references may be found in the following series.
[IOR: E] General correspondence
E/3 Original correspondence, 1600-1709
Much of the early seventeenth century correspondence has been published in F.C.Danvers & W.Foster, Letters received by the East India Company from its servants in the East, 1602-1617, 6 vols London, 1896-1902 and W.Foster & C.Fawcett, The English factories in India. Old Series, 1618-1669, 13 vols 1906-1925, New Series, 1670-1684, 4 vols 1936-55.
E/4 Correspondence with India, 1703-1858
[IOR: G] Factory records
G/3 Bombay, 1669-1704
G/29 Persia and Persian Gulf, c 1620-1822
Bandar 'Abbas Consultations and Letters contain mentions of the Ghilzai invasion of and rule in Persia, the Afghan campaign of Nadir Shah, and Perso-Afghan relations after the establishment of the Durrani monarchy.G/36 Surat, 1616-1804
The Persian factories were originally administratively subordinate to Surat until Bombay became the principal west coast settlement of the English in 1687G/40 Miscellaneous, 1608-1834
[IOR: P] Proceedings of the Government of India and of the Presidencies and provinces
Bombay Public Proceedings, 1704-1822
