Shah Shujah Durrani

Shah Shujah was born on November 4, 1785, in Kandahar, the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani. First ruling from 1803 to 1809, he concluded the first British-Afghan treaty with Mountstuart Elphinstone before being deposed by his brother Mahmud Shah.

During his decades of exile in Ludhiana, Shujah was forced by Sikh Emperor Ranjit Singh to surrender the legendary Koh-i-Noor diamond. In 1839, the British Army of the Indus installed Shujah on the throne in Kabul, sparking fierce tribal resentment against his foreign-backed puppet regime. Following the British retreat from Kabul, Shah Shujah was ambushed and assassinated outside the Bala Hissar fortress in April 1842.