Editing Pashtunistan (section)

===Delhi Sultanate and the Durrani Empire===
{{Further|Delhi Sultanate|Durrani Empire}}
[[File:Coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747 by Breshna.jpg|left|thumb|250px|[[Coronation]] of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] in 1747 by a 20th-century Afghan artist, [[Abdul Ghafoor Breshna]].]]
During the [[Delhi Sultanate]] era, the region was ruled by mainly [[Afghans|Afghan]] and various, largely Sunni, Hanafi-jurisprudential driven Turkic<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astrojyoti.com/medieval-history-39.htm|title=The Government of The Turko-Afghans In India,And Moral As Well As Material Conditions Of The Country During Their Rule|website=www.astrojyoti.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKlEXIVxwj4C&q=turko+afghan&pg=PA2001|title=Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism in India|first=Amalendu|last=Misra|date=30 August 2004|publisher=SAGE Publications|via=Google Books|isbn=9780761932260}}</ref> dynasties from [[Delhi]], India. An early Pashtun nationalist was the "Warrior-poet" [[Khushal Khan Khattak]], who was imprisoned by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Aurangzeb]] for trying to incite the Pashtuns to rebel against the rule of the Mughals. However, despite sharing a common language and believing in a common ancestry, the Pashtuns first achieved unity in the 18th century. The eastern parts of ''Pashtunistan'' were ruled by the [[Mughal Empire]], while the western parts were ruled by the Persian [[Safavids]] as their easternmost provinces. During the early 18th century, Pashtun tribes led by [[Mirwais Hotak]] successfully revolted against the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]] in the city of Kandahar. In a chain of events, he declared [[Kandahar]] and other parts of what is now southern Afghanistan independent. By 1738 the Mughal Empire had been crushingly defeated and their [[sack of Delhi|capital sacked and looted]] by forces of a new Iranian ruler; the military genius and commander [[Nader Shah]]. Besides Persian, Turkmen, and Caucasian forces, Nader was also accompanied by the young [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], and 4,000 well trained Abdali Pashtun troops from what is now Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzafAAAACAAJ | title=Afghanistan: A History of Conflict | isbn=9780233050539 | last1=Griffiths | first1=John Charles | year=2001 | publisher=Andre Deutsch }}</ref>

After the death of Nader Shah in 1747 and the disintegration of his massive empire, Ahmad Shah Durrani created his own large and powerful [[Durrani Empire]], which included all of modern-day Afghanistan, North east Iran, Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and Kashmir. The famous couplet by [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] describes the association the people have with the regional city of Kandahar:
<blockquote>
"Da Dili takht herauma cheh rayad kam zama da khkule Pukhtunkhwa da ghre saroona".
Translation: "I forget the throne of Delhi when I recall the mountain peaks of my beautiful Pukhtunkhwa."
</blockquote>

The last [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Empire]] was established in 1747 and united all the different [[Pashtun tribes]] as well as many other ethnic groups. Parts of the Pashtunistan region around [[Peshawar]] was invaded by [[Ranjit Singh]] and his [[Sikh Empire|Sikh]] army in the early part of the 19th century, but a few years later they were defeated by the [[British Raj]], the new powerful empire which reached the Pashtunistan region from the east.