Payandah Khan

Sardar Payandah Khan Barakzai,^[c] (1758 – October 1800) also known as Payinda Khan, and by his honorific title as the Exalted Khan, was chief of the Barakzai tribe, as well as a civil servant and the Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire under the reigns of Timur Shah Durrani and Zaman Shah Durrani from 1774 until his execution in 1800, after being stripped of all his powers.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Payandah was born as a fourth son in 1758 to Hajji Jamal Khan, a member of the Mohammadzai branch of the Barakzai Pashtun tribe. His father was a former opponent to Ahmad Shah Durrani, and later the chief of the Barakzai tribe, and the Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire under his reign, as well as under the reign of Timur Shah Durrani until his death in 1772.

The previous head of the Barakzais, Payandah Khan's elder brother Rahimdad Khan, eventually became unpopular among the Barakzais, which led to Timur Shah replacing him with Payandah Khan in 1774, and Payandah Khan was given the title Sarfaraz Khan (The Exalted Khan) ever since.^[1]: 148

Payandah Khan helped Zaman Shah Durrani in seizing the Durrani throne,^[6] and supported him throughout his campaigns after helping him and his legitimacy of being king.^[2]: 157

As Zaman Shah Durrani got rid of his enemies in the long run, the Durrani Empire saw a period of prosperity that it had not seen for a while.^[1] Fath Allah Khan began suspecting that a plot was formulating on Zaman Shah among Payandah Khan, and Azim Khan Alakozai, the head of the Jawansher Qizilbash, and numerous other prominent chiefs. Zaman Shah was then informed of what had come, where he fabricated witnesses to the event, while Payandah Khan's sons claimed Fath Allah was attempting to bring the fall of the Barakzais.^[3]

Nonetheless, Payandah Khan and other conspirators were rounded up and executed, with their heads being displayed publicly in Kandahar. This execution brought dire consequences, such as the alliance between the Sadozais and the Barakzais which was now broken.^{[2]: 161-162 [4]} As a result, Fateh Khan, who was the eldest of Payandah Khan's children, fled to Persia where Mahmud Shah Durrani was in exile, and swore his allegiance to him. This eventually led to Mahmud Shah replacing Zaman Shah after Fateh Khan engineered the blinding of Zaman Shah.^{[2]: 162 [1]}

Payandah Khan had 10 wives, 25 sons and 1 daughter by the time he died at the age of 41. These sons would become influential leaders in Afghan history, having 3 separate branches of being rulers of Kabul, Kandahar and Peshawar.^[5]