The History of Shah Ali Khan

Shah Ali Khan tried his best to balance Afghanistan's loyalties between Russia and Great Britain, this was during the time of the Great Game. He was eventually overthrown, spent some time in Russia, came back from Russia, overthrew his own usurper and retook the country. This led to the second Anglo-Afghan war where Britain invaded again in 1878. The British were able to remove Shah Ali Khan, replaced him with his son Ya'aqub Khan who then became the ruler of Afghanistan. His nephew Abdur-Ahaman Khan is considered the founder of modern Afghanistan.