Sadozai

The Sadozai are a lineage of the Popalzay clan of the Abdali tribe of the Pashtun. The lineage takes its name from its ancestor, Sado Khan.

The Sadozai rose to power at the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, when the Sadozai King Ahmed Shah Abdali united the Afghan tribes under his rule. He became the founder of the Afghan Kingdom that lasted until 1978. He was probably the only King in Afghan history who held the allegiances of a massive majority of the Pashtun tribes. Ahmad Shah took the title Durr-i-Durran, “Pearl of pearls”, and the early kingdom is known as the Durrani Empire. The Sadozai ruled Afghanistan until 1823, and briefly between 1839 and 1842. They also ruled Kashmir from 1752 to 1819.

Some Sudhan's claim to be part of the Sadozai clan but this has not yet been historically or genetically proven and is thought to be highly unlikely as the Sudhan's in looks resemble their Indian counterparts and their language (Pahari) linguistically is a Punjabi dialect and not related to any of the Afghan Indo-Iranian branch of languages.