Sabir Shah

Muhammad Sabir Shah (died 1748) was an 18th-century Muslim fakir (wandering mystic), regarded as the spiritual teacher of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder of Durrani Empire.

Sabir Shah, whose real name was Raza Shah according to the Shahnama Ahmadiyya of Nizam al-Din 'Ishrat Sialkoti, was a horseshoe-maker by profession. According to Hari Ram Gupta, his father was named Husain and grandfather Ustad Halalkhor, a farrier in Kabul who had later become a fakir. According to Gupta they were originally from Lahore, but they had later settled in present-day Afghanistan. According to some sources Sabir Shah too was a resident of Lahore. Depiction of coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani by Sabir Shah in 1747 by putting a shoot of barley in his turban. Painting by Breshna, c. 1943. At the time of the jirgah which was held at Kandahar to select new shah of Durrani Empire in 1747, Sabir Shah was the caretaker of the shrine of Sheikh Surkh at Naderabad, situated 35 miles from Kandahar. According to Ganda Singh, all biographical accounts of Ahmad Shah narrate the event of Sabir Shah crowning Ahmad Shah as the new ruler with some variations.

Sabir Shah was sent as his messenger to Lahore by Ahmad Shah, or went to Lahore by himself according to other sources, as Ahmad Shah marched with an army towards Punjab in 1748. Afraid by his religious influence, the governor of Lahore Shah Nawaz Khan ordered Sabir Shah to be put to death. His tomb is located besides Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.