When Zaman had taken the throne, he was opposed by many of his brothers, among whom were Mahmud Shah Durrani and Humayun who had their respective regional zones of influence.

To deal with these claims over succession, an election was held in Kabul over who the next Durrani ruler would be, Abbas Mirza was a running candidate and would have taken the vote if the election was held right after Timur Shah Durrani's death, however with the given time, Barakzai tribal leaders and Zaman's influence had by then grew, allowing him to receive the popular vote and become the ruler, specifically supported by Chief Payandah Khan.

Humayun, disregarded the advise to stay in defense within Kandahar's great walls and wait for Mahmud Shah reinforcements to arrive from Herat, and marched out to meet Zaman Shah's army and was defeated at Qalati Ghilji and forced to flee to Baluchistan.

Before being able to move against Mahmud Shah in Herat, he had received news of possible rebellion on the outer provinces of the empire, and that his presence was urgently required in Kabul.

Zaman Shah also ordered the execution of anybody who opposed him, often leading to massacres within the city to rout out small groups of resistance and opposition.

The same Barakzai tribal leaders, who had led Zaman Shah in effort to consolidate his holdings and capture the throne were deprived of all power, with other chiefs also being arrested, or put to death.

[8] The outerlying provinces of the empire, having heard of the news in the capital had led prolific revolts in return, not wanting to meet the same fate as many of the nobles in Kabul; revolts broke out in Kashmir and Punjab; and Sindh had severed itself of influence and correlation to the Durrani Empire; and the Uzbeks had crossed the Oxus.

[9] Zaman Shah, now seeing his realm disintegrating, had marched to Peshawar, where he heard the news of his brother, Humayun, with the assistance of the Talpur in Sindh had seized Kandahar.

Humayun was betrayed by the Afghans in Kandahar, forcing him to flee again, this time to Sindh, but then attempted to escape to Herat in the domain of his brother Mahmud Shah.

Humayun was captured with a detachment of horses and ordered by Zaman Shah to be put to death, making sure Kandahar wouldn't be under threat from him once again.

Now having consolidated his realm, Zaman Shah, wanting to remake his grandfather's conquests in India had mobilized in Peshawar, planning to invade Punjab.

However, intelligence in Kabul had notified Zaman Shah about Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's invasion of Khorasan Province and had taken Mashhad on May 14,[13] which was ruled by the Afsharid dynasty (vassals of the Durrani Empire).

However, due to Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's assassination on 17 June 1797, one of Nader's grandsons had resumed control and declared his independence.

The terms of which would be Zaman Shah being recognized as King of the Durrani Empire in exchange for keeping his governorship of Herat.

[17] According to historian Hari Gupta, Zaman Shah's costly failed campaigns against the Sikhs, specifically failure to reach Delhi, led him to lose his crown as well as his eyes.

[22] Despite setting their main framework of ideals and plans, Zaman Shah's prime minister, Wafadar Khan, had found out about this, and invited the Barakzai chiefs separately to the palace, where he had executed them.

Zaman Shah, unaware of the events at Kandahar, had been focused on the King of Persia's movements, or what the Barakzais might do next in Kabul had then faced the reality of the situation.

Zaman Shah, sensing his weakened position in Kabul had retreated in form to Jalalabad and had attempted to raise a large army, he failed to do this and only rallied around 400 artillerymen, and 200 cavalrymen.

Zaman Shah had attempted to repeat his Grandfathers success in India, advancing as far as Lahore, however having to give up the campaign due to many issues complicating things, usually being Zaman's brother, Mahmud Shah in open revolt, or the Persians threatening Durrani northern territories in Khorasan Province.

From all of Zaman Shah's efforts, he fell as he rose, having attempted to consolidate power through brutal methods, usually by killing tribal chiefs who opposed him, including stripping people of their ranks, and thwarting their influence.