nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47Ahmad Shah and the establishment of the ‘Abdali dynasty:
myth and realityAided by Hajji Bi Ming’s Uzbeks, Ahmad Shah and the other ‘Abdali
ulus fought their way out of the Persian camp. Once they were well away
from the chaos, Hajji Bi Ming set off for Maimana, intent on throwing
the Persians out of Balkh. As for Ahmad Shah, he marched on Farah and
Kandahar. Before the two men parted, they appear to have made a pact
never to go to war with each other and allow each to carve out their own
kingdom. On his deathbed, Ahmad Shah reaffirmed this pledge by telling
his son and heir, Timur Shah, not to attack the Uzbeks, who were ‘a hive
without honey’. 16
Ahmad Shah’s next move was to establish his authority over the other
‘Abdali commanders who had accompanied him. Ahmad Shah commanded
around 3,000 ghazis, but they were outnumbered by seven other ulus, or
clan regiments, each of which was commanded by their own tribal head.
The overall commander of all the Afghan ghulams was the octogenarian
Nur Muhammad Khan ‘Alizai, whom Nadir Shah had appointed sardar-i
mulk, or military commander, of Kandahar. Another powerful rival was
Ahmad Shah’s maternal uncle, ‘Abd al-Ghani Khan Alakozai, Nadir Shah’s
mir-i Afghaniha who was also beglar begi of Kandahar. As far as Ahmad
Shah was concerned, these two men were a threat to his own ambitions
and had to either submit to him, or be killed.
Ahmad Shah first staged a confrontation with Nur Muhammad Khan
‘Alizai by placing himself at the head of the ‘Abdali regiments and refused
to give way when Nur Muhammad Khan protested. Nur Muhammad Khan
appealed to other commanders, only to discover he had little support and
was forced to relinquish command. His life was spared, but when it came to
dealing with ‘Abd al-Ghani Khan, Ahmad Shah showed no mercy. Despite
‘Abd al-Ghani being Ahmad Shah’s maternal uncle, he ordered his ghazis
to take him into the desert and put him to death. The outcome was that
Ahmad Shah now commanded an army of some 6,000 battle-hardened
Afghans and, by dint of Nur Muhammad Khan’s demotion and ‘Abd
al-Ghani’s execution, he was also de facto mir-i Afghaniha as well as civil
and military governor of Kandahar. Long before he reached Kandahar,
Ahmad Shah was king in all but name. 17
As he advanced on Kandahar, Farah and Girishk submitted and a feeble
attempt by the Persian garrison in Herat to retake them was easily defeated.
When he reached Kandahar, Ahmad Shah set up camp in the Chaman-i
Sanjar, probably the military parade ground of Nadirabad, and prepared