afghanistansubmission and opened the city gates, even though ‘Abbas Quli, the gov -
ernor of Nishapur, refused to surrender. What Nishapur’s defenders did
not know was that the cannon’s first shot was also its last, for the force of
the explosion had split the barrel.
Despite Nishapur having submitted peacefully, Ahmad Shah allowed
his troops to plunder the city, though its inhabitants were spared on
condition they took refuge in the city’s main mosque and took nothing
with them. The Afghans then went from house to house systematically
helping themselves to anything of value. After they had finished Ahmad
Shah ordered the city’s defences and part of the town to be levelled. He
followed up this victory by taking Sabzawar, which was also pillaged and
its inhabitants slaughtered. Meanwhile Shah Pasand Khan and Nasir Khan
of Kalat ravaged the rich agricultural lands of southwestern Khurasan.
Finally, Ahmad Shah defeated the Qajar army and celebrated his victory
by plundering Toon and Tabas and massacring their inhabitants, too.
Having secured strategic depth on his northwestern frontier, and
with Shah Rukh Mirza a compliant subordinate, Ahmad Shah was free to
concentrate on renewing his Indian campaign. Timur Mirza subsequently
became prince governor of Lahore but he was sent back to Herat after
the loss of the Punjab, a decision that no doubt pleased the heir appar-
ent, for he lacked his father’s martial spirit. Instead, Timur preferred to
indulge himself in the pleasures and luxuries of his position and fathering
dozens of children by his many wives. The frontier with Persia remained
relatively peaceful and stable for the next two decades. In the summer of
1769, however, Ahmad Shah was forced once more to intervene when Shah
Rukh Mirza’s estranged son, Nasr Allah Khan, deposed his father. Ahmad
Shah soon restored Shah Rukh to the throne and Timur Mirza acquired
yet another wife, this time Shah Rukh’s daughter.
Ahmad Shah’s campaigns in Balkh, Bukhara and MervAhmad Shah also set out to secure his position beyond the Hindu Kush in
order to prevent a possible attack on Herat from the Khan of Bukhara. 15
His intervention in the wilayat of Balkh, however, was primarily in support
of his former comrade-in-arms, Hajji Bi Ming of Maimana, rather than an
attempt at outright annexation. Prior to the Nadirid conquest of the region,
Hajji Bi had been ataliq of Maimana and the Chahar Wilayat, or Four
Provinces – Maimana, Andkhui, Shibarghan and Sar-i Pul – which were
part of the Khanate of the Tuqay-Timurid dynasty of Bukhara. Following
the Persian conquest of the region, Hajji Bi had commanded a corps of