afghanistancourse of the ensuing campaign, but by the summer of 1752 Hajji Bi Ming
was once more in charge of Balkh.
During this campaign Mukhlis Khan, commander of one of the
Qizilbash regiments, quarrelled with ‘Ata Allah Khan Turkman and was
recalled, whereupon Mizrab Bi, son of Hazara Bi Qataghan, rebelled.
Hajji Bi appealed once more to Ahmad Shah for help and he sent 5,000
troops north. Hajji Bi, having regained control of Balkh city, marched into
Qataghan and occupied several settlements that were under the author-
ity of the mir of Badakhshan. In the winter of 1752/3 Hajji Bi travelled to
Kandahar where Ahmad Shah, flushed with his own victories in India,
showered favour after favour on his Uzbek ally.
Three years later Hajji Bi paid a third visit to Ahmad Shah and their
alliance was strengthened when Ahmad Shah stripped ‘Ata Allah Khan
Turkman of his position as sipar salar of the Durrani forces in Balkh and
appointed Hajji Bi Ming in his place. After Hajji Bi had returned to Balkh,
however, his enemies at the Durrani court began to accuse him of being
oppressive and rapacious, so Ahmad Shah sent ‘Ata Allah Khan Turkman to
head a formal inquiry into Hajji Bi’s affairs – hardly an impartial investiga-
tor given that Hajji Bi had only recently supplanted him. Not surprisingly,
‘Ata Allah Khan ‘confirmed’ the reports of Hajji Bi’s oppressions and as a
consequence he was reinstated as sipar salar.
It was probably at this time that Ahmad Shah also appointed a Durrani
sardar, Nawab Khan Alakozai, as hakim of Balkh. Despite this title, which
is somewhat misleadingly translated as ‘governor’, the hakim’s role was
primarily to represent Durrani interests in the Balkh region, in particular
to tax and ensure the safety of qafilas travelling between Bukhara and Herat
and between Bukhara and Kabul, a trade that was mostly in the hands of
Pushtuns living in Bukhara. This appointment was deeply unpopular with
Hajji Bi Ming and the other Uzbek amirs of the wilayat, who saw it as the
first step by the Durrani monarch to assert a degree of sovereignty over
their region. Nawab Khan Alakozai’s position was further undermined by
his rivalry with ‘Ata Allah Khan Turkman, an enmity that was due in part
to the fact that ‘Ata Allah Khan was a Turkman and a Shi‘a.
The stand-off came to a head in 1761 when Rahim Bi Manghit crossed
the Amu Darya intent on reasserting Bukharan supremacy and throwing
out Nawab Khan Alakozai and ‘Ata Allah Khan Turkman. Aided by Izbasar,
hakim of Shibarghan, the Bukharans took Aqcha. In an encounter near
the ancient fortress of Dilbarjin, 16 some 40 kilometres (25 mi.) west of
Balkh, however, Rahim Bi was defeated and retreated to the strong frontier
fortress of Aqcha. ‘Ata Allah Khan Turkman besieged Aqcha but failed to