nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47honour him with a visit during his time in Peshawar. Or perhaps Timur was
not particularly enamoured with an individual who represented a highly
conservative version of Sunni Islam. Timur, after all, was a libertine who
regularly flouted Islamic law, in particular the prohibition on drinking
wine and spirits. The king’s preferential treatment of the Qizilbash and
his marginalization of the Durranis had probably not gone down well
either with the hazrat. Whatever the reason, the Chamkani pir persuaded
Faiz Allah Khan, head of the Khalil tribe, who sought revenge against
Timur Shah for unspecified ‘private wrongs’, to depose Timur Shah. 7 He
was supported by ‘Asad Allah Khan, also known as Arsala Khan, who had
been Ahmad Shah’s governor of Sind, and Mu‘iz Allah Khan, chiefs of the
Mohmand tribe. 8 Even Yaqut Khan, Ahmad Shah’s head eunuch, joined
the conspiracy.
In January 1775 Arsala Khan persuaded the king to allow his musket-
eers to assemble inside Peshawar prior to being sent to join the siege of
Multan. Once the Mohmands were inside the city, Arsala Khan and his
2,500 heavily armed tribesmen marched to the arg while Timur Shah
was taking his afternoon siesta and informed the guards that the king
had ordered them to parade inside the fort. While the guards’ attention
was diverted, Faiz Allah Khan and Yaqut Khan smashed a postern gate
in another wall, killed the guards, rushed into the parade ground and
attempted to break down the door of the inner keep where Timur Shah
was resting.
Woken by the clamour, Timur Shah fled to the summit of the tower
and signalled desperately with his turban to alert the Qizilbash ghulams
below. The Qizilbash then attacked the Mohmands, who were so occupied
with the assault on the keep that they had not bothered to set up a rear-
guard. Caught in the parade ground without cover, the Mohmands were
either killed or arrested. Faiz Allah Khan and his son were taken alive,
but despite being tortured they refused to name the other conspirators
and were eventually executed. Though it is not stated, Yaqut Khan may
well have suffered the same fate. Timur Shah wanted to put the Hazrat
of Chamkani to death, too, but ‘the whole of the Afghaun chiefs at court’
pleaded with him not to do so and he remained a free man. 9
Arsala Khan somehow escaped the carnage and fled to his moun-
tain stronghold of Hashtnagar, where he blockaded the strategic military
road through the Khyber Pass and caused considerable trouble for the
Durrani king. Timur Shah was not prepared to allow such a dangerous foe
to remain at large and he eventually lulled Arsala Khan into a false sense
of security, publicly and privately declaring his desire to pardon the rebel