afghanistanon Shi‘as. Dost Muhammad Khan took advantage of Sultan Muhammad
Khan’s unpopularity to pay a secret visit to Hajji Khan Kakar and persuaded
him to aid his bid for power in exchange for becoming hakim of Bamiyan. 2
Having secured the support of this powerful tribal leader, Dost Muhammad
sent Sultan Muhammad Khan an ultimatum: quit Kabul voluntarily or be
expelled by force. When Sultan Muhammad Khan failed to take the threat
seriously, Dost Muhammad Khan’s troops surrounded the Bala Hisar. After
a few well-directed shells had been lobbed into the upper citadel, Sultan
Muhammad Khan capitulated and left for Peshawar under a pledge of safe
conduct. As he made his way through the Shor Bazaar, the shopkeepers
lined the streets mocking him with cries of ‘Welcome, Sultan Muhammad
Khan, the Golden!’ 3
Sultan Muhammad Khan and the Peshawar sardars were not in a posi-
tion to challenge Dost Muhammad’s coup, nor was Ranjit Singh prepared
to support their war with Dost Muhammad Khan, for he was content to
rule Peshawar through Sultan Muhammad Khan and his brothers. Anyway,
the Sikhs had problems nearer home, for the Yusufzais under Pir Sayyid
Ahmad were still at war with them and with the Peshawar sardars, whom
they damned for allying themselves with ‘infidels’. In 1829 the Yusufzais
even briefly occupied Peshawar, forcing Sultan Muhammad Khan to flee
to Lahore. He eventually agreed to return after he pledged to govern in the
name of Sayyid Ahmad, but once he had gained possession of the town he
put the Yusufzai pir and his henchmen to death.
Dost Muhammad Khan meanwhile had to deal with a challenge from
his other siblings in Kandahar. Shortly after Dost Muhammad Khan took
control of Kabul, Pur Dil Khan marched on Kabul but was defeated by the
Qizilbash and returned to Kandahar. A short time later Pur Dil Khan died
and was succeeded by his next oldest brother, Sher Dil Khan, whose rule
was undermined by a power struggle with his siblings over the succession.
Having defeated his two main dynastic rivals, Dost Muhammad Khan
turned his attention to restoring law and order in the capital and imposing
his authority on the surrounding country. Sectarian tension continued to
pose problems and in 1828 there was a particularly vicious outbreak of
religiously motivated violence when a number of Achaqzais attacked Shi‘as
during the ‘Ashura festival, which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam
Husain. In an attempt to reconcile the two factions Dost Muhammad Khan
appointed Hajji Khan Kakar as wakil for the Shi‘a and Nawab Jabbar Khan
to represent Sunni interests. As a sop to the Sunni lobby, Dost Muhammad
Khan also outlawed gambling, dice, performances by nautch girls, wine
making and drinking. He also scrapped the Saddozais’ demeaning court