nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47Nawab Zaman Khan’s Barakzais. Nawab Zaman Khan then did his cause
little good by having a bitter row with Nawab Jabbar Khan that ended with
him pulling Jabbar Khan’s beard, a great insult, and accusing the nawab of
having brought all the disasters upon the country, for it was he who had
‘first brought the Feringhees into the country’. 37
Following the fall of the Bala Hisar, Nawab Zaman Khan’s followers
deserted him so he appealed to Mir Hajji to recognize his right to the
throne by reciting his name in the khutba. In reply, Mir Hajji told him he
would only agree to do this provided he took charge of the ghazis, who
had been kicking their heels at But Khak for more than three months, and
march against Pollock who was now in control of Jalalabad. Nawab Shah
Zaman refused and argued for negotiations instead, but Mir Hajji rejected
any compromise. A few days later Akbar Khan called his own assembly
of Kabul’s ‘ulama’ and on 29 June 1842 Mir Hajji formally proclaimed
Shah Fath Jang as king-regent, pending the return of Dost Muhammad
Khan, with Akbar Khan as his wazir. When Nawab Zaman Khan and
Khan Shirin Khan Jawanshir boycotted this meeting, Muhammad Shah’s
Ghilzais attacked Nawab Zaman Khan, Hamza Khan of Tezin and Khan
Shirin Khan, who eventually surrendered. Nawab Zaman Khan’s life was
spared but he and many other sardars, rivals of Akbar Khan, were impris-
oned, as was Hamza Khan. Khan Shirin Khan was deposed as head of the
Jawanshir Qizilbash and was forced to surrender Mohan Lal to Mullah
Jalal Achakzai, mir w a’ i s of the Pul-i Kheshti mosque, who tortured the
munshi and extracted large sums of money from him. Yet despite all his
trials, Lal continued to risk his life smuggling out news and intelligence
to Pollock’s advancing army.
All would have been plain sailing for Akbar Khan had it not been for
Ellenborough’s decision to countermand his order to General Pollock to
return to India and permitting him to march on Kabul to exact retribu-
tion for the ‘outrages’ committed against British officers and to rescue the
hostages. When Akbar Khan heard the news, he assembled an army to
oppose Pollock’s advance, a force that included the British-trained Janbaz
and Hazarbashi corps. Since he had already drained Shah Fath Jang of all
his wealth, Akbar Khan forced him to abdicate in favour of his younger
brother, Sultan Shahpur, and imposed a jihad tax on Kabul’s shopkeepers
and the Pushtun maldar. Akbar Khan then tried to negotiate with Pollock,
using the hostages as a bargaining chip, but his approaches were rejected
out of hand. Even so, the condition of the hostages’ detention markedly
improved and some of their looted property was restored.