afghanistan10,000 Jamshidis fled across the border to Panjdeh and proceeded to raid
Afghan territory. Russian officials eventually persuaded many of them
to return to Afghanistan but others, including their leaders, were given
asylum in Russian Turkistan, despite the Amir’s objections.
The Amir’s inordinate delay in signing the Convention placed the
British government in a difficult position. The revolt in the Khyber was
serious, and with thousands of the Hadda Mullah’s supporters crossing the
Durand Line to join the uprising, British officials seriously contemplated
occupying Jalalabad. However, the idea was shelved for such an action
was a breach of the Anglo-Russian Convention and opened the door for
Russia to occupy Balkh and Herat, a scenario that would have led to war
between the two countries. Amir Habib Allah Khan too was caught in a
cleft stick. He had no interest in supporting the Hadda Mullah’s jihad, but
he dared not antagonize such an influential figure, especially as he had the
support of Nasr Allah Khan and the anti-British party at court. At the same
time the Amir knew that he could not win a war with Britain and that it
would mean the end of the ‘money sent from God’, as the British subsidy
was known and which was essential to the country’s financial solvency. 10
Furthermore, more than likely such an action would end in the British
once again sending in its army to occupy Kandahar and Jalalabad.
In August 1908 the Amir finally responded officially to the Anglo-
Russian Convention in a communication that ran to more than fifty pages
of detailed critique. The reply, composed mainly by Nasr Allah Khan and
‘Abd al-Quddus Khan, was highly critical of the agreement and pointed
out that not only did it undermine Britain’s commitment to guarantee
Afghanistan’s independence, but in the Afghan view it was a prelude to
the dismemberment of the country. The Amir therefore refused to sign the
Convention without significant changes. Since neither Britain nor Russia
was prepared to renegotiate the treaty or make any alterations to the exist-
ing document, British and Russian officials agreed they would abide by its
terms, despite the Amir’s objections.
The Mashruta ConspiracyDiscontent at Habib Allah Khan’s rule, his haphazard experiment in
modernization and the lack of political reform led to the formation of
Afghanistan’s first political party in 1908. In the autumn the Amir was
shown an anonymous shab nama, or night letter, which demanded he estab-
lish a constitutional monarchy and threatened that if he ‘did not do as was
requested of him, he would have to abide the consequences’. 11 The letter was