afghanistanThe mustufi’s terminally sick brother, Hasan Khan, was also sentenced to
death, but he died before the execution could take place. Following their
deaths, the mustufi’s estates in Kabul, Kohistan and Jalalabad were confis-
cated, and his extended family were arrested and subsequently exiled to
Kohistan and Qataghan.
Colonel Shah ‘Ali Reza, a Qizilbash or Hazara Shi‘a, became the public
scapegoat for the actual murder. He had been on guard outside the tent
the night Habib Allah Khan was slain and had tried to detain the fleeing
assassin. However, instead of being rewarded for his loyalty, Amir ’Aman
Allah Khan accused him of firing the fatal shot, claiming his father had
appeared to him in a dream and denounced ‘Ali Reza as his murderer.
‘Ali Reza was brought before the Amir, who handed his sword to an Iraqi
ghulam. The ghulam first slit the condemned man’s mouth and then cleaved
him in two with a single stroke of his sword. 4
The accession of Amir ’Aman Allah Khan, however, did bring freedom
for Dr Ghani, his brothers and the other Indian teachers of Habibiyya
College who had been incarcerated for their alleged role in the Mashruta
Conspiracy. Despite having spent nearly a decade in prison, Dr Ghani
remained in Afghanistan as an adviser to the Amir and in August 1919 he
was a member of the Afghan delegation at the Rawalpindi Conference.
Despite the arrests and executions, rumours continued to circulate that
’Aman Allah Khan and Mahmud Tarzi had masterminded Habib Allah
Khan’s assassination. Several years later, Shuja‘ al-Daula, Habib Allah Khan’s
farash bashi, who had been responsible for the Amir’s camping arrange-
ments, confessed to Ghulam Siddiq Charkhi that he was the assassin and
even produced the pistol that he had used to shoot the Amir. Shuja‘ al-Daula
claimed he killed the Amir to avenge a personal grievance, but the fact that
’Aman Allah Khan appointed him kotwal of Kabul and Director of Military
Intelligence, positions previously held by Mustufi Mirza Muhammad
Husain Safi, suggests that ’Aman Allah Khan or his mother, Ulya Hazrat,
may have incited Shuja‘ al-Daula to assassinate the Amir. Mahmud Tarzi,
after all, had every reason for wanting Amir Habib Allah Khan out of the
way. In the last years of Habib Allah Khan’s reign, Tarzi had been increas-
ingly at odds with the Amir over his policy of neutrality during the Great
War, the suppression of the Hizb-i Mashruta and the suspension of the
Seraj al-Akhbar. Less than a year earlier, Tarzi’s closest associates had been
imprisoned for attempting to shoot the Amir. The succession of ’Aman Allah
Khan was also a political triumph for Tarzi, for he had personally groomed
the prince for kingship and he was the most reform-minded of Habib Allah
Khan’s sons. Tarzi became ’Aman Allah Khan’s foreign minister and his