dreams melted into air, 1919–29from the bandit king. Nadir Khan and Shah Wali Khan were war heroes
with a strong following in the army and among the Frontier tribes.
Furthermore, as descendants of the Peshawar sardars, the Musahiban
family presented the rebels with a viable alternative to the Saraj dynasty.
Nadir Khan’s progress to Peshawar was something of a triumph. Large
crowds greeted him at Lahore station, while the Urdu poet and Indian
nationalist Muhammad Iqbal pledged his life savings for Nadir Khan’s
campaign. In his address Nadir Khan declared that he ‘would not rest until
he had seen Amanallah back on the throne’, 59 but by the time he reached
Peshawar he had shifted his position, claiming he only wanted to ‘establish
peace and liberate my people from tyranny’ and it was up to the tribes to
decide who became king. 60
This change of mind was most likely due to Nadir Khan hearing from
tribal and religious leaders at first hand about how deeply they resented the
reforms of ’Aman Allah Khan. Since Nadir Khan needed the support of the
tribes, it was politic for him and his brothers to distance themselves from
’Aman Allah Khan and his reformist circle. Nadir Khan’s meeting with Sir
Francis Humphrys, who had been evacuated to Peshawar, no doubt influ-
enced this change of heart. Humphrys had developed a personal dislike for
Tarzi and ’Aman Allah Khan. Doubtless he made it clear to Nadir Khan
that Britain did not want to see a Seraj back on the Afghan throne, while
he assured him that Britain would help a new king, ‘whoever he may be’,
to establish himself on the throne. 61 From this point forward Nadir Khan
became more outspoken in his criticism of ’Aman Allah Khan, yet refused
to declare himself as king and rejected offers from envoys from Habib Allah
Kalakani and Nur al-Mashayekh to join the new government. Loynab ‘Ali
Ahmad Khan also failed to convince Nadir Khan that, since the Nangahar
tribes had elected him King, Nadir and his brothers should tender their alle-
giance to him too. Instead, on 6 March 1929 Nadir Khan, Shah Wali Khan
and Hashim Khan set out for Khost to raise an army to march on Kabul.
The unexpected return to India of the Musahiban brothers meant it
was now a race between them and ’Aman Allah Khan to retake Kabul.
’Aman Allah Khan, however, had yet to persuade the Durrani tribes or
the Kandahar ‘ulama’ to condemn the Kalakani regime and join him in
his bid to regain control of the Afghan capital. In a desperate attempt to
secure their support ’Aman Allah Khan resorted to a bold and dramatic
gesture. On 24 February 1929 the king called a jirga at the shrine of the
Khirqa-yi Sharif, which abutted the tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani. In an
impassioned speech, ’Aman Allah Khan reaffirmed his Islamic faith and
damned Habib Allah Kalakani as a traitor and infidel. Then he ordered