afghanistanthe mutawalli of the shrine to open the reliquary and, holding the sacred
mantle aloft, he demanded of the onlookers whether God would allow a
heretic or apostate to hold such a sacred object without being struck dead.
This piece of theatre had an immediate impact as one leader after another
came forward and renewed their allegiance, while the ‘ulama’ issued a
fatwa condemning King Habib Allah Kalakani as a usurper.
Even so it was not until early April that ’Aman Allah Khan finally set
out for the Afghan capital, a move probably forced on him by news that
Nadir Khan was advancing on Gardez. At the same time, Ghulam Nabi
Charkhi crossed the Amu Darya with a small force intent on marching
on Kabul from the north. The problem was that ’Aman Allah Khan’s army
was small and the bulk of his force consisted of Hazaras, who had joined
the king after senior mujtahids at the Shi‘a’s most sacred shrine in Karbala,
‘Iraq, issued a fatwa urging them to support ’Aman Allah Khan.
’Aman Allah Khan then made a fatal mistake. Ignoring the advice of
his generals, who wanted to march on Kabul down the Logar valley, the
king set out for Ghazni, even though he had not secured safe passage
from the Sulaiman Khel. The fact that the majority of the king’s army
consisted of Hazaras made the Ghilzais even more angry, for they had
long been at odds with the Hazaras, partly because they were Shi‘a and
Isma‘ili and partly because of long-standing disputes over grazing rights.
’Aman Allah Khan was harried by raiders as he marched up the Ghazni
road and when he reached Muqur 7,000 Ghilzais swooped down on the
straggling column. Despite the Hazaras fighting bravely, the king’s army
was annihilated. ‘Aman Allah Khan fled to Qalat-i Ghilzai, but when it
too was besieged he fled across the border to Chaman. A few days later he
was joined by a heavily pregnant Queen Soraya, Mahmud Tarzi, ’Inayat
Allah Khan and his wife.
The situation beyond the Hindu Kush was equally chaotic. Shortly
after Habib Allah Kalakani took Kabul, forces loyal to the new government
occupied Mazar-i Sharif and Qal‘a-yi Jangi. ‘Abd al-Rahim Khan Safi was
sent north as governor of Afghan Turkistan. After appointing new civil
and military officials, ‘Abd al-Rahim set out for Maimana and Herat, taking
most of his troops with him, only for Ghulam Nabi Charkhi, backed by
Soviet planes, to seize control of Mazar and Qal‘a-yi Jangi a few weeks later.
The garrison in Dehdadi managed to hold out for a month before it too
capitulated, whereupon Ghulam Nabi marched on Tashqurghan, forcing
Habib Allah Kalakani’s troops to fall back on Qunduz and Aibak.
However, Ghulam Nabi’s expectation that thousands of Pushtun
colonists in the wilayat would join his campaign proved to be a serious