backs to the future, 1929–33through the bazaar. Ahmad ‘Ali Lodi was eventually released but Loynab
‘Ali Ahmad Khan, ‘Abd al-Wasi‘ and Qazi ‘Abd al-Shukur were sentenced
to be blown from a cannon. ‘Ali Ahmad died bravely, kissing the muzzle of
the gun before he was tied down and blown away. A maidservant retrieved
his severed head and he was given a proper burial. Three days later Hayat
Allah Khan, ‘Abd al-Majid Khan and several other Muhammadzais were
executed by firing squad.
In Kabul itself, anarchy prevailed, with Habib Allah Kalakani’s follow-
ers raping, pillaging and murdering at will and torturing those they
suspected of concealing their wealth. Schoolteachers were arrested and
beaten for having taught non-Islamic subjects, all girls’ schools were closed
and female pupils forcibly married to Habib Allah Kalakani’s henchmen.
Habib Allah also revoked all treaties with foreign powers. There was little
semblance of government; revenues dried up and inflation was so out of
control that metal for coinage ran out, so Habib Allah resorted to leather
money instead. The Islamists who had supported the rebellion rescinded
’Aman Allah Khan’s reforms, took control of the justice system and set
up an Islamic Regulatory Commission to oversee the implementation
of Islamic law. In late April 1929 this body issued a fatwa condemning
Shi‘as and Isma‘ilis as unbelievers, a decree that led to the persecution of
Kabul’s Hazara and Qizilbash communities and the massacre of the Shi‘a
inhabitants of Khushi in the Logar.
Despite the lack of anything resembling proper governance, Habib
Allah Kalakani clung on to power for nine months. This was due partly
to the fragmented nature of the opposition but also because the regime
received direct or indirect support from the Pushtun tribes, an embarrass-
ing fact that has been glossed over, particularly in Afghan official histories,
which tend to portray the interregnum of Bacha-yi Saqau as a purely Tajik
phenomenon. This, however, was not the case. The revolt in Kohistan had
been encouraged by Nur al-Mashayekh, the Hazrat of Shor Bazaar, who
commanded the religious loyalty of the Sulaiman Khel and other Ghilzai
tribes and it had been the Taraki and other Ghilzai tribes around Ghazni
that defeated ’Aman Allah Khan and forced him to flee the country. In
Kandahar, the Durranis cut a deal with the new regime and stood aside
as ’Aman Allah Khan’s sons and senior government officials were hunted
down and executed. In southeastern Afghanistan, the defection of the
Khogiyanis led to the defeat of Loynab ‘Ali Ahmad; subsequently even
the Shinwari and Mohmand rebels accepted Kalakani’s suzerainty and
fought against Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan. In the west the mainly
Pushtun garrison of Herat executed ’Aman Allah Khan’s governor and