We cannot all be masters, nor all masters

Cannot be truly follow’d.

william shakespeare, Othello, Act i, scene i

He who plays with lions must expect to be mauled.

arab proverb

S

ince Nadir Shah’s eldest son had died prematurely, he was

succeeded by his younger son Muhammad Zahir, a shy, introverted

nineteen-year-old with very little experience of government. Prime

Minister Hashim Khan therefore became regent and for the next two

decades ruled as king in all but name. Hashim Khan’s style of govern-

ment was even more autocratic than that of Nadir Shah, while Hashim

Khan himself was so paranoid about assassination that he only left his

house during daylight hours accompanied by a large guard. As for Zahir

Shah, he spent most of the next two decades pursuing personal amuse-

ments, helping the Qizilbash artist ‘Ali Muhammad Chindawali paint

miniatures on the palace ceilings, playing tennis, hunting or watching

buzkashi. As for his official appearances, these were mostly ceremonial

and usually brief. 1

Publicly the transition of power was relatively smooth, but Nadir Shah’s

death exacerbated a split within the two branches of the Musahiban family.

Muhammad ‘Aziz Khan’s sons, Muhammad Da’ud and Muhammad Na‘im,

were both ambitious, frustrated by Hashim Khan’s alliance with conserva-

tive Islamists and the lack of progress in reform and modernization. In an

attempt to neutralize the threat posed by these two brothers, Nadir Shah

had contracted a double marriage alliance between Da’ud and Na‘im and

two of his daughters. Fortunately for Zahir Shah, when his father was

assassinated Da’ud was in Jalalabad, where he commanded the eastern

army, and Na‘im was Afghan ambassador in Rome. Nadir’s younger brother

Shah Wali Khan, whom many believed was the best candidate to succeed

twelve

12 A House Divided, 1933–73