afghanistanSaddozai was planning to rebel. He was arrested, handed over to Malik Atal
and put to a long and painful death. Giorgi next appointed Malik Atal as
mir-i Afghaniha, but only on condition he persuade the ‘Abdalis to abandon
Safa and camp in the open plains around Kandahar. Atal fell into the trap.
Once the ‘Abdalis had moved out of their fortress, Giorgi Khan, supported
by Mir Wa’is Hotaki, attacked them and put them to the sword. Somehow
‘Abd Allah Khan and Muhammad Zaman Khan managed to escape the
bloodshed and fled back to Multan.
Having broken the back of ‘Abdali resistance, Giorgi Khan now tried
to do the same to the Hotak Ghilzais, only to find that Mir Wa’is was
more than a match for him when it came to cunning and treachery. Giorgi
arrested Mir Wa’is claiming he was planning to rebel and sent him in chains
to the Safavid capital of Isfahan, fully expecting the Shah would confirm the
death sentence and have Mir Wa’is executed. Mir Wa’is, though, played on
the Shah’s suspicions of Giorgi Khan’s loyalties and eventually convinced
him that it was the governor of Kandahar who was planning to rebel. Mir
Wa’is then petitioned for permission to undertake the Hajj and was given
royal leave to depart. It is said that when Mir Wa’is reached Mecca he
prayed before the Ka’aba for deliverance from Persian oppression. That
night he awoke to find his sword unsheathed, an omen that he interpreted
as divine sanction for a rebellion. He then sought, and obtained, a fatwa,
or legal ruling, which legitimized a revolt against the Safavids.
When Mir Wa’is returned to Kandahar in 1707 the Shah, convinced
about his loyalty, appointed him kalantar of the Afghan tribes, a position
traditionally held by the Saddozais. Giorgi Khan could do nothing about
the decision, for to have refused to recognize the royal decree would have
merely confirmed the Shah’s suspicions that he planned to rebel. Mir Wa’is
then craftily set out to reassure Giorgi by professing loyalty to Persia, yet at
the same time rearming his Ghilzais and trying to persuade local Baluch
amirs to join in a rebellion. He even wrote to Sultan Hayat Khan offering
to share power with him in return for ‘Abdali support. In response Sultan
‘Abd Allah Khan went to Safa to try and raise the Saddozais and other
tribes of the area.
Giorgi Khan then made matters worse by demanding Mir Wa’is’ eldest
daughter in marriage. This was deeply insulting to Mir Wa’is, for Giorgi
was a foreigner and at heart still a Christian. Mir Wa’is repaid the insult by
sending him a slave girl instead, as an indirect reminder of Giorgi’s own
subservient position as a ghulam of the Safavids. The final straw came in
the spring of 1709 when the Kakars and ‘Abdalis refused to pay the annual
tribute and, supported by the Baluch, began to plunder the trade caravans.