nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47pointed silently at Chuki’s tent and was rewarded by having his throat slit.
The noise roused Nadir Shah, who tried to reach for his sword but stum-
bled in the darkness. Before he could recover, a sword stroke cut the king’s
hand from his arm. Despite pleading for his life, Muhammad Quli severed
Nadir Shah’s head from his body.
Exactly what happened next is uncertain, no doubt because of the
confusion that followed the assassination. It seems the conspirators began
to pillage the royal enclosure while trying to keep the assassination secret,
only for the news of Nadir Shah’s death to spread quickly throughout the
camp. Soon all law and order broke down and Bazin, who witnessed the
chaos, barely escaped with his life. Ahmad Shah appears to have been
unaware of what had happened, for neither he nor his ally Hajji Bi Ming
and his Uzbeks did anything until daybreak, by which time the whole camp
was filled with ‘confusion, discord and commotion’. 15 Indeed, it appears
that Ahmad Shah and Hajji Bi were surprised when the Qajar and Afshar
divisions of the royal guard attacked them, no doubt to prevent them
carrying out the king’s orders. A bloody battle ensued but, despite being
heavily outnumbered, Ahmad Shah managed to force his way into the royal
enclosure, where he discovered Nadir Shah’s decapitated body cradled in
the lap of an old woman.
Historians mostly portray Ahmad Shah as acting in defence of Nadir
Shah but there are doubts about this narrative. Ahmad Shah, like many
others, must have realized that Nadir Shah’s grip on power was slipping
and that his mood swings and bloody repression meant he was as likely to
turn on the Afghans as he had done on other regiments of the royal guard.
We know that the rebellious prince ‘Ali Quli Mirza was in Herat and that
many ‘Abdali and other chiefs had submitted to him. The prince was also
in secret communication with senior military commanders at the time of
Nadir Shah’s assassination. ‘Ali Quli may well have tried to win over Ahmad
Shah and the ‘Abdali ulus while Ahmad Shah would certainly have been
aware of the positive reception ‘Ali Quli Mirza had been given in Herat.
Ahmad Shah’s inaction after the king was killed is therefore suspicious,
as are his actions when he entered Nadir Shah’s tent. Instead of treating the
royal body with respect, Ahmad Shah removed the royal signet ring from
the king’s severed hand and stole the Koh-i Nur diamond, which was tied
around his arm. This was hardly the action of a loyal commander and the
theft of these two important items of regal insignia was clearly deliberate
and done in full knowledge of their significance. The signet ring, after all,
was the royal seal, while the Koh-i Nur, the most precious of all the Mughal
crown jewels, had a long association with the Muslim dynasties of northern