nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47and protection for their Shi‘a faith, in return for accepting ‘Abdali sover-
eignty. They agreed to these terms, forcing Nasir Khan to flee to Peshawar
and when Ahmad Shah reached Kabul, the Qizilbash opened the gates of
the Bala Hisar. Ahmad Shah honoured his pledge, and the Qizilbash were
assigned the walled mahalas of Chindawal and Murad Khaneh, while the
defection of the Kabul garrison meant Ahmad Shah had acquired several
thousand additional troops for his first campaign in northern India.
Following the fall of Kabul, Ahmad Shah sent his sipar salar, or
commander-in-chief, Sardar Jahan Khan Popalzai Bakhshi, in hot pursuit
of Nawab Nasir Khan. He quickly overran Jalalabad and so swift was his
advance that Nawab Nasir Khan had no time to organize a blockade of
the Khyber Pass: Jahan Khan’s army marched through it unopposed, and
when he reached the Peshawar plains the Yusufzais, Afridis and Khattaks
declared for Ahmad Shah, forcing Nasir Khan to abandon Peshawar. He
eventually made his way to Delhi where he informed Muhammad Shah
that yet another invasion of the Punjab was imminent.
Once in control of Peshawar, Sardar Jahan Khan opened a clandestine
correspondence with Shah Nawaz Khan, Nawab of Lahore. Shah Nawaz
had recently deposed his brother, Yahya Khan, but Muhammad Shah had
refused to legitimize his coup, so Sardar Jahan Khan promised Nawaz
Khan that if he accepted ‘Abdali sovereignty he would be confirmed as
governor of Lahore. A secret pact was drawn up between the nawab and
Kabul: traditional flat-roofed houses on the northern face of the Sher Darwaza
in the Chindawal area, formerly the fortified mahala of the Jawanshir Qizilbash.