afghanistanto abandon Lahore and been sent back to Herat, where he spent his time
in ‘indolent magnificence’. 2 Timur had also defied his father by refusing
to execute the fugitive rebel Dilawar Khan Ishaqzai and instead appointed
him as commander of his personal guard. Yet the dying king commended
Timur Mirza for not putting Dilawar Khan to death, while he condemned
Sulaiman Mirza for executing the other rebels, even though he had done
so in obedience to his father’s orders. The king’s claim that Sulaiman Mirza
had alienated the tribes of the Kandahar is also disingenuous, given that
two of the highest ranked Durranis in the realm supported his right to
the throne.
Ahmad Shah’s decision may have been due to his illness, which had
affected his brain and mental state, but his choice of Timur Mirza was more
likely a deliberate attempt to curtail the power of senior generals and the
Durrani tribal council, whom he deemed posed a threat to the perpetu-
ation of his dynasty. Timur Mirza was the obvious choice in this regard for
he had little time for the commanders of the Durrani ulus, having grown up
in Herat and Lahore. Apart from the Ishaqzais, Timur’s military strength
derived from non-Afghan tribes – the Qizilbash and the Persian-speaking
tribes of Herat and Badghis, such as the Sunni Hazaras of Qal‘a-yi Nau.
Unfortunately for Timur he was ruling Herat, so Begi Khan Bamizai
and Sardar Jahan Khan were able to exploit their proximity to the increas-
ingly incapacitated king to promote Sulaiman’s cause. They restricted access
to the king’s presence and poisoned the ear of the Shah against his heir
apparent, a ploy that appears to have succeeded, for when Timur Mirza
heard that the king was dying and rushed to his father’s deathbed, Ahmad
Shah denied him an audience and ordered him back to Herat. Angered
and shamed by this rebuff, when Timur reached Herat he assembled his
forces for the inevitable confrontation with his elder brother.
Timur’s plans, however, were stalled by the unexpected rebellion of
Darwish ‘Ali Khan, beglar begi of the Sunni Hazaras, a revolt possibly
instigated by the Sulaiman faction. Darwish ‘Ali Khan had formerly been
Ahmad Shah’s governor of Herat but had rebelled, then subsequently been
pardoned, served in Ahmad Shah’s campaigns in India, then rebelled
once more. This time he was imprisoned but he escaped shortly before
Ahmad Shah died and fled to Qal‘a-yi Nau, where he raised the standard
of rebellion yet again. Timur Mirza lured him to Herat, offering him a
pardon and reconfirmation as head of the Sunni Hazaras provided he
came and tendered his submission in person. When Darwish ‘Ali arrived
in Herat, however, he was executed and his nephew Muhammad Khan
was appointed beglar begi in his place.