afghanistanregion. As Elphinstone later put it: ‘The King of Caubul had always been
the recourse of all the disaffected in India. To him Tippoo Sultaun, Vizeer
Ally, and all other Mahommedans, who had a quarrel either with us or
the Marattas, had long been in the habit of addressing their complaints’,
and ‘every Mussulmaun, even in the most remote regions of the Deccan,
waited in anxious expectation for the advance of the champion of Islaum’. 17
Shah Zaman would doubtless have been flattered to think that the
British regarded him as the head of this mythical Islamic coalition, but his
occupation of Lahore unwittingly fuelled this paranoia. He had also given
sanctuary to a dissident Mughal prince, Ahrum Bakht, who urged the
king to attack Delhi. Shah Zaman was corresponding with Tippu Sultan,
subadar of Mysore, whom the British called the Tiger of Mysore, and
a ruler against whom the East India Company had already fought two
wars (1766–9; 1780–84). Indeed, even as Shah Zaman crossed the Indus
the Governor General was preparing for a final showdown with Mysore.
French artillery and cavalry officers were training Tippu’s army and Shah
Zaman had at least one French artillery officer in his army. Their presence
was another cause of concern, for Britain was at war with France: it was
feared that France had encouraged Shah Zaman’s invasion and was inciting
the Muslim rulers of northern India to a jihad to drive out the British.
These anxieties explain the disproportionate British response to the fall
of Lahore. The Bengal army was mobilized and Indian allies were called
on to assist in the defence of Delhi. A British envoy was sent to Fath ‘Ali
Shah in Tehran with an offer of 10,000 rupees to attack Herat in the hope
this would force Shah Zaman to abandon his campaign in the Punjab –
an offer which came at a most opportune time since Mahmud Mirza and
Firoz al-Din Mirza were raising an army for this very purpose. Supported
by the Shah, the two princes occupied Farah, defeated Qaisar Mirza, Shah
Zaman’s son, and besieged Herat, whereupon Shah Zaman abandoned his
campaign in the Punjab and return to Kabul. As soon as the Afghan army
had gone, the Sikhs reoccupied Lahore.
Despite Herat’s population being inclined to support Mahmud Mirza,
Qaisar managed to hold out and, in an attempt to undermine Mahmud’s
alliance with Persia, Qaisar’s wazir forged a letter purporting to be written
by Qaisar to Mahmud’s principal ally, Mir ‘Ali Khan of Qa‘in. The letter
was drafted in such a manner as to make it appear that it was a reply to a
secret communication from Mir ‘Ali Khan in which he offered to assas-
sinate Mahmud. Mahmud’s spies were allowed to intercept the message and
Mahmud and Kamran, completely deceived, fled for their lives in the dead
of night. The following morning, when it was discovered they had taken