nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47replaced the customary Turkic proclamation with the Durrani battle-cry
Ai Chahar Yar, ‘Oh, Four Friends’, a reference to the four Caliphs who the
Shi‘as do not accept were the legitimate successors of Muhammad. 24 Shah
Zaman was released from prison and his place taken by Shah Mahmud,
though Shah Shuja‘ treated the deposed king with remarkable clemency,
for his eyes were not put out, nor was he executed. However, Mullah ‘Ashiq,
the pir who had betrayed Shah Zaman, was hunted down and put to death
and the Koh-i Nur recovered from its hiding place.
After he had secured the capital and restored a measure of law and
order, Shah Shuja‘ sent his nephew Qaisar Mirza to Kandahar, where
Wazir Fateh Khan and Shah Mahmud’s son, Kamran Mirza, continued to
hold out. Fateh Khan offered to submit to Shah Shuja‘ on condition the
king restored his confiscated estates and his family’s tax-free status. Shah
Shuja‘ agreed and Fateh Khan surrendered Kandahar to Qaisar Mirza, but
Kamran fled to Herat. When Fateh Khan arrived in Kabul to pledge his
allegiance in person to the king, Shah Shuja‘ reneged on his promise, which
he had only made so he could secure the surrender of Kandahar without
a fight, and appointed Mukhtar al-Daula as wazir instead.
Fateh Khan bided his time. In the autumn of 1803, after Shah Shuja‘ had
left to winter in Peshawar, he released the royal princes in the Bala Hisar
and fled to Kandahar, where he persuaded Qaisar Mirza to join his revolt.
However, when Shah Shuja‘ sent an army against Qaisar, the prince threw
himself on his father’s mercy, was pardoned and reinstated as governor
of Kandahar. Fateh Khan fled to Herat but returned to Kandahar when
Firoz al-Din also swore allegiance to Shah Shuja‘. Qaisar Mirza threw Fateh
Khan in prison, but somehow he was persuaded to set him free. Fateh
Khan next went to the Barakzai stronghold of Girishk, joined forces with
Kamran Mirza and marched on Kandahar. Just before battle commenced,
however, Qaisar Mirza persuaded Fateh Khan to change sides yet again
and Kamran Mirza was defeated. A few weeks later this alliance too broke
down and Fateh Khan returned to Girishk, where he again joined forces
with Firoz al-Din and Kamran. However, news arrived that a Persian army
was advancing on Herat, so Firoz al-Din abandoned the campaign against
Kandahar and returned home. Meanwhile Shah Shuja‘ had had enough of
his nephew’s intrigues and recalled Qaisar Mirza to Kabul.
Britain, the Napoleonic Wars and the defence of IndiaBy 1805 Fath ‘Ali Shah Qajar had become disillusioned with the Anglo-
Persian alliance. Britain, which was now in an alliance with Tsar Alexander i