afghanistanthe systemic problems that beset the Durrani kingdom in the first decade
of the nineteenth century were too complex to be cured by graciousness
alone and no doubt some courtiers, as well as his enemies, saw the king’s
attempts at conciliation as a sign of weakness.
Militarily Shah Shuja‘ showed far greater competency as commander
than European historians have given him credit. He defeated both Shah
Mahmud and Mukhtar al-Daula, though in the end he made two tactical
errors that proved fatal to his cause. After having defeated Shah Mahmud,
he failed to drive home his advantage by taking Kandahar and capturing
Fateh Khan, while the following year he sent his army into Kashmir when
it would have been better deployed against Shah Mahmud and Fateh Khan.
Shah Mahmud’s second reignThe victory of Shah Mahmud meant that Fateh Khan regained his pre -
eminent position as wazir and he used his power to dispose of personal
enemies and depose key governors, appointing in their place his half-
brother Pur Dil Khan, who became governor of Kandahar, while Pur Dil’s
three full brothers, Sher Dil, Kohan Dil and Rahim Dil, were appointed
as governors of Ghazni, Bamiyan and Kalat respectively. As for Mehr
Dil, Pur Dil Khan’s youngest brother, he became the Amir’s Foreign
Minister. Later these five Dil brothers were known to British officials as
the Kandahar sardars. In 1811, when ‘Ata Muhammad Khan, governor of
Kashmir, was defeated by the Sikhs, Fateh Khan appointed his younger
full brother, Muhammad ‘Azim Khan, as governor of Peshawar: he and his
four sons, known as the Peshawar sardars, ruled this province until it too
was conquered by the Sikhs (see Chart 3).
In an attempt to regain control of Kashmir, Shah Mahmud entered into
an alliance with Ranjit Singh of Lahore, who demanded half the annual
revenues of the province in return for military assistance. Ranjit Singh then
double-crossed Shah Mahmud by persuading the king’s governor in Attock
to submit to his authority. When Fateh Khan tried to retake this fortress
he was defeated and the Sikhs took control of the strategic ford over the
Indus, which was the gateway to Peshawar. Shah Mahmud’s alliance with
the Sikhs antagonized the Sunni faction at court and, while the king and
Wazir Fateh Khan were campaigning in Kashmir and Attock, Sayyid ‘Ata
and Sayyid Ashraf, members of Khwaja Khanji’s circle, rebelled and placed
‘Abbas Mirza, son of Timur Shah, on the throne. The Qizilbash in Shah
Mahmud’s army mutinied when they heard about the coup and returned
to Kabul, fearing for the safety of their families. Shah Mahmud and Fateh