It is gratifying to reflect that while we shall consolidate the Afghan empire

for our own interests we shall at the same time establish a lasting claim

upon the gratitude of that people and our name will become associated

with all the blessings which will flow from the restoration of security

and good order.

charles trevelyan, 1831 1

F

ollowing the expulsion of Shah ‘Ayub, Sardar Habib Allah

Khan, son of Sardar Muhammad ‘Azim, became titular head of

Afghanistan but a few months later he was deposed by Sher Dil

Khan. Faced with another civil war, this time between the heirs of Payinda

Khan, the Peshawar and Kandahar sardars met in Kabul and after much

debate and a certain amount of bloodshed they agreed to appoint Sultan

Muhammad Khan, the eldest of the Peshawar sardars, as ruler of Kabul.

As for Habib Allah Khan, he was compensated with the governorship of

Logar and the Ghurband. The two sets of brothers deliberately excluded

Dost Muhammad Khan from their deliberations and conspired to have

him assassinated or blinded, but Hajji Taj Muhammad Khan, head of the

Kakar tribe, warned Dost Muhammad and their plans were thwarted. Dost

Muhammad Khan fled to Kohistan, while Hajji Khan Kakar sought sanc-

tuary in the shrine of Ashiqan wa Arifan, assumed the dress of a fa qir and

declared he had renounced all worldly ambition.

The coup of Dost Muhammad Khan and internal conflicts

During his brief reign Sultan Muhammad Khan rarely ventured outside

the Bala Hisar and spent his time in idle extravagance, appointing dozens

of loyalists to sinecures that the country could not afford, and adorning

himself in highly ornate robes, which earned him the nickname of Sultan

Te l a’ i, the Golden Sultan. He also alienated the Qizilbash by supporting

the Sunni-Kohistan faction, a policy that led to a number of violent attacks

five

Afghanistan and the Indus Frontier,

1824–39