Afghanistan. A History from 1260 to the Present - Jonathan L. Lee (2018)

nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47

and he was also granted the unprecedented right to purchase arms in
Delhi tax­free as well as recruit Indian mercenaries for his army. Shah
Shuja‘ al­Mulk’s proclamation declaring his intention to regain the throne,
however, also included a statement to the effect that his campaign had the
support of the British. Ranjit Singh, too, advanced Shah Shuja‘ a substan­
tial amount of money in return for a treaty, signed in March 1834 that was
covertly supported by Wade. Under its terms the ex­king agreed that, in the
event of him regaining his throne, he would relinquish sovereignty over all
former Durrani territories between the Indus and the Khyber Pass, includ­
ing Peshawar. When an anxious Dost Muhammad Khan wrote to Wade
asking him whether Britain supported Shah Shuja‘ al­Mulk’s campaign,
Wade replied disingenuously that Britain ‘had no participation’ in the
ex­king’s expedition. 27
Faced with the threat to Kandahar posed by Shah Shuja‘, Pur Dil Khan
went to Kabul to plead for military support, a situation Dost Muhammad
Khan exploited to demand concessions from the Kandahar sardars that
increased his power and influence. In order to secure his own defensive
line in the event that Shah Shuja‘ or his Sikh allies attacked along the
Khyber Pass, in early 1834 Dost Muhammad Khan marched into Nangahar,
subdued the tribes of Bala Bagh, Laghman and Kunar, and made a formal
alliance with one of the most important khans of the Mohmand tribe.
Shah Shuja‘ finally set out for Kandahar in the summer of 1834, only
for his campaign to come to nothing: in early July he was defeated outside
Kandahar and fled, leaving his baggage behind. When Dost Muhammad’s
officials searched the ex­king’s effects they found several letters from Wade,
addressed to Shah Shuja‘, that gave tacit support to his campaign. Wade
claimed that they were forgeries and blamed Karamat ‘Ali, the Kabul news
writer, whom he accused of ‘deceitful conduct’, ‘gross subterfuges’ and
‘mischievous designs’, and dismissed him. 28 Wade, though, may well have
written these letters in a semi­private capacity for he made no secret of his
desire to see Shah Shuja‘ back on the throne. His correspondence, however,
made Dost Muhammad Khan and many of his courtiers suspect that
British officials, while publicly claiming to be neutral, covertly supported
Shah Shuja‘ al­Mulk’s restoration; an unfortunate state of affairs that would
have major repercussions for future Anglo­Afghan relations.

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan and the jihad against the Sikhs

While Dost Muhammad Khan was in Kandahar preparing to confront
Shah Shuja‘, the Sikhs took advantage of his absence to occupy Peshawar,