nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47‘Abd alRashid provided the critical information, Keane would have prob
ably been forced into a long siege. A spat between Sale and Dennie over
military honours also marred the victory. In his dispatches Keane singled
out Sale as the hero of the hour, which incensed Dennie, and for a while
Dennie, Keane and Sale were barely on speaking terms.
While the Southern Field Force made its way to Kandahar from
Peshawar, Wade adopted different tactics to undermine Dost Muhammad
Khan. Assisted by Sardar Sultan Muhammad Khan, who arrived in
Peshawar in April 1839 and declared his support for Shah Shuja‘, Wade
developed a highly effective intelligence network that penetrated to the
heart of Dost Muhammad Khan’s administration and family. Khan Shirin
Khan Jawanshir, head of the Jawanshir Qizilbash and commander of the
palace guard, was on Wade’s payroll, as was Ghulam Khan Popalzai, whose
father had served during Shah Shuja‘ alMulk’s earlier reign. He had been
recruited as a confidential news writer by Burnes’s munshi, Mohan Lal,
during their first visit to Kabul. By the time Burnes met him again in
1838 the Popalzai chief was even more disaffected with Dost Muhammad
Khan and was ‘sighing, praying and exerting himself for the restoration
of the monarchy’. 72
Wade sent Ghulam Khan Popalzai 40,000 rupees with instructions
to raise rebellions in Kohistan and Logar, but the Amir’s spy network got
wind of the plan. Ghulam Khan was arrested, but escaped disguised as a
woman concealed under a burqa. He fled to Tagab, where he was welcomed
by Shahdad Safi, son of Mazu Khan, and a short time later he was joined
by Shahzada Yahya, Timur Shah’s son. He too had escaped from prison
in the Upper Bala Hisar and made his way to Peshawar, where Wade gave
him more cash and sent him to Tagab to join the rebellion.
The population of Tagab, Kohistan and the Koh Daman, however,
were reluctant to rebel, for memories of the executions and devastations
wrought by Dost Muhammad Khan’s earlier campaigns were still fresh.
The situation, though, radically changed with the arrival of Mir Ma‘sum,
better known as Mir Hajji, and his brother Mir Darwish, or Hafizji. These
men were sons of Khwaja Khanji, Sayyid Mir Ahmad Agha, and were the
region’s most influential spiritual leaders, commanding the loyalty of thou
sands of devotees from Ghurband to Tagab. Mir Hajji, the elder brother,
had succeeded his father as pir of their subOrder of Naqshbandiyya Sufis
and as mir w a’ i s of the Puli Kheshti mosque. Among other things, he
had officiated at the coronation of Dost Muhammad Khan. His younger
brother, Hafizji, was mutawalli of the Ashiqan wa Arifan shrine and was
married to one of Dost Muhammad Khan’s daughters. Their defection was