afghanistan
Yet Sale’s storming of Jalgah was probably unnecessary, for prior to the
assault Ghulam Khan Popalzai had almost secured the submission of Mir
Masjidi, Mir Hajji and Khoja ‘Abd al-Khaliq, head of the powerful Sayyid
clan of Kohistan. The main cause of these individuals’ rebellion had been
the loss of their state subsidies and the king’s attempt to tax auqaf, from
which they received substantial financial benefit. Politically their loyalties
lay with the Saddozai dynasty for they were indebted to Shah Zaman,
Shah Shuja‘ al-Mulk’s elder brother, for appointing them to their heredi-
tary posts and high religious office. None of these men had any interest in
Dost Muhammad Khan regaining the throne, for he had been responsible
for the brutal suppression and execution of their forebears. Ghulam Khan
Popalzai had even agreed to restore some of their entitlements, but his
efforts to win them over were undermined when the king’s chaush bashi,
supported by Burnes, demanded Sale take ‘firm’ action against Mir Masjidi.
So when Sale attacked and destroyed Jalgah, Mir Masjidi regarded this as
an act of perfidy by the British and by Ghulam Khan Popalzai. In response,
Mir Masjidi and the other pirs joined forces with Dost Muhammad Khan
and Sultan Muhammad Khan Safi of Nijrab.
In early October 1840 Dost Muhammad Khan arrived in Nijrab and
took command of the mujahidin. Sale, in an attempt to force the enemy
to fight his force in the open field, crossed the Panjshir and began to level
villages, burn crops and vineyards and ring-bark fruit trees. At the same
time, his advance meant that his line of communications and supply line
was overstretched. When Sale reached Kah Darra the enemy abandoned
the q a l ‘a after a brief skirmish, whereupon Saif al-Din, the village malik,
along with the elders, came and tendered their submission. Yet despite
this, Sale ordered all of Kah Darra’s eight hundred houses to be burnt
and levelled and its crops, orchards and vineyards destroyed. The grape
crop, for which the area was famous and which was ready for picking, was
requisitioned to feed Sale’s troops. The destruction of a settlement that
had peacefully surrendered, however, backfired. Saif al-Din’s nephew, who
commanded Shah Shuja‘ al-Mulk’s Kohistani regiment, seeing what Sale
had done to his village, deserted taking with him not just his own Kohistani
troops but most of the Durrani cavalry too.
On 2 November 1840 Dost Muhammad Khan finally confronted Sale’s
advance at Parwan Darra. The Amir had chosen his position well and his
men were well dug in on a ridge overlooking Sale’s line of advance. Sale
sent Captain Fraser and his Bengal Horse to attack the enemy’s infantry
but only a handful of Fraser’s men obeyed when he gave the order to
charge, leaving the British officers to charge the enemy lines alone. Dr
nandana
(Nandana)
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