nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47the titular head of the revolt. ‘Abd Allah Khan then proceeded to secure the
support of a number of key Popalzai Royalists, several members of Kabul’s
religious establishment and the head of the Bayat Qizilbash. ‘Amin Allah
Khan Logari and many other leaders of the uprising had been imprisoned
by Shah Shuja‘, dismissed from their posts or had their privileges curtailed.
All of them hated the military and fiscal reforms, which they blamed on
Macnaghten, Burnes and Trevor.
The conspirators’ chief political objective was to restore real power
to the king and the Durrani aristocracy, though they were divided over
whether Shah Shuja‘ should remain king or be replaced by one of his sons.
They were also convinced that if the British were forced to withdraw they
could raise an army large enough to maintain a Saddozai monarch on the
throne. In order to win over the Muhammadzais, the Royalists planned to
restore the arrangement made between Ahmad Shah and Hajji Jamal Khan
and appoint one of Payinda Khan’s heirs as wazir. This political agenda was
essentially unrealistic, partly because they blamed all the problems that
Shah Shuja‘ faced on the British, and partly because the Royalists seemed
unable to accept that the king had little popular following and that he was
weak and ineffectual. The fact that Shah Shuja‘ survived at all was only
because the British were fighting his battles and paying for everything
from army wages to the king’s civil service. Furthermore, there was little
prospect that the Muhammadzais would agree to work under a Saddozai
king, given the bad blood that existed between the two lineages.
‘Abd Allah Khan Achakzai’s revolt was also motivated by a personal
vendetta against Burnes, who had demanded he honour a large debt he
owed to a Hindu moneylender, which ‘Abd Allah Khan had refused to
repay. Furthermore, one of ‘Abd Allah Khan’s favourite concubines had
somehow managed to escape from his zanana and been given sanctuary
by Burnes in his house. ‘Abd Allah Khan sent servants to demand her
return but Burnes initially denied she was in his house and then, when it
was apparent she was there, he refused to hand her over. Another woman
who was pledged in marriage to ‘Abd Allah Khan’s brother had also fled
and claimed the protection of British officers in the Old City. As far as
‘Abd Allah Khan was concerned, this was a very serious matter indeed
since it struck at the very heart of his and his family’s nang, or honour. Not
only had these women shamed him by fleeing, they were being protected
by foreigners and invaders. Furthermore, inevitably their presence in
the house of strangers raised suspicion of sexual impropriety. 28 For this
reason, ‘Abd Allah Khan decided his first objective was to attack the houses
occupied by Burnes and Trevor, kill the hated foreigners and recover his