afghanistanwomenfolk. The fact that it was public knowledge that Trevor had thou-
sands of Company rupees stored in his dwelling, and that both houses were
protected by a small guard of sepoys, was further incentive for the attack
since the treasure would provide a very useful war chest to buy loyalties
and equip troops.
True to the Afghan proverb ‘walls have mice, and mice have ears’, news
of the conspiracy soon spread. The evening before the plot was sprung
Mohan Lal’s spies informed him of the plan in detail and he sent an urgent
warning to Burnes to increase the guard on his house. Afghan sympath-
izers also told Burnes that an attack was imminent and urged him to seek
the safety of the Bala Hisar until the king could arrest the conspirators.
Burnes, though, dismissed these warnings and refused to leave, although
he did request reinforcements for the guard. These never arrived, however,
leaving Burnes, Trevor and a few dozen sepoys to fend for themselves.
On the evening of 1 November 1841 Mir Masjidi rode into Kabul and
announced that Kohistan had rebelled. Fearing that the Royalists had lost
the initiative, ‘Abd Allah Khan Achakzai decided to act. Early the following
morning a band of his retainers attacked Burnes’s house and set it on fire.
Burnes, his younger brother and the other occupants were slain as they fled
the inferno. Trevor’s compound was also sacked, the sepoy guards killed
and the treasury looted. Trevor, his wife and their seven children managed
to escape in the nick of time to Chindawal, where they were protected
by Khan Shirin Khan Jawanshir. Nawab Muhammad Zaman Khan gave
Plan of the city of Kabul, 1840, from Archibald Forbes, The Afghan Wars, 1839–1842
and 1878–1880 (1892).