afghanistanfaction. Since this was a political matter, Elphinstone passed the buck to
Macnaghten, who in turn handed it to Lieutenant Trevor, informing him
that since he was now the most senior political official it was up to him to
find a way out of the predicament.
Not everything had gone the rebels’ way. Shelton’s grapeshot
had wreaked havoc among Mir Masjidi’s ghazis, the Jabbar Khel and
Muhammadzais, while a diversionary attack on the Bala Hisar by Royalist
forces had been beaten off. Several key leaders of the uprising had been
killed or mortally wounded, including Shah Muhammad Khan of Nijrab,
‘Abd Allah Khan Achakzai (who was shot dead, probably by an assassin,
in the heat of battle) and two of ‘Abd Allah’s sons and his brother-in-
law. ’Amin Allah Khan Logari lost two of his sons, and two nephews of
Dost Muhammad Khan had also been killed. Mir Masjidi, who had been
severely wounded in an earlier encounter, died a few days after the battle,
amid rumours that he had been poisoned. On his death, his followers left
Kabul en masse and returned to the Koh Daman to bury their pir, leaving
Behmaru almost undefended. These deaths were a serious blow to the
rebel forces, but instead of exploiting this lack of leadership and going on
the offensive, Elphinstone and Shelton opted for passive defence, which
allowed the enemy time to regroup and bring in reinforcements.
Macnaghten’s attempts to divide and ruleMacnaghten meanwhile tried to play one faction off against the other and
turned to Mohan Lal to help him divide, if not conquer. Though most
historians of the First Anglo-Afghan War fail to acknowledge it, it was
Lal and not Burnes who was the most effective political operator in Kabul.
Since his first visit to Kabul with Burnes, he had developed a highly efficient
and extensive network of informants and had contacts with leaders of all
the main factions. After Burnes’s death Lal played a crucial role as both a
mediator between Macnaghten and the rebel leaders and as an agent pro -
vocateur. It was a role Lal revelled in, for it gave him a far greater freedom
of action than any native munshi would normally have been permitted.
While Macnaghten attempted to exploit the various dynastic, political
and tribal rivalries and set one faction against the other, this was not Bengal
and he was out of his depth, dealing with individuals for whom intrigue
was second nature. Macnaghten’s petty schemes fooled no one, instead they
turned his amateurish gambits to their own advantage. Macnaghten’s first
object was ’Amin Allah Khan Logari. He authorized Lal to offer a reward
of five lakh rupees for his arrest, making it clear that he would gladly see