afghanistanFor the next seven months Sher ‘Ali Khan devoted himself to memorizing
the Qur’an and mourned the death of his favourite son. Eventually his grief
spiralled into depression and mental instability. On one occasion Sher ‘Ali
Khan jumped from a first-floor window into the garden’s water -storage
cistern and began searching frantically for his dead son. His servants
dragged the unconscious ex-Amir from the water in the nick of time.
During the period of Sher ‘Ali Khan’s abdication government ground
to a halt, allowing ‘Azam Khan to seize the initiative. He returned to Khost,
but finding little support for his rebellion, he set out for Badakhshan.
Meanwhile ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan crossed into the Chahar Wilayat and
persuaded his uncle, Faiz Muhammad Khan, governor of Aqcha, to join
him. Within a matter of weeks, the military commanders of Takhtapul,
Sar-i Pul and Minglik had joined the rebellion, forcing Fath Muhammad
Khan, Sher ‘Ali’s governor in Balkh, to flee to Kabul. ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan
followed in hot pursuit, taking Bamiyan without a fight and setting up
camp in the mouth of the Ghurband, where the leaders of Nijrab, Tagab
and Kohistan, including Hafizji and Mullah Mir Aftab, and the malik of
Kabul’s Deh Afghanan, came and pledged their allegiance.
The fall of Balkh and Bamiyan finally roused Sher ‘Ali Khan out of
his torpor. Having resumed the reins of government, he set out for Kabul,
fearing that its governor, Wali Muhammad Khan, whose elder brother,
Faiz Muhammad Khan, had already declared support for the Afzalids,
was about to surrender the city. Fortunately Sher ‘Ali’s loyalists arrested
Wali Muhammad Khan before he could change sides. Once in Kabul the
Amir opened negotiations with ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan and as a gesture of
goodwill, he allowed Wali Muhammad Khan to leave for Ghurband, but
he refused to release Afzal Khan or reinstate him as governor of Balkh.
In retaliation ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan marched on Kabul, which he occu-
pied after a brief skirmish. Sher ‘Ali retreated to Ghazni, but defeated
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan in an encounter at Shah Gau, pushing him back
to Sayyidabad. In a second battle a week later, however, ‘Abd al-Rahman
Khan was victorious and Sher ‘Ali Khan fled to Kandahar. In May 1866
Afzal Khan was proclaimed Amir in Kabul.
The Amirships of Muhammad Afzal Khan and
Muhammad ‘Azam KhanAfzal Khan’s hold on power was as fragile as Sher ‘Ali Khan’s had been.
Shortly after being declared Amir, Afzal Khan’s nephew, Muhammad
Rafiq Khan, and several other Muhammadzais were arrested after it was