afghanistan
Lepel Griffin had kept a close watch on ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan’s
progress and in early April 1880 he sent an envoy to Khanabad to sound
out the sardar’s potential as Amir. Griffin informed ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan
that he would seriously consider his claim to the throne provided he was
willing to accept the arrangements his predecessors had made with Britain.
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan’s reply was cautious, for his followers wanted him
to declare a jihad against the British. He had merely come ‘to help my
nation in much perplexity and trouble’, he told Griffin, but the door was
now open for more detailed negotiations. 17 In subsequent correspondence
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan asked for clarification on whether Britain would
demand the right to station a British envoy in the country and asked that
Kandahar and, if possible, Herat be included in his realms.
Griffin, though, continued to hedge his bets. While negotiating with
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan, he called the leaders of the factions that had taken
part in the siege of Sherpur to attend a darbar in Kabul. Most of these
factions favoured the return of Ya‘qub Khan or his son, Musa’, so they were
deeply disappointed when Griffin informed them that Britain would not
allow any member of Ya‘qub’s family to become Amir and that the Viceroy
was contemplating dividing the country into three separate kingdoms.
This was not what the delegates wanted to hear. When they returned back
to the bases Ghulam Haidar Khan’s Logaris attacked a British force near
Chahar Asiyab, and when General Stewart arrived at Ahmad Khel, near
Ghazni, his advance was blocked by between 12,000 and 15,000 Ghilzais
loyal to Mushk-i ‘Alam. A one-sided battle followed in which more than a
thousand ghazis were slaughtered. Among the dead on the battlefield was
at least one female warrior. Following the Battle of Ahmad Khel, Griffin
abandoned his attempt to win over Mushk-i ‘Alam and the Ya‘qubids and
decided to pursue the option of ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan: ‘We have found in
Abdul Rahman a ram caught in the thicket’, he informed Lytton. 18
By May 1880 there were many pressing reasons why Britain wanted to
secure a quick settlement and withdraw. At the end of April Gladstone’s
Liberal Party had swept to power in a landslide victory and Lytton had
tendered his resignation. His replacement, the Marquis of Ripon, had
specific instructions to abandon the Forward Policy and withdraw all
troops from Afghanistan as soon as practicable. Since Gladstone’s govern-
ment no longer made it a precondition that any candidate for the throne
had to agree to a British envoy being stationed in Afghanistan, this removed
the most important stumbling block as far as ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan was
concerned. The only point of difference was that the British wanted to
retain control of Kandahar with Sher ‘Ali Khan as governor, while ‘Abd
nandana
(Nandana)
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