afghanistanhimself evaded capture and withdrew south into the hill country. News of
the Soviet incursion into Qataghan caused panic in Kabul and Nadir Shah
forced ‘Alim Beg, the exiled Khan of Bukhara, to write and order Ibrahim
Beg to lay down his arms and come to Kabul. Ibrahim Beg did not bother to
reply to the letter and instead declared the establishment of an independent
Turkistanian state in Qataghan and Badakhshan. He then proceeded to
occupy Darwaz, Rustaq, Yangi Qal‘a, Hazar Bagh and Khanabad.
Ibrahim Beg’s secession was a direct challenge to Durrani sovereignty
and one that had to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Despite continu-
ing unrest in the Koh Daman and Gardez, in December 1930 Nadir Shah
sent Shah Mahmud and Muhammad Gul Khan Mohmand with an army
of tribal levies to put down the revolt in Qataghan. Their campaign did not
start well, for in their first encounter with Ibrahim Beg, at Banghi Qishlaq,
a few hundred of his Uzbek militia virtually wiped out the Mohmands.
Shah Mahmud withdrew to await reinforcements. Meanwhile, in order to
undermine support for Ibrahim Beg, he allowed the Waziri and Mohmand
lashkars to pillage and terrorize the settlements of southern Qataghan. The
reign of terror that ensued so appalled religious leaders and government
sympathizers that they petitioned the king to order a halt to the raids, but
Nadir Shah ignored their pleas.
In February 1931 Shah Mahmud returned to the offensive and eventu-
ally pushed Ibrahim Beg out of the area. He withdrew to Aq Tepa where
he was besieged, but when provisions and ammunition began to run out
Ibrahim Beg fled across into Tajikistan. He was subsequently arrested by a
Soviet border patrol and several months later was put on trial, condemned
to death and executed by firing squad. Following the fall of Qataghan
and Balkh, ‘Abd al-Rahim Safi submitted to Nadir Shah in Herat and was
allowed to remain as governor, at least for a while. A few months later Nadir
Shah renewed the Soviet-Afghan Treaty and in March 1936 a commercial
and friendship treaty further cemented relations with Moscow.
The administration of King Nadir ShahIn order to reduce the potential for further rebellions, Nadir Shah re -
organized sub-national government into a complex system of authorities
designed to divide and rule. Seven major provinces, or wilayats, were
created centred around Afghanistan’s main urban centres with their
governors (walis) answerable directly to the Minister of the Interior.
Seven additional, minor provinces, or hukumat-i a’la, were established,
which in turn were subdivided into smaller administrative units. Urban