afghan sultanates, 1260–1732of badal, for Hayat Khan was the last surviving male member of Sultan
Khudakka Khan’s line and, were he to die, the headship of the ‘Abdalis,
with all its power, privileges and wealth, would pass to the rival Sarmast
Khel. Murad Bibi, though, was implacable and even threatened to appoint
one of Khudakka’s daughters as mir-i Afghaniha.
A woman as head of the tribe was inconceivable and in the end the
heads of the clans were forced to desperate measures, appearing before
Murad Bibi with their turbans around their necks like nooses, signifying
their willingness to sacrifice their own lives instead of that of Hayat Khan.
Confronted with this act of ritualized abasement, Murad Bibi agreed not
to kill Hayat Khan on condition that he would never show his face in her
presence again on pain of death, and that the actual murderer of ‘Inayat
Khan be handed over so she could fulfil her oath. Hayat Khan agreed to
her terms and the unfortunate Uzbek ghulam was dragged before Murad
Bibi, who slit his throat, caught the blood in a cup and drank it with every
appearance of relish. His body was then thrown over the fort walls and left
to be eaten by dogs. Thus Hayat Khan, having escaped with his life, became
mir-i Afghaniha and ‘honour’ was satisfied on all sides.
Sultan Hayat Khan then proceeded to antagonize the Safavid governor
of Kandahar by raiding and pillaging the trade qafilas. The final breach
came when Hayat Khan attended a feast hosted by the governor, during
which the guests became intoxicated. Sultan Hayat Khan and the governor
began to argue over the respective merits of Afghan and Persian women
and in the end they entered into a pact in which seven Saddozai women
would be given in marriage to seven Persian men. The next morning, when
Hayat Khan had sobered up, he called an urgent council meeting to find
a way to avoid fulfilling this pledge without loss of face, for no Saddozai
woman was permitted to marry outside of the clan, let alone a heretical
Shi‘a. A message was sent to the governor abrogating the agreement on
the grounds that, as it was Afghan custom for husbands to live with their
father-in-law, it was clearly impossible for any Persian man to live among
the ‘Abdalis. The governor responded by calling Hayat Khan’s bluff and a
few days later seven Persian youths arrived at Safa to claim their brides,
declaring their willingness to live among the Saddozais.
Despite further crisis meetings no one could find a way out of the
dilemma until Sultan Hayat Khan declared the only way was to sacrifice
four of the Persian men in the name of the Chahar Yar, or Four Friends; that
is, the four Caliphs who, in Sunni tradition, are regarded as the legit imate
leaders of the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad.
Their claim, however, is rejected by Shi‘as who believe that Muhammad’s