THE PROVINCE OF KABUL. Z'J
his sons survived, and made their peace with the Emperor ; but no
member of this g-reat family ever again rose to distinction.
Whether in response to Khan Jahan Khan's appeal or not, a
great rising of the Afghan tribes in the Peshawar district did take
place; but the movement failed to benefit the rebel chieftain. The
ruling spirit of the movement was one Kamal-ud-din, a Roshani
leader, and he was joined by tribal chiefs and other Roshani leaders.
The glens of Tirah poured forth their warriors. The levies of the
tribes of Dawar, Natu, Naghar, the Bangash, Khataks, Imak Hajis,
and even the Turis from Kuram, attended the rendezvous at Ilm Gudar,
on the Bara river (about 3 miles above fort Bara). The tribes of
Peshawar, and Ashghar-Khalils, Momands, and Yusufzais, threw in
their lot with the other malcontents. Said Khan, the governor of
Peshawar, was at Kohat when warning was conveyed to him, and he
had barely time to hurry back to Peshawar to concert measures for
the defence of the town before the storm burst. The assembled tribes-
men surrounded the place on the 12th July 1630, but Said Khan was
a brave and competent man. In a sortie in force, the ringleaders
of the enemy were killed and the multitudes of armed men lost
heart, and broke up. Peshawar was saved.
There seems to have been no especial trouble with the Afghans
during the rest of Shah Jahan's reign. On the 22nd March 1638, AH
Mardan Khan, Chief of the Zik Kurds of Kirman, in revenge for
the treatment meted out to his family by Shah Sefi of Persia,
delivered up Kandahar to the Indian Government, and Southern
Afghanistan once more and for the last time, became a part of the
territory of the Emperor Shah Jahan. AH Mardan rose to high posi-
tions under this Emperor, and more than once governed the
Province of Kabul ' and the immunity enjoyed by his master from
troubles with the Afghans was probably due to the genius of AH
Mardan Khan. An unprovoked attack on Kabul by the Ruler of
Balkh led to an expedition to the north of the Hindu-Kush and Balkh
was occupied on the 5th July 1641, and there was some talk of pushing
on to the conquest of Bokhara and of Samarkand, the capital of
Tamerlane from whom the Indian Emperors were descended. The
operations to the north of the Hindu-Kush resulted in a collision with
the Ruler of Bokhara, and a two years' campaign was the result, in
which the Princes Murad Baksh, and (after him), Aurangzebe, com-
manded the Indian forces. Shah Jahan, like his father, paid many
^ He built the Bazar in Kabul, destroyed by General Pollock in 1843 ; and
the principal Bazar in Peshawar.
28 THE KINGDOM OF AFGHANISTAN.
visits to Kabul. Gradually, however, unbridled sensual enjoyments
sapped his vigour, and monarch and nobles alike lost their martial
ardour. Kandahar was snapped up by the youthful Shah Abbas II,
who surprised it in the depth of winter, suffering terrible losses him-
self, owing to the severity of that season (25th of February 1648).
Three efforts were made to recapture the place, each of these
failed ignominiously, and no further attempts were made to restore
Indian influence in Southern Afghanistan : the country as far north
as Char Bagh remained in the hands of the Persians.
In the reign of Aurangzebe, a feeling of antipathy towards that
Emperor began to spread, and at last culminated in a general rising
of the Afghan tribes, from Kandahar to Peshawar, which lasted four
years. Imal Khan, an Afghan Chief, proclaimed his independence in
the hills near Peshawar, and coined money in his own name. The
Viceroy of Kabul, Muhammad Amin Khan, was surrounded at Gharib
Khana on his way from Peshawar to Kabul (May 6th, 1672) ; and
though he cut his way throvigh the enemy, his women, artillery,
elephants, treasure, and baggage, fell into the hands of the Afghans ;
6,000 men also were lost on this occasion. The aspect of affairs was
so threatening that the Emperor took the field in person. He placed
his head-quarters at Hasan Abdal to direct operations. He was
absent from Delhi from the 6th April 1674 ^o the 5th April 1676. The
Afghan rising was quelled, but the Imperial troops on more than one
occasion were very roughly handled by their adversaries.
After peace was restored, the affairs of Kabul were increasingly
subordinated to the schemes for the subjugation of the Mahrattas,
to which the Emperor was compelled to devote his personal attention
and the whole of his resources — and in vain. So long as there was
no overt rebellion, the Afghans were allowed to do as they pleased.
A succession of able governors kept the country quiet, and subsidies
rewarded the good behaviour of the tribesmen^ and kept open the
road to Attock, where the merchants and caravans of Central Asia
met those of India.
Careful arrangements were made with the tribesmen, who were
heavily bribed to allow Royal Princes to visit the City of Kabul,
without accidents on the way. These visits gradually became less
frequent and shorter as time wore on, until in 1 701-2, the last visit
was paid by Shah Alam, the eldest son of the Emperor. On this oc-
casion the opportunity was seized to despatch an expedition into
the Khost Valley, by a route not usually adopted. The tribesmen
along the route resented the intrusion ; the Imperial Commander was
THE BORIZI PARNIS IN INDIA.
29
slain, and his command is said to have been annihilated. Prince
Shah Alam had to bribe the Afghans heavily before he could leave
Kabul for Peshawar, or the road was safe for merchants.'
In India, the Parnis possessed a record only less brilliant than
that of the Lodis. A portion of this tribe, the Borizi Parnis, are still
to be found near Sibi, in the Baluchistan Ag-ency. They attained to
notoriety in the 17th century, in the person of their headman, who
betrayed Prince Dara Shekoh into the hands of his brother Aurangzebe.
Malik Jiand, son of Malik Ayub, the headman of this tribe, had
been a very notorious robber. He was caught at last and sent to
Delhi to receive sentence from the Emperor, before whom he was
produced in full durbar. Not one person in that splendid assembly had
any pity for the wretched Afghan, who was sentenced to be trodden
to death by an elephant — save the Heir-Apparent, Prince Dara
Shekoh. He begged the life of Jiand, and when the boon was grant-
ed, the prisoner was set free and allowed to go home to Dadur.
Years passed and fortune's wheel had made a revolution, and he,
who once had been like Darius of old in his splendour, was now a
fugitive with a prince on his head. The unfortunate Prince, defeated
and deserted, was making his way to Kandahar, where he hoped to
find (with the Persians) an asylum and a respite from his pressing
troubles. In an evil moment, the Prince relied on the gratitude of
Malik Jiand and refused the aid of the chivalrous Sardar of the
Magasi Baluchis, who had offered to escort the fugitives to Persian
territory. To crown the Prince's misfortunes, his wife fell ill and died,
and he sent her remains to be buried at the shrine of the famous saint
near Lahore, escorted by 200 veteran men at arms, the staunchest
and last of his adherents. Malik Jiand had given the Prince an
ostensibly cordial welcome to Dadur, but secretly he was in corre-
spondence with his enemy. The capture of the Prince and his small
party, left only with personal attendants, had become an easy task.
When the march up the Bolan Pass had been commenced towards
Kandahar, they fell into an ambush planned by Malik Jiand, but
carried out by his younger brother — the arch traitor did not care to
appear in the matter, and had returned to Dadur, on an excuse,
promising to join the party further on. ^ This deed was accomplished
on the 17th October 1658.
The traitor accompanied the captives to Delhi, and when they
were paraded through the city the treachery of Malik Jiand was
^ Storia do Mogor, \V. Irvine, Vol. Ill, p. 492 and note.
^ This .seizure took place near Bibi Nani in the Bolan Pass.
30 THE KINGDOM OF AFGHANISTAN,
execrated by the populace, for the Prince Dara was beloved by all men,
and a few days later an excited mob fell on Malik Jiand's followers
and evilly treated them. But the traitor received from the Emperor
the rank of a commander of i,ooo horse, and the title of Bakhtiar
Khan (the fortunate chief), which was borne by his descendants.
After a short stay he was allowed to go home. But fortune turned
away her countenance from the ingrate, and almost on the boundary
of his own district, the sons of Mubarak, the Daudpotra, waylaid
Bakhtiar Khan in the Lakhi Jang-al, to the north of Shikarpur, and
slew him in pursuit of a vendetta.'
The most famous of the Indian branch of this tribe was the
relebrated Daud Khan, who was killed in battle on the 6th September
1 71 5. His power and accessibility were such as to give rise to a
popular saying — " if you can do it, well and good, if not, try Daud
Khan Pani." He was famous among his contemporaries as a valiant
soldier and as a good ruler — not an usual circumstance in those
days. The Madras Records of 1709 preserve a picture of an Indo-
Afghan grandee of the early i8th Century, in these words:— "Very
precarious in his temper when sober, free and generous when supplied
with the liquors he asks, which we always take care to supply him with;
a great favorite with late and present king as a soldier fit for rough
work." ^ And the lavish and barbarous mode of life of an Afghan is
exemplified in the following account of this celebrated person: — " He
left only a small amount of money, a hundred elephants, seven
hundred horses, some Persian grey-hounds, tigers, leopards, and a
number of birds. Neither tents nor equipage had he ; he lived like
a trooper or a mendicant." 3
As Daud Khan had no issue by an Afghan wife, his brother after
his death became faujdar of Kurnool ; and the Afghans there raised
him upas their chief: the family became established as Nawabs of
Kurnool. They apparently became involved in the war between the
French and English, but appear to have escaped the fate of the
earthen pot — at the cost of most of their estates. In 1838 the Parni
Nawab rebelled and was deported, and was stabbed by a servant soon
after in Trichinopoly. A pension was granted to his son which lapsed
on his death in 1848.+
^ Nicolas Manucci gives a different account of the end of Malik Jiand. Storia
do Mogor, W. Irvine, Vol. I., p. 363, and IV., p. 125.
- J bid.
« Ibid.
^ There was a Colony of Parni Afghans at Bianah to the S. W. of Agra.
This tribe were the principal adherents of the Mahdavi sect founded in 1553 by
Saiad Muhammad of Jaunpur. Storia do Mogor, Vol. IV., p. 263.
OTHER AFGHAN FAMILIES. 3I
A member of the Bangash tribe migrated in the i6th century from
the lower end of the Kuram Valley, their ancient patrimony, and
obtained valuable estatesi on the banks of the Ganges with the title of
Nawab. Their capital was the city of Farrukhabad. The last Nawab
was implicated in the e\'ents of 1857 and exiled to Mecca. The late
Major Raverty saw him at Nasik^ on his way to Bombay ; and
describes this exile as a womanish effeminate young man. He had
probably been a tool in the hands of those around him ; or he may
have been eager to seize any chance, however desperate, to retrieve
the decayed fortunes of his house. He chose the wrong side, and
was exiled for his mistake. He died in 1882 at Mecca.
The ruling family of Bhopal in Central India is descended from
an Orakzai immigrant of the 17th century, belonging to the Roshani
Sect, who at first was given estates near Panipat. In the next
generation, fresh estates were given to his descendants in Central
India, where they appear to have become fixed. The Nawabs of
Maler Kotla claim to represent the Lodis, and they retain their
possession and honours ; as also do the Khweshgi Afghans of Kasur.
By the casual observer the Afghan element in the population of
India no longer can be recognised. Owing to climatic influences,
they have lost those striking attributes of physique which at once
attract attention to the Afghan newly arrived from the west of the
Indus, but the Indo-Afghans preserved the traditions of their ancestry
and gloried in them.
NOTE.
Note. — Forwards the end of the 171^ century there seems to have been some
Eng-lishmen in Kabul, who were either in the service of the Emperor of Delhi, or
who had visited Kabul for purposes of trade. One of them was buried there ; and
in 1839, INIajor Hough saw his tomb which bore the following inscription p. 287 : —
" Here lyeth the bodj- of John Hicks, son of Thomas and Edith Hicks, who
departed this life, the eleventh of October 1666."
The tomb was in the iNIuhammadan burjing ground near and to the S. E. of
the citj-. This raises a suspicion that the deceased had embraced Islam. The
inscription must have been the handiwork of another Englishman (and not an
illiterate person), who must have been also a resident in Kabul at the time when
Hicks died there.
For Kandahar and its relations with the Indian Government of the Moghul
Emperors of Delhi, see Appendix II.
CHAPTER TV.
Relations with Persia.
L~T" NTiL the successful revolt of the Ghilzais against the Persians
had brought the Afghans prominently before the world,
/ they were regarded as barbarians, whose affairs were beneath
the notice of writers of chronicles both in Persia and in
India. Such works cast no light on the history and affairs of even very
important tribes such as the Abdalis and Ghilzais, and these tribes
themselves were too barbarous and illiterate as a body to produce
any authors, who could have preserved their early history and whose
record would have carried weight. The mullas, the only literate
persons were given over to vain disputes and to mystical expositions
of doctrine, and were ambitious only to leave behind them collections of
such works, to be able to devote attention to tribal histories. Among
the tribesmen, traditions are handed down orally; and these are grouped
round the names of chieftains whose deeds are still the theme of story
round the camp fires of the nomadic tribes. As these traditions ap-
proach the i8th century, they, however, assume a connected form and
are probably correct, in a very general way, as a narrative of events.
At all events they provide all the information that exists.
After the rise of the Sadozais to power as the sovereigns of
Afghanistan, and in the reigns of the first and second kings of this
dynasty, efforts were made to collect these traditions ; and to make
out of these materials a connected story of the doings of the earlier
chieftains of this family, and their transactions with the Persian
Governors of Kandahar. The accounts compiled by native Afghan
authors of this period (iSth-igth century), are therefore, of too recent
a date to be regarded as being in any way authoritative. With regard
to the early history of the Afghans, these authors repeat the standard
genealogy of all the Afghan tribes from Kais, or Abdur Rashid, and
assign arbitrary dates to various persons in the tables of descent, in
order to fit these into the histories of the Arab Conquest of Khuras-
san, and of those dynasties which have included Afghanistan within
STORY OV ASADULLAH. 33
their possessions. The later native chronicles were compiled with a
view to exalt the Sadozai sept of the Abdalis/ and to invest the chiefs
with a kind of divine right to impose their authority on their more
(numericall} ) powerful tribesmen.
Sado (a corruption of AsaduUah) was the eponymous ancestor of
this branch. He is said by the author of the Tazkirat-ul-Mulk to have
been born on the night of the 30th September 1558.
His father Umar had grown up in straitened circumstances, for his
father had squandered the resources of the family. Umar's mother, a
lady of family belonging to the Ishakzai tribe, had besought the holy
men (Pirs) of her own tribe, and of the Alizais, to bless her son Umar.
After that the latter had grown up and become a householder ; it is
said that one day he was visited by the holy Shekh, Ako, belonging
to the Alizai tribe. The Pir and his disciple were cordially welcomed,
and the resources of the family were strained to do them honour.
Food was placed before the reverend guest, and Umar was assiduous
in his attentions. When the meal was concluded, the latter ventured
to ask the Shekh for his blessing. The latter consented, but put off
doing so till the time of his departure. The next morning he drew
his host aside and informed him that he had seen two visions during
the night. First he had seen a lion enter Umar's duelling, audit
meant that a son would be born to him, whom he should name
Asad-ullah (the Lion of God). He would be greatly favoured by
Providence. The other vision was that the skin of a hog was spread
in Umar's dwelling, but this was to be regarded not at all as an un-
favourable omen. 2 In due course AsaduUah was born, and his father's
affairs took a favourable turn for the tribe elected him as their Chieftain,
to manage their affairs and to deal with the governor of Kandahar.
AsaduUah was succeeded by his eldest son Khizr Khan, and the
latter by his eldest son, Sultan Khudadad, or Khudkai Sultan as his
tribesmen call him.
At this time the chieftainship of the Ghilzai tribes had become
fixed in the Tokhi Division ; and Malakhe, son of Muhammad, was
1 Kais, or Abdiir Rashid, had a son Ibrahim. The latter had a son named
Sharkhbun. The last, a son named Tarin, who had four sons. Spin (white),
Tor (black), Zhar, and Bor Tarin. The name Abdal, however, gradually
superseded that of Bor Tarin, and eventually became predominant when Ahmad
Shah became King, The Tarins are to be found, principal!}' in the Pishir;
district, near Quetta. The Spin (or white Tarins). the superior branch numbered
only about 200 souls. The Tor, or black Tarins about 6,172; while some 20,345
souls returned themselves as Abdals in the census of 1901. Baluchistan District
Gazetteer Series. \^ol. V, Quetta- Pishin. 1Q07, p. 67 et seq.
^ The First Afghan War, 1839-43, is believed to ha\e been the fulfilment of
this vision.
31 THE KINGDOM OF AFGHANISTAN.
head of the famous tribes. He and Khudkai Sultan were friends and
they met at Pul-i-Sangfi to the south of Kalat-i-Ghilzai and fixed
the boundary between certain disputed tribal lands, on the Garmab
stream. The country to the north and east of that stream vvas to be
regarded as belonging- to the Ghilzais, and all that lay to the south
and west, fell to the share of the Abdalis. In 1839-40, during the
Afghan War, Major Leech, C. B., Political Agent in the Ghilzai country,
was shown a document, purporting to be a commission issued by an
Emperor of Delhi, to Sultan Malakhe, making him responsible for the
safety of the road from Kalat-i-Ghilzai to Karatu in the valley of
the Arghandab. The date of this firman corresponds to the 17th
June 1613. '
The Ghilzai traditions represented the action of this fam.ous
chieftain to have been so effective, that in four days the Hazara
marauders were driven out of this valley. The author of the Tarikh-i-
Sultani states that Malakhe was alive in 1624 (this work was written
in the last quarter of the last century, in Afghanistan). Both of these
chiefs would appear to have been contemporaries of the Indian Emperor
Jahangir. The method they adopted in settling their disputes regard-
ing the two districts of Umakai and Gwaharai was far in advance of
those usually pursued at the time. Sultan Malakhe obtained the
former and Khudkai Sultan the latter as the result of the delimitation
they carried out.
Khudkai Sultan resigned the chieftainship over the Abdalis to
his younger brother Sher Khan. The Persians had taken possession of
Kandahar in 1622 and the chief maintained friendly relations with
the Governor of the Province. During Sher Khan's period of life the
friendly relations between the Abdalis and the Governor were inter-
rupted, Sher Khan is said to have accompanied an expedition com-
posed of Persian troops, at the head of his tribal levies, into Pishin.
Op the return march the Persians were attacked in the Khojak Pass,
lost heavily ; and the governor asked Sher Khan to arrest the leaders
concerned in this attack and send them to Kandahar. Sher Khan
evaded the demands and cast the blame for the occurrence on the
Baluchis, Kakars and other migratory tribes of Pishin. The Persian
governor enraged at his attitude retaliated on the Abdalis within reach
of Kandahar, and Sher Khan collected his tribesmen, took possession
of Shahr-i-Safa, and cut off communications with Kandahar on the
north and east.
^ Ky some mistake however Leech has stated th^t the Emperor Alamt;ir
f \iirang:?ebe)'issiied this firman. Jehangir was ruling in 1613.
RELATIONS WITH THE PERSIANS. 35
The Persian Government determined to lind a rival whom they
might play off against the chief. A cousin of Sher Khan's, Shah
Husen, was found and was given the title of Mirza by the
government. On the other hand the officials of the Emperors of Delhi
(at Kabul and Ghazni) obtained for Sher Khan the title of Shahzada
(Prince) and the Subehdar of Kabul and the governor of Ghazni were
enjoined to aid him, whenever he invoked their aid.'
The Afghans also were better disposed towards Sher Khan than
towards his rival.
The latter provoked by an insolent remark made by his Agent
Jallil, the Alizai, stabbed the latter in the presence of the Persian
governor in Kandahar. For this disrespectful act he was put into
confinement, and a report was sent to Isfahan. Orders were received,
however, ordering Shah Husen Mirza to be set free and fresh presents
were sent to him. It was too late. During his detention the Abdalis
had gone over to Sher Khan. No sooner had Shah Husen been
released than he too visited Sher Khan, renounced his rivalry, and set
out for India, where the descendants of Kamran and Bahadur Khan,
sons of Sado, had already found a home, the former in Multan and the
latter in Dera Ismail Khan and Tonk.
Sher Khan died from the effects of a fall from his horse. Sarmast
Khan, his son, was a minor and Bakhtiar, son of Saleh Khan, was
appointed his guardian. When Sarmast Khan died, his son Daulat
Khan, being a minor, Hayat Sultan, a cousin of the late chief
succeeded to the chieftainship. He remained in good terms with the
Persian governor (appointed in 1692). One day, however, while under
the influence of wine in the company of the governor, he was induced
to consent to matrimonial alliances between his tribe and the Persians.
Reminded of his promise after he had recovered his wits, and aware
of the temper of his tribesmen, he saw his mistake and fled to Shahr-i-
Safa, where he called together the elders of the tribe and made known
to them what he had done. At his heels came the emissaries of the
gorernor demanding the instant fulfilment of the compact. Hayat
Sultan had resigned his authority to his young kinsman Daulat Khan,
and the latter, with the consent of the elders of his tribes, cut the
debate short by massacring the Persian agents. Persian troops
despatched from Kandahar to avenge their death were met in the open
field by the Abdalis, who defeated them at Band-i-Mukak, the Persian
^ Leech.— These transactions with the Indian Government cannot be traced.
The traditions may refer to a condition of thing's following on the final recapture
of K-indahar by Shah Abbas II, February 25ih, 164S, and the unsuccessful
attempts to retake it made by the Indian Government.
36 THR KINGDOM OF AFGHANISTAN.
Commander being- slain. A second expedition fared no better, and
after this the Persians abandoned the attempt to coerce the Abdalis
by force and endeavoured to compass Daulat Khan's downfall by
treachery. Hayat Sultan, the cause of this trouble, migrated to India
and settled in Multan.
Matters were in this state when Mir Weis, the Ghilzai appeared
on the scene. The Persian Governor had been removed and Gurgin
Khan, Wali of Georgia, had been appointed as g-overnor of Kandahar.'
The new g^overnor won over Mir Weis and two Sadozais named
Izat and Atal, and by means of these persons he managed to secure
both Daulat Khan, and his son Nazar Muhammad. They were put to
death without delay in Kandahar. After some time spent in reprisals,
the Persian Governor agreed to recognise as chief , Rustam Khan,
another son of Daulat Khan, if the latter would consent to surrender
his brother, Zaman Khan, to the Persians as a hostage. These terms
were agreed to, and Zaman Khan was sent to Kirman. Rustam Khan