Marwat Khan Lodhi
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In some respects the adventures of Mehsuds and Wazir contingents which accompanied Nadir to Kabul in 1929 present a picture even more significant. For on that occasion they were not defending their country from occupation, but acting on the offensive within Afghanistan. .The position was that after Amanullah fall in 1928, power had fallen into the hands of a tajik freebooter named habibullah, known as bacha-i-saqao , and nadir khan had come from France in an attempt to recover throne for Muhammadzais.
On arrival on the frontier , nadir resorted to kurram whence he endeavored to mobilize aid from Afridis and Orakzais , but found his efforts severely discouraged by government of India., who, occupying kurram as they did, were able to prevent Tirah tribesmen from crossing into afghan territory. He then turned his attention towards Mahsuds and Wazirs, some of whom, previously encouraged by Amanullah in hostility to the british government, had lands on afghan side of Durand line. Here he met with success, and was joined by considerable lashkars, including number of both tribes living in Waziristan. There are also wazirs whose permanent homes are on the afghan side of line, in birmal and elsewhere. Those on the British side of line went in defiance of warnings from government of India not to meddle in afghan affairs. This lashkar formed the spear-head of nadir’s advance. It was they who took Kabul for him and made it possible for durranai dynasty to be restored. They were in fact king-makers of the day. Neither they nor others up and down the frontier have forgotten the lesson. King-makers can easily be king-breakers.
As payment to wazir and mahsud tribesmen, nadir khan, faced with an empty treasury, was forced to allow them loot his own capital and rather empty grant of honorary rank in afghan army.. These tribesmen returned home by the end of year with great amount of loot, rifles and ammunition. Shortly after , an insureection almost in the suburbs of kabul among the followers of dead bacha saqao forced nadir khan once again to call these tribes to his support. This time he was able to get them home without having let them loot kabul in recompense. Within a few years the same tribesmen were denouncing nadir khan and were arguing that they had supported him only for the purpose of restoring Amanullah, the rightful king.
The waziristan tribes , aware that king-makers can easily be king-breakers, felt ready for yet another exercise of king-making. In 1933, while nadir was still alive, a strong lashkar of both tribes crossed the Durand line and invested matun in khost. The government of India attempted to prevent the movement by establishing a cordon of troops, but this proved ineffective and it was not until air action was taken by Delhi against the homes of those who had joined the lashkar that it was broken up. Only with great difficulty, afghan army led by hashim khan, the king's brother, repelled them , otherwise they might well have repeated the story of 1929.
Sources The Pathans, 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957 - Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Caroe - Google Books
Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (RLE Iran D) - Richard Tapper - Google Books
On arrival on the frontier , nadir resorted to kurram whence he endeavored to mobilize aid from Afridis and Orakzais , but found his efforts severely discouraged by government of India., who, occupying kurram as they did, were able to prevent Tirah tribesmen from crossing into afghan territory. He then turned his attention towards Mahsuds and Wazirs, some of whom, previously encouraged by Amanullah in hostility to the british government, had lands on afghan side of Durand line. Here he met with success, and was joined by considerable lashkars, including number of both tribes living in Waziristan. There are also wazirs whose permanent homes are on the afghan side of line, in birmal and elsewhere. Those on the British side of line went in defiance of warnings from government of India not to meddle in afghan affairs. This lashkar formed the spear-head of nadir’s advance. It was they who took Kabul for him and made it possible for durranai dynasty to be restored. They were in fact king-makers of the day. Neither they nor others up and down the frontier have forgotten the lesson. King-makers can easily be king-breakers.
As payment to wazir and mahsud tribesmen, nadir khan, faced with an empty treasury, was forced to allow them loot his own capital and rather empty grant of honorary rank in afghan army.. These tribesmen returned home by the end of year with great amount of loot, rifles and ammunition. Shortly after , an insureection almost in the suburbs of kabul among the followers of dead bacha saqao forced nadir khan once again to call these tribes to his support. This time he was able to get them home without having let them loot kabul in recompense. Within a few years the same tribesmen were denouncing nadir khan and were arguing that they had supported him only for the purpose of restoring Amanullah, the rightful king.
The waziristan tribes , aware that king-makers can easily be king-breakers, felt ready for yet another exercise of king-making. In 1933, while nadir was still alive, a strong lashkar of both tribes crossed the Durand line and invested matun in khost. The government of India attempted to prevent the movement by establishing a cordon of troops, but this proved ineffective and it was not until air action was taken by Delhi against the homes of those who had joined the lashkar that it was broken up. Only with great difficulty, afghan army led by hashim khan, the king's brother, repelled them , otherwise they might well have repeated the story of 1929.
Sources The Pathans, 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957 - Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Caroe - Google Books
Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (RLE Iran D) - Richard Tapper - Google Books
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