Cease Fire or a Time-out for Socialization

Usually in ceasefires the antagonists stay put in their combat positions, the guns fall silent, humanitarian services are given a chance to proceed unobstructed, and arrangements are made to pave the way for peace talks. However certain bizarre ceasefires and timeouts have been recorded in recent history of Afghanistan, one some about one-and-half centuries ago.

154 years back, as part of his systematic effort to unify the post-war Afghanistan[1], Amir Dost Mohammad Khan led a large army from Kabul to Herat to fight his rebellious cousin Sardar Sultan Ahmad Khan, the provincial governor. The Sardar, a hero of the Anglo-Afghan war, happened to be the Amir’s nephew and his son in law. Further, not being in favor of Dost Mohammad’s policy of accommodation with the British, the self-centric Sardar leaned toward the Persian court and was closely linked with Tehran which endorsed his rule in Herat. He even acted as Persian tributary. The Kabul army laid siege to Herat for about ten months. One reason for the long siege was Sultan Ahmad Khan’s and the Heratis’ hope that the Persians would intervene by sending an army to help Herat. However, British pressure discouraged the Shah from intervention in accordance with the Paris treaty of 1857.[2]

The long investment of the city featured a bizarre mix of power struggle and emotional accommodation. The long siege was punctuated twice by time-outs and socialization to take care of family matters. Some six months into the siege, the death of the wife of Sardar Sultan Ahmad Khan, the daughter of the Amir, caused both sides to stop the war, open the gates of the city and jointly hold funeral and burial ceremonies for a few days. Then the gates were closed and fighting resumed. Three months later the same process was repeated as Sardar himself died and was taken out of the city for burial and joint mourning.[3]

The saga continued when, two months later, Amir Dost Mohammad took to his death bed and ordered his army to storm the city before his death. On May 27, 1863, the army undermined the walls and stormed the city. Herat fell and the Kabul Army pillaged the town. Thirteen days later, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan died in Herat and was buried there, at the site of his last act of unification of Afghanistan. The city whose defense against Persian invasion a quarter of century earlier became instrumental in the British policy to remove Dost Mohammad from the throne, was finally saved from Persian domination by Dost Mohamad himself at a different time and under a different situation.

Now comes the moment of truth: When such wars end, the warriors may wonder what they were fighting for?_________________________________________________________

[1] The First Anglo Afghan War of 1839-1842

[2] Seraj u-Tawarikh, Vol. II, PP. 246-247

[3] Yaqub Ali Khafi, Padshahan-i Muta’khirin-i Afghanistan, Vol. I, Kabul, 1955, PP. 41-43, 46-47