Flag of Ali Ahmad Khan's rebellion against Habibullah Kalakani

Amir Ali Ahmad Khan, ''Shaghasi'' ( ps, ; prs, ; 1883–1929) was an Afghan king from the Shaghasi family of the

Barakzai Bārakzai ( ps, بارکزی, ''Bārakzay;'' plur. ps, بارکزي, ''Bārakzī'') is the name of a Pashtun tribe from present-day, Kandahar, Afghanistan. '"Barakzai" is a common name among the Pashtuns and it means "son of Barak" in Pashto. A ...

tribe who was declared king of Afghanistan twice in 1929. He was first declared amir of Afghanistan by and influential cleric, Naqib Sahib on 20 January 1929, in eastern Afghanistan,but was defeated by Kalakani at Jagdalak on 19 February 1929. He was also declared as the amir of Afghanistan for the second time on 23 June 1929 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, by another highly influential

Mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

Abd. Wasi Kandahari, but was defeated and captured by Kalakani on 3 July 1929. Born in 1883 in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

, Iran, the son of ''Loinab'' Khushdil Khan, and grand son of ''Loinab'' Shirdil Khan Shaghasi, Ali Ahmad Khan was educated in India and served as chamberlain ''Isk Aqasi'' (''Shaghasi),'' of Amir Habibullah Khan. Ali Ahmad Shaghasi played a leading role in negotiating the controversial

Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end. It was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi by the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan. Britain r ...

, which ended the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

and gained Afghanistan its independance.Ali Ahmad Khan Shaghasi later rallied the Khogyani and Shinwari to quell the Khost rebellion, to which he was honoured with the honorary tile of ''Taj-i-Afghan'' by king Amanullah. Sometime Minister for Home Affairs1919-1920 and Governor of Kabul 1925-1929, Ali Ahmad also served as high commissioner of the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

provinces. During the

Afghan civil war of 1928–29 Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

, Ali was ordered to quell a Shinwari revolt, which he duly ended in December 1928. Later, after

Inayatullah Khan Inayatullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ), (20 October 1888 – 12 August 1946) was the King of Afghanistan for three days in January 1929. He was the son of former Afghan Emir, Habibullah Khan. Inayatullah's brief reign ended with his abdication. I ...

was forced to surrendered control of Kabul to

Habibullāh Kalakāni Habibullah Kalakani ( prs, , 19 January 1891 – 1 November 1929), also known by his nickname "Bacha-ye Saqao" (also romanized Bachai Sakao; literally ''son of the water carrier'') was the ruler of Afghanistan from 17 January to 13 October 1929 ...

on 17 January 1929, Ali was declared as a lawful Amir of Afghanistan by Naqib Sahib in

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

. However, Ali's reign would prove short-lived: Malik Qays of the Khugyani tribe, who had initially allied himself with Ali, brought Ali to Kalakani in exchange for 17,000 rupees and the rank of lieutenant general, ending Ali's reign on 9 February. Ali later managed to make his ways to King Amanullah in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

, when Kandahar fell to forces loyal to Habibullāh Kalakāni, Ali himself was arrested and sent to Kabul along with Abd al-Shakur Khan (The Chief of Justice), Sad al-Din Khan (Abd al-Shakur Khan's son), and

Abd al-Wasi where he remained imprisoned in Kabul for over a month. Amir Ali Ahmad Khan's life ended by the outlaw-king, Habib Allah, nicknamed "Son of the Watercarrier," with his execution when he was shot from a cannon at Kabul, 11th July 1929.

Ancestry

Amir Ali Ahmad Khan Shaghasi was son of General H.E. ''Loinab'' Khushdil Khan, sometime Governor of Kabul and Kandahar, by his wife Sahira Begum, daughter of H.H. ''Amir al-Mumenin, Amir al-Kabir,'' Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, by his wife, a daughter of Agha Muhammad Qizilbash. Ali Ahmad's sister, ''the Ulya Mukhadara'' Zarin Jan Begum was the mother of

Humaira Begum Humaira Begum ( fa, حميرا بیگم; 24 July 1918 – 26 June 2002) was the wife and first cousin of King Mohammed Zahir Shah and the last queen consort of Afghanistan. Marriage Humaira Begum was the daughter of ''Sardar'' Ahmad Shah Kha ...

who was the Queen consort of Afghanistan. Amir Ali Ahmad Khan's grand father, ''Loinab'' Shir Dil Khan Shaghasi was a regional Sardar from the reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, especially during 1863 - 1866 and 1868 - 1879, the reign of H.H. Amir al-Mumenin, Amir Sher 'Ali Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, and was related to the ''Shaghasi'' royal family of the ''Barakzai'' dynasty.

References

{{s-end 1883 births 1929 deaths 20th-century Afghan monarchs 20th-century executions by Afghanistan Afghan rebels Executed monarchs Executed Afghan people Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)