Sher Ali Khan
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:More citations needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Sher Ali Khan (Pashto:Template:Efn Template:Nq; Persian:Template:Efn Template:Nq, c. 1825 – 21 February 1879) was Amir<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360775565_Political_Economical_and_Cultural_Reforms_in_the_Government_of_Amir_Sher_Ali_Khan</ref> of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammed Khan,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan.
Life
Sher Ali Khan was born into a Barakzai Pashtun family. At the time of his father Amir Dost Mohammad Khan’s death, Sher Ali Khan, was recognised as the heir-apparent. The amir had appointed him to this position after the earlier heirs-designate—Sardar Mohammad Akbar Khan and Sardar Ghulam Haydar Khan—had died in 1847 and 1859, respectively.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
In Kakar's book:<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp
"Just before his own death the amir “. . . pulled himself together to don the turban [of rulership] on the head of our hero, the “Lion of 'Ali” after which he was called Amir Sher 'Ali Khan."
He was later ousted by his older half-brother, Mohammad Afzal Khan due to inter-family rivalry as their father had chosen his younger son to succeed him over his older son, and so the Afghan Civil War (1863-1869) followed and ended after Sher Ali Khan defeated his half-brother and regained the title of Amir.
This inter-family rivalry would play out again towards the end of his reign into another conflict when Amir Sher Ali Khan made his favourite and youngest son, Abdullah heir-apparent at age 7 in 1873,<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp over his adult half-brother, Mohammad Yaqub Khan who helped Sher Ali Khan reclaim the throne from Mohammad Afzal Khan.
Crown prince Abdullah never reached adulthood and died of illness at age 12 in 1878, just a few months before the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War and one year before the death of his father.
Reforms
Sher Ali Khan's reign as Amir is often remembered for his attempts at reforming Barakzai rule in Afghanistan. Changes brought during his rule included the creation of government posts, military reform, the introduction of the first postal service in Afghanistan, opening the first school<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp and the first attempts by an Afghan leader at promoting the Pashto language.
Sher Ali Khan tried to limit the power of the Barakzai sardars.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He didn't allow his sons to administer provinces and instead appointed governors loyal to him.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> He also had a council of 12 members to advise him on matters of state. He created various ministerial offices like Prime Minister (Sadr-i Azam/صدر اعظم), minister of finance, minister of the interior, minister of war, minister of foreign affairs, and minister of the treasury.<ref name=":0" />
Under Sher Ali Khan's reign, Afghanistan was divided into 5 provinces: Kabul, Herat, Afghan Turkestan, Kandahar, and Farah.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Formerly Farah had been subject to Herat, but instead he made it a separate province and gave it to his cousin, Sardar Mohammad Afzal (not to be confused with Mohammad Afzal Khan).
During his reign, Sher Ali Khan embarked on a project to modernise his armed forces, standardising uniforms and equipment. After being gifted a battery of mountain guns and several howitzers by the British in 1868, Sher Ali realised the potential of breech-loading artillery and was determined to modernise Afghanistan's arsenal. Whilst his early attempts failed, Sher Ali's craftsmen had soon established new workshops at the Bala Hissar Arsenal and began to produce four to five modern breechloaders each month. Despite his successes in producing relatively modern weapons and equipment, poor discipline and a lack of competent officers meant the new cannons were quickly captured by the British during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. British forces captured more than 250 guns from the Afghans during their campaign.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Final days and death
Sher Ali's rule was hindered by pressure from both the British Empire and the Russian Empire, though he attempted to keep Afghanistan neutral during their conflict. His neutrality resulted in Afghanistan being invaded by the British which started the Second Anglo-Afghan War. This war resulted in a British victory and a devastating loss to Afghanistan as Sher Ali Khan was forced to give away a large amount of territory to British India including the city of Quetta. In 1878, the fragile neutrality fell apart with Sher Ali Khan's resisting of British demands for Afghanistan to accept a permanent envoy in Kabul. The British viewing this as confirmation of Sher Ali Khan's inclination towards Russia, gathered their forces and marched on Kabul. Sher Ali Khan opted to leave Kabul in order to seek political and military aid from the Russian Empire. He died in Mazar-e Sharif trying to reach the Russian border, leaving the throne to his son Mohammad Yaqub Khan.
See also
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References
External links
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