TW06 The Khyber Connection NEW by Simon Hawke Read Free Book Online Page A

trouble till Aman died. One of his sons, Afzal, happened to be in a position to seize the reins of power. He immediately started killing off his brothers, but the litter was quite sizable. He couldn't get them all at once .”
    "Anyway," Learoyd continued, "Afzal claimed the title of Mehtar and asked for recognition from Simla. The bloody fools gave it to him, figurin', I suppose, to be Johnny-on-the-spot with the new man. Never mind he murdered several of his brothers and had the rest seeking sanctuary with the neighboring chiefs. Now the eldest brother. Nizam, appealed to Simla for help. Of course, our people could hardly give it to him, having already recognized his little brother. Shortly thereafter, Afzul, not to be confused with Arial, returned to Chitral. This was Sher Afzul, the new Methar's uncle.
    He promptly killed his nephew Afzal as well as yet another brother in the bargain. Exit Afzal, the late Mehtar, enter Afzul, the new Mehtar. Bit of a Chinese fire drill, but it grows more absurd. Having recognized the late Mehtar, it appeared had form for the boys at Simla to recognize his murderer, so they gave Nizam 250 Cashmere rifles, which in turn encouraged a sizable number of the local tribesmen to join up as well. Nizam marches on his uncle, who sends over a thousand men to stop him. Said thousand men immediately desert to Nizam's side. Uncle Mehtar, fearful for his life, and rightfully so, performs a rather graceless abdication and beats a hasty retreat.
    "You follow all this so far?" Learoyd said, smirking.
    "We now have Mehtar Number Three, good ol' Nizam the Nephew. He, however, proves so inept at Mehtarin' that in order to help keep the peace, it's decided to send Captain Younghusband and a full battalion to reinforce the garrison at Gilgit. Ready trumpet fanfare . . enter Umra Khan, the aforementioned Pathan warlord. Turns out that yet another son-of-Aman—or son of something else not a man at all, if you get my meanin'—young chap named Amir, had taken refuge with the Khan of Jandul. Said son appears in Chitral, properly respectful of his brother the Mehtar, and claims to have escaped from Umra Khan, who had not used him kindly. Since brother Amir appears so properly respectful, brother Nizam the Mehtar makes him welcome, upon which Amir murders Nizam in a properly respectful manner. Where are we now, Mehtar Number Four or thereabouts? No matter, we're still keepin' it all in the family.
    "Now the agent and the soldiers in Chitral have no idea what to do. Recognize yet another new Mehtar? Might be too hasty. After all, there're still a few other sons runnin' about here and there, no tellin' the rate of turnover in this job. So word goes out to Simla—would someone mind very much tellin' us what to do about this situation, if it wouldn't be too much trouble?
    "Meanwhile, Umra Khan the Aforementioned, who, as it turned out, hadn't used Amir badly at all—Amir's the current aspirant to longevity at Mehtarin', you'll recall—said Umra Khan begins to march with a large force upon Chitral. Just to lend a hand, you understand. Amir, in his new precarious position, is somewhat leery of said hand and so he sends out a force to meet the khan's. The khan prevails after a bit of a dustup, exit Amir. Now Umra Khan, havin' no great desire to Mehtar himself, invites Sher Afzul—that's the uncle who was Number Two Mehtar —or was it Number Three? No matter. Anyway, Number Two now becomes Number Four. Or is it Five? Whatever. And just in case we didn't like it, Umra Khan and Sher Afzul announce that they will fight if we oppose them. Now one knows that isn't the sort of thing one says to an Englishman, much less a garrison full of Englishmen who are already confused about this comedy of errors. So of course the garrison opposed them, with the result being that the 14th Sikhs were massacred and their officers taken prisoner. Fort Chitral, miles away from nowhere, finds itself beseiged.
    "Outnumbered by fifty to one,