Sixth Afghan-Mughal War (1667–1678)

The Mughal War of Succession provided the chance to Afghan tribes in North west to carry their raids into the Mughal districts in the neighborhood of Peshawar.

Invasion of Mughal territories by Yousafzais
In 1667, a yousafzai leader, bahgu khan and crowned a child, Muhammad Shah as the king and proclaimed himself the wazir. He organized a force of 5000 clansmen, clansmen blessed by mullah chalak, a man of saintly reputation. They crossed the Indus, invaded the plain of pakhali and. they also attacked and captured several Mughal outposts and planned to advance even into the interior of the Mughal territory. There they established their authority and exacted contributions from the peasants. Other yousafzai bands began to ravage imperial territory along the bank of river Kabul in western Peshawar and attock districts.

The emperor instructed the governor of attock to march against rebels with all available troops in the neighborhood. Orders were also dispatched to the governor of Kabul to advance with his contingent of 13,000 men and attack the yousafzai country and a force of 10,000 troopers with artillery was sent from the court.. The last two division took time to arrive on the scene, therefore, the faujdar of attock, kamil khan led his own division against yousafzais. His army was reinforced by more men sent from peshawer, gakkars from the Punjab and Rajputs under Maha Singh bhadauria.

A desperate battle was fought at the ferry of river harun early in April, the mughal artillery broke their formation and the cavalry completed the yousafzai defeat. mughal force was not strong enough to attempt an invasion of yousafzai country. Kamil khan therefore made a long halt at harun, till shamshir khan of Kabul arrived and took over the supreme command. He won many victories and made fair headway into their country. In the mean while came Muhammad amin khan, son of Mir Jumla, from the court with ten thousands troops, and joining shamshir khan, took over supreme command from him. The afghans were now systematically subdued. Their villages were burnt, crops trampled and properties looted. Bajuar was also invaded. The mughal victory was complete, though skirmishes continued till the end of October. Rajah Jaswant Singh was posted at Jamrud in 1671 to see that the Afghans kept quiet.

Destruction of Mughal army by Darya khan Afridi
Muhammad Amin Khan's deputy in Jalalabad came into conflict with the Afridi tribe. Under the leadership of darya khan, the Afridis closed the Khyber Pass in the spring of 1672, and proclaimed war against the Mughals calling on all Pathan clans to join them. The haughty Mughal viceroy, who had been passing the winter at Peshawar, moved to Kabul for the summer months, disregarding his officer's advice. He had with him all his family and camp followers, which slowed down the rest of his army, and doomed them to an ambush in the narrow gorge at Ali Masjid.

In the battle that followed the Afghans rained down arrows, bullets, and stones from the hill-tops on the Mughals. The army broke into a confused mass into which the triumphant enemy charged. Muhammad Amin Khan and his officers escaped with their lives to Peshawar but forty thousand men fell under the enemy's sword in the field, and above two crores of rupees in cash and kind was looted by the enemy. They captured 20,000 men and women and sent them to Central Asia for sale. Amin Khan's own family, including his wife, were among the prisoners but he secured their release by paying a huge ransom. All the Mughal lands across the Khyber Pass were lost to the Afghan tribes — only Jaswant Singh continued to hold post at Jamrud beneath the pass.

General Afghan rising
News of this great victory, and of the immense riches gained by darya khan, spread like wildfire among the Afghans. Many of them came over to his army; other tribes raised the banner of revolt against the Mughals. The recently suppressed Yusufzai's recovered their lands from Mughal occupation.

The Khattak tribe, located in the southern portions of Peshwar, rose under their chieftain Khushal Khan, who had recently served in the Mughal campaign against his hereditary enemies the Yusufzais. Khushal joined up with Darya khan and Aimal khan mohmand and inspired the Afghans with his poetry and by his victories over the isolated Mughal posts.

Karapa disaster
On receiving this news of disaster, emperor took all precautions to guard against an afghan incursion into the Punjab. The governor of Lahore was instructed to hasten to peshawer with all his available troops and veteran mahabta khan was sent as governor of Kabul to replace Muhammad amin khan, who as degraded and sent to Gujarat. Maharja jaswant singh, who was at that time holding the outposts of jamrud, was also instructed to cooperate with mahabat khan. Mahabat khan was now nearly seventy and incapable of much exertion. He remained inactive at Peshawar and was only persuaded to make move towards Kabul by repeated orders from the emperor. Another imperial division was sent from the south, under shujaat khan, who had recently made the name for himself by quelling satnami rising. In February 1674 shuaat khan ascended the karapa pass, the enemy surrounded him, In a pitched battle commander Shujaat Khan was killed. The leaderless troops were saved from complete annihilation by the arrival of Rathor contingent sent by Maharaja Jaswant Singh.

Aurangzeb takes command
The karapa disaster convinced Aurangzeb that a supreme effort must be made to restore imperial prestige. He himself went to hasan abdal and stayed there for year AND HALF directing the operations. The emperor took with him all the veterans who had service in afghan country in the previous reigns. Aghar khan, who had distinguished himself in the by fighting afghans on previous occasions, being recalled from Deccan to accompany him. Force and diplomacy, both were tried, and the emperor was able to, to restore peace in the neighborhood of Peshawar. many clans were won over by lucre and posts in the mugahls service. And those who resisted had to bear the brunt of the scorched earth policy applied with unparalleled vengeance.

Mahabat khan was removed from post of viceroy of Kabul and fidai khan was appointed in his place. Aghar khan was directed to escort fidai khan and keep open the Khyber pass. At gandamark engaged in action with enemy, who were thirty or forty thousands strong.. After both the sides had suffered heavy losses, the Afghans gave way..

The newly appointed governor of Kabul reached Jalalabad and captured a number of Afghan outposts. At Gandamak Aghar Khan ousted the Afghans from their positions and, had Prince Aktar proceeded towards Jalalabad when he was pushing westwards, the Afghans could have been easily encircled and attacked from all sides.

But the Prince failed to follow the plan and thus allowed the opportunity an easy escape. In 1675 A. C. the Afghans inflicted a crushing defeat on Fidai Khan, an Imperial general, at Jagdalak on his way to Peshawar. His fate would have been sealed if Aghar Khan had not rescued him by a prompt action from Gandamak.

The expedition of Mukarram Khan against Bajaur was a greater failure. The Emperor employed his best generals, but it was extremely difficult to deal with the hardy mountaineers who were thoroughly familiar with the ins and outs of their passes and defiles. thoroughly familiar with the ins and outs of their passes and defiles. In 1675 A. C., towards the end, the situation improved and the Emperor came back to Delhi. Next year he sent Prince Mu'azzam against the Afghans, some of whom were still at large. With the Prince were associated Amin Khan and other distinguished generals.

The mughal victories cowed the Daudzai, Tarakzai, and Tirahi tribes into submission. Cracks appeared within the families of the rebels. Akmal Khan's relatives offered to arrest him if they were pardoned, Bhagu's son joined the Mughals, Khushal Khan's son also took up Mughal service. The Bangash and other tribes in the region came to the Mughal side.

Amir Khan successfully coped with the enemy and his services were recognized by the bestowal of the governorship of Kabul on him. He governed Afghanistan with considerable tact and ability. He granted large subsidies to the border tribes and won them over to his side by lucrative concessions. Under the influence of Amin Khan's diplomatic policy, peace was maintained on the frontier.

Impact of Afghan war on Mughal empire
The war had cost much to the empire. Apart from the financial loss, the political loss was grievous. It made the employments of Afghans in the ensuing Rajput war impossible. Though the Afghans were just class of soldiers who could have won the victory for imperialists in the rugged and barren country. It relieved pressure on shivaji by draining the Deccan of the best of Mughal troops for elsewhere. The maratha chief fully exploited the diversion to consolidate himself and sweep through Golconda, Karnatak and Bijapur during the fifteen months following December 1676. Thus frontier trouble adversely reacted upon the stability of empire.