Sher Ali Khan
Sher Ali Khan Barakzai was Emir of Afghanistan after the death of his father Dost Mohammad Khan on 9 June 1863, until his overthrow during the Battle of Sheikhabad on 10 May 1866, and again from 8 September 1868 until his death on 21 February 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammad Khan, 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 Emir Dost Mohammad Khan’s death, Sher Ali Khan, was recognised as the heir-apparent. The Emir had appointed him to this position after the earlier heirs-designate— Mohammad Akbar Khan and Ghulam Haidar Khan—had died in 1847 and 1859, respectively.In Kakar's book:
"Just before his own death the amir “... pulled himself together to don the turban 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 driven from a succession crisis, as their father had chosen his younger son to succeed him over his older son, and so the Afghan Civil War followed and ended after Sher Ali Khan defeated his half-brother and regained the title of Emir.
This inter-family rivalry would play out again towards the end of his reign into another conflict when Emir Sher Ali Khan made his favourite and youngest son, Abdullah heir-apparent at age 7 in 1873, 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 Emir 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 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. He didn't allow his sons to administer provinces and instead appointed governors loyal to him. He also had a council of 12 members to advise him on matters of state. He created various ministerial offices like Prime Minister, minister of finance, minister of the interior, minister of war, minister of foreign affairs, and minister of the treasury.
Under Sher Ali Khan's reign, Afghanistan was divided into 5 provinces: Kabul, Herat, Afghan Turkestan, Kandahar, and Farah. Formerly Farah had been subject to Herat, but instead he made it a separate province and gave it to his cousin, Sardar Mohammad Afzal.
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.