But Dost Mohammed had lost Peshawar as well and with it all the fertile lands flanking the Indus River. Those lands had been seized by a formidable warrior-king named Ranjit Singh, who was not even a Muslim but a Sikh. Peshawar and its environs were inhabited by Muslim Pushtoons, and Peshawar was also the traditional winter capital of Afghan kings. The ruling clan of Afghanistan, being Pushtoons, found the loss of this city particularly galling. Dost Mohammed’s determination to get Peshawar back launched a conflict that was never resolved and that continues to generate trouble to this very
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