Abstract
Relationship between Pakhtuns and the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent was blemished by conflicts, intrusion and invasions. Pakhtuns' presence in the north-western border of India was a constant source of trouble for the Mughal kings right from Babur to Aurangzeb. This frontier was a stumbling block in the north-western policy of the Mughals due to tough Pakhtuns resistance. The article traces the origin of the very cordial relationship between Ulugh Beg Mirza, the Mughal ruler of Kabul and Malik Suleman Shah, the Yusufzai Pakhtun sardar. The Pakhtun ascendancy to the power echelon in Kabul was very difficult for the Mughal to swallow. The article discusses the conspiracy hatched by Mirza Ulugh Beg in which he put to death, through deceit, hundreds of Pakhtun sardars in his palace to crush their strength and political power in Kabul. Very little scholarly work has been done to discuss the event in a proper historical context to link it up with the origin of rivalry between the two mighty people. There is not a single work mentioning that the massacre of these sardars was the original source of conflict between the two communities.
