Mehrab Khan II of Kalat

Mir Mehrab Khan Ahmadzai II was the khan (ruler) from about 1817 to 1839 of the State of Kalat, which is now part of the Balochistan province of Pakistan

Mehrab Khan was a weak ruler who was deposed and killed by the British, who had been led to believe that he was disloyal to them and was dealing with them in bad faith. He was replaced by a ruler chosen by the British. Background The Khanate of Kalat reached its peak in the 1750s during the reign of Mir Noori Naseer Khan, who had unified the Kalat region. During this period, Kalat was under the suzerainty of the Durrani Empire. In 1818, it achieved a kind of independence, but it continued to be subject to some orders from the rulers of the Emirate of Afghanistan until at least 1838.

The reign of Mehrab was a continual struggle with his chiefs, many of whom he killed.

A weak ruler, Mehrab alienated his chiefs by surrendering to the influence of a man named Daud Muhammad, a man of low extraction, sacrificing his hereditary minister, Fateh Muhammad, to give power to Daud. However, Naib Mulla Muhammad Hasan, a son of Fateh Muhammad, killed Daud and was restored to the hereditary office. Hasan never forgave what had been done to his father, and the later misfortunes which overtook Mehrab Khan are seen as his revenge.

In 1833–1834, Shah Shujah Durrani failed in his first attempt to recover his former Durrani Empire dominions, and for a short time he took refuge at Kalat, before returning to exile at Ludhiana. The town was captured on 13 November. Mehrab Khan was killed, and his son Hasain Khan fled. Lieutenant Loveday was left with the boy to support him as political officer, but Shah Nawaz was deposed the following year by a rebellion of tribesmen.