At the end of 1894 the situation here was as follows: Umra Khan had at last made friends with his old enemy, the Khan of Nawagai; he had established his authority over a considerable portion of Swat, the greater part of Bajaur, and the whole of Dir; while he had possessed himself of the strip of country known as Narsat, hitherto claimed alike by Chitral, Dir and Asmar. He had attacked some villages in the Bashgul Valley, claimed by Chitral; had commenced to build forts at Arnawai and Birkot, in the Kunar Valley; and had encroached upon Chitral territory, and demanded the payment of tribute from Chitral villages. The ex-Khan of Dir was at this time a refugee in Upper Swat. Nizam-ul-Mulk was proving himself a fairly efficient and popular, though not a strong, ruler; Sher Afzul was believed to be safely interned at Kabul; and Nizam’s younger brother, Amir-ul-Mulk, who had at first fled from Chitral, had now returned there and been well received by the new Mehtar. [Sidenote: Murder of Nizam] On the 1st January, 1895, Nizam-ul-Mulk was shot dead while out hawking by one of the servants, and at the instigation, of Amir-ul-Mulk, who at once caused himself to be proclaimed Mehtar, but his recognition was delayed for reference to Simla. There can be little doubt that this fresh murder was the outcome of a conspiracy between Amir-ul-Mulk, Sher Afzul and Umra Khan, and that the object was to remove Nizam and cause him to be temporarily succeeded by Amir, who was then to resign in favour of Sher Afzul. Umra Khan was to be called in merely to help the furtherance of the schemes of the other two: but Umra Khan had his own personal interests to consult, and on hearing news of the murder he at once crossed the Lowari Pass with between 3000 and 4000 men, and occupied the southern Chitral Valley. He sent on letters stating that he had come to wage a holy war against the Kafirs of the Bashgul Valley, that he had no hostile designs against Chitral, and that if Amir-ul-Mulk did not join and help him he must take the consequences. Umra Khan now advanced on Kila Drosh, twenty-five miles below Chitral fort.