the reforming activities of the king are brought to a sudden stop by the revolt of the shinwaris, a powerful tribe in eastern afghanistan, much under the influence of the mullah of chaknaur. they assemble in force in the neighbourhood of jalalabad, and besiege that city. the king finds that in the hour of need he cannot rely upon his army, which is disaffected because its pay is in arrears. he therefore, after some indecisive fighting, begins to parley with the rebels in order to induce them to lay down their arms. a truce of ten days is declared early in december, during which the tribesmen consider the king's proposals. as he does not consent to abandon his reforms, they again take up arms at the end of the truce. at the same time (december 17) other tribesmen, acting apparently without any concert with the shinwaris, gather in force near kabul. they are led by a tajik brigand named habibullah, but familiarly known as bacha-i-saqao or "son of the water-carrier," and are joined by numbers of disaffected persons, both soldiers and others, from kabul itself. kabul is reduced to a state of siege, and the king and queen judge it prudent to retire within the arg, the fortified part of the palace. although the rebels disclaim any hostility to the members of the british legation, the legation buildings, which are situated outside of the town in the zone of fighting, suffer damage from stray shots. the position being regarded as dangerous, five british aeroplanes on december 23 fly across from peshawar and take off all the women and children to the number of about a dozen. between that date and the end of the year the women and children from the other legations are rescued in a similar manner. the gallantry of the british airmen makes a great impression throughout europe. the russian women and children are conveyed northwards by russian aeroplanes.