nadir khan succeeds in obtaining the support of an important "jirga" of tribes convened by the hazrat sahib of shor bazar, an influential religious leader, at shishrak, not far from gardez. meanwhile, habibullah has assumed the offensive, and sent a force into the logar valley to seize gardez, which nadir khan had occupied in march. its first attempt on the place, on june 13, was frustrated by the tribesmen, but a second attempt, made a few days later (june 25), is successful. further advance is, however, barred to the amir's troops by the hostility of the tribesmen. during the next couple of months there is an active competition in propaganda between the "amir" on one side and nadir khan and his brothers on the other, for the purpose of gaining over the tribes. gradually nadir khan wins the day. already in the middle of july he is able to launch a small offensive, which, however, meets with no success. on august 22 his forces make a determined attack on gardez, and eventually recapture it, but are unable to retain it. the amir just made his peace with the hazaras, on the west of kabul, who had long been a thorn in his side, and is thus able to spare more men for the campaign against nadir khan, and so to neutralize his success. early in september the durrani tribe drives his governor and garrison out of the town of kandahar. from a military point of view this loss is not of great consequence, but it cuts off kabul from one of its great sources of food supply, and causes the price of bread to rise there seriously.