Dost Muhammad Khan
Dost Mohammad Khan (Hindi: दोस्तमुहम्मद खान, Pashto: دوست محمد خان, December 23, 1793 – June 9, 1863) was the Emir of Afghanistan between 1826 and 1863. He first ruled from 1826 to 1839 and then from 1843 to 1863. He was the 11th son of Sardar Pāyendah Khan (chief of the Barakzai tribe) who was killed by Zaman Shah Durrani in 1799.[1] He was the grandson of Hajji Jamal Khan who founded the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan.[2] He belonged to the Pashtun ethnic group.
Ancestry
Dost Mohammad Khan was born to an influential family on December 23, 1793. His father, Payandah Khan, was chief of the Barakzai tribe and a civil servant in the Durrani dynasty. They trace their family to Abdal, (the first and founder of the Abdali tribe), through Hajji Jamal Khan, Yousef, Yaru, Mohammad, Omar Khan, Khisar Khan, Ismail, Nek, Daru, Saifal, and Barak. Abdal had Four sons, Popal, Barak, Achak, and Alako.[3] Dost Mohmmad Khan's mother is believed to have been a Shia from the Persian Qizilbash group.[4]
History
On May 26, 1863 he captured Herat, but thereafter, on the 9th of June, 1863 he died . Thus he departed in the midst of victory, after playing a great role in the history of Central Asia for forty years. Before his passing away, he had named his son Sher Ali Khan as his successor.
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. Initially, the British successfully intervened in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad (Barakzai) and former emir Shah Shujah (Durrani), whom they installed upon capturing Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian force occupying Kabul along with their camp followers, having endured harsh winters as well, was almost completely annihilated during its 1842 retreat from Kabul.[5][6] The British then sent an Army of Retribution to Kabul to avenge the destruction of their previous forces. After recovering prisoners, they withdrew from Afghanistan by the end of the year. Dost Mohammed returned from exile in India to resume his rule.
It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between Britain and Russia.[7]
Palace of Dost Muhammad in Dehradun
Palace of Dost Mohammad Khan is situated on EC Road in Dehradun, built during mid 1840. After the First Anglo-Afghan War, the Afghan Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (Emir of Afghanistan) was exiled by the British to Dehra Dun.[8]
Dehradun's Afghan connection dated back to the First Anglo-Afghan War, after which the Afghan Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (Emir of Afghanistan) was exiled by the British to Dehra Dun.[9] He stayed in Mussoorie for over 6 years. The Balahissar ward under the Mussoorie municipality has been named after the palace of Dost Mohammad. The famous Dehradooni Basmati was brought along by him from Kunar Province in Afghanistan and it continues to be counted as a delicacy of the valley.[10][11]
Forty years later, after the Second Anglo-Afghan War, his grandson, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, was sent to exile to India in 1879. Just like his grandfather, he chose Doon valley as his abode. Yakoob became the first Afghan to formally settle in Dehradun. The present Mangla Devi Inter College was once the Kabul Palace where Yakoob spent a few years of his life. The extended family and servants of the King were also relocated to Dehradun.[12]
The Afghan royal family maintained a presence in Dehra Dun. It was the birthplace of the second to last King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Nadir Shah. Two quaint palaces – the Kabul Palace in Dehradun[13] and Bala Hissar Palace in Mussoorie – stand testimony to this connection with Afghanistan. They were built by these Afghan rulers in exile in India in the early part of the 20th Century and are palaces are a miniature replica of the palatial structures owned by the kings in Afghanistan. The Bala Hissar Palace has now been turned into Mussoorie's Wynberg Allen School. Doon-based heritage enthusiast Ghanshyam told the Times of India, "The police station at Karanpur used to be the royal guard room of Yakoob way back in 1879. The electrical office located at the Survey Chowk was the royal servant quarters."[14]
Today the descendants of the former royalty, Yakub Khan and his grandson Sardar Azim Khan's family have integrated with the mainstream of Dehra Dun life. The Doon connection was revived when Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan while undergoing treatment in New Delhi during the last years of his life expressed a desire to meet his Doon cousins but the meeting could not take place as the family members were away.[15]
Karnal connection
Karnal was captured by the British in 1805 and made over to Muhamdi Khan (Mandal). The British established a cantonment in 1811 but abandoned it after 30 years due to an outbreak of malaria. The fort which had been built by Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, was taken over by the British and converted into a residence for Dost Mohammad Khan, Amir of Kabul.
Sikh annexation of Haripur
The Sikhs annexed Hazara in two stages. First Lower Hazara was annexed when the Sikhs defeated the Afghan army led by Fateh Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai and wrested control of Akbar's fort of Attock in 1813. Upper Hazara suffered a similar fate when the Sikhs took Kashmir from the Barakzai Afghans in 1819.[16] The town of Haripur (meaning 'Hari's town') was founded in 1822 by Hari Singh Nalwa the Commander-in-Chief of Ranjit Singh's army following advice from Mukkadam Musharaf of Kot Najibullah. On the successful completion of his tenure as Governor of Kashmir in 1821, Pakhli and Damtaur were bestowed upon Nalwa as a jagir in 1822. As soon as Hari Singh Nalwa received this grant, he built the walled town of Haripur in the heart of the Haripur plain with the fort of Harkishan Garh encircled by a deep trench. The site selected by Hari Singh had previously seen some of the fiercest encounters between Sikhs and Afghans.
External links
References
- ↑ Tarzi, Amin H.. "DŌSTMOḤAMMAD KHAN". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online Edition ed.). United States: Columbia University.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica – Dost Mohammad Khan, "ruler of Afghanistan (1826–63) and founder of the Barakzay dynasty, who maintained Afghan independence during a time when the nation was a focus of political struggles between Great Britain and Russia..."
- ↑ Life of the Amîr Dost Mohammed Khan, of Kabul: with his political ..., by Mohan Lal, Volume 1. Page 1-3.
- ↑ Tarzi, Amin H.. "DŌSTMOḤAMMAD KHAN". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online Edition ed.). United States: Columbia University.
- ↑ Kohn, George Childs (2013). Dictionary of Wars. Revised Edition. London/New York: Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-135-95494-9.
- ↑ Baxter, Craig (2001). "The First Anglo–Afghan War". In Federal Research Division, Library of Congress (ed.). Afghanistan: A Country Study. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Pub. Division. ISBN 1-57980-744-5.
- ↑ Keay, John (2010). India: A History (revised ed.). New York, NY: Grove Press. pp. 418–19. ISBN 978-0-8021-4558-1.
- ↑ "Tracing Doon's Afghan connect". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018.
- ↑ "Tracing Doon's Afghan connect". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018.
- ↑ "Tracing Doon's Afghan connect". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018.
- ↑ Singh, Arvindar (January 2011). Myths and Realities of Security & Public Affairs. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-8430-112-0
- ↑ Zikria, B. A. (17 February 2017). Malalai Joan of Arc of Afghanistan and the Victors of Maiwand: The Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878-1882. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-5245-7783-4.
- ↑ "'Feels Like Home' – Afghanistan Fortify Dehradun Ties | Wisden Cricket". Wisden. 19 March 2019
- ↑ "Tracing Doon's Afghan connect". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018.
- ↑ https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090821/dplus.htm
- ↑ Nalwa, V. (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa - Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar, pp. 77-104, ISBN 81-7304-785-5.
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