Saidullah

Saidullah (also known as "Mullah Mastun"[1][2] lewanai faqir or lewanai in Pashto[3] and by the British as "The Great Fakir" or "Mad Fakir"[4], "Mad Fakir of Swat"[5] or the "Mad Mullah",[6]) was a Pashtun fakir and religious mendicant whose Pashto name translated to "God-intoxicated" as a reference to his religious convictions and his belief that he was capable of miraculous powers.[3] In response to the British occupation of the North West Frontier Province of modern day Pakistan, and the division of Pashtun lands by the 1,519 mile long Durand Line,[7] Saidullah declared a jihad against the occupying British Empire and led from 10,000 to 100,000[2][8][9] Pashtun tribesmen in an uprising which began with the siege of Malakand from July 26 to August 2, 1897 against British forces under Brigadier-General William Hope Meiklejohn, and Major-General Sir Bindon Blood.

Notes

  1. ^ Spain. 177
  2. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1999), Nonviolent Soldier of Islam (see article), p. 49
  3. ^ a b Beattie p. 171
  4. ^ Hobday p. 13
  5. ^ Edwards p. 177
  6. ^ Elliott-Lockhart p. 28
  7. ^ Lamb p. 93
  8. ^ Wilkinson-Latham p. 20
  9. ^ Gore p. 405

References