Ayub Khan (Emir of Afghanistan)

Mohammad Ayub Khan
Emir of Afghanistan

Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan
Emir of Afghanistan
Reign 12 October 1879 – 31 May 1880
Predecessor Mohammad Yaqub Khan
Successor Abdur Rahman Khan
Born 1857
Kabul, Afghanistan
Died 7 April 1914 (aged 56–57)
Lahore, British India
Burial 1914
Peshawar
Full name
Mohammad Ayub Khan
Dynasty Barakzai dynasty
Father Sher Ali Khan
Mother Momand

Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan (Pashto: غازي محمد ايوب خان‎) (1857 – April 7, 1914, Urdu: غازی محمد ایوب خان) was also known as The Victor of Maiwand or The Afghan Prince Charlie and was, for a while, the governor of Herat Province in Afghanistan. He was Emir of Afghanistan from October 12, 1879 to May 31, 1880[1][2] and was also the leader of Afghans in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. He is today remembered as National Hero of Afghanistan and is buried in Peshawar.[3]

Early life

His father was Sher Ali Khan and his mother was the daughter of an influential Mohmand chief of Lalpura, Saadat Khan.[4]

Second Anglo-Afghan war

On July 27, 1880, inspired by the battle songs of Malalai of Maiwand in support of the freedom fighters, he defeated the British Army of George Burrows at the Battle of Maiwand. This was the biggest defeat for the Anglo-Indian army in the second Anglo-Afghan war. He went on to besiege the superiourly equipped British forces at Kandahar but did not succeed. On September 1, 1880, he was defeated and routed by forces led by General Frederick Roberts at the Battle of Kandahar, which saw the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.[4]

After second Anglo-Afghan war

A year later Ayub again tried to take Kandahar, this time from Amir Abdur Rahman Khan but again failed.

"Ayub Khan had an opportunity of realizing his strength as an independent ruler in Afghanistan [sic]. Certain tribes in Kushk district having revolted, he desired to send a force from Herat to punish them; but when he asked his men to march they refused, because he had not paid them for a long time." From The Twillingate Sun, Thursday, February 3, 1881.

He escaped to Persia (now Iran). After negotiations in 1888 with Sir Mortimer Durand, the ambassador at Teheran, Ayub Khan became a pensioner of the British Raj. A political officer, William Evans-Gordon, took charge of him on his arrival in India and escorted him with his entourage from Karachi to Rawalpindi.[5] He lived in India until his death in 1914.

Death and legacy

He is today remembered as National Hero of Afghanistan and his body was interred near the shrine of Sheikh Habib at Durrani graveyard in Peshawar. His mausoleum was vandalized and his tomb tablet stolen. Efforts are being made by one of his family members, Asim Khan Effendi to reconstruct and restore the monument in consultation with cultural conservationalist of International repute Hameed Haroon and leading Architect Mujeeb Khan.

References

  1. ↑ Hamid. "Afghanistan Monarchs". afghanistantourism.net. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  2. ↑ Wahid Momand. "Leaders". Afghanland.com. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  3. ↑ various. "Cities". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
  4. 1 2 Chisholm 1911.
  5. ↑ Skelton & Bulloch 1912, p. 395.
Sources
Attribution

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ayub Khan". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Yaqub Khan		 Emir of Afghanistan
12 October 1879 – 31 May 1880 		Succeeded by
Abdur Rahman Khan
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