Jahan Khan Durrani
That was the first half of the eighteenth century A.D. in
India. The once acclaimed Taimurid dynasty was in the worst condition.
Suddenly, there appeared on the Indian horizon a star that surprisingly changed
the plight of the Muslim community of the Indian sub-continent. That
unforgettable personality, the great Ahmad Shah Abdali or Durrani of Afghanistan,
will forever be remembered due to his splendid deed of emancipating the
helpless and suppressed Indian Muslim population from the valiant Marathas who
were growing more and more powerful those days by inflicting upon them the
crushing defeat at Panipat.
The Indian Muslims, having seen the days of their prestigious
past on the very this land, were facing severe hardships at the hands of the
Sikhs, the Hindu Jats, the Sutnami
Faqirs, and then the ferocious Marathas from the Deccan peninsula, a new
scourge for them since the time of Aurang Zeb Alamgir, only because of the
mutual rivalries and strong enmities of the central and the local Muslim
authorities.
It can be said without doubt that the credit of the epoch
making victory at the field of Panipat goes to another person also who is
always mentioned very briefly in the books of history. That man is the legendry
Sardar Jahan Khan Popalzai, the Sippa Salare Aala; in other words, the
commander-in-chief of the forces of Abdali.
Names and Various Posts
Professor
Ganda Singh, in his valuable work, Ahmad Shah Durrani, writes that he at first
bore the name Jan Khan, then during some later period he was called Jahan Khan.
Some historians assert that his name was Jahandad Khan; however, Ahmad Shah
Abdali appointed this Popalzai chief the supreme head of his armies at the
Grand Jirga or meeting held at the Shrine of Sher Surkh in the vicinity of the
southern city of Kandahar. In that meeting, Ahmad had been declared the king of
the Afghans and at that moment he had announced the names of all the important
officials of his government; such as, the post of prime minister was given to
the chief Begi Khan who later became known as Shah Wali Khan, and Shah Pasand
Khan was appointed Amire Lashkar. In
addition to the duties of Army chief, Jahan Khan was appointed the minister of
war as well which is termed as the minister of defense nowadays.
Sardar Jahan
Khan bore several other titles also, as (1) the Khane Khanan, meaning first of
all the nobles, (2) the Ameere Bizen, meaning the official who possesses the
authority of announcing war against the enemy as well as of announcing peace
against them under the instruction of the king. The post equivalent to that was
that of the Harold in medieval England.
Birth Place and family
The exact
date of birth of Sardar Jahan Khan is unknown, but it may be conjectured that
he would have born in 1710 A.D. Since he is buried near the tomb of Hazrat Ji
near Kandahar, it may be inferred that his birth place was the region of Kandahar
where his forefathers would have settled in the remote past.
He had three
sons of whom one was killed during the war with the Sikhs in the battle at
Sialkot. The other two are described as Sardar Kareem Khan and Sardar Hamza
Khan. Besides them, Jahan Khan had a daughter named Mahrukh Begum. It is found
in historical records that Jahan Khan had another brother named Sardar Aman
Khan Popalzai who also was a prominent figure in the court of Ahmad Shah, and
the King used to assign him important duties related to the foreign office. One
of his sons is known in history by the name of Zaal Beg Popalzai. He also held
a respectable position in the court of Ahmad Shah.
Indian Campaigns
Abdali,
having conquered Qandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul, proceeded to Peshawer to take
that city and punish Naseer Khan who had been the previous Taimurid governer of
Kabul and then maintained by Abdali on his former position, but being faithful
neither to his earlier bosses, whether Nadirshah or Muhammd Shah, he proved
disloyal to Ahmad Shah as well. Though the Shah kept him as governor of Kabul
and he; in return, gave him the hand of his daughter, he fled to Peshawer and
took refuge there, trying to gather the local pathan chiefs around him against
Abdali but in vain. Abdul Samad Khan of Charsadda escaped from there and joined
Ahmad Shah in Kabul.
Ahmad Shah
sent his general Jahan Khan to tackle with Naseer Khan. He was in time
reinforced by Abdul Samad Khan. Naseer Khan had resolved to block the Khyber
Pass and thus check the progress of Durranis, but Jahan Khan dashed lie an
eagle and entered the Peshawar valley in no time. Poor Naseer Khan fled from
there to the land Chhach Hazara and remained there hidden for a while. As soon
as Ahmad Shah Abdali arrived Peshawar, he directed Jahan Khan to leave no stone
unturned in searching for Naseer and ousting him from Chhach. Jahan Khan chased
him continuously and, at last, he went to Lahore and thence to the capital,
Delhi. Jahan Khan returned to Peshawar and started preparing for the assault on
India under the instructions of his master, the Durre Durran.
In the
second attack on Punjab in 1747 A.D, Jahan Khan started from Peshawar with some
troops and marched forward. He was accompanied by a contingent of the Khataks
at Attok. Some days later, the Shah also departed from Kabul following Jahan
Khan and reached Chenab River. The Taimurid governor of Punjab, Nawab Mueenul
Mulk, when heard about the Shah’s coming, advanced towards west and stayed on
the east bank of the Chenab River. Ahmad Shah kept Mueenul Mulk engaged by the
Chenab and sent Jahan Khan towards Lahore. Jahan Khan, having plundered the
whole area, reached the Ravi River and camped at Shahdara outside Lahore.
Mueenul Mulk
had left Sayyid Ewaz Khan to protect Lahore from Durranis. Ewaz struggled
bravely for full two months to defend the city and did not let it in the hands
of Jahan Khan. Jahan Khan at last came back from Shahdara and joined the king.
The governor could not receive succor from Delhi, so he had to sign a peace treaty
with Ahmad Shah. Shah went back to Kabul victoriously, making Mir Mueenul Mulk
agree upon paying the annual revenues of the four fertile districts of Sialkot,
Aurangabad, Gujrat, and Pasroor amounting to 14,00,000 Rs.
Third Expedition To India
Before his
third attack in 1751 A.D, Ahmad Shah instructed his two prominent generals
Sardar Jahan Khan and the Muhammadzai Abdul Samad Khan to advance to India with
their troops. By mid November Jahan Khan had reached Rohtas from Attock and on
Dec 1st he got to Aimanabad near Gujranwala, having crossed the
Jehlum and Chenab rivers. The king also followed him step by step camping
eventually in the vicinity of Wazirabad.. Then around mid January A.D. 1752, he
crossed the Ravi River and through the Niaz Beg Thokar, he reached Shalimar and
camped there while Jahan Khan’s raiding party ravaged the area lying between
the Chenab and Ravi. There had been a few skirmishes between the musketeers of
both sides off and on for several days, but not any kind of regular warfare.
Jahan
adaptad the direct route to the city and crossed the Ravi through the Ghazi
Ghat, and entered Faiz Bagh. Mueenul Mulk sent Khwaja Mirza Jan with Abdullah
Khan and others to free Faiz Bagh from Jahan Khan. They struggled hard to check
Jahan Khan’s progress and; at last, he left Faiz Bagh and joined Abdali at
Shalimar. During this invasion, the
chiefs in Lahore were so obsessed with Jahan Khan that they agreed upon killing
him through thick or thin in the battle.
At last, a
peace treaty was signed between the Shah and the governor, Mir Mueenul Mulk,
according to which he agreed upon paying a sum of Rs 3000,000 to Abdali. Abdali
started for his country via Multan where he stayed for a few days, appointing
Ali Muhammad Khan the Naib Nazim of Multan. Ali Muhammad Khan complained about
the Daud Potras of Bahawalpur; Jahan khan organized an army of 5000 men and
advanced against them. Mubarak Khan and several other chiefs fought with 3000
men with Jahan Khan at Kherpur. Jahan Khan was defeated but Bahawalpur was,
however, still in the possession of the Khan. Mubarak Khan sent a message to
Jahan Khan for making peace; Jahan Khan accepted that, and a treaty was signed
between them on reasonable terms. After that, Jahan Khan returned to Qandahar,
following the Shah.