Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan ( ps, ;

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

: ) (1857 – 7 April 1914) also known as The Victor of

Maiwand Maiwand is a village in Afghanistan within the Maywand District of Kandahar Province. It is located 50 miles northwest of Kandahar, on the main Kandahar– Lashkargah road. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.

or The Afghan

Prince Charlie Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

was, for a while, the governor of

Herat Province Herat ( Persian: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north-western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...

in the

Emirate of Afghanistan The Emirate of Afghanistan also referred to as the Emirate of Kabul (until 1855) ) was an emirate between Central Asia and South Asia that is now today's Afghanistan and some parts of today's Pakistan (before 1893). The emirate emerged from t ...

. He was Emir of Afghanistan from 12 October, 1879 to 31 May, 1880. He also led the Afghan troops during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

and defeated the British Indian Army at the

Battle of Maiwand The Battle of Maiwand (Dari: نبرد میوند, Pashto: د ميوند جگړه), fought on 27 July 1880, was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Ayub Khan, the Afghan forces defeated a much smal ...

. Following his defeat at the

Battle of Kandahar Battle of Kandahar may refer to: * Battle of Kandahar (1880), the last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War * Battle of Kandahar (2001), the fall of the city in 2001, signaling the end of organized Taliban control of Afghanistan * Battl ...

, Ayub Khan was deposed and exiled to British India. However, Ayub Khan fled to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(now

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

). After negotiations in 1888 with Sir

Mortimer Durand Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, (14 February 1850 – 8 June 1924) was a British Anglo-Indian diplomat and member of the Indian Civil Service. Background Born at Sehore, Bhopal, India, he was the son of Sir Henry Marion Durand, the Resident of ...

, the ambassador at Tehran, Ayub Khan became a

pensioner A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

and traveled to British India in 1888, where he lived until his death in 1914 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. He was buried in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and had eleven wives, fifteen sons, and ten daughters. Two of his grandsons, Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi and Sardar Muhammad Ismail Khan, served as

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

s in the Pakistan Army.Arwin Rahi
The legacy of Sardar Mohammad Ayub Khan – The Victor of Maiwand
Express Tribune. 15 July 2021
Archived version
/ref> In Afghanistan, he is remembered as the "National Hero of Afghanistan."

Early life

His father was

Sher Ali Khan Sher Ali Khan (); c. 1825 – 21 February 1879) was Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Life Sher Ali Khan ...

and his mother was the daughter of an influential

Mohmand The Mohmand ( ps, مومند) or Mohmand is a prominent tribe of Pashtun people. They are based primarily in the Mohmand territory, which is located in Nangarhar, Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency, Pakistan. Most people of the Mohmand tribe sp ...

chief of Lalpura, Saadat Khan. His brother was

Mohammad Yaqub Khan Mohammad Yaqub Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 1849November 15, 1923) was Emir of Afghanistan from February 21 to October 12, 1879. He was the son of the previous ruler, Sher Ali Khan. Mohammad Yaqub Khan was appointed as the governor of Herat province in ...

Second Anglo-Afghan war

During the second Anglo-Afghan war, Afghans under the command of Ayub Khan clashed with Anglo-Indian troops at Maiwand on 27 July 1880 and merged victorious. The Afghan victory at Maiwand was strategically significant for Afghanistan as it saved the country from getting dismembered by Britain, and saved Qandahar from a permanent British occupation. The defeat at Maiwand also compelled the British to withdraw from Qandahar. After the battle, the Afghans buried the dead Anglo-Indian soldiers and erected a monument in their honor and memory. Ayub Khan later went on to besiege the better equipped British forces at

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

but did not succeed. On 1 September, 1880, he was defeated and routed by forces led by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Frederick Roberts at the

, which saw the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

After second Anglo-Afghan war

A year later, Ayub again tried to take Kandahar, this time from

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

, but again failed. :"Ayub Khan had an opportunity of realizing his strength as an independent ruler in Afghanistan. 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, 3 February 1881. He escaped to

(now

). After negotiations in 1888 with Sir

, the ambassador at Tehran, Ayub Khan became a

of the

. A political officer,

William Evans-Gordon Major Sir William Eden Evans Gordon (8 August 1857 – 31 October 1913)''The Times'', 3 November 1913 p. 11''d'' was a British MP who had served as a military diplomat in India. As a political officer on secondment from the British Indian Arm ...

, took charge of him on his arrival in India and escorted him with his entourage from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

to Rawalpindi. He lived in India until his death in 1914.

Death

He died in

in 1914 and is buried in

near the

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

of Sheikh Habib at Durrani graveyard in

, Pakistan.

Legacy

In Afghanistan, he is remembered as the "National Hero of Afghanistan." He had eleven wives, fifteen sons, and ten daughters. Several of his descendants have served in various capacities in Pakistan. Two of his grandsons, Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi and Sardar Muhammad Ismail Khan, served with the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

in the Pakistan Army.

Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi

Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi was a grandson of Ayub Khan. He was the son of Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qadir Khan el-Effendi, the first son of Ayub Khan. He completed his education at

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for ...

Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and was commissioned as second lieutenant on 15 July, 1939 in the British Indian Army. He fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was initially posted in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. El-Effendi was captured when his 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (PAVO) was overrun by German

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

, but managed to escape and rejoin his regiment. Later, he fought in the Burma Campaign. Following the independence of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi opted to join Pakistan and served as a

in Pakistan Army. After retiring from the military, he became a polo player and organised Pakistani polo for over twenty years, with leading teams invited to play from abroad. He died in 1983 in Lahore, and had two sons. One of his sons, Sardar Azmarai Javaid Hissam el-Effendi, was a professional polo player. He also coached the Pakistani polo team from 2003 to 2007 and was awarded

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the P ...

in 1996 by the government of Pakistan.

References

;Sources * ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ayub 1857 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Afghan monarchs Emirs of Afghanistan Barakzai dynasty Governors of Herat Province Afghan military personnel People of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Pashtun people 19th-century Afghan politicians 19th-century monarchs in Asia 20th-century Afghan politicians Afghan expatriates in India