Akhūnd Abdul Ghaffūr ( ps, اخوند عبدالغفور; 1793–1878), commonly known as Saidū Bābā ( ps, سيدو بابا) or the Akhund of Swat, was a prominent religious

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

or priest, and Emir of the former

State of Swat State of Swat (Urdu, ps, ; locally called as Dera Swat) was a kingdom established in 1849 that was ruled by chiefs known as Akhunds. It was then recognized as a princely state in alliance with the British Indian Empire between 1926 and 19 ...

. Saidu Baba was an influential saint and his residence in Swat was the destination for numerous pilgrimages by his disciples to consult him. He was succeeded by a notable line of other ''mullahs'' and theologians. The

Saidu Sharif Saidū Sharīf (Pashto/Urdu: ) is the capital of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city also serves as the capital city of Malakand Division. It was named after Saidu Baba, a prominent leader of the former Yusufz ...

city in

Swat District Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

is named after him.

Biography

Saidu Baba was born at Jabrai, Baghdheri Matta, Upper Swat valley in 1793 AD to a Panjabi Gujjar family.He got his early education from Mian Brangola. Later, he went to Mardan, Nowshehra and Peshawar for completion of his education. In 1835, he returned to

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

and settled in Baligram (now Saidu Sharif). In 1836, when the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

tried to annex Swat valley, at that time Saidu Baba united the people against them and called for Jihad of Ambela, which discouraged the British expansion to the region.

Battles against Sikh and British forces

In 1831, when the Muslim activist Syed Ahmad Barelvi was killed by the

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The ter ...

along with hundreds of Barelvi's mujahideen in the battle of

Balakot Balakot (; ur, ; ) is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi P ...

, many of his mujahideen stayed in

Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...

under the protection of Saidu Baba. They started a new uprising against the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

under Saidu Baba's leadership in 1862. In 1834, Saidu Baba cooperated with the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

Emir Dost Mohammad Barakzai in the battle against the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

and brought a number of Ghazis and Talib al-'Ilm to the battle of Peshawar. In return, the Afghan Emir awarded Saidu Baba with lands in

, Lundkhwar and

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

among the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains dur ...

Afghans. Eventually, when Saidu Baba was about 43 years old, he permanently settled in

and gradually turned it into a thriving city. In 1863, Saidu Baba led the Yusufzai and other groups in a battle at the Ambela Pass against the British forces (see

Ambela Campaign The Ambela campaign (also called Umbeyla; Umbeylah; Ambeyla) in 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India (this area was formally renamed to North-West Frontie ...

Establishment of a united Yusufzai State of Swat

Saidu Baba conferred a scheme for a united throne of Swat. In 1849, he nominated Sayyid Akbar Shah, a descendant of Pir Baba, as the emir of the Yusufzai State of Swat. After Akbar Shah's death in 1857, Saidu Baba assumed control of the state himself till his own death in 1878.

Religious rivalry

Saidu Baba's greatest conflict was with Sayyid Maruf Bey Kotah Mullah, a supporter of the British-supported Emir Shah Shujah who had opposed the Barakzai Emir Dost Mohammad in the battle against the Sikhs. Saidu Baba referred to Kotah Mullah as a practitioner of heretical rituals, and managed to convince the Yusufzai of

to push Kotah Mullah out of the village where he was being hosted.

Literary allusions

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal ...

's
The Akond of Swat
* George T. Lanigan (1846–1886) wrot
"The Ahkoond of Swat"
on hearing of Saidu Baba's death in 1878. * Ken Nordine's rendition of the Lear piece in his 'Word Jazz' radio show.

References

External links

* Anon, "The (British Raj) Indian Frontier", ''The Times'', Issue 29100, (15 November 1877); p. 4; col D. * Our own Correspondent, "India", (Article contains the text: "The death of the Akhoond of Swat is announced"), ''The Times'', No.29157, (Monday 21 January 1878), p. 5; col A. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saidu Baba 1794 births 1877 deaths People from Swat District Pashtun Sufis