Sultan Mohammad Khan (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

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 ...

: ), also known as Ghazi Sardar Sultan Mohammad Talaei, was an Afghan aristocrat,

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

and

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. He was a powerful brother of Emir Dost Mohammad Khan, the eventual ruler of Afghanistan who seized control of the country from him. Prior to and during the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan, Sultan Muhammad Khan Telai was

and governor of various regions of Afghanistan, including

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

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

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th centur ...

. He was the first of the

Musahiban The Musahiban (mus-hi-been; the name derives from Persian ''Muṣāḥib'', meaning "courtier" or "aide de camp") are a Mohammadzai family who founded the Afghan Barakzai dynasty, and members of the royal lineage that ruled Afghanistan as emir, k ...

, a

Mohammadzai Mohammadzai ( ps, محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul a ...

dynasty that began with him and ruled Afghanistan for more than 150 years, in various forms such as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978. An ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

, Mohammad Khan Talaei was the 15th son of Sardar Payendah Khan (chief of the Barakzai tribe), who was killed in 1799 by

Zaman Shah Durrani Zaman Shah Durrani, or Zaman Shah Abdali ( Persian: ; 1767 – 1844), was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1793 until 1801. He was the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son of Timur Shah Durrani. An ethnic Pashtun, Zaman Shah became the ...

. Sultan Muhammad Khan's grandfather was Hajji Jamal Khan. Sultan Mohammad Khan's wealth, along with his immense love for fine goods like luxurious robes, led to his family giving him his nickname "Telai", meaning golden.

Early history and background

Sultan Mohammad Khan was born in 1795 to an influential family in

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 ...

, Durrani Empire (present-day Kandahar,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

). His father, Payinda Khan, was chief of the Barakzai tribe and an aristocrat with the title "Sarfraz Khan" in the Durrani dynasty. Their family can be traced back to Abdal (the first and founder of the Abdali tribe) through Hajji Jamal Khan, Yousef, Yaru, Mohammad, Omar Khan, Khisar Khan, Ismail, Nek, Daru, Saifal, and Barak. Abdal had four sons, Popal,

Barak Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephrai ...

, Achak, and Alako.

Political power and death

Sultan Muhammad Khan assumed rule of Kabul in 1824 from Yar Mohammad Khan Barakzai and held it until 1826 when he was expelled by Dost Mohammad Khan. After their rapprochement, he governed over Peshawar from 1826-1828 and Kohat from 1828-1834. He and the

Muhammadzai Mohammadzai ( ps, محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul ...

leaders in general were known for having a great number of wives in order to unify the Afghan tribes and ethnic groups. He died in 1861, and his mausoleum rests on Maranjan Hill in Kabul, Afghanistan.http://wikimapia.org/18878663/Sultan-Mohammed-Khan-Telai-Mausoleum

Notable descendants

* H.M. Nadir Shah,

King of Afghanistan This article lists the heads of state of Afghanistan since the foundation of the first modern Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709. History The Hotak Empire was formed after a successful uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan trib ...

* H.M. Zahir Shah,

* H.R.H. Daoud Khan,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and first

President of Afghanistan The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. On 15 August 2021, as th ...

*H.R.H. General Amir Muhammad Khan,

and General *H.R.H. Prof. Dr. Sardar Abdul Khalek Khan, Prince of Afghanistan, Afghan Pioneer of Science, Afghan Ambassador to the UN, Minister of traffic of the Republic of Afghanistan

References

{{Authority control 1795 births 1861 deaths Emirs of Afghanistan Pashtun people

Early history and background

Political power and death

Notable descendants

See also

References