Muhammad Habib Khan Tarin (1829-December 1888),

Risaldar Risaldar, meaning the commander of a ''risala'' or ''risalah'' (a body of horse, regardless if troop or regiment) in Persian, is a mid-level rank in cavalry and armoured units of the Indian and Pakistan Army. In other arms, such as the infantry, ...

-''Bahadur'', CSI, was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officer of Tarin descent, who lived in the Hazara region on the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Frontier, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

Background

Muhammad Habib Khan was the son of Karam Khan, settled at

Talokar (village) Talokar is a village located in the Haripur, Pakistan, Haripur district of Hazara region, Hazara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan. Demographics The population of Talokar, according to 2017 census was 8,250. History Talokar was founded during the ...

, near Haripur town, in the Hazara region In 1849, after the conclusion of the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

of 1849, the Punjab and its Frontier were annexed by the British and Major

James Abbott (Indian Army officer) General Sir James Abbott, (12 March 18076 October 1896) was an English military officer in the Bengal Army and an administrator in British India. The city of Abbottabad, in present day Pakistan, was founded by and named after him. Early life ...

was sent as the Hazara's first

Deputy commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

. The Tarin clan, which had previously resisted

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

rule, refused to accept the new British rulers and came into conflict with Major Abbott, who deposed many of the tribe's chiefs and leaders and confiscated their lands and properties. Habib Khan was also one of these chieftains and he escaped into the nearby Gandhgarhi hills. The situation became very hazardous for Habib Khan when Major Abbott tightened control over the Gandhgarhi hills and environs, through the help of the Tahirkheli and Mishwani tribes, and he might have been taken prisoner at this time. However, by chance, Khan came into contact with another British officer Colonel Robert Cornelis Napier (later Field Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala), who was working on a road construction project nearby; and Napier befriended and helped him to obtain an amnesty from the Punjab Government, enabling him to return home.O Tarin and S Najumddin 'Risaldar Sardar Habib Khan Tarin, 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion' in ''Durbar: Journal of the

Indian Military Historical Society Indian Military Historical Society (IMHS) is an organisation and learned society, which is based primarily in the United Kingdom but with a wide membership extending to the British Commonwealth and several other countries around the world. The soci ...

'' UK, Vol 27, No 2, Summer 2010, pp 67-74. The authors cite Mc Crae (1933) and other military sources

Military career

Napier realised that he could be an effective native military officer, and he utilised him during the First Black Mountain Campaign of late 1852 and later on, in other campaigns. In Spring 1856, Habib Khan, on Napier's recommendation, went to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, where Captain Thomas Rattray was at that time raising a new battalion for service in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

., and enrolled as a

Jemadar Jemadar or jamadar ( Hindustani: जमादार; جمعدار) is a title used for various military and other officials in the Indian subcontinent. Etymology The word stems from Urdu (), which derives through Persian ''jam'dar'' from Arab ...

of the cavalry section of what was then the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion, along with several retainers . After joining the battalion, Habib Khan served with some distinction in the Sonthal ''pargannahs'', until the outbreak of the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

in 1857, when he was put in charge of a semi-independent squadron of cavalry, which "further developed its role as a highly mobile body, employed ad hoc across Bengal and eventually on the North-East Frontier f India.. hecavalry revealed to be a great advantage and this arm was therefore increased to five hundred sabres". During the period May 1857 to August 1858, the regimental history informs that "The troop of cavalry seemed to have seen very strenuous service- its record averages practically ten engagements per man- and Jemadar Hubeeb icKhan heads the list with fourteen engagements". After the end of the Mutiny, Habib Khan was promoted

commanding the cavalry section for his meritorious services, and journeyed to

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

on behalf of the government. In 1864, the infantry section of the 1st Bengal Military Battalion was taken into the line as a regular infantry battalion of the Bengal Army as the 45th (Rattray's Sikhs) Regiment of Native Infantry, and the cavalry section was disbanded, and Habib Khan thereafter retired and left for home. He was a recipient of the

Indian Mutiny Medal __NOTOC__ The Indian Mutiny Medal was a campaign medal approved in August 1858, for officers and men of British and Indian units who served in operations in suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The medal was initially sanctioned for award ...

Later life

On retirement, Habib Khan came back to Hazara area, and also entered into extensive litigation against the Punjab Government, to obtain restitution of a number of his properties, and in settling the affairs of his considerable estates. In 1872, he was made a JP and a Kursi Nasheen for the Talokar Haripur area, and also given the personal title of

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

-''Bahadur'' and awarded the CSI. and received a 'Jangi Inam' (war/veteran soldier's allowance).Govt of Indian Gazette notices, Calcutta 1872, 1875 Between 1868 and 1880 he assisted senior officers in the management of Frontier affairs along the Hazara hills, receiving certificates of commendation from Sir

Herbert Benjamin Edwardes Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes DCL (12 November 1819 – 23 December 1868) was a British administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India. He is best known as the "Hero of Multan" for his pivot ...

and NG Waterfield, Commissioner of the

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Division. Habib Khan actively supported the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

liberal reformer

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898), also spelled Sayyid Ahmad Khan, was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu–Muslim unity, he ...

and his movement to educate Muslim youth according to the contemporary modern standards, what was later to develop into the Aligarh Movement; and along with the likes of Nawab

Muhammad Hayat Khan Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan (c. 1833–1901) was a Punjabi Muslim Landlord who served the Government of British India and rose to considerable distinction. Early life Muhammad Hayat Khan was born a son of Sardar Karam Khan, an Awan chieftain, i ...

and other

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

and

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

leaders, he made significant contributions towards this cause. It was claimed that, "unlike many narrow-minded and bigoted Muslim chiefs" he was a person of eclectic views and followed a liberal, tolerant

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

c perspective, maintaining 'close life-long friendships with his old

and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

colleagues-in-arms'. Among his children, two sons, Khan-sahib

Abdul Majid Khan Tarin Abdul Majid Khan Tarin (also spelt Abdul Majeed Khan) (1877–1939), Khan-Sahib, OBE, was a magistrate, MLA and philanthropist of the North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955), North West Frontier Province of former British India. Early life ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, and Abdul Latif Khan Tarin, IDSM, were notable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarin, Muhammad Habib Khan 1829 births 1888 deaths People from Haripur District People from British India Administrators in British India British Indian Army officers Companions of the Order of the Star of India

Background

Military career

Later life

See also

Further reading

References