Ajab Khan Afridi

This article is about Pashtun independence fighter against British rule in India. For assassin of the Viceroy of British-Occupied India, see Sher Ali Afridi.

Ajab Khan Afridi
عجب خان اپریدی
Bornc. 1866
Darra Adam Khel, Frontier Tribal Areas, British India
(present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
Died8 January 1961 (aged 94–95)
Mazār, Balkh, Afghanistan[1]
Resting placeMazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
Known forIndian independence movement against the British Raj

Ajab Khan Afridi (Pashto: عجب خان اپریدی) was an Afghan guerrilla fighter from Darra Adam Khel in the Frontier Tribal Areas belonging to the Afridi tribe of Pashtuns. Following a raid on his house by a British Indian Army detachment in 1923, Afridi declared it a personal affront to his honor and was ordered by his mother to take revenge on the army officers who had led the raid.[2]

Afridi, along with four other villagers, attacked Kohat Cantonment. The wife of a British officer, Major Ellis, was stabbed and killed during the attack and they kidnapped Ellis' daughter, Molly.[3][4][5][6]

Ajab Khan and his men also fought numerous skirmishes with British soldiers.[7]

On 8 January 1961, Ajab Khan Afridi died at the age of 95 in Mazar-i-Sharif in the Balkh Province of the Kingdom of Afghanistan.[1]

Legacy

Ajab Khan Afridi is celebrated as a hero in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, inspiring three films about his life.[7] The 1961 Urdu language film "Ajab Khan" depicted his battles against the British.[7] In 2018, a statue of Ajab Khan Afridi was erected at Abbas Chowk in his hometown, Darra Adam Khel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[8][9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Hussain, S. Iftikhar (29 August 2008). Some major Pukhtoon tribes along the Pak-Afghan border. The University of Michigan: Area Study Centre, 2000. p. 62.
  2. ^ عمر آفریدی (9 April 2015). "تیراہ: شدت پسندی قبائلی سرشت میں ہے؟". bbc.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Ajab Khan Afridi".
  4. ^ Abdul Sami Paracha (19 May 2017). "Freedom fighter Akbar Khan's grave needs govt attention". dawn.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Ajab Khan Afridi". thenews.com.pk. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Rescue of Mollie Ellis, captured by Afridi bandits in NWFP, 1923". thefridaytimes.com. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Suhayb, Muhammad (28 March 2021). "Flashback: The Epic Story of Ajab Khan". Dawn. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  8. ^ "درہ آدم خیل میں عجب خان آفریدی کا مجسمہ نصب". islamtimes.org. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  9. ^ Nazar Ul Islam (4 January 2019). "Haunted by militancy, Pakistani town welcomes library built above gun market". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. ^ Nazar Ul Islam (6 January 2019). "Militancy weary Pakistan town welcomes library built above arms market". saudigazette.com.sa. Retrieved 19 May 2020.