Sardar Jahan Khan Popalzai

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Jahan Khan Durrani

That was the first half of the eighteenth century A.D. in India. The once acclaimed Taimurid dynasty was in the worst condition. Suddenly, there appeared on the Indian horizon a star that surprisingly changed the plight of the Muslim community of the Indian sub-continent. That unforgettable personality, the great Ahmad Shah Abdali or Durrani of Afghanistan, will forever be remembered due to his splendid deed of emancipating the helpless and suppressed Indian Muslim population from the valiant Marathas who were growing more and more powerful those days by inflicting upon them the crushing defeat at Panipat.

The Indian Muslims, having seen the days of their prestigious past on the very this land, were facing severe hardships at the hands of the Sikhs, the Hindu Jats, the Sutnami  Faqirs, and then the ferocious Marathas from the Deccan peninsula, a new scourge for them since the time of Aurang Zeb Alamgir, only because of the mutual rivalries and strong enmities of the central and the local Muslim authorities.

It can be said without doubt that the credit of the epoch making victory at the field of Panipat goes to another person also who is always mentioned very briefly in the books of history. That man is the legendry Sardar Jahan Khan Popalzai, the Sippa Salare Aala; in other words, the commander-in-chief of the forces of Abdali.

Names and Various Posts

Professor Ganda Singh, in his valuable work, Ahmad Shah Durrani, writes that he at first bore the name Jan Khan, then during some later period he was called Jahan Khan. Some historians assert that his name was Jahandad Khan; however, Ahmad Shah Abdali appointed this Popalzai chief the supreme head of his armies at the Grand Jirga or meeting held at the Shrine of Sher Surkh in the vicinity of the southern city of Kandahar. In that meeting, Ahmad had been declared the king of the Afghans and at that moment he had announced the names of all the important officials of his government; such as, the post of prime minister was given to the chief Begi Khan who later became known as Shah Wali Khan, and Shah Pasand Khan was appointed  Amire Lashkar. In addition to the duties of Army chief, Jahan Khan was appointed the minister of war as well which is termed as the minister of defense nowadays.

Sardar Jahan Khan bore several other titles also, as (1) the Khane Khanan, meaning first of all the nobles, (2) the Ameere Bizen, meaning the official who possesses the authority of announcing war against the enemy as well as of announcing peace against them under the instruction of the king. The post equivalent to that was that of the Harold in medieval England.

Birth Place and family

The exact date of birth of Sardar Jahan Khan is unknown, but it may be conjectured that he would have born in 1710 A.D. Since he is buried near the tomb of Hazrat Ji near Kandahar, it may be inferred that his birth place was the region of Kandahar where his forefathers would have settled in the remote past.

He had three sons of whom one was killed during the war with the Sikhs in the battle at Sialkot. The other two are described as Sardar Kareem Khan and Sardar Hamza Khan. Besides them, Jahan Khan had a daughter named Mahrukh Begum. It is found in historical records that Jahan Khan had another brother named Sardar Aman Khan Popalzai who also was a prominent figure in the court of Ahmad Shah, and the King used to assign him important duties related to the foreign office. One of his sons is known in history by the name of Zaal Beg Popalzai. He also held a respectable position in the court of Ahmad Shah.

Indian Campaigns

Abdali, having conquered Qandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul, proceeded to Peshawer to take that city and punish Naseer Khan who had been the previous Taimurid governer of Kabul and then maintained by Abdali on his former position, but being faithful neither to his earlier bosses, whether Nadirshah or Muhammd Shah, he proved disloyal to Ahmad Shah as well. Though the Shah kept him as governor of Kabul and he; in return, gave him the hand of his daughter, he fled to Peshawer and took refuge there, trying to gather the local pathan chiefs around him against Abdali but in vain. Abdul Samad Khan of Charsadda escaped from there and joined Ahmad Shah in Kabul.

Ahmad Shah sent his general Jahan Khan to tackle with Naseer Khan. He was in time reinforced by Abdul Samad Khan. Naseer Khan had resolved to block the Khyber Pass and thus check the progress of Durranis, but Jahan Khan dashed lie an eagle and entered the Peshawar valley in no time. Poor Naseer Khan fled from there to the land Chhach Hazara and remained there hidden for a while. As soon as Ahmad Shah Abdali arrived Peshawar, he directed Jahan Khan to leave no stone unturned in searching for Naseer and ousting him from Chhach. Jahan Khan chased him continuously and, at last, he went to Lahore and thence to the capital, Delhi. Jahan Khan returned to Peshawar and started preparing for the assault on India under the instructions of his master, the Durre Durran. 

In the second attack on Punjab in 1747 A.D, Jahan Khan started from Peshawar with some troops and marched forward. He was accompanied by a contingent of the Khataks at Attok. Some days later, the Shah also departed from Kabul following Jahan Khan and reached Chenab River. The Taimurid governor of Punjab, Nawab Mueenul Mulk, when heard about the Shah’s coming, advanced towards west and stayed on the east bank of the Chenab River. Ahmad Shah kept Mueenul Mulk engaged by the Chenab and sent Jahan Khan towards Lahore. Jahan Khan, having plundered the whole area, reached the Ravi River and camped at Shahdara outside Lahore.

Mueenul Mulk had left Sayyid Ewaz Khan to protect Lahore from Durranis. Ewaz struggled bravely for full two months to defend the city and did not let it in the hands of Jahan Khan. Jahan Khan at last came back from Shahdara and joined the king. The governor could not receive succor from Delhi, so he had to sign a peace treaty with Ahmad Shah. Shah went back to Kabul victoriously, making Mir Mueenul Mulk agree upon paying the annual revenues of the four fertile districts of Sialkot, Aurangabad, Gujrat, and Pasroor amounting to 14,00,000 Rs.  

Third Expedition To India

Before his third attack in 1751 A.D, Ahmad Shah instructed his two prominent generals Sardar Jahan Khan and the Muhammadzai Abdul Samad Khan to advance to India with their troops. By mid November Jahan Khan had reached Rohtas from Attock and on Dec 1st he got to Aimanabad near Gujranwala, having crossed the Jehlum and Chenab rivers. The king also followed him step by step camping eventually in the vicinity of Wazirabad.. Then around mid January A.D. 1752, he crossed the Ravi River and through the Niaz Beg Thokar, he reached Shalimar and camped there while Jahan Khan’s raiding party ravaged the area lying between the Chenab and Ravi. There had been a few skirmishes between the musketeers of both sides off and on for several days, but not any kind of regular warfare.

Jahan adaptad the direct route to the city and crossed the Ravi through the Ghazi Ghat, and entered Faiz Bagh. Mueenul Mulk sent Khwaja Mirza Jan with Abdullah Khan and others to free Faiz Bagh from Jahan Khan. They struggled hard to check Jahan Khan’s progress and; at last, he left Faiz Bagh and joined Abdali at Shalimar.   During this invasion, the chiefs in Lahore were so obsessed with Jahan Khan that they agreed upon killing him through thick or thin in the battle.  

At last, a peace treaty was signed between the Shah and the governor, Mir Mueenul Mulk, according to which he agreed upon paying a sum of Rs 3000,000 to Abdali. Abdali started for his country via Multan where he stayed for a few days, appointing Ali Muhammad Khan the Naib Nazim of Multan. Ali Muhammad Khan complained about the Daud Potras of Bahawalpur; Jahan khan organized an army of 5000 men and advanced against them. Mubarak Khan and several other chiefs fought with 3000 men with Jahan Khan at Kherpur. Jahan Khan was defeated but Bahawalpur was, however, still in the possession of the Khan. Mubarak Khan sent a message to Jahan Khan for making peace; Jahan Khan accepted that, and a treaty was signed between them on reasonable terms. After that, Jahan Khan returned to Qandahar, following the Shah. 

 

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