Wednesday, July 7, 2021

PESHAWAR GRAVEYARD OF DURRANI AFGHAN ROYALS FAMOUS FOR 2ND ANGLO AFGHAN WAR 1878.

 


Grave of Prince Ayub Khan in Peshawar 



The tablet at the cemetery gate reads: "The mausoleum of  Maiwand's Victor Ghazi Sardar Mohammed Ayub Khan" (b.1855 d.1914). Afghan Prince Ayub Khan's tomb made of pure white marble is a fine example of hand craftsmanship. It has a round canopy and bears beautiful floral carvings, geometric patterns and Islamic calligraphy.






The mausoleum's construction was commissioned by the government of Afghanistan during the reign of King Amir Habibullah Khan. The gravestone carries a Persian inscription that lavishes much praise on the inmate. 


Other dignitaries buried in the Durrani Graveyard compound include: 

1. Mother of Prince Ayub Khan and wife of King Ameer Sher Ali and queen of Afghanistan), 
2. Sardar Ibrahim Khan (brother),
3. Sardar Jalaluddin Khan 
4. and other close family members of the monarchy. 



Door Way Plaque 



The graveyard also has rare historic headstones dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s when Peshawar was ruled by the Durrani Pashtuns Dynasty of Afghanistan and their Rule extended from Afghanistan to Delhi.




Queen of Afghanistan at Wazir Bagh Peshawar  mother of  Prince Ayub Khan 




Location:

In the compound of Shiekh Habib Baba Ziarat (near 'Beejo ka Makbara') near Wazir Bagh Road outside walled city of Peshawar) Located on the southern side outside the walled city of Peshawar on Wazir Bagh Road Near the Famous Wazir Bagh .

There  is a historic muslim cemetery dating back to 1700 and 1800 at , the time when Peshawar was the winter capital of Afghanistan and Delhi under the Durrani Empire of Pashtuns Ahmadzai Branch of Yousafzai.

In Peshawar Near Wazir Bagh lies the tomb of Afghan prince Sardar Ayub Khan of Maiwand fame. He was the son of Sher Ali, Amir (King) of Afghanistan, and cousin of Amir Abdur Rahman.


Introduction of The Victor of Maiwand Prince Sardar Muhammad Ayub Khan:  


Durrani Empire was Started by Ahmad Shah Abdai Durrani who was Titled Durrani ( King of Kings  ) as He was Destined to be King of Afghanistan , India ( Pakistan Included )  , at same time .  After Ahmad Shah His some Timur Shah Took over and then Zaman Shah and Kamran Shah and Later ,Dost Muhammad Durrani and followed by Amir Sher Ali Durrani .

This Dynasty lasted in India till 1857 and in Afghanistan till Sardar Daud Durrani in 1980,s  who was Killed by Taliban / Mujahideen .

Amir Sher Ali son was Prince Ayub Khan Durrani and he was also Governor of Herat and Kandahar Province. 





Prince Ayub Khan 1855-1914




He was an Afghan National hero and Prince of India Sub continent and Afghanistan and He was the son of the King Ameer Shere Ali, who ruled Afghanistan from 1863-1878. Ayub Khan was born in 1855 and spent most of his early life in Afghanistan. of Afghanistan and rests in a small marble mausoleum in this Durrani Graveyard, Peshawar. 

After Ayub Khan father's King of Afghanistan Amir Sher Ali Khans demise and Ayub Khan became the governor of Herat and His brother King Amir Yakub Khan ascended the throne as King of Indian Sub Continent and Afghanistan , as Durand Line was not Made Till 1898 and Afghanistan Possessed all Area of Pakistan and Indian till Delhi India .





King Amir Sher Ali King of Indian sub Continent till Delhi 


Sardar Muhammad Ayub Khan is revered as a freedom fighter and national hero in Afghanistan. 

19th century poets have composed ballads about the 'Ghazi of Maiwand' and glorified him for giving the foreign invaders a bloody nose. There is a monument of the battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan. 

The tower, known as Minar-e-Maiwand was erected by King Zahir Shah Durrani in 1959 in the town square.





Malalaa Of Maiwand 


A Pashto inscription, taken from a poem, relates a legend how at one stage the Afghans were Preparing for retreat when a young woman named Malalai, stepped forward and pleaded to them: "If you do not taste of martyrdom today on this field of Maiwand, by God I am afraid you'll lead an ignominious life forever." It is recounted, upon hearing this the men turned back to win the battle.

A colossal cast-iron lion statue in the memory of the men of 66th Regiment of Foot who died at Maiwand stands in Forbury Gardens, Reading in Berkshire England UK. 





The Maiwand Lion, Forbury Gardens, Reading 2.jpg
Maiwand Lion at Forbury Gardens commemorating the fallen Soldiers 




The Maiwand Lion is a sculpture and war memorial in the Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was erected in 1886 to commemorate the deaths of 329 men from the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot during the campaign in Afghanistan between 1878 and 1880. It is sometimes known locally as the Forbury Lion.






The Maiwand Lion features on the front page of one of the local newspapers, the Reading Post, and also on the Reading Football Club crest.

The regiment lost approximately 329 to 500 (reports of the number vary) at the battle of Maiwand, having faced an Afghan army by the British contingent. Eleven of the men were Officers, protecting the colours. 

 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his character Doctor Watson on the regiment's Medical officer, Surgeon Major Doctor A F Preston who was injured in battle.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character Watson is actually based on a surgeon of the 66th Regiment. In 'A Study in Scarlet' (1881), Watson describes how he got shot whilst attending to a fallen soldier at Maiwand. "How are you? You have been to Afghanistan, I perceive" are the opening words spoken by Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson. "How on earth did you know that?", Watson asks in admiration. It is the first of many displays of Holmes's brilliant deductive abilities.



Plaque of  Maiwand Lion  at Forbury Park . 

The few remaining survivors that managed to reach the safety of the British garrison at Kandahar, got a medal from Queen Victoria of England on return to their country. One of the medal recipients was a dog named Bobbie.

King Ameer Sher Ali and Sons including Ayub Khan  

The unprecedented British defeat caused a sensation in Europe and provided much literary food for English writers such as Rudyard Kipling who composed a poem entitled 'That Day'. Rudyard Kipling also Invented the Term " The Great Game " which meant the The chasing the Wealth of Center of Earth Afghanistan according to Mc Kinder Theory and found at Silk Route and all the rulers of Indian Sub continent came from Afghanistan for last thousands of Years.

After Prince Ayub Khan's victory under the direction of Field Marshall Frederick Roberts was Sent By East India company to Punish Afghan  after a few months it also left Afghanistan after burning Many Bazaars in Kandahar and Kabul and Punishing Afghans with Brutality that showed lack of humanity and reminded People of Third Rate Barbarism . 

And when the British army drew back into India leaving the Afghans to govern themselves, Ayub's cousin and staunch enemy King Amir Abdur Rahman Khan proclaimed himself Ameer routing Ayub's supporters. 

Ayub Khan was forced to flee to Herat and later sought refuge in Persia where he spent many years in exile. The new King Ameer Abdur Rahman continued to hatch conspiracies against him and made his life difficult even there.

On his part, Ayub Khan tried vainly to topple him and attempted a coup against his cousin but with no luck. As time wore on and the political landscape gradually changed Ayub Khan finally turned himself over to the British emissary in Mashad, Persia. 

He was sent to India as a state prisoner and kept in confinement for sometime. He spent the last years of his life with his family in Lahore, living off a pension fixed by the Government of India. He died on April 7, 1914 and was buried in Peshawar.

Today, the Victor of Maiwand rests alone in his glory in a small marble mausoleum in the Durrani Graveyard near Wazir Bagh, Peshawar , just outside the old walled city of Peshawar.

 His tomb made of pure white marble is a fine example of hand craftsmanship. It has a round canopy and bears beautiful floral carvings, geometric patterns and Islamic calligraphy. The mausoleum's in Peshawar construction was commissioned by the government of Afghanistan during the reign of King Habibullah Khan in 1914. 

The Great Game and Anglo Afghan Wars 

The term 'Great Game' was popularized during the British Empire's conflict with Tsarist Russian Empire in the 19th century. Afghanistan and its monarchs became pawns in this imperial game of rivalry and strategic influence and its outcome was to have a direct bearing on the British Empire's hold over India.

Great Game was Rivalry Between British and Russia over the Riches and Resources of Afghanistan and  Central Asia beyond Afghanistan till Bukhara and Samarkand .

Many Wars were fought to Conquer Afghanistan and expand British Sphere of Influence they are

1. First Anglo Afghan War 1839-1842.
2. Second Anglo Afghan War 1878-1880.
3. Third Anglo Afghan War  1913-1914.

The British had not forgotten the terrible first Afghan War disaster when an entire army of 15,000 was wiped out in 1842 during Retreat from Kabul ending the four years of their initial presence there in Snow and harsh Weather and Pashtun tribes shooting them from Mountains above .

Retribution and vengeance were key considerations that paved the way for another military campaign. Incited by the murder of the British agent Major Louis Cavagnari at the Kabul Residency and to counter the increasing tilt towards Russia by the Afghans, the British army once again advanced into Afghanistan in 1878 commencing the second Afghan War at Maiwand . 

Maiwand is a small village town in Afghanistan, about 45 miles from Kandahar that gained fame during the second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880. It was at this battlefield that the British army suffered its most embarrassing defeat at the hands of Prince Sardar Muhammad Ayub Khan, whose mausoleum is in Peshawar.

Soon after their arrival, the British deposed Ayub's brother Yakub Khan and then a long campaign ensued. The battle at Maiwand was fought on July 27, 1880 when Ayub Khan successfully led 6000 men and intercepted the British army at this place in order to thwart their invasion of Afghanistan. 

The terrible heat of the Afghan summer that year and other logistic difficulties greatly disadvantaged the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment led by General Burrows in its advance and was annihilated by the Afghans who tore through all its lines. The victory is often cited as being perhaps the only instance where an Asiatic leader won a pitched battle fought against a vastly superior European army.

1880 Victory day at Maiwand under Prince Ayub Khan

Prince Ayub Khan confronted the British force commanded by General Burrows at Maiwand, on 27th July 1880, near the close of the Both Second Afghan and First Afghan war are Example of wins one of the very few pitched battles that have been won by any Asiatic leaders over an army under European direction.



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