Umra Khan | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Umra Khan | |
| Khan of Jandol | |
| In office 1881 – 11 September 1904 | |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Zaman Khan |
| Succeeded by | Nawabzada Shahabuddin Khan |
| Nawab of Dir | |
| In office 1890–1895 | |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Sharif Khan |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Sharif Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1860 |
| Died | 11 September 1904(1904-09-11) (aged 43–44) |
| Resting place | Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Known for | Resistance against theBritish Raj |
| Nickname | The Afghan Napoleon |
GhaziKhan Umra Khan of Jandol (c. 1860 – 1904), also called "The AfghanNapoleon",[1][2][3][4] was aPashtun chief on the north-western frontier ofBritish India, who was chiefly responsible for theChitral Expedition of 1895 sent by theBritish authorities to relieve thefort atChitral.[5] The expedition resulted in a British victory and Umra fled to Afghanistan.[6] Umra was theKhan of Jandol and captured thestate of Dir and reigned as itsNawab from 1890 to 1895.[7][8]
He was the younger son of theKhan ofJandol who were aTarkalani[a] ruling class; but he killed his elder brother, seized the throne, and made himself a power on the frontier.[5]
In 1894 he held undisputed sway over almost the whole ofBajour, when his restless ambition caused him to interfere in the internal affairs ofChitral. He instigated Afzal ul-Mulk, a son of Chitral's MehtarAman ul-Mulk, to murder his brother Nizam ul-Mulk, and then overthrew thefratricide and supported the claims of his uncle Sher Afzul to the throne. TheGovernment ofBritish India intervened and ordered Umra to leaveChitral. When he refused, theChitral Expedition was despatched; Umra Khan was driven into exile inAfghanistan, and died there in 1904.[5][9][10][11][12]Winston Churchill, in his book titled the Malakand Field Force, has variously referred to him as "the most important man between Chitral and Pashawar." and "Afghan Napoleon".[13] The book was written by Churchill when he visited the area as a war correspondent with British Forces.
Churchill writes that after the Chitral expedition of 1895, Umra Khan was expelled from the territories he had captured, and escaped to Kabul.[14] In what Churchill called "all against all" in a power grab in these valleys, "[i]n Barwa itself, Umra Khan slew his brother, not in hot anger or open war, but coldly and deliberately from behind. Thus he obtained power..."[14]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Umra Khan".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 577.