Sardar Abdullah Khan Alakozai (a Pashtun ruler of Kashmir in early 19th century)

Sardar Abdullah Khan Alkozai (or Alakozai) served as the governor of Kashmir for the Durrani Empire from 1796 to 1800. He then ruled Kashmir independently from 1802 to 1807. In 1798 he commissioned a richly illustrated manuscript of Pashto diwan of Rahman Baba. It is dated to 14th October 1798 and has 47 illustrations. One of the illustrations portrays Abdullah Khan Alkozai and his court.

Sardar Abdullah Khan Alkozai surrounded by his courtiers, Kashmir, 1798 AD. Source

The vast majority of the officials in the above painting appear to be Pashtuns belonging to the ruling Durrani tribe. They are wearing traditional Pashtun turbans, shirts, and waistbands. The turbans are of similar design but with some variations; 16 men are wearing six different color patterns, perhaps indicating the different sub-tribes of Durranis. They are wearing long boots, which were popular footwear in the Khurasan region. The high-ranking officials are sitting on a raised platform under the open sky in a garden. Abdullah Khan Alkozai is leaning against a round pillow. The painting shows that Pashtun Durrani courts were simple but elegant. 

Kashmiri shawls reached the far corners of Europe due to Abdullah Khan Alakozai. A relevant anecdote regarding this narrates that in 1796.A.D, Syed Yahya from Baghdad visited Kashmir. After paying his visit to various religious places of valley he decided to leave. But before his return Abdullah Khan Alakozai presented him the Kashmiri Shawl. The presented Shawl finally reached to Napoleon. From that very day the demand for Kashmiri Shawls at international level increased and France emerged as the biggest exporter of Kashmiri Shawls. France took eighty percent of the exported share alone. Within a calculated period of time these beautiful Shawl wraps became fashionable item for the Western people [1]

Abdullah Khan was held in high regard by both Kashmir and Durranis. His contemporary Mountstuart Elphinstone, who visited Afghanistan in 1809, attests to that as follows: 

"He was a man of good talents and great courage. He is still spoken of with affection by the Cashmerians, and by the Dooraunees who have served under him. He is commended for his love of justice and his skill in administering it; for his liberality, his affable manners, and his princely magnificence. He was also a great encourager of learning and poetry. Perhaps no Dooraunee has left a character so generally admired." (An account of kingdom of Caubul", p-596)

Related posts:

• Kashmir shawl, attributed to Muhammad Azim Khan Barakzai
• Pashtuns of Kashmir (1895)