Mohammad Akbar Khan (the first son of King Zahir Shah)

Mohammad Akbar Khan (the first son of King Zahir Shah) in national dress, Kabul, 1940 (c). He was named after the hero of the first Anglo-Afghan war. He died in November 1942 when he was only nine years old and his younger brother Ahmad Shah Khan became Crown Prince.

Group photo of the Ameer Sher Ali of Afghanistan, Prince Abdullah Jan and Sardars, 1869

Group photo of the Ameer Sher Ali of Afghanistan, Prince Abdullah Jan, and Sardars, 1869. Photo by Jan Burke. Source

Kashmir shawl, attributed to Muhammad Azim Khan Barakzai, the Pashtun governor of Kashmir between 1813 and 1819

 

Source

Persian text stitched onto the shawl, which reads:

 یا حسین
فرمایش نواب اشرف والا
محمد عظیم خان

‘O Hussain; ordered by the most noble governor Nawab Mohammed Azim Khan’

 

Mohammed Azim Khan Barakzai was one of the last Pashtun governors of Kashmir, between c. 1813 and 1819. He was a younger brother of Fath Ali Khan Barakzai, the king’s wazir, who had obviously appointed his younger brother to the governorship in Kashmir. However, Fath Ali Khan was tortured to death (blinded, flayed and dismembered) in 1818 on the orders of the king, Shah Mahmud Sadozai. Upon hearing the news of his elder brother’s death, Mohammed Azim Khan left his position in Kashmir and managed, together with his many other Barakzai brothers, to oust Shah Mahmud and his Sadozai clan and take charge of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

A few years later, in 1823, Azim Khan intended to battle Sikhs at Nowshera east of Peshawar but he abandoned his local Pashtuns allies and retreated to Kabul, and soon afterwards he died of dysentery in the Lataband Pass, just east of Kabul. His son, Habibullah Khan, succeeded him in Kabul, but he was soon pushed aside by his uncles. One of these, Dost Mohammed Khan, would by c.1825 take charge in Kabul and gradually extend his control, until, by his death in 1863, he would rule almost all of what today we recognize as the republic of Afghanistan. Source

Source

Prince Inayatullah Khan (elder brother of the king of Afghanistan), his wife (sister of Queen Soraya) and their children. Kabul, October 13, 1927

Prince Inayatullah Khan (elder brother of the king of Afghanistan), his wife (sister of Queen Soraya) and their children. Kabul, October 13, 1927.

Indian Portrait of Dost Muhammad Khan Barakzai (1793-1863)

 

Portrait depicting Amir Dost Muhammad Khan Barakzai. Made in Punjab, probably Lahore, circa 1840-50 AD. Source

An Indian portrait depicting Dost Muhammad Khan Barakzai (1793-1863). Source

Cabinet card of Sher Ali, Amir of Afghanistan, photograph from an engraving.

 

Source: The Library of Trinity College Dublin

Prince Nasrullah Khan of Afghanistan

Prince Nasrullah Khan of Afghanistan at home, dictating orders to government officials, 1893. From "The Graphic", 6 July 1895.  Artist: William Small . Source

Prince Nasrullah Khan (son of Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan) having a tooth extracted in front of the soldiers of his father's army at Kabul. Drawn by W. Small ; From a sketch by Dr. J.A. Gray, surgeon to the Amir of Afghanistan. Source

Two followers of Sultan Muhammad Khan Barakzai, 1838

 

Two followers of Sultan Muhammad Khan Barakzai, 1838. Painting by Emily Eden. Source

Muhammad Akram Khan: the third son of the Amir Dost Muhammad Khan Barakzai, 1842

Muhammad Akram Khan: the third son of the Amir Dost Muhammad Khan Barakzai, 1842.

He commanded the Commanded the Afghan Cavalry at the Battle of Gujrat in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. 

Inscription content: MUHUMMUD UKRUM KHAN: Third Son of the UMEER DOST MUHUMMUD KHAN Afghan Commanded the Afghan Cavalry at the Battle of Goojarat when (?) (Dost Muhummud - the present Umeer or Ruler of Caubul) is I believe of the Barakzye family, allied to the Persians C.G. Inscription note: Printed and handwritten in pencil.

 Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_As2006-Prt-334

Prince Hidayatullah Khan of Afghanistan

Prince Hidayatullah Khan with 36 other Afghan students go to Paris school, March 27, 1922. Press Photo. 

Caption: "The son and heir of the king of Afghanistan with other princes and sons of the notables of the court of Afghanistan are now studying in Paris at the Lycee Mich Elet. Our picture shows the crown prince of Afghanistan."

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Prince Hidayatullah, Paris, 1929. Press photo.

Caption : Hidayatullah, the eldest son of ruler of Afghanistan, who is a student in one of leading schools in Paris, where he has proved to be unusually clever in grasping the studies of languages and the fundamentals of the civic government." 

Mausoleum of Amir Abdur-Rahman, Kabul, Afghanistan, 1922. Photo by Lowell Thomas or Harry A. Chase.

 

Amir Amanullah Khan and his two daughters at Paghman Gardens, Afghanistan, 1922

 

Amir Amanullah Khan and his two daughters at Paghman Gardens, Afghanistan, 1922. Photo by Lowell Thomas or Harry A. Chase.

Amir Habibullah Khan and Ulya Janab, his fourth wife

 

Amir Habibullah Khan and Ulya Janab, his fourth wife. She was sister of Nader Khan who would later become King. She had been brought up in exile in British India.

Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan in Rawal Pindi, 1885

Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan meeting Lord Dufferin at Rawalpindi, 1885. Photo by John Burke. Photo courtesy: Farrukh Husain (@silkroad.booksandphotos)

The Amir of Afghanistan (Abdur Rahman Khan) with the Viceroy, Lord Dufferin, and staff, Rawalpindi, 1885.

Escort of the Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan, Rawal Pindi durbar, 1885.

Ghazi Muhammad Ayub Khan (1857–1914)

Wood engraving of Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan

He was third son of Amir Sher Ali Khan and full brother to Amir Yaqub Khan. Born in 1857 from a Mohmand mother, daughter of Saadat Khan, Chief of Lalpura.

During Second Anglo-Afghan War (after British deposed Ayub's brother Yakub Khan), Ayub Khan led an army from his governorship of Herat, and defeated a British force at Maiwand on 26 July 1880. The disastrous defeat of British arms in Asia could not go unchallenged, so Lt. General Sir Fredrick Roberts was dispatched to Kandahar with a picked mobile force of 9,987 men. The British won a decisive victory, and Ayub Khan returned to Herat.

In August 1887, Ayub Khan left his exile in Teheran and slipped into Afghanistan, but before he could lead a serious insurrection against his cousin in order to seize the throne, he encountered Afghan authorities who had learned of his presence at Ghurian, a town west of Herat, and he had to flee into the desert of that area where he suffered privations. 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 the Durrani Graveyard, Peshawar.

Amir Abdur Rahman Khan (historical photos)

Abdur Rahman, Ameer of Afghanistan, 1885. From the Graphic Illustrated Weekly Magazine, 1885.

Nawab Jabbar Khan Barakzai

The Nawab Jabbar Khan , brother of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan ,Kabul. 1835-1838 (painted) , by Godfrey Thomas Vigne

Achakzai tribe

The Achakzai is a sub-clan of Barakzai division of Durranis and the Barakzai Amirs and Kings of Afghanistan were their kinsmen. They are descendants of Achak Baba who is buried at Sra Karuna. Ahmad Shah Abdali, who feared the growing number of Barakzais, ousted Achakzais from Kandahar and surrounding area, and they separated from their parent stock. The clan left its parental home in Maruf and migrated eastward, and occupied the tract that is known as the Achakzai Toba. The Tarins then occupied this tract. However, the Nurzai, Alekozai and Achakzai gradually supplanted them. Presently they occupy Khwaja Amran Range in the Chaman sub-division, Inayatullah Karez, Chur Badezai, Khurgi and Anzari in the Pishin district.

Of the sections in Baluchistan, the Badea occupies Iskam Kaur, Arambi, Chinar and the Gwal Valley in Toba, the Ashezi part of the Sahora, Speslum and Tabina, the Hamidzai Tashrobat and adjoining valleys, the Nasratzai Farrakhi and Usmanzai occupy the country near the Ghwaza Pass.

The name Abdali is still used, though sparingly for the Achakzais, who became localized in Toba and are regarded a separate political unit from the rest of the Durranis. Some of the Achakzai families of Usmanzai clan are also found in Afghanistan as far as Uruzgan and Herat.

Etymology of Killa Abdullah district 

The district Killa Abdullah is named after a fort which was founded by Sardar Abdullah Khan Achakzai in early 19th century. The latter purchased Dehsora Karez from Kakars and Chasma Inzargai from Ashezai Achakzais and built a fort there and gave the place his own name. It was square shaped.

Abdullah Khan Achakzai's father Shadi Khan was an Arzbegi in the Durrani court (the arzbegi was responsible for dealing with claims against officials submitted by citizens). Around 1819, a quarrel took place between the two sons of Shadi Khan Arzbegi, in which Yar Muhammad Khan lost his life at the hands of Abdullah Khan, his younger brother. Quetta-Pishin Gazetteer (1907) records an anecdote about the manner of death which Abdullah Khan inflicted on Yar Muhammad Khan:

"In order to get rid of his elder brother, who stood between him and the inheritance, he caused him to be seized and buried him up to the chin in the earth. A rope was then fastened round his neck and to the end of it was haltered a wild horse: the animal was then driven round in a circle untill the unhappy victim's head was twisted from his shoulders."

During First Anglo-Afghan war, Haji Sarbuland Khan (son of Yar Muhammad Khan) and Saleh Muhammad Khan (Yar Muhammad Khan's nephew) espoused the cause of Saddozais and supported the British while Abdullah Khan, supported by the whole of the Achakzai tribe, took the Barakzai side and bitterly opposed the British advance in the area. He and his two sons were killed in the battle of the 23rd of September of 1841, in Kabul. Haji Sarbuland Khan was wounded fighting on the British side.

In 1907 Killa Abdullah was divided into three parts; the village; the railway station, the fort and serai; and the bazar. Its population in 1907 was 344 (males 182, females 162) and comprised 212 Achakzais, 40 Sayyids, 77 Kakars and 15 others. It possessed a mosque in charge of an Imam, who lived on zakat, and three rooms for students (talibs). The water supply to the village was from Dehsora karez the water being stored in a tank. The village possessed ten gardens, which covered an area of over 29 acres, the princapal fruits being grapes of the haita, sara kishmishi, and sahibi varieties, apricots, almonds and quinces. The Kandahari dealers bought the fruit and exported it to Quetta. It realized about Rs.2,000 per annum. Melons and watermelons were also grown.

Achakzai troopers, 1840 (c)

Achakzais launched fierce and frequent attacks on the baggage of Lord Keane’s army which in 1839. To keep open the communication through their country, a body of two hundred horsemen, was raised from among them and was stationed in the fort. A detachment of the 20th Bombay Infantry of British-Indian army was subsequently sent to strengthen the post, but circumstances necessitated the withdrawal of British from the fort. The Achakzais troopers deserted the British and cut down some of the British Infantry as they went off. In the painting by James Atkinson, their Commander, Rissaldar Ghulam Khan, is represented on horseback, while two dismounted troopers occupy the foreground. Their uniform was a tunic of green cloth, and they were armed with matchlock, sword, and shield. 

References:

1- "History of the Pathans" by Haroon Rashid, Vol-1
2- Hayat-i-Afghani
3- An account of the kingdom of Caubul, and its dependencies by Elphinstone
4- Quetta-Pishin Gazetteer (1907)

5- Fort of Killeh Abdooleh. Troopers of the Auchukzye

Fort of Killa Abdullah. Troopers of the Achakzai horse. 1847's painting by James Atkinson

Sar Buland Achakzai(the seated one) , Photograph by Burke (1878-1880).

Chaman Bazaar (Qilla Abdullah District, Balochistan Province). 1889's photo by Fred Bremner

Chaman Bazaar (Qilla Abdullah District, Balochistan Province). 1889's photo by Fred Bremner printed on postcard.

An Uchakzai Pashtun, Pishin valley, ca. 1889. Drawing from a photograph with notes on headwear.