Ajab Khan Afridi

Saleem Ansar’s “Pages from History” column in The News contains very interesting and important information from history. From these we learn how the wily British obtained control over the subcontinent with the help of only a few people. They even managed to tame the fierce Pathans, whose history is full of tales of bravery.
I became interested in Ajab Khan Afridi after reading Mr Ansar’s column on the subject, which had been reproduced from the book And Then the Pathan Murders by Prof Mohammad Ali, vice chancellor of Peshawar University (University Book Agency, 1966). Ajab Khan has always been a legendary figure. Many books and articles have been written about his heroic exploits and a film made about his life became very popular.
Ajab Khan was one of the two sons of Sherdil Khan Afridi, the other being Shahzada Khan. They lived in a village near Kohat called Jawaki. There were always skirmishes between the Pathans and the British. One night the British sent troops to the village, surrounded it and searched each and every house for arms. They totally ignored the sensibilities and customs of the locals and misbehaved with women.
They enraged Ajab Khan and his brother, and the two, together with three friends, went to Kohat on April 13, 1923, entered the house of Major Ellis where they barged into the bedroom where Mrs Ellis and Miss Molly Ellis were sleeping. Seeing the two brothers, Mrs Ellis started screaming and wouldn’t stop, despite being ordered to do so. Shahzada Khan then killed her by a dagger.
Ajab Khan picked up Miss Ellis, slung her over his shoulder and spirited her away to the tribal area just a few kilometres away. He took her to his mother and asked her to take good care of the girl. Miss Ellis later told Prof Bangash (more about him later) that Ajab Khan never looked her straight in the eye. If they met by chance, he would lower his gaze and quickly remove himself. She was 18 years old at the time.
The strange thing

about this whole incident is that, while Major Ellis and his family were living adjacent to the residence of the brigade commander, no one came to see what the commotion was about.
Tirah Valley is familiar to me, because the founder of the Muslim dynasty in Bhopal, Sardar Dost Mohamed Khan and his colleagues, were from there and were posted at Raisen Fort near Bhopal by Aurangzeb. After Aurangzeb’s death, Kamla Pate, the Rani of Bhopal, invited Dost Mohammad to take control over Bhopal state. She was a widow and wanted to live quietly. The dynasty founded by Dost Mohammad lasted 240 years, until 1948.
Ajab Khan’s daring action made headlines in England and America and shook the very foundations of the British Empire. Dr Wilma Heston and Mumtaz Nasir mention in their book Ajab Khan Afridi (2005) how The New York Times portrayed Ajab Khan and his colleagues as savages who devoted their entire lives to hunting, fighting and brigandage. It also claimed that it was a lady doctor by the name of Mrs Starr who rescued Miss Ellis.
After the incident, Khan Bahadur Mohammad Quli Khan, political agent for Khurram Agency, was requested by Chief Commissioner Sir John Maffey to intervene and help rescue Miss Ellis. Khan Bahadur Mohammad Quli Khan was the grandfather of Gen Ali Quli Khan, one of the Pakistani army’s finest generals whom Nawaz Sharif bypassed to make Gen Musharraf COAS.
The political agent, accompanied by his assistant, Moghal Baz Khan, went to Tirah. The lady doctor, Mrs Starr (popularly known as “Sitara Bibi”) accompanied them to provide any medical care that could be needed. When the mission was about to leave, they were joined by Dr Abdul Rahim Khan Bangash, a British-trained doctor.
Dr Bangash’s son, Dr Mohammad Yousuf Bangash, a world-renowned expert on nuclear structures, is a dear friend of mine and narrated his father’s side of the story to me. Gen Ali Quli Khan knows from family sources that the “rescuers” were accommodated in Tirah as personal guests of the famous spiritual leader and resistance fighter, Faqir Ipi.
To the best of my knowledge, this information has never been published before. The younger Bangash, upon his return to London after having worked with Nasa, came to know that Miss Ellis was living at Farnham in Surrey. He informed her that he was the son of Dr Abdul Rahim Khan who was associated with her release from Tirah, and they subsequently kept in touch. In 1973 Miss Ellis arranged a reception for former British Officers who had served in British India.
She also invited Prof Bangash and his wife. There were about 20 officers. Miss Ellis arrived about 20 minutes late but the guests were meanwhile served with drinks and snacks. The invitees and Miss Ellis reminisced about the good old days in Kohat and Peshawar. When the reception was over and the guests were leaving, Miss Ellis requested Prof Bangash and his wife to remain.
They then talked about that episode. She told them that she had never harboured any hard feelings against Ajab Khan. He had been a thorough gentleman-warm, handsome and very polite. “You remind me of him and other Pathans of Kohat,” she said. “I really miss that period. I did not want to leave Kohat, but after coming back from Tirah, they packed me up and sent me back to London. I longed to visit Kohat one day and perhaps to be able to meet Ajab Khan, but fate had different ideas. I never met anyone I wanted to marry.”
In their book, Dr Heston and Mumtaz Nasir have mentioned that an interpreter was informed by a journalist that he had by chance met Miss Ellis’s housemaid in a London subway. She confirmed that Miss Ellis had fallen in love with Ajab Khan but that he had very politely refused to entertain any such relationship, saying that he had been sorry to have taken such drastic action, but that it was in revenge for the insults to his mother and the other ladies of his community.
In 1983 Miss Molly Ellis came to Pakistan, visited Kohat and renewed old memories. She was warmly received and was overwhelmed by the hospitality shown to her. She did not speak a word against Ajab Khan who had already passed away in 1959 on the Afghan side of the border and was buried there. May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace. Ameen.
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khan@gmail.com