Saiyed Muhammed Shah, better known by his title as Jan-Fishan Khan, was a 19th-century Afghan

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

.Obituary of Idries Shah, The Independent (London) of 26 November 1996., pp. 19–26 He participated in the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...

(1839–42) and the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, and on both occasions, he supported the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. For his services to the British, Khan was granted the estate of Sardhana and is the forefather of the Nawabs of Sardhana.

Background

Jan-Fishan Khan was the son of an Afghan noble, Saiyed Qutubuddin Hashmi, of

Paghman Paghman (Persian/Pashto: پغمان) is a town in the hills near Afghanistan's capital of Kabul. It is the seat of the Paghman District (in the western part of Kabul Province) which has a population of about 120,000 (2002 official UNHCR est.), ma ...

, the family's ancestral home in Afghanistan. His family has historically claimed descent from

Ali ar-Ridha Ali ibn Musa al-Rida ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُوسَىٰ ٱلرِّضَا, Alī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, 1 January 766 – 6 June 818), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the e ...

, the eighth

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, through

Najmuddin Kubra Najm ad-Dīn Kubrà ( fa, نجم‌الدین کبری) was a 13th-century Khwarezmian Sufi from Khwarezm and the founder of the Kubrawiya, influential in the Ilkhanate and Timurid dynasty. His method, exemplary of a "golden age" of Sufi metap ...

and the Arab Sufi Saiyed Bahaudin Shah.

Life

In the

, Saiyed Muhammed Shah, also known to the British as the "Laird of Pughman",Sale, Florentia Wynch (1844). ''A Journal of the Disasters in Affghanistan, 1841-2''. London: John Murray, pp. 45, 142, 373 supported Shah Shuja and the British Army against other Afghan forces,, p. 13; reprint by Elibron Classics (2001): apparently in order to honour a family allegiance to Shah Shuja. In 1840, he was awarded the title "Jan-Fishan Khan" by Shah Shuja for his support.Text accompanying lithograph depicting Jan-Fishan Khan, Leicester Galleries
Retrieved on 14 November 2008. According to writer James Moore, the title means "The Zealot" (however this is a misunderstanding of the meaning of the Persian idiom which can mean "zealous" in the sense of 'ready to sacrifice one's life', as it is defined in Steingass). First published 1892. New edition 2007.See Steingass dictionar
on-line search
/ref> One of Jan-Fishan Khan's descendants

Saira Shah Saira Shah (born 5 October 1964) is a British author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films. Life Shah was born in London and raised in Kent, England. She was educated at Bryanston Schoo ...

has correctly explained that this ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'' translates literally as "scatterer of souls"., p. 19. Also see similar interpretations of the title i
Sale (1844)
Retrieved on 14 November 2008. Shah recounts that the appellation has a double meaning: first, that of a warlord scattering the souls of his enemies, and second, one based on a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

couplet describing the supplicant's devotion to God: Having accompanied Sir

Robert Sale Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale (19 September 1782 – 21 December 1845) was a British Army officer who commanded the garrison of Jalalabad during the First Afghan War and was killed in action during the First Anglo-Sikh War. Biography ...

's force on its march from

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

, Jan-Fishan Khan was honourably mentioned in despatches for his assistance. In the

, Jan-Fishan Khan again helped the British to quell the mutiny.Letter from Col. R.J.H. Birch, Secretary to the Government of India in ''Indian Mutiny 1857 - 58 -- Vol.1'' briefly mentions Khan's help for the British. Lethbridge (1893) gives the following summary in ''The Golden Book of India'', a genealogical and biographical source: Exiled from

ever since the British retreat from Afghanistan, Jan-Fishan Khan eventually came to settle in Sardhana, a town near

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

in the North-Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, and was given the hereditary title of Nawab of Sardhana in recognition of his services. He had lost several of his sons in the fighting.

The Sardhana estate

According to the ''

Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

'' (1908): On account of services rendered to Sir Alexander Burnes in his Kabul mission, and subsequently to the British in the retreat from Kabul, a pension of Rs. 1,000 a month was given to the family, which settled at Sardhana. As a reward for subsequent help to the British in putting down the Indian mutiny, the title of Nawab Bahadur, and confiscated estates assessed at Rs. 10,000 per annum, were conferred on Jan Fishan Khan, with concessions as to the revenue assessed. The pension was also made permanent. During the lifetime of the first Nawab, and for some time after, the family added largely to the estate, but speculations in

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

and personal extravagance caused losses. The estate was taken under the

Court of Wards The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and liv ...

in 1895, and in 1901 the debts, amounting to 1 million (100,000 = 100,000 Rupees), were paid off by a loan from Government.''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', v. 22, p. 105, Oxford, 1908. Retrieved fro
here
on 2008-11-14. Tradition has it that the town of Sardhana (population 12,059 in 1891, growing to 12,467 in 1901 and 47,970 by 2001) was founded by a Raja Sarkat, whose family ruled there until their expulsion by the Muslims. Sardhana was once famous as the residence of the Catholic ruler

Begum Samru Joanna Nobilis Sombre (– 27 January 1836), popularly known as Begum Samru (née Farzana Zeb un-Nissa),. a convert Catholic Christian started her career as a nautch (dancing) girl in 18th century India, and eventually became the ruler of Sard ...

Sufi connection

According to his descendant

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arko ...

's obituary, as well as being an Afghan warlord, Jan-Fishan Khan was also a

sage. Statements attributed to Jan-Fishan Khan by Idries Shah in his books on Sufism include: "The candle is not there to illuminate itself", "You may follow one stream. Realize that it leads to the Ocean. Do not mistake the stream for the Ocean" and "The visible places of Sufi study are like lamps in the dark. The inner places are like the Sun in the sky. The lamp illuminates an area for a time. The sun abolishes the dark". Khan also features in several

teaching stories A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Su ...

and some didactic passages in these books.Idries Shah, '' The Way of the Sufi'', pp 152, 186, 269-270, Octagon Press, 1980. It also contains a passage in the section 'Letters and Lectures' entitled 'Which do you seek -- appearance or reality', attributed to Jan-Fishan Khan.

Descendants

After Jan-Fishan Khan's death in 1864, his three sons succeeded him as Nawab, the last being Saiyid Ahmad Shah, who succeeded in 1882. Jan-Fishan Khan has a number of notable descendants, including his great-grandson, the author and diplomat the

Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah ( hi, सरदार इक़बाल अली शाह, ur, ; 1894 in Sardhana, India – 4 November 1969 in Tangier, Morocco) was an Indian- Afghan author and diplomat descended from the Sadaat of Paghman. Born an ...

who married the author and traveller Saira Elizabeth Luiza Shah; great-great-grandchildren: the authors and

teachers

and

Omar Ali-Shah Omar Ali-Shah ( hi, ओमर अली शाह, ur, عمر علی شاہ, nq; 19227 September 2005) was a prominent exponent of modern Naqshbandi Sufism. He wrote a number of books on the subject, and was head of a large number of Sufi groups ...

and the storyteller

Amina Shah Amina Shah (31 October 1918 – 19 January 2014), later known as Amina Maxwell-Hudson, was a British anthologiser of Sufi stories and folk tales, and was for many years the Chairperson of the College of Storytellers. She was the sister of the S ...

; and great-great-great-grandchildren: the author and filmmaker

Tahir Shah Tahir Shah ( fa, طاهر شاه, gu, તાહિર શાહ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. ...

; the author, reporter and documentary filmmaker

, and Safia Nafisa Shah, Tahir's twin sister, who edited the book ''Afghan Caravan.''Review of ''Afghan Caravan'' by Safia Shah
Retrieved on 14 November 2008. Omar Ali-Shah's son,

Arif Ali-Shah Arif Ali-Shah is a British film writer and screenplay writer. Following in his distinguished family's footsteps, he is also a teacher in the Naqshbandi Sufi mystical tradition. Life and work Of Afghan Indian origin, Sayyid Hashim Arif Ali-S ...

is a filmmaker and has led Sufi study groups.

References

External links

Lithograph with accompanying text from Leicester Galleries, depicting Jan-Fishan Khan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Jan-Fishan 1864 deaths Jan-Fishan Khan Afghan warlords Indian Muslims Indian people of Afghan descent Year of birth unknown