Nazir Muhammad Sarwar Khan (died 1888) was the Governor of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

from August 1882 to November 1886. A loyal supporter of Abdur Rahman, he accompanied the future Amir into exile and was rewarded with high office upon their return to Afghanistan. However, he was stripped of his role after accusations of corruption, and died in prison.

Early career

Sarwar Khan was an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

of the

Ghilji The Ghiljī ( ps, غلجي, ; fa, خیلجی, Xelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settle ...

tribe. He was a key supporter of Abdur Rahman, a member of the ruling

Barakzai dynasty The two branches of the Barakzai dynasty (, "sons of Barak") ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1973 when the monarchy ended under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durra ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Abdur Rahman was on the losing side of a civil war against

Sher Ali Khan Sher Ali Khan (); c. 1825 – 21 February 1879) was Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Life Sher Ali Khan ...

and fled into exile in 1869. During his exile in

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

in the 1870s, Sarwar Khan was his chief servant. When the Second Anglo-Afghan War provided the opportunity for Abdur Rahman to return to

, Sarwar Khan accompanied him. Their return to Afghanistan went extremely well, and the British army, led by General Roberts, agreed to acknowledge him as Amir of Afghanistan. Abdur Rahman made Sarwar Khan Governor of Takhtapul, in

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

. Afterwards, Sarwar Khan commanded troops in

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

under Sardar Abdullah Khan. He was a member of the deputation representing Abdur Rahman at the Kabul Durbar when his accession to the throne of Afghanistan was publicly declared. In 1881 he came to

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 ...

, and was then said to be one of the new Amir's confidential advisers.

Governor of Herat

In August 1882, he was appointed governor of Herat, a very important post as it had been independently ruled by

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

until his defeat in 1881. His role at this time was to integrate the province of Herat more closely to the rest of Afghanistan. The most noteworthy feature of his governorship was the presence of the

Afghan Boundary Commission The Afghan Boundary Commission (or Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission) was a joint effort by the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire to determine the northern border of Afghanistan The Boundary Commission traveled and documented the northern ...

between 1884 and 1886, which sparked the Panjdeh Incident on 30 March 1885, an event which almost caused war between the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. The British commissioners nicknamed him

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, because of his remarkable similarity in appearance to the English monarch.

Fall from grace

The Afghan Boundary Commission concluded its work in September 1886, and in October it passed through Kabul on its way back to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It seems likely that someone, possibly Kazi Saad-ud-Din, the Amir's representative on the Commission, gave an unfavourable report of Sarwar Khan to the Amir. In any case, in November 1886 Sarwar Khan was summoned to Kabul, stripped of his governorship - which was given to Kazi Saad-ud-Din instead - and arrested. There he was called upon to pay large sums, and was on one occasion put to the rack. In May 1887, however, the Amir is said to have summoned him, taken pity on him, and said: 'When I was at certain places I had no funds, and your father and you supplied me. When I was in Russian territory, I took from you Rs. 70,000. Take this amount from me. I will remit the whole balance due from you." He was subsequently, however, again placed under arrest. In December 1887 he was placed in close confinement. The Amir ordered that he should only be allowed one rug for his bed. The Amir abused him very much and threatened to have him blown from a gun. He died in prison in Kabul on February 21, 1888.

References

{{Reflist 1888 deaths Year of birth missing Pashtun people 19th-century Afghan politicians Governors of Herat Province People of the Second Anglo-Afghan War