While compiling the history of the Pakistan Armoured Corps, I realized that we often cover in fair detail officers from the Punjab and those who migrated from regions in India, but paid less attention to those of Afghan and Pakhtun decent. My friend and historian Hamid Hussain in his article “Panorama of Officers in the Pakistan and Indian Army,” observes:
“The officer corps that the Pakistan Army inherited was not monolithic either in its social or service backgrounds. At the top of the social plane, were officers who came from the families of the rulers of Indian states and their senior officials while the lineage of others went back to the ruling families of Bengal and Arcot.”
Brig Sardar Ahmed Jan, M.B.E.
here were yet others whose lineage dated back to the period of Shah Abbas of Safavid Iran. One of them was the eighth-most-senior officer in the Pakistan Army at Independence, Brigadier Sardar Ahmed Jan (7th Light Cavalry and Central India Horse). Known to his friends as AJ, he was from the Saddozai clan of the Popalzai tribe which can boast of having given kings and vazirs to Afghanistan.
Ahmed Jan was the eldest son of the legendary Brigadier Sir Sardar Hissam ud Din (fondly known as Sir HD); the grandson of the even more legendary Colonel Sir Sardar Muhammad Aslam Khan, the first native commandant of the Khyber Rifles. Till the early 20 century, sons of influential and tribal chieftains were sometimes directly commissioned as Viceroy Commissioned Officers (VCOs). Around 1895 at the young age of sixteen, Sir HD was inducted into the 3rd Regiment of the Cavalry, Frontier Force, as a risaldar major. Fifteen years earlier, this regiment had accompanied General (later Field Marshal) Roberts in his famous march from Kabul to Kandahar and was the predecessor of 11th Prince Albert Victor’s Own (PAVO) Cavalry, Frontier Force, which was transferred to the Pakistan Army at Independence. Sir HD participated in operations on the Frontier, in Mesopotamia during the First World War and in the Third Afghan War. He was awarded an IDSM for gallantry and twice mentioned in dispatches. His services were rewarded with an OBE. Sir HD subsequently received a commission in his regiment and had his 21-year-old son Ahmed Jan enrolled in the Prince of Wales College at Dehradun, which was established in 1922 as a feeder institute for the Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Sandhurst.
Over half the strength of the battalion was drawn from Pakhtuns, some of whom were settled in Bhopal and a large number recruited from the Frontier when the battalion was raised to full strength
In 1922, the British had allowed the entry of Indians into the RMA and Ahmed Jan was the sixteenth Muslim cadet to be commissioned from Sandhurst. He passed out in January 1927 and was allotted the Indian Army number IA-129. A year later his younger brother Khalid Jan was commissioned from Sandhurst and allotted the number IA-295. The other Muslim cadets commissioned alongside Ahmed Jan were Malik Fazalur Rehman (FR) Kallu (the father of Lieutenant General Shams ur Rehman Kallu), Nawabzada Agha Muhammad (NAM) Raza and Raja Muhammad Afzal Janjua (an uncle of General Asif Nawaz Janjua). Ahmed Jan was the second Muslim officer to be accepted by 7th Light Cavalry and served with it for the next ten years. The Muslim officers who followed him into the regiment including Raja Hyder Zaman Khan from the Ghakkar clan of Khanpur, Muhammd Yusuf (General ‘Joe’), son of the legendary Khan Bahadur Sharbat Khan, Muhammad Iftikhar Khan (who would have been the first Pakistani C-in-C if he had not died in an air crash in 1949), and Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan from the princely family of Pataudi. Of the three Indianized cavalry regiments (i.e. those in which Indian officers could serve), the Seventh had the reputation of being the most expensive to serve in. All these officers, including Ahmed Jan, had to be financially supported by their families to maintain the standards of dress and entertainment both in the mess/club as well as in field sports.
When Ahmed Jan joined the Seventh, it was nearing the end of its tenure at Bolarum (Secundrabad), and the following year (1929) the regiment moved to Sialkot. Over the next seven years it also served at Jallundar and Loralai (during the Quetta earthquake of 1939), and finally back to Bolarum by ship from Karachi to Bombay – which was a novel experience for the regiment. In 1939 Ahmed Jan left the Seventh for a brief tenure with the 5th Indian Division and a year later was posted to Central India Horse (CIH) as a squadron commander. At the beginning of the Second World War, CIH was one of the first regiments to proceed overseas on being mechanized as a motor cavalry regiment; a fancy term for a standard lorried infantry battalion that a number of very capable Indian cavalry regiments had been reduced to at the early stages of the war. CIH was part of the famous 4th Indian Division and Ahmed Jan served with it during the first six months of 1941. He was with the regiment in the battle of Karen against the Italians in Eritrea, and when it hurriedly accompanied the division to North Africa in early May to meet the threat of the German Afrika Korps breaking out from Benghazi. The regiment participated in Operation BATTLEAXE, a limited counteroffensive against the Axis forces and by the time the operation wound down, Ahmed Jan was posted back to India and his old regiment.
Father and two songs at the Mess of the Khyber Rifles at Landi Kotal, 1950
The Seventh was in Risalpur, having shed its horses and in the process of being mechanized. In 1942, when the regiment left Risalpur for Pune to be equipped with Stuart tanks, Ahmed Jan was first posted to the headquarters an Indian armoured division and then to an armoured corps training center at Babina. At the early stages of the Second World War, a number of Indian officers like Ahmed Jan had served as squadron commanders but were gradually replaced by British officers from the Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Tank Regiments. The history of the Seventh glibly states that the seniority and experience of the Indian officers was needed on staff and in training establishments. However there is evidence of a lack of confidence in the Indian officers at the early stages of the war and a preference for British officers.
During the Second World War the Indian Princely states provided 250,000 men for service in Malaya, Burma, North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The number of troops contributed by the States depended on their population and financial resources. Bhopal was one of the smaller Princely States and at the beginning of the war it had only a training company which was enlarged to a 680-strong infantry battalion of which a large number were Pathans. Bhopal Sate had close links with the Saddozais through the then Begum of Bhopal, Maimoona Sultan Shah Banu who herself was of Saddozai decent. In 1940, Sir HD was appointed as the Defence Minister and C-in-C of the State Forces and in June 1943, on promotion to the acting rank of lieutenant colonel, his son Ahmed Jan was posted as Special Senior Staff Officer to the Bhopal Infantry. In 1944, Ahemd Jan was appointed as commanding officer of the Gowhar-i-Taj’s Own (GTO) Infantry Battalion. The battalion was placed under command the 404 Line of Communication Sub Area to protect communication and served in eastern India at Ranchi, Agartala, Chittagong and Badarpur till May 1946. A ceremonial parade was held on the eve of its departure which was reviewed by General Auchinleck, C-in-C India.
On the eve of the departure to Burma of Gowhar-i-Taj's Own Infantry Battalion, 1944
A photograph taken on the occasion has some interesting personalities. It may be one of the last photographs of the Auk and his wife Jessie (serial numbers 10 & 22 in the photo) together. They separated the same year and were divorced in 1945 but he remained in love with her and used to carry her photograph in his wallet. The battalion was named after the heiress apparent Princess Suraya Jah, Nawab Gowhar-i-Taj, Abida Sultan Begum Sahiba (serial number 7), who liked to dress in uniforms. She was the eldest daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan and mother of Shehreyar Khan, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. At Independence, she migrated to Pakistan. Sir Hamidullah (serial number 12) was the last Nawab of Bhopal and an honourary air commodore. During the Second World War, he was present at the famous Battle of Keren in East Africa and at the Battle of El Alamein. He was married to Begum Maimoona Sultan Shah Banu (serial 23) at the age of ten. She was only five years old and gave birth to Princess Abida at the age of twelve. Begum Maimoona was the great-great-granddaughter of King Shah Shuja Durrani, a Saddozai who twice ruled Afghanistan and was related to Sir HD (serial 6) by descent. After Independence Sir HD was Honorary ADC to the Quaid and subsequent Governor Generals and Presidents of Pakistan. Apart from his son Ahmed Jan (serial 5), there are a few other relatives of Sir HD in this photograph. His brother-in-law Col Syed Ibrahim Pasha (serial 11) was the paternal grandfather of Sardar Omar Durrani who shared this photograph with me and identified the personalities. Two of Sir HD’s nephews Sardar Yunus, the Commandant Bhopal State Police and his brother Sardar Haroon are also present (serial 13 and15) here and a third Major Sardar Asad Jan (serial 27) was commissioned into the 5th Frontier Force Regiment but was martyred at Khem Karan during the 1965 War.
Colonel Nawaz Wazirzada Sardar Aslam Khan, IOM. First Commandant of the Khyber Rifles and grandfather of Brigadier Sardar Ahmed Jan
Brig Ahmed Jan was a stickler for truth and quite outspoken – qualities that made some of his seniors uncomfortable
Sitting next to Begum Maimoona is Gayatri Devi (serial 24), the Maharani (Ayesha) of Jaipur and wife of Maharaja Sir Sawai Man Singh II who was the last ruling Maharaja of Jaipur State and an international Polo player. Her brother Jagaddipendra Narayan, the Maharaja of Cooch Bihar (whom she called Bahiyya), also served in 7th Light Cavalry during the war. Next is Farhat (Shahgul) who was a niece of the Begum of Bhopal. She met Air Marshal Nur Khan in London in 1948, where the officer was served a short stint as air attaché at the High Commission, and the two decided to get married. On the right of Jessie is Begum Mahapara Sultana (serial 21) known as Parri Khala. She was born in Bhopal and brought up under the tutelage of the Begum of Bhopal. She was married to Sardar Ishaq (their two sons, Sardar Afzal and Sardar Aslam are at Serial 18 and 26 respectively).
After the war, Ahmed Jan like his father was also awarded an MBE. His citation states:
This officer had commanded his Battalion with out-standing ability through a hard and difficult period. To command a battalion comprising mixed classes of Pathans is a difficult problem to undertake. This he has done with great success and the keenness, efficiency and good discipline which has been maintained thorough-out, by all ranks, is due to his personality, efficiency and the respect in which he is held by all”.
Citation for M.B.E. of Lt Col Sardar AHmed Jan, OC Bhopal G.T.O. Infantry
Over half the strength of the battalion was drawn from Pakhtuns, some of whom were settled in Bhopal and a large number recruited from the Frontier when the battalion was raised to full strength. Ahmed Jan’s ability to draw the respect of these Pakhtun soldiers from diverse clans was due to his personality and efficiency (as stated in the citation) but also his lineage; a factor which must have demanded respect and established a strong bond of loyalty.
After Independence he was appointed as the first Pakistani commanding officer of 1/14th Punjab (Sher Dils) while it was on Frontier Duties at Damdil and during Operation CURZON (the military evacuation of the Tribal Area), he was the second-in-command of the Razmak Brigade. In 1948 he became an acting brigadier and first commanded 114 Brigade in Lahore and subsequently 52 Brigade in Quetta. Probably his best appointment as a brigadier was as the first Pakistani officer to be appointed Inspector General Frontier Corps IGFC), in March 1950. While he was IGFC, his youngest brother, Lieutenant Colonel Sardar Iftikhar-ud-Din was commanding the Khyber Rifles which had been raised by his grandfather.
Unfortunately Ahmed Jan’s tenure was cut short as he developed differences with the Governor of the NWFP, I.I. Chundrigar, over the deployment of the Frontier Corps during the Bajaur uprising and he was posted to Quetta in 1951 as Sub Area Commander. During this tenure he fell out with the new C-in-C General Ayub Khan, who was a year junior to him and was retired prematurely in 1954 having served for only 27 years. He was just fifty and for the next 24 years, he managed his Stud Farm in Faisalabad as well as his lands near Peshawar. He also held a job with the British Gas Company which was laying the gas pipeline from Sui to Karachi. He passed away in 1978 with the satisfaction of seeing both his sons serving in the Armed Forces: Wing Commander Sardar Ahmed Shah Jan was in the Education Department of the PAF and Lieutenant Colonel Sardar Iqbal (Ikki) Jan had the privilege to command his grandfather’s regiment, the PAVO.
Ahmed Jan had some enviable qualities. According to his son Sardar Ahmed, his father was a stickler for truth and quite outspoken – qualities that made some of his seniors uncomfortable. He had a very polished personality along with a sharp sense of humour and a large circle of friends. He was a sportsman who played Polo and football and excelled in athletics as student. In his later days he would take his family to Kaghan for fishing every season. His personality can be summed up in a stanza from Invictus, (a poem by William Hentley) that AJ often quoted:
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I’m the master of my fate,
I’m the captain of my soul.
The details of the life and career of Brigadier Sardar Ahmed Jan have been obtained from his short biography contained in the book Afghanistan. Saddozai Kings and Viziers authored by his son Sardar Ahmed Shah Jan who also kindly provided me the pictures for this article. Information on the Bhopal State Forces was provided by the historian Sushil Talwar and the group picture was provided to me by Sardar Omar Durrani who identified many of the personalities.
