Tweet
I thought you might all enjoy this bit of history and its eerie similarities to the current times and events:
In the 1800s, Syed Ahmad Shah Barelvi had rallied many Pashtun tribes to his banner against the Sikhs. For example, one figure from the Khan Khel of the Khalil Tribe was Behram Khan Arbab who died alongside Barelvi.
Here is what happened in that era according to Hafeez Malik who wrote in the 1960s:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAC writes:
From the keenly observant Charles Allen:
This part above is interesting since the figure in the modern narrative that would resemble Wilayat Ali is Mullah Monsour (the New Elected Supreme Leader), if it is held as true that he was a part of the plan to keep releasing letters under the guise of being from Mullah Omar. Most interestingly the tale goes on:
Once again, the comparison in modern history would be the splinter group, Fidai Mahaz, that separated from the Quetta Shura led Taliban, and that published the news of Omar's death on the internet would resemble Zain Al Abiden and the Hyderabadis.
In this fashion, if we are to take lessons from history, we ought to ignore Amrullah Saleh, the fool extraordinaire, and refer to what happened subsequent to that ruse being exposed:
So if history is any guide, it may not follow this script exactly, but with its vibrant and repeating pattern - educated, literate, and studied people will be cautious and chasing a virtual reality that the Amrullah crowd is seeking to create and rely on prior proven, time tested and honored patterns to prognosticate what follows recent events.
Enjoy.
In the 1800s, Syed Ahmad Shah Barelvi had rallied many Pashtun tribes to his banner against the Sikhs. For example, one figure from the Khan Khel of the Khalil Tribe was Behram Khan Arbab who died alongside Barelvi.
Here is what happened in that era according to Hafeez Malik who wrote in the 1960s:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About A.D. 1846, one of the disciples, Mula Kasim, writing to Hindustan that Saiad Ahmad was still alive, had soon around him some 600
disciples at Balakot. With these he defeated Amir Khan of Ghari, and took from him his castle. He then entreated Dost Mahamad (of Afghanistan) to send a force in aid of the holy war, which he was assured the Saiad had risen from the dead to conduct; and through that chief would gladly have recovered by such instrumentality Peshawar and Kashmir, either or both, he wished to know before he lent any aid whether the Saiad had really escaped the slaughter, and therefore sent a eunuch, on whose sagacity he could rely, to ascertain this point.
“The emissary on reaching the place where the Saiad was supposed to be insisted upon paying his respects in person. He was told that the Saiad could not be approached without certain destruction to the intruder, but that he condescended a distant glance of his sacred person to his most favoured followers. They led him accordingly to the mouth of a dark cavern, made him take off his shoes and approach with much ceremony. He looked in and saw the saint kneeling at his devotions, and pretending to be seized in a fit of enthusiasm, rushed in exclaiming, ‘Oh, holy martyr, accept my services!’ No answer came, and his near approach assured him of the nature of the deception. He snatched the cloak from the shoulders of the saint, and found beneath that and the turban a goat’s skin inflated with air. These he threw out of the cave, and beat the man who had charge of the entrance. In spite of this trickery, many believe to this day that the Saiad was not slain, or, at any rate, that he is still alive.
“The faith of his proselytes there assembled was not shaken, and when, after the surrender to Captain Edwardes of Kahsmir, Lieutenant Lumsden led back the Sikh forces by the valley of the Jhelam, he was opposed at the Dub mountain, close to Muzaffarabad, by the Fanatics, with whom were associated the Saiads of Khagan and people of Balakot. But he forced this mountain by great personal exertion and exposure, and by the most masterly stratagem won the pass beyond the Nainsukh into Pakli and surprised the Fanatics at Balakot, threatening them with his camp equipage, flags, and trumpets from the eastern bank of the river, whilst his whole force, which crossed in the night, had ascended the Bogarmang glen, and came down on the rear of the fanatic army as they were gazing at the tremendous display on the other side. They fled up the valley to Khagan, and he
followed and drove them up into the snow, when they surrendered, and were let loose south of the Margala pass upon condition of never returning.
disciples at Balakot. With these he defeated Amir Khan of Ghari, and took from him his castle. He then entreated Dost Mahamad (of Afghanistan) to send a force in aid of the holy war, which he was assured the Saiad had risen from the dead to conduct; and through that chief would gladly have recovered by such instrumentality Peshawar and Kashmir, either or both, he wished to know before he lent any aid whether the Saiad had really escaped the slaughter, and therefore sent a eunuch, on whose sagacity he could rely, to ascertain this point.
“The emissary on reaching the place where the Saiad was supposed to be insisted upon paying his respects in person. He was told that the Saiad could not be approached without certain destruction to the intruder, but that he condescended a distant glance of his sacred person to his most favoured followers. They led him accordingly to the mouth of a dark cavern, made him take off his shoes and approach with much ceremony. He looked in and saw the saint kneeling at his devotions, and pretending to be seized in a fit of enthusiasm, rushed in exclaiming, ‘Oh, holy martyr, accept my services!’ No answer came, and his near approach assured him of the nature of the deception. He snatched the cloak from the shoulders of the saint, and found beneath that and the turban a goat’s skin inflated with air. These he threw out of the cave, and beat the man who had charge of the entrance. In spite of this trickery, many believe to this day that the Saiad was not slain, or, at any rate, that he is still alive.
“The faith of his proselytes there assembled was not shaken, and when, after the surrender to Captain Edwardes of Kahsmir, Lieutenant Lumsden led back the Sikh forces by the valley of the Jhelam, he was opposed at the Dub mountain, close to Muzaffarabad, by the Fanatics, with whom were associated the Saiads of Khagan and people of Balakot. But he forced this mountain by great personal exertion and exposure, and by the most masterly stratagem won the pass beyond the Nainsukh into Pakli and surprised the Fanatics at Balakot, threatening them with his camp equipage, flags, and trumpets from the eastern bank of the river, whilst his whole force, which crossed in the night, had ascended the Bogarmang glen, and came down on the rear of the fanatic army as they were gazing at the tremendous display on the other side. They fled up the valley to Khagan, and he
followed and drove them up into the snow, when they surrendered, and were let loose south of the Margala pass upon condition of never returning.
Sayed Ahmad Shah of Bareilly, the region’s first Wahhabi, who remained a religious cohesion factor after his death when his followers created a “stage” within a cave, complete with a “manikin” of him, which could be observed from a distance...the Yusufzai Pashtun population and the “Hindustani Fanatics” continued to believe that Seyed Ahmad Shah was still living and inspiring his followers to attempt even greater deeds for Islam than the attacks he led against the period’s “infidel threat,” the Sikhs.
“It appears to have been Wilyat Ali who first grasped the significance of the doubts emerging about their leader’s death, and who made the first public announcements of his survival. He then let it be known that he himself had heard Syed Ahmad foretell his disappearance some years earlier in a sermon. Now he could report the glad tidings that their beloved master was indeed alive and well, but that God, displeased by the faint-hearted response of the Muslims to His prophet’s call to arms, had withdrawn him from the eyes of men. Their Imam and Amir ul-Momineen was even now hidden in a cave in the Buner mountains, waited on by his two faithful disciples. Only when his followers had proved their faith by uniting once more to renew the jihad would their lost leader reappear. He would them manifest himself as padshah and lead them to victory against the unbelievers.
This story was quite durable and Wilayat Ali was actively preaching and converting additional Indian Muslims to his followers. In 1839 he was preaching in Hyderabad where he received support from the city’s noble families. Not many years passed before the British were driven from Afghanistan and following their January 1842 retreat from Kabul in which a single officer, a physician, survived to arrive at Jalalabad, the opportunity arrived once again for Wilayat Ali to make his move. Letters were received in Patna summoning the faithful to rally in Buner where the holy war would be continued. It was during this phase of the Fanatic’s history that they were joined by non-Pashtuns from eastern India in their revolts. British commentators described the capture of smaller, darker men on their way to Sittana and these were probably the result of the widespread preaching done in Bengal by Wilayat Ali. Interestingly, the final survivors later split into two groups, possibly following ethnic lines.
The letters were obviously the work of Wilayat Ali and Charles Allen discussed their impact and some failed theatrics that also occurred in an effort to maintain the Iman-Mahdi story of Sayed Ahmad Shah.
This story was quite durable and Wilayat Ali was actively preaching and converting additional Indian Muslims to his followers. In 1839 he was preaching in Hyderabad where he received support from the city’s noble families. Not many years passed before the British were driven from Afghanistan and following their January 1842 retreat from Kabul in which a single officer, a physician, survived to arrive at Jalalabad, the opportunity arrived once again for Wilayat Ali to make his move. Letters were received in Patna summoning the faithful to rally in Buner where the holy war would be continued. It was during this phase of the Fanatic’s history that they were joined by non-Pashtuns from eastern India in their revolts. British commentators described the capture of smaller, darker men on their way to Sittana and these were probably the result of the widespread preaching done in Bengal by Wilayat Ali. Interestingly, the final survivors later split into two groups, possibly following ethnic lines.
The letters were obviously the work of Wilayat Ali and Charles Allen discussed their impact and some failed theatrics that also occurred in an effort to maintain the Iman-Mahdi story of Sayed Ahmad Shah.
“The mystique of Syed Ahmad, both as martyr and lost leader in waiting, had grown over the years and to many young men of faith he now
came to be seen as a unique symbol of Islamic resistance and resurgence…. Large numbers of mujahedin volunteers responded to the call, among them a devout but unusually independent-minded mullah from Hyderabad named Maulvi Zain ul-Abdin, who had been converted to Wahhabism by
Wilyat Ali during one of his visits to the city. Traveling across India in small parties to escape detection, Zain ul-Abdin and almost a thousand recruits
from the Deccan made their way to Sittana to begin their military training.
However, Zain ul-Abdin was determined to meet the Hidden Imam whose call he and his fellow Hyderabadis had answered. He demanded to see the Amir ul-Momineen and, after being repeatedly fobbed off with excuses, was finally led into the mountains above the Hindustani camp to a point where he and a number of other curious mujahedin could make out a distant cave, at the entrance of which stood three figures dressed in white robes. These, he was told, were the Amir ul-Momineen and the two disciples who attended to his daily needs. The spectators were then made to promise not to go any closer, because if they or anyone else did so the Hidden Imam would again disappear, and remain hidden from the sight of man for fourteen years.
“Thrilled as he and the others were by this distant glimpse of their leader, Zain ul-Abdin found himself unable to contain his curiosity. Finally, he and a number of comrades bolder than the rest went back up the mountain to take a closer look. They clambered right up to the cave and found, to their horror, that the three figures were nothing more than effigies. As Zain ul-Abdin later reported it, he examined the figure of the supposed imam ‘and found it was a goatskin stuffed with grass, which with the help of some pieces of wood, hair, etc. was made to resemble a man. The supplicant enquired from Qasin Kazzab [Maulvi Qasim Panipati, the Wahhabi’s caliph at Sittana] about this. He answered that it was true, but that the Imam Humam had performed a miracle, and appeared as a stuffed figure. “Thoroughly outraged by this deception, Zain ul-Abdin promptly decamped from Sittana together with most of his thousand volunteers from Hyderabad.”
came to be seen as a unique symbol of Islamic resistance and resurgence…. Large numbers of mujahedin volunteers responded to the call, among them a devout but unusually independent-minded mullah from Hyderabad named Maulvi Zain ul-Abdin, who had been converted to Wahhabism by
Wilyat Ali during one of his visits to the city. Traveling across India in small parties to escape detection, Zain ul-Abdin and almost a thousand recruits
from the Deccan made their way to Sittana to begin their military training.
However, Zain ul-Abdin was determined to meet the Hidden Imam whose call he and his fellow Hyderabadis had answered. He demanded to see the Amir ul-Momineen and, after being repeatedly fobbed off with excuses, was finally led into the mountains above the Hindustani camp to a point where he and a number of other curious mujahedin could make out a distant cave, at the entrance of which stood three figures dressed in white robes. These, he was told, were the Amir ul-Momineen and the two disciples who attended to his daily needs. The spectators were then made to promise not to go any closer, because if they or anyone else did so the Hidden Imam would again disappear, and remain hidden from the sight of man for fourteen years.
“Thrilled as he and the others were by this distant glimpse of their leader, Zain ul-Abdin found himself unable to contain his curiosity. Finally, he and a number of comrades bolder than the rest went back up the mountain to take a closer look. They clambered right up to the cave and found, to their horror, that the three figures were nothing more than effigies. As Zain ul-Abdin later reported it, he examined the figure of the supposed imam ‘and found it was a goatskin stuffed with grass, which with the help of some pieces of wood, hair, etc. was made to resemble a man. The supplicant enquired from Qasin Kazzab [Maulvi Qasim Panipati, the Wahhabi’s caliph at Sittana] about this. He answered that it was true, but that the Imam Humam had performed a miracle, and appeared as a stuffed figure. “Thoroughly outraged by this deception, Zain ul-Abdin promptly decamped from Sittana together with most of his thousand volunteers from Hyderabad.”
In this fashion, if we are to take lessons from history, we ought to ignore Amrullah Saleh, the fool extraordinaire, and refer to what happened subsequent to that ruse being exposed:
The followers of Sayed Ahmad Shah were far from being finished with their attacks on the British, however. A British intelligence assessment on the “Hindustani Fanatics” prepared in 1895 concluded: “…[I]t will be seen that during the past half century the Hindustanis have come into collision with us on no less than six occasions; each time they have suffered severely and been obliged to shift their residence, but, as was stated at the beginning of the report, they still remain a factor for mischief, although in a less degree than formerly, in any complication which may arise with the independent tribes on this part of the Punjab frontier.”
The report was correct, except the part regarding “in a less degree than formerly” and within two years the British would have yet another uprising. The population of the Lower Swat region had been cooperating with local authorities and trade had developed between nearby Bajaur and adjacent areas. The Swatis were described as “contented.” A reporter for The Times reported on an abrupt change in their attitude:
“Yesterday, without the least warning, the attitude of the population of the Lower Swat Valley underwent a sudden change. The first news which reached Malakand was that a disturbance had taken place at Thana, near Chakdara bridge. A few hours later further news was received that the “mad mullah,” a priest who is apparently known locally, had gathered about him a number of armed men with the view of raising a jehad.”
The report was correct, except the part regarding “in a less degree than formerly” and within two years the British would have yet another uprising. The population of the Lower Swat region had been cooperating with local authorities and trade had developed between nearby Bajaur and adjacent areas. The Swatis were described as “contented.” A reporter for The Times reported on an abrupt change in their attitude:
“Yesterday, without the least warning, the attitude of the population of the Lower Swat Valley underwent a sudden change. The first news which reached Malakand was that a disturbance had taken place at Thana, near Chakdara bridge. A few hours later further news was received that the “mad mullah,” a priest who is apparently known locally, had gathered about him a number of armed men with the view of raising a jehad.”
Enjoy.
Comment