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FORGOTTEN ICON OF EARLY PASHTUN NATIONALISM: Dr. Aurang Shah Khattak (more likely) or Yusufzai (less likely) MD
Now begins the story of Aurang Shah, likely the first Pashtun to graduate from an American medical school who was assassinated on foreign soil:
PROLOGUE:
Today I will give the nationalists on both sides of the borderline a gift. They are my brothers too, even if they are wayward and would love to see the likes of me suffering to no end. I will resurrect for them, one of their own that they had long forgotten and buried at Maranjan Hill.
To review: we studied and discussed the story of Zarif Khan of Barra and how he never mounted an inferiority complex and how he never had to go prancing around proclaiming the cause of Pashto and Pashtunwali. Instead, he honored his parents and elders even in their absence, without their oversight, in a land far away from his birth. One helix of the metaphorical DNA that that comprised his persona was Pashto and the other helix was Islam and they were inextricably intertwined and never needed to be defined per se. He lived Pashto instead of talking about it.
We discussed Zarif Khan’s generational impact in one of the 50 states in a way that aligned with the mores of his own tribal people and would not have been a foreign anathema to them. Baba perhaps would be an appropriate epitaph for the diaspora to apply to him.
The purposes of these historical resurrections though are two-fold:
First: remember, obedience to the Creator as God Almighty says to us:
Do they not travel through the Earth, and deeply observe what was the End of those before them? 47:10
Have they not travelled through the Earth and deeply observed the consequences for those who were before them? 40:82
Second:
And Twain was said to have written: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Supporting this contention that human beings can study what came before to understand how their actions may impact what comes next. This is especially true if we have goals for our progeny.
So now let us turn our attention to the tragic story of Dr. Aurangzeb Shah of Manki. The information herein is confirmed with primary witnesses and sources.
CHASING A GHOST
The party of Ghaffar Khan and his family lives on (even if it is now far removed from its original intent if relevant and good intentions were present in the initial).
But what if I told you that besides Ghaffar Khan there were other prominent nationalists of his era that rivaled his stature but that the party of Ghaffar Khan (like that of the one left behind by Abdu-Samad Achakzai) rapidly drifted toward nepotism and discarded the memory of these early partners in their Pashtun independence struggle? Aurang Shah of Manki was one of these towering figures of his time. His family members proclaimed that Ghaffar Khan and Aurang Shah were equals and the latter was not the student of the former as was written in the book about the Joffrey Ballet cited below.
In this section, I will walk you through my steps that led to the doors of Dr. Shah’s family.
In the story of Zarif Khan, I came across the reference to other early Pashtuns. A simple literature search landed me at a book called Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and The Making of an American Dance Company.
An excerpt from that book reads as follows:
“Dollha Anver Bey Jaffa Khan or Daulat Khan as he was known before his name was anglicized to Joseph Joffrey as born on October 11 1886 in Hazara Afghanistan where his father was the ruling Khan of a village. He was a Pakhtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second large ethnic group in modern Pakistan. For centuries the Pakhtuns had withstood invasions by conquerors scheming to gain control of the Khybar Pass, Gateway between Afghanistan and India. By the turn of the century, the long standing struggle for Pashtun freedom had taken its toll on Pakhtun society. From the nomads in their black-wool geodesic tents to the intelligentsia in their adobe like structures, the Pakhtuns saw outside civilization to be an unforgiving march in opposition to their humanity. Violence often fractured internal family structures and pitted brother against brother, creating the backdrop for the world in which Dolha grew up. It was an understanding of Robert Joffrey’s that Dollha’s father was murdered by Dollha’s uncle in an act of revenge, or badal. Although surviving family members cannot corroborate the fratricide, the story was repeated so often it became a part of family history.
In a speech given by one of Dollha’s brother’s, Aurang Shah, in California in 1957, on the occasion of Pakhtunistan Day, he described what life was like in a Pakhtun village at the time of Mogul and British onslaughts:
When a man left his lookout post near his home, his wife took over his gun… He bought Springfields from America, for they were considered the best. Men who could not afford guns were handy with swords and captured rifles and ammunition from the British. Small children carried food to their fathers. Signals from neighbors told if friend or foe was near. Dogs were trained to bring food, water, and ammunition to the outposts and return home with the rifles of the dead or mortally wounded – to lunge directly at the throats of the enemy.
By 1910, the fatherless boys had matured into bright, eager men. They attended a liberal school opened by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a spiritual teacher in their district. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was their contemporary, and his precepts and convictions forever influenced the brothers.
Ghaffar Khan became known as the Gandhi of the Frontier. He found persuasive relevance in the belief that before God all people are equal: men and women, servant and khan. To him honor lay in forgiveness; “Man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed,” he said, quoting Prophet Muhammad. On a grassroots level, Ghaffar Khan inspired many Pakhtuns to embrace Islamic laws of morality, to return good for evil, and ultimately, to pressure the British for social and political reforms through passive resistance. Joffrey’s brother and his uncles forged a life long friendship with Ghaffar Khan that bridged to America.
In 1916, their mother pressured her patriotic sons into emigrating to the United States. She hoped that they would acquire a Western education and experience the justice and freedom that had been idealized by Ghaffar Khan. Dollah and Aurang were the first of the family to leave. Their destination was Seattle, for no apparent reason other than that the next freighter leaving China was headed to the Pacific Northwest. Naim Shah, Aurang’s son and Robert Joffrey’s younger cousin, recounting stories told to them by their father, stated:
“They came on a freighter, leaving from either Karachi or Bombay, that went via Manila in the Philippines to China. They took the Pacific route. Bob confirmed that our grandmother sent them because there was opportunity in America. She sent them off with a sack of gold…”
First arriving in Canada, the two men then crossed the border into Washington and immediately went to work in Seattle area sawmills. They spoke only Pashto and Urdu, yet within the year had emerged as entrepreneurs, forming their own business, selling chili out of pushcarts on the streets. Their recipe was an original: a chicken and beef based chili loaded with Mexican and Central Asian spices and ripe olives that apparently pleased the locals’ newfound taste for hot and exotic food. Somewhere along the line, the chili became so popular that they sold the recipe.
With the money, which is said to have come from a large food corporation (possibly Gebhardt or Hormel), Dollha and Aurang went their separate ways… Aurang moved south to Petaluma, California, where he attended high school to learn English. He eventually achieved the goal he had set for himself in Afghanistan, graduating with a medical degree from Tufts University and an MA in public health form Harvard University. Following these accomplishments, he moved to Sacramento, California, married a Lutheran, started a family of four, and founded the Azad Pakhtunistan Association of America – determined to sustain the Pakhtuns’ ambition to win their freedom as a distinct sovereign state.
After Aurang left him, Dollha concentrated on running his restaurant. He was never as politically inclined as his brother, with whom he stayed in constant touch, and unlike Aurang, who was known for saying, “I am not a Muslim. I am a Harvard graduate.” Dollha upheld many Islamic principles and considered himself a Muslim.
A link to be able to buy copies of this book if needed:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GFPF9E...ng=UTF8&btkr=1
SUMMARY:
Aurang Shah was born in August 5th 1893 to Amil Shah, a farmer from either the Yusufzai or Khattak tribe of the village Manki in the former Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Those who knew him directly offered up the tribal origin of Yusufzai based on direct question regarding his patrilineage. I assume this location is the village of Manki Sharif though others can correct me if there is another more probable site. The Sacramento Bee , on the other hand documented that he claimed descent from Khushal Khan Khattak. This is seen here in an excerpt.
[IMG]file:////Users/svar/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/msoclip1/01/clip_image005.png[/IMG]
That tribal membership would fall more in line with the population around Manki. There does of course exist the possibility of Yusufzai patrilineage and Khattak matrilineage but that is unlikely. It is also very unlikely that a relatively localized paper, the Sacramento Bee discovered such information on its own. It is far more likely Dr. Shah told them he was a direct descendant of Khushal Khan Khattak and embellished his ancestry. The descendants of Khushal Khan Khattak are not known to reside in Manki but rather in Akora Khattak, Teri, and Shaidu but there are mentions of Parvez Khattak, a government minister, being a descendant of Khushal Khan Khattak and the latter comes from Manki Sharif.
In his Tufts application, his father is listed as being in Jalalabad Afghanistan which is probably a purposeful inaccuracy committed by Dr. Shah unless his father migrated there in 1928 which would be rather unlikely based off his role as a local farmer in Manki.
[IMG]file:////Users/svar/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/msoclip1/01/clip_image007.png[/IMG]
Those who knew him directly described him as hard working and a bright student that was academically brilliant and a stand out from amongst his peers. We have no evidence of his performance and rely on his descendants for this characterization. His high school is listed as Islamia High School in Peshawar by Aurang Shah in his Tufts application. Perhaps others reading this can garner old British era records.
His family members described his friction with the mullah class and his aggressive championing of Pashtun Nationalism. They seemed to indicate that Bacha Khan (Abdul Ghaffar Khan) and Aurang Shah were contemporaries and co-equal allies as opposed to the mentor and student relationship presented in the book about Robert Joffrey cited above. Basically, they painted the picture of Aurang Shah having been a major but forgotten player of that era on the order of Abdul Samad Achakzai, Taurangzai, and Ghaffar Khan. Descriptions of late life interactions between Aurang Shah and Ghaffar Khan seemed to contradict the notion of equality between the two men and pointed towards Ghaffar Khan having some preeminence.
Those that knew him directly indicated that local authorities and Aurang Shah had certain conflicts over his stances. We surmise that this led to his departure from the former Northwest Frontier Province of British India in 1916. The travel routes described by the Joffrey book through China seemed accurate and Daulat and “Marcus” were two other Pashtuns, not of Yusufzai origin, but who were Pannian that traveled with Aurang Shah.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s movement was reasonably organized, and it is not far-fetched to assume these three individuals did not meet randomly on the ship but were apart of an organized émigré contingent of Sorkh Posh. I say this because it seems rather odd that three individuals with relatively close connections to Abdul Ghaffar Khan just happened to all set sail together. Based on the description of Daulat Khan’s mother being the catalyst in her son’s leaving the NWFP coupled to the fact that Aurang’s father was listed as a farmer, we can also assume Daulat and “Marcus” were from the Khan class and Aurang was from the common class. This may also explain the differential in work ethic where Aurang was obsessed with furthering his education and working his way out of poverty, whereas Daulat and Marcus appeared to be a bit more lackadaisical about pursuing academic betterment.
The story of his early menial labor work in Seattle as a Chili entrepreneur and selling the Chili recipe was confirmed by those that knew him, but as we shall see below, just how much monies beyond a menial sum were acquired remain questionable. Therefore, in his mid-20s he seems to have spent time in high school in the US in Petaluma, CA.
It is somewhat hard to pinpoint exact age though. The reason being, he lists his Islamia High School tenure as ages 14-19
The Joffrey book describes the 3 boys setting sail in 1916 which would’ve aged him at 23 years old when he left the NWFP. This may mean the 1916 date is inaccurate and may have been 1912 when his tenure at Islamia High School is listed as over.
Either way, his application lists some course work at the prestigious Stanford University in 1918-1920 (aged 27 years old by that time). No degree was awarded from Stanford though. Subsequently Aurang returns to Seattle and attends the University of Washington. There, he received his BS at the age of 33.
It may be worthwhile to verify his transcripts at University of Washington because he inaccurately calls it Washington University which that state university is never referred to. The famous and prestigious Washington University is in St Louis, MO not Seattle, WA. One of his references, JL Worcester seems to have worked at the University of Washington but not much else about him is locatable beyond some listed communications between that individual and executive faculty at the University of Washington. The Dean he refers to is Dean James E Gould, the Dean of Men at University of Washington.
Either way, he attends Tufts and finishes his MD degree work 6 years later (the usual time period was and remains 4 years). His report card describes far less than stellar scores and some remediation mandated by faculty. It was so dire that at one point he was advised to withdraw.
Whatever the case, whether it was through dogged persistence or through the desire of the faculty to mercifully push him through (or a combination thereof) Dr. Shah finally did graduate at the age of 41.
Despite these hitches he had along the way, and despite his less than stellar academic performance coupled to his advanced age relative to his peers we still can respect his overall accomplishment. He lived in an era where racism was common place all over the US, including within centers of higher learning. We should commend his stubbornness to not be intimidated by classmates that were half his age on average, and his not dropping out when the odds were long according to his superiors. We cannot however respect either the honest or dubious use of the Baptist faith he had claimed in order to accomplish these aims (and frankly no Pashtun ever would).
The embarrassment of his picture being published in the medical school roster along with his colleagues but lacking any official credit did not seem to rattle him. That publishing combination informed these readers, implicitly, that he was not graduating with his enrolling class but being held back.
Perhaps the most important reason to overlook these faults is that he was the first of us. That is, he was the first Pashtun to graduate from a prominent American center of learning and he did so in a hostile environment.
Most American Physicians graduate to a residency where they do practical training. We see these residencies listed under his class mate’s names but not next to his. I suspect this is the true reason for why he went on to pursue his MPH (Master of Public Health) degree at Harvard (i.e in inability to get into residency). This very likely meant that his faculty did not recommend him to any residency of repute and that he had to find another academic endeavor. Alternatively, but certainly less likely, it could very well have been that the institutions of that era were unwilling to accept a nonwhite graduate into their programs to administer face to face patient care with a population not ready to be cared for a nonwhite physician. My best guess is that it was a combination of his age, race, and below average academics that resulted in his lack of residency placement and that he was told to enter the MPH program to augment his chances at subsequent placement. A note to readers: an MPH is not an illustrious degree but does serve some administrative purposes in modern medicine.
We cannot find any subsequent record of his completing advanced clinical training. Supporting my contentions above are the lack of a residency next to his graduating class image and the lack of a hospital appointment on his report card.
Either way, he appears to have graduated from his MPH program and then decided that his heart lay westward where his American story began. He returned whence he came, to California, to practice and set up shop in Sacramento. His age at that point was likely 43.
He goes on to spend the next 2 decades establishing his Pashtun independence organization and networking with Afghan and Indian government officials. In the mean while he practices medicine as a community internist of sorts and has a family with a European ancestry American woman. He has yearly galas and celebrations that include American, Indian, and Afghan dignitaries celebrating Pashtunistan Day.
Just as he had early struggles and malignant arguments with early era American Muslims, he continues to do so and has tangles with other Pashtuns hailing from the former north west frontier province due to his critique of Pakistan. This is detailed in the figure that follows:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Now begins the story of Aurang Shah, likely the first Pashtun to graduate from an American medical school who was assassinated on foreign soil:
PROLOGUE:
Today I will give the nationalists on both sides of the borderline a gift. They are my brothers too, even if they are wayward and would love to see the likes of me suffering to no end. I will resurrect for them, one of their own that they had long forgotten and buried at Maranjan Hill.
To review: we studied and discussed the story of Zarif Khan of Barra and how he never mounted an inferiority complex and how he never had to go prancing around proclaiming the cause of Pashto and Pashtunwali. Instead, he honored his parents and elders even in their absence, without their oversight, in a land far away from his birth. One helix of the metaphorical DNA that that comprised his persona was Pashto and the other helix was Islam and they were inextricably intertwined and never needed to be defined per se. He lived Pashto instead of talking about it.
We discussed Zarif Khan’s generational impact in one of the 50 states in a way that aligned with the mores of his own tribal people and would not have been a foreign anathema to them. Baba perhaps would be an appropriate epitaph for the diaspora to apply to him.
The purposes of these historical resurrections though are two-fold:
First: remember, obedience to the Creator as God Almighty says to us:
Do they not travel through the Earth, and deeply observe what was the End of those before them? 47:10
Have they not travelled through the Earth and deeply observed the consequences for those who were before them? 40:82
Second:
And Twain was said to have written: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Supporting this contention that human beings can study what came before to understand how their actions may impact what comes next. This is especially true if we have goals for our progeny.
So now let us turn our attention to the tragic story of Dr. Aurangzeb Shah of Manki. The information herein is confirmed with primary witnesses and sources.
CHASING A GHOST
The party of Ghaffar Khan and his family lives on (even if it is now far removed from its original intent if relevant and good intentions were present in the initial).
But what if I told you that besides Ghaffar Khan there were other prominent nationalists of his era that rivaled his stature but that the party of Ghaffar Khan (like that of the one left behind by Abdu-Samad Achakzai) rapidly drifted toward nepotism and discarded the memory of these early partners in their Pashtun independence struggle? Aurang Shah of Manki was one of these towering figures of his time. His family members proclaimed that Ghaffar Khan and Aurang Shah were equals and the latter was not the student of the former as was written in the book about the Joffrey Ballet cited below.
In this section, I will walk you through my steps that led to the doors of Dr. Shah’s family.
In the story of Zarif Khan, I came across the reference to other early Pashtuns. A simple literature search landed me at a book called Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and The Making of an American Dance Company.
An excerpt from that book reads as follows:
“Dollha Anver Bey Jaffa Khan or Daulat Khan as he was known before his name was anglicized to Joseph Joffrey as born on October 11 1886 in Hazara Afghanistan where his father was the ruling Khan of a village. He was a Pakhtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second large ethnic group in modern Pakistan. For centuries the Pakhtuns had withstood invasions by conquerors scheming to gain control of the Khybar Pass, Gateway between Afghanistan and India. By the turn of the century, the long standing struggle for Pashtun freedom had taken its toll on Pakhtun society. From the nomads in their black-wool geodesic tents to the intelligentsia in their adobe like structures, the Pakhtuns saw outside civilization to be an unforgiving march in opposition to their humanity. Violence often fractured internal family structures and pitted brother against brother, creating the backdrop for the world in which Dolha grew up. It was an understanding of Robert Joffrey’s that Dollha’s father was murdered by Dollha’s uncle in an act of revenge, or badal. Although surviving family members cannot corroborate the fratricide, the story was repeated so often it became a part of family history.
In a speech given by one of Dollha’s brother’s, Aurang Shah, in California in 1957, on the occasion of Pakhtunistan Day, he described what life was like in a Pakhtun village at the time of Mogul and British onslaughts:
When a man left his lookout post near his home, his wife took over his gun… He bought Springfields from America, for they were considered the best. Men who could not afford guns were handy with swords and captured rifles and ammunition from the British. Small children carried food to their fathers. Signals from neighbors told if friend or foe was near. Dogs were trained to bring food, water, and ammunition to the outposts and return home with the rifles of the dead or mortally wounded – to lunge directly at the throats of the enemy.
By 1910, the fatherless boys had matured into bright, eager men. They attended a liberal school opened by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a spiritual teacher in their district. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was their contemporary, and his precepts and convictions forever influenced the brothers.
Ghaffar Khan became known as the Gandhi of the Frontier. He found persuasive relevance in the belief that before God all people are equal: men and women, servant and khan. To him honor lay in forgiveness; “Man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed,” he said, quoting Prophet Muhammad. On a grassroots level, Ghaffar Khan inspired many Pakhtuns to embrace Islamic laws of morality, to return good for evil, and ultimately, to pressure the British for social and political reforms through passive resistance. Joffrey’s brother and his uncles forged a life long friendship with Ghaffar Khan that bridged to America.
In 1916, their mother pressured her patriotic sons into emigrating to the United States. She hoped that they would acquire a Western education and experience the justice and freedom that had been idealized by Ghaffar Khan. Dollah and Aurang were the first of the family to leave. Their destination was Seattle, for no apparent reason other than that the next freighter leaving China was headed to the Pacific Northwest. Naim Shah, Aurang’s son and Robert Joffrey’s younger cousin, recounting stories told to them by their father, stated:
“They came on a freighter, leaving from either Karachi or Bombay, that went via Manila in the Philippines to China. They took the Pacific route. Bob confirmed that our grandmother sent them because there was opportunity in America. She sent them off with a sack of gold…”
First arriving in Canada, the two men then crossed the border into Washington and immediately went to work in Seattle area sawmills. They spoke only Pashto and Urdu, yet within the year had emerged as entrepreneurs, forming their own business, selling chili out of pushcarts on the streets. Their recipe was an original: a chicken and beef based chili loaded with Mexican and Central Asian spices and ripe olives that apparently pleased the locals’ newfound taste for hot and exotic food. Somewhere along the line, the chili became so popular that they sold the recipe.
With the money, which is said to have come from a large food corporation (possibly Gebhardt or Hormel), Dollha and Aurang went their separate ways… Aurang moved south to Petaluma, California, where he attended high school to learn English. He eventually achieved the goal he had set for himself in Afghanistan, graduating with a medical degree from Tufts University and an MA in public health form Harvard University. Following these accomplishments, he moved to Sacramento, California, married a Lutheran, started a family of four, and founded the Azad Pakhtunistan Association of America – determined to sustain the Pakhtuns’ ambition to win their freedom as a distinct sovereign state.
After Aurang left him, Dollha concentrated on running his restaurant. He was never as politically inclined as his brother, with whom he stayed in constant touch, and unlike Aurang, who was known for saying, “I am not a Muslim. I am a Harvard graduate.” Dollha upheld many Islamic principles and considered himself a Muslim.
A link to be able to buy copies of this book if needed:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GFPF9E...ng=UTF8&btkr=1
SUMMARY:
- It is claimed in the book, that Daulat and Aurang were brothers: They were not. Aurang Shah’s family confirmed that they were travel mates who met and bonded and were close in friendship and business but that they were not related. Rather, Daulat and another individual buried in Sacramento, “Marcus” Joffrey Khan Afghan appear to be related.
- We will discuss Daulat Khan’s story in yet another short post, but he appeared to come from district Hazara in what is now modern Pakistan. The exact village was Panne and the father of Daulat and Marcus appears to be a Hassan Ali Khan. This means that Daulat and his brother were likely Balailzai in tribal origin. As we will see, Aurang was not from this derivation or lineage.
- All three individuals, Marcus, Daulat, and Aurang had some relationship with Ghaffar Khan. This appears to be true. Aurang, as we will see, was his contemporary (possibly) equal and the other two may have been direct disciples.
- Aurang did not view himself as a Muslim per the aforementioned Harvard quote. Those who knew him directly confirmed as much in direct questioning.
- Aurang founded the first Pashtun nationalist organization on Western soil: the Azad Pakhtunistan Association of America. This is true. Primary witnesses confirmed this role of his. At the time, California was a hotbed of nationalist activity, hosting multiple foreign emigres with goals of carving out ethnonationalist states in former British colonies.
Aurang Shah was born in August 5th 1893 to Amil Shah, a farmer from either the Yusufzai or Khattak tribe of the village Manki in the former Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Those who knew him directly offered up the tribal origin of Yusufzai based on direct question regarding his patrilineage. I assume this location is the village of Manki Sharif though others can correct me if there is another more probable site. The Sacramento Bee , on the other hand documented that he claimed descent from Khushal Khan Khattak. This is seen here in an excerpt.
[IMG]file:////Users/svar/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/msoclip1/01/clip_image005.png[/IMG]
That tribal membership would fall more in line with the population around Manki. There does of course exist the possibility of Yusufzai patrilineage and Khattak matrilineage but that is unlikely. It is also very unlikely that a relatively localized paper, the Sacramento Bee discovered such information on its own. It is far more likely Dr. Shah told them he was a direct descendant of Khushal Khan Khattak and embellished his ancestry. The descendants of Khushal Khan Khattak are not known to reside in Manki but rather in Akora Khattak, Teri, and Shaidu but there are mentions of Parvez Khattak, a government minister, being a descendant of Khushal Khan Khattak and the latter comes from Manki Sharif.
In his Tufts application, his father is listed as being in Jalalabad Afghanistan which is probably a purposeful inaccuracy committed by Dr. Shah unless his father migrated there in 1928 which would be rather unlikely based off his role as a local farmer in Manki.
[IMG]file:////Users/svar/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/msoclip1/01/clip_image007.png[/IMG]
Those who knew him directly described him as hard working and a bright student that was academically brilliant and a stand out from amongst his peers. We have no evidence of his performance and rely on his descendants for this characterization. His high school is listed as Islamia High School in Peshawar by Aurang Shah in his Tufts application. Perhaps others reading this can garner old British era records.
His family members described his friction with the mullah class and his aggressive championing of Pashtun Nationalism. They seemed to indicate that Bacha Khan (Abdul Ghaffar Khan) and Aurang Shah were contemporaries and co-equal allies as opposed to the mentor and student relationship presented in the book about Robert Joffrey cited above. Basically, they painted the picture of Aurang Shah having been a major but forgotten player of that era on the order of Abdul Samad Achakzai, Taurangzai, and Ghaffar Khan. Descriptions of late life interactions between Aurang Shah and Ghaffar Khan seemed to contradict the notion of equality between the two men and pointed towards Ghaffar Khan having some preeminence.
Those that knew him directly indicated that local authorities and Aurang Shah had certain conflicts over his stances. We surmise that this led to his departure from the former Northwest Frontier Province of British India in 1916. The travel routes described by the Joffrey book through China seemed accurate and Daulat and “Marcus” were two other Pashtuns, not of Yusufzai origin, but who were Pannian that traveled with Aurang Shah.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s movement was reasonably organized, and it is not far-fetched to assume these three individuals did not meet randomly on the ship but were apart of an organized émigré contingent of Sorkh Posh. I say this because it seems rather odd that three individuals with relatively close connections to Abdul Ghaffar Khan just happened to all set sail together. Based on the description of Daulat Khan’s mother being the catalyst in her son’s leaving the NWFP coupled to the fact that Aurang’s father was listed as a farmer, we can also assume Daulat and “Marcus” were from the Khan class and Aurang was from the common class. This may also explain the differential in work ethic where Aurang was obsessed with furthering his education and working his way out of poverty, whereas Daulat and Marcus appeared to be a bit more lackadaisical about pursuing academic betterment.
The story of his early menial labor work in Seattle as a Chili entrepreneur and selling the Chili recipe was confirmed by those that knew him, but as we shall see below, just how much monies beyond a menial sum were acquired remain questionable. Therefore, in his mid-20s he seems to have spent time in high school in the US in Petaluma, CA.
It is somewhat hard to pinpoint exact age though. The reason being, he lists his Islamia High School tenure as ages 14-19
The Joffrey book describes the 3 boys setting sail in 1916 which would’ve aged him at 23 years old when he left the NWFP. This may mean the 1916 date is inaccurate and may have been 1912 when his tenure at Islamia High School is listed as over.
Either way, his application lists some course work at the prestigious Stanford University in 1918-1920 (aged 27 years old by that time). No degree was awarded from Stanford though. Subsequently Aurang returns to Seattle and attends the University of Washington. There, he received his BS at the age of 33.
It may be worthwhile to verify his transcripts at University of Washington because he inaccurately calls it Washington University which that state university is never referred to. The famous and prestigious Washington University is in St Louis, MO not Seattle, WA. One of his references, JL Worcester seems to have worked at the University of Washington but not much else about him is locatable beyond some listed communications between that individual and executive faculty at the University of Washington. The Dean he refers to is Dean James E Gould, the Dean of Men at University of Washington.
Either way, he attends Tufts and finishes his MD degree work 6 years later (the usual time period was and remains 4 years). His report card describes far less than stellar scores and some remediation mandated by faculty. It was so dire that at one point he was advised to withdraw.
Whatever the case, whether it was through dogged persistence or through the desire of the faculty to mercifully push him through (or a combination thereof) Dr. Shah finally did graduate at the age of 41.
Despite these hitches he had along the way, and despite his less than stellar academic performance coupled to his advanced age relative to his peers we still can respect his overall accomplishment. He lived in an era where racism was common place all over the US, including within centers of higher learning. We should commend his stubbornness to not be intimidated by classmates that were half his age on average, and his not dropping out when the odds were long according to his superiors. We cannot however respect either the honest or dubious use of the Baptist faith he had claimed in order to accomplish these aims (and frankly no Pashtun ever would).
The embarrassment of his picture being published in the medical school roster along with his colleagues but lacking any official credit did not seem to rattle him. That publishing combination informed these readers, implicitly, that he was not graduating with his enrolling class but being held back.
Perhaps the most important reason to overlook these faults is that he was the first of us. That is, he was the first Pashtun to graduate from a prominent American center of learning and he did so in a hostile environment.
Most American Physicians graduate to a residency where they do practical training. We see these residencies listed under his class mate’s names but not next to his. I suspect this is the true reason for why he went on to pursue his MPH (Master of Public Health) degree at Harvard (i.e in inability to get into residency). This very likely meant that his faculty did not recommend him to any residency of repute and that he had to find another academic endeavor. Alternatively, but certainly less likely, it could very well have been that the institutions of that era were unwilling to accept a nonwhite graduate into their programs to administer face to face patient care with a population not ready to be cared for a nonwhite physician. My best guess is that it was a combination of his age, race, and below average academics that resulted in his lack of residency placement and that he was told to enter the MPH program to augment his chances at subsequent placement. A note to readers: an MPH is not an illustrious degree but does serve some administrative purposes in modern medicine.
We cannot find any subsequent record of his completing advanced clinical training. Supporting my contentions above are the lack of a residency next to his graduating class image and the lack of a hospital appointment on his report card.
Either way, he appears to have graduated from his MPH program and then decided that his heart lay westward where his American story began. He returned whence he came, to California, to practice and set up shop in Sacramento. His age at that point was likely 43.
He goes on to spend the next 2 decades establishing his Pashtun independence organization and networking with Afghan and Indian government officials. In the mean while he practices medicine as a community internist of sorts and has a family with a European ancestry American woman. He has yearly galas and celebrations that include American, Indian, and Afghan dignitaries celebrating Pashtunistan Day.
Just as he had early struggles and malignant arguments with early era American Muslims, he continues to do so and has tangles with other Pashtuns hailing from the former north west frontier province due to his critique of Pakistan. This is detailed in the figure that follows:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- First Pashtun nationalist organization on US Soil (now defunct) that incorporated Pashtuns from both sides of the Durand line
- First Pashtun cemetery on US soil founder (wherein he buried Dolha and Marcus)
- First Pashtun medical professional graduate in an era rife with racism
- First Pashtun in Stanford (though he was unceremoniously removed from matriculation)
- Achieved international recognition for his struggle and viewpoint and was beginning to catch the attention of the American establishment. He was held back by the fact that his grouping and associates benefited from Soviet largesse.
- Dr. Shah appears to have embellished his lineage: As I mentioned, those who knew him said he was of Yusufzai tribal origin but Dr. Aurang Shah appears to have told the Sacramento Bee that he was a descendant of Khushal Khan Khattak. The paucity of direct descendants in Manki makes the descendancy claim less than likely.
- Dr. Shah appears to have been expelled from Stanford
- There is an organization, perhaps a precursor to the Azad Pakhtunistan Association of America that was called the Afghan Association operating in Sacramento in the 1920s. It appears that Dr. Aurang Shah also headed or was a member of this group before he left for Seattle and then Boston.
- The reason I believe this is the case is that another controversial figure named Princess Fatima Sultana of Kabul (by way of Delhi) was visiting the United with great pomp and circumstance in the 1920s. She touched down in Sacramento and both the local Muslim Association and the Afghan Association were to greet her. Apparently, a train delay led to her arriving by other means and she met the Muslim Association members first. This greatly angered a certain “SA Shah” who accused the Muslim Association of stealing their glory (refer to article from the time provided below).
- A negative back and forth occurred in the Sacramento Union in July 1921 between the head of the Muslim Association and SA Shah. The head of the former organization notes that SA Shah had borrowed a large sum (in those days) of money totaled to $1100 without any interest due to be able to attend Stanford. He was apparently expelled from Stanford in June 1920 for academic inadequacies and never informed the group which continued to fund him. When the Muslim Association attempted to recover their funds, he appears to have taken it as an insult. Proofs for this are as follows
- Both his Tufts Application and the date above show his time at Stanford ends prematurely before the usual 4-year degree granting cycle and match to the year.
- He very well could have been referring to himself as Sardar Aurang Shah (hence SA Shah). It is rather unlikely that Sacramento, CA in 1920 would host two politically active “Afghan” Shah figures hailing from the exact same region. The Sacramento Union stated that SA Shah originated from Peshawar.
- He claims to have translated Farsi but was unlikely to have known it fluently.
- Dr. Shah left the fold of Islam
- According to that same July 1921 Sacramento Union article: Dr. Shah attempted to create a nonexistent confrontation between the Afghans and Muslims by stating “an era of bitterness is started between Afghans and Muslims.” A point of humor is that the head of the Muslim association exposes Dr. Shah’s roots as being in British India (where Manki lay at the time) and not Afghanistan as he loudly claimed. He also exposes the fact that Dr. Shah borrowed money from the Muslim Association, interest free, to pay for Stanford only to fail out and then he became upset when the loan was asked to be paid back in kind.
- His funeral service in the US was not a Muslim funeral prayer (Jenaza) but held in a Chapel.
- His acquaintances made it clear to me that he scoffed at the concept of a God when they would discuss mentions of God at school.
- The above is supported in the book on the Joffrey family in an interview with Dr. Shah’s son where he clearly says “Aurang, who was known for saying, ‘I am not a Muslim. I am a Harvard graduate.’” It is important to note that he was not a Harvard graduate in the traditional sense (No BS, MD, MBA, JD) but rather for a MPH, a less competitive program to obtain admission into.
- His own hand appears to have finalized the matter in print: his Tufts application denotes his adopted religion as “Baptist” and the corroborating evidence proves this was not simply the case of a 1920s minority race member trying to ease his way through a system fraught with prejudices.
- Dr. Shah appears to have nearly failed out of medical school and his report card indicated he was advised to leave but was subsequently given the opportunity to graduate (though not with his admitting class). There is no evidence mention of residency training.
- Despite claiming to carry the banner of Pashtun independence and Pashtun nationalism Dr. Shah did not marry within his own people.
- Zarif Khan of Barra did not need to advertise his Pashtun ethnicity but rather was a living embodiment of it and ended up marrying within his own people (demonstrating a trust in and a dedication to truly maintaining his Pashtun identity). Aurang Shah on the other hand trumpeted Pashtun causes and politics but married a European ancestry American and his inheritors for all intents and purposes speak no Pashto and openly deny any aspect of being Muslims.
- This is not a moral fault per se but the age-old adage of “walking the walk and talking the talk” when championing a cause is reasonable to invoke.
- Zarif Khan of Barra did not need to advertise his Pashtun ethnicity but rather was a living embodiment of it and ended up marrying within his own people (demonstrating a trust in and a dedication to truly maintaining his Pashtun identity). Aurang Shah on the other hand trumpeted Pashtun causes and politics but married a European ancestry American and his inheritors for all intents and purposes speak no Pashto and openly deny any aspect of being Muslims.
- DEMISE
At the age of 70 he was shot and killed by a patient named Poinciano Lovato. Apparently, he was treated for 3 months by Dr. Shah and was angered by treatment associated impotence. That the motives are well documented in Sacramento newspaper archives is important to mention because it is extremely likely that if Dr. Shah becomes a rediscovered and discussed figure the paranoia brigade of former Pashtun Marxist Johnny-come-lately democrats will attempt to claim that the ISI was involved due to the impact Dr. Shah was beginning to have in local US and international diplomatic circles. No evidence supports such a stupid theory and Mr. Lovato is hardly of the right ethnic persuasion to have formed established links with Pakistan. Multiple witnesses saw the shooting and no Lovato family members, associates, or employers mention any unusual activities surrounding Mr. Lovato. Dr. Shah’s body was flown to Maranjan Hill near Kabul where he was buried.
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