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UMRA KHAN jANDOLI
DISTRICT
DIR
At Chikdara despite of a big difference between the two forces Mohammad Shah Khan stop
the British at least for five hours but he could not continue his resistance furthers more and he
retreated from the field. The British army ruined that historical fort of Ramora and started
moving towards Timergara via Talash. Through out the way to Timergara the Mujahidin
continued sudden attacks on the British army and kept them in a persistent fear and trouble.
On April 11, 1895 the British army reached to Saido and stayed there to prepare for crossing
river Panjkora. The engineering core developed a bridge on the river and when about half of
the army were crossed the river, the bridge was washed out by the flooded waves and at the
same time the Mujahidin attacked from Kamrani top. It was not too far that the half of British
army will be destroyed by Mujahidin but once again from the opposite bank of the river they
used their artillery but still the British army lost colonel Kalbot, captain Filebz, colonel Betaye
along with 23 soldiers. On April 17, 1895 the British army once again faced Mujahidin at
Gosam, it is the mid way to Munda which was the strong fort of Umra Khan. Once again the
British army use artillery and about 300 Mujahidin were martyred while 3 British soldiers were
killed. Till that time the cousin and army commander of Umra Khan Abdul Majeed Khan was in
Chitral with 4000 soldiers and with most of the weapons. Now Umra Khan was struggling
together different tribes and to have a final fight with the British but when he asked Abdul
Majeed to immediately move to Jandol, He used Delay tactics and did not come as he was
sold himself for a few rupees and the greed of the rule of Jandol. In Munda Umra Khan was
accompanied by 1000 of soldiers. When the British army reached to Munda, Sir Robert Law
sent a letter to Umra Khan for negotiations but in fact he was in the struggle to arrest Umra
Khan as per Delhi orders. In response Umra Khan replied ," I am surrounded by thousands of
Mujahidin they will not let me negotiate there fore you send your army back and I will send mine
then we will have a meeting in the field but Sir Robertson refused this proposal as he was
actually not interested in Negotiations. Umra Kan was very dishearten by the role of some
mullahs and his cousin who betrayed him in a critical situation and now with only 1000 soldiers
he very rightly decided to leave Jandol. At that evening Umra Khan was in Munda fort with the
elders of different parts of the area and held a meeting with them. After offering the evening
prayer he came out and addressed his soldiers. ," He said, if I had 1600 brave soldiers in
Malakand the British will never cross Malakand. He further told that I am not defeated by the
enemy rather I am defeated by my relatives and friends. By this defeat I have lost my state but
many have lost their faith. He showed the pamphlet of Mukrani Mullah in which he stopped
people from jihad and then he said that I will come back with army from Afghanistan and will
fight with enemies till the last breath. He told the people to loot the fort and then he left Jandol
with forty soldiers. Umra Khan was warmly welcomed in Afghanistan and he was given proper
protocol and facilities but what for Umra Khan went to Afghanistan that is to establish an army,
The Afghan government did not allow him to involved in such activitis.He devoted him self for
social works and established a Madrassa.He was died at Charda Afghanistan at the age of
44. His burial ceremony was attended by Amir Abdurrahman and other officials of the
government. The Afghan government announced two day leave in the grief of Umra Khan's
death and He was given the title of Sardar Bahadar. The writer of the book Gumnam Reyasat
wrote in his book,' our new generation is perhaps do not know about Umra Khan while many
British writers wrote about him. He further writes that the Umra Khan war against British was
the second major event against the British after the war of Independence 1857, and it is a
bright chapter of the Pakistan and especially Dir history.
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