Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns

by Rajmohan Gandhi

Penguin India Ghaffar Non Violent Badshah Of The Pakhtuns

Genres: Biography, History

316 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Rajmohan Gandhi (born 1935)is a biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and a research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Until end-December 2012 he taught political science and history at the University of Illinois and divided his time between India and the United States.

Reviews

[E.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biography of a man largely forgotten by India and Pakistan both - "Badshah Khan". A firm believer in non-violence hailing from one of the most violent regions on earth, the North West Frontier Province and rightly called "Frontier Gandhi".
Recently, PM Modi rightly reminded Pakistan of its troubled history of Baluchistan - its forcible accession, the numerous suppressions and human rights abuses. Less known is the history of NWFP, which never had a League ministry till independence, with Khan's Khudai Khidmatgars/Congress winning the elections every time till being forcibly ousted on winning freedom.
Or the demand for a Pathanistan, with internal autonomy or sovereignty that was going strong, or the fact that the popular Khan brothers had to spend so much time in jails in an independent Pak.
And while the core reason of Pakistan demand was Muslim communalism, it was strongly supported by d British in the 1940s.
Finally, thanks to Rajmohan Gandhi for providing a biography of yet another ignored figure. Have read on Patel (and Gandhi) by him earlier, and will read on Rajaji later. This was my fifth book by him and immensely respect the author.

[Annie Zaidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read. The life and times that reflect the life and times of not just India, but also Pakistan and Bangladesh in the twentieth century.

[Zunaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rajmohan Ghandi's biography of Gaffar Khan (Badshah Khan), is an interesting and inspiring story of a Pakhtun leader who is willing to risk his life and his family to give Pakhtuns what they have always been deprived of: equality. His struggly is against the British who do not consider the local peolple their equals. Ghaffar Khan not only has to give his people their deserved position but he also has to educate them so that they are able to demand their rights with confidence. With this goal, Ghaffar Khan builds many school and colleges around the frontier in which the curriculum was conducted in Pashtu (the local language), not in English. But Ghaffar Khan alone was not responsable for the resistance of the Pakhtuns; his followers were the "Khudai Khidmatgars" (KK's), or the people who worked for God. They went all over the frontier creating awareness about their beliefs. Ghaffar Khan taught the KK's about the benefits of nonviolence. He taught them that compromises could not be reached with the help of guns but with the power of words. Ghaffar Khan, through nonviolence, became the Badshah (king) of the Pashtuns.

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet again, Rajmohan Gandhi turns up with a grand biography: this time of a man to whom struggle was not around power but a duty. Among all biographies this was perhaps the most difficult; owing to the fact that there was very little 'Bacha' Khan wrote in his own lifetime. Gandhi sheds light on the tensions that Khan had to play around with. These tensions were unique to him due to his "Pakhtunness". By the end, one is forced to believe that Ghaffar Khan was either the greatest of Gandhi's heirs or in fact the only true heir.

[Yash Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghaffar Khan : The Frontier Gandhi
-------------------------------------------------------
If ever a man lived, sacrificed, suffered and died for his people, Ghaffar Khan was such a man.

- Rajmohan Gandhi


Ghaffar khan, nonviolent badshah of the pakhtuns is a concise and knowledgeable biography of the frontier gandhi.

For the detailed review you can also visit -
https://dontbignorant.in/ghaffar-khan...

[Bharati Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent biography of a very unusual personality

Coming from a very violent community and region Ghaffar Khan was the embodiment of peace and non violence.
Aptly called Frontier Gandhi it is but natural that Rajmohan Gandhi wrote this illuminating biography.
This book is just right for these troubled times.

[Sadhana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hailing from South India, I only knew the stereotypes of NWFP. This book throws light on the frontier province and Pakhtuns. Interesting biography, edited well and helped me learn about Frontier Gandhi - perhaps the last Gandhian of the subcontinent.

[Raju · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very few in India know about the struggle and story of Badshah Khan. Badshah Khan finds place along with Patel, Rajaji , Gandhi whom we considers the real architects of our independence struggle. Born in the family Phakthuns, known to be fearsome warriors Badshah Khan preaches non-violence and succeeds in the NWFP region until the Indian independece act becomes reality.

This book gives insight into the life of Badshah Khan, which we know very little. Author Rajmohan Gandhi who has worked on the biographies of Rajaji, Patel and also does justice to the story Badshah Khan through very few available resources.

The author covers from the birth of the Frontier Gandhi to his death in Jalalabad (Afghanistan). Unlike the Biography of Patel by the author(Patel, A Life) here Rajamohan Gandhi doent dwell more into the nitty gritties of event that occur during the freedom struggle like NCM,CDM,Quit Indiam Movement in length. He mentions the contriution of the Badshah khan in those struggle in very crisp manner.

The real story of Khan picks from the start of the Crips Mission. Badshah Khan along with his organisation KK(Khudai Khidmatgars) were opposed to the concept of Partition. Badshah Khan also opposes the Partition and directly accuses the Nehru for giving away Badshah Khan and his NWFP to the wolves.

Later once partion becomes reality, Badshah khan agrees to work under Jinnah, provided they change the name of the NWPF to Phaktuinstan and gave autonomy to them. This ask of Badshah Khan makes him a traitor in the eyes of the Pakistan Establishment.Out of first 18 years of independence Khan spends nearly 15 years in Jail.

On Health ground he will released and moves to Afghansitan from where he fights for the Pahthunistan.

Finally,India honors its son by conferring "Bharata Ratna", for his contribution in the public service.

[Mayank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that needs to be read more than once. For one, Badshah Khan is a personality so vast and important that single reading is not enough to fully understand or absorb him. Second, and this is in no way a critique of biographer, the account compresses 98 years of life in mere 277 pages.
Author acknowledges the shortcomings of the book that it runs low on details of personal life of Badshah Khan. His thoughts, relations and struggles often have to be drawn out by imagination guided by vignettes that author was able to discover. In the absence of letters and writings by the great pathan, this account is the best that limited resources could produce.
Finally, the biography is a must read for any student of history, humanity or Gandhi. Gaffar Khan represented the last remnant of Gandhism in the subcontinent. He, in fact, was the only real disciple of Gandhi who remained true to him in thought and action. While all other top leaders, who participated in freedom struggle, enjoyed fruits of their struggle by means of plush jobs and positions of authority, Gaffar Khan was bestowed with unbroken chain of gaol terms. On more than one occasion he refused offers to join ministry, preferring struggle for Pakhtoon autonomy rather than succumbing to pleasures of power.
In view of Badshah Khan's life of struggles for Pakhtoon dignity one can't help but feel sorry for the present situation both east and west of Durrand line. If only more people had imbibed his message of non-violence and mutual love!

PS: Any one who is interested in Badshah Khan should also read 'Two servants of God' written by Mahadev Desai (Gandhiji's secretary and a scholar). It is a brief biographical work which focuses on personality traits of the two pathan brothers, rather than their political works.

[Praveen SR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember that Ghaffar Khan's name was just a passing reference in our school textbooks, as 'Frontier Gandhi'. This volume, picked up from a shop clearance sale thanks to that school memory, provided me a near perfect backgrounder on that eventful life. The story of how he built a non-violent movement 'Khudai Khidmatgar' inspired by Gandhi and became a part of the freedom movement, how he was later ignored, or rather betrayed, by the Indian leaders, his continued demands for an autonomous region for the Pashtuns, the years and years he spent in jails before and after freedom. Also, this book is a useful introduction to the North West Frontier Provinvce, sandwiched between India and Pakistan, and forced to join Pakistan, despite all the efforts of Ghaffar Khan

[Gurpreet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had not his Muslim tradition, to which he was both instinctively and thoughtfully loyal, forbade the appellation, Badshah Khan might have been called a prophet for his people. He cannot be called that, but through his austerity, bearing, unwavering commitment and unsparing frankness he brought to his times a hint of the prophets of yore.

[Kuljinder Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable read

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straightforward biography of peer of Gandhi and a hero of nonviolence.

[Fazal Ur · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world best leader of Non Violence.....

[Anuradha Sarup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth a read. This period of the Indian subcontinent's history is so well known and still nevertheless remains so foggy... A well written book like this makes for interesting reading

[Anantha Giri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good work on one of the forgotten heroes of freedom movement. Can't blame the author for lack of authoritative source materials which could have given more insights on the life of Padshah khan

[Supriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A highly readable introduction to a colossal life, although perhaps rather too dated in its construction as a response to World Events. There's too much readiness to err on the side of hagiography, although the book isn't a hagiographic project overall. But it's kind of unthrilling in the little things, like 'Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns' as a subtitle - you suspect that KAGK would have rolled his eyes.

What I like about Gandhi is that he's able to evoke the utter seriousness of his history and subject without inclining to either ponderousness or flippancy. This is highly useful: as the author himself explains, it's more difficult to write about figures like Patel or Ghaffar Khan than it is to write about Nehru and Gandhi because there's no corpus of their own writing to study, but that doesn't diminish their relevance to their time.

[Rakshit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a pity that I hardly knew anything about this great man. A relevant read in today's turbulent times with respect to NWFP.