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ABDUR RAHMAN KHAN
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ABDUR RAHMAN See also:KHAN , See also:amir of See also:Afghanistan (c. 1844–1901), was the son of Afzul Khan, who was the eldest son of Dost Mahomed Khan, the famous amir, by whose success in See also:war the Barakzai See also:family established their See also:dynasty in the ruler-See also:ship of Afghanistan. Before his See also:death at See also:Herat, 9th See also:June 1863, Dost Mahomed had nominated as his successor Shere See also:Ali, his third son, passing over the two See also:elder See also:brothers, Afzul Khan and Azim Khan; and at first the new amir was quietly recognized. But after a few months Afzul Khan raised an insurrection in the See also:northern See also:province, between the See also:Hindu Kush mountains and the See also:Oxus, where he had been governing when his See also:father died; and then began a fierce contest for See also:power among the sons of Dost Mahomed, which lasted for nearly five years. In this war, which resembles in See also:character, and in its striking vicissitudes, the See also:English War of the See also:Roses at the end of the 15th See also:century, Abdur Rahman soon became distinguished for ability and daring See also:energy. Although his father, Afzul Khan, who had none of these qualities, came to terms with the Amir Shere Ali, the son's behaviour in the northern province soon excited the amir's suspicion, and Abdur Rahman, when he was summoned to See also:Kabul, fled across the Oxus into See also:Bokhara. Shere Ali threw Afzul Khan into See also:prison, and a serious revolt followed in See also:south Afghanistan; but the amir had scarcely suppressed it bywinning a desperate See also:battle, when Abdur Rahman's reappearance in the See also:north was a See also:signal for a See also:mutiny of the troops stationed in those parts and a gathering of armed bands to his See also:standard. After some delay and desultory fighting, he and his See also:uncle, Azim Khan, occupied Kabul (See also: Azim died in Persia in See also:October 1869. This brief See also:account of the conspicuous See also:part taken by Abdur Rahman in an eventful war, at the beginning of which he was not more than twenty years old, has been given to show the rough school that brought out his qualities of resource and fortitude, and the See also:political capacity needed for rulership in Afghanistan. He lived in See also:exile for eleven years, until on the death, in 1879, of Shere Ali, who had retired from Kabul when the See also:British armies entered Afghanistan, the Russian governor-general at See also:Tashkent sent for Abdur Rahman, and pressed him to try his fortunes once more across the Oxus. In March i88o a See also:report reached See also:India that he was in northern Afghanistan; and the governor-general, See also:Lord See also:Lytton, opened communications with him to the effect that the British See also:government were pre-pared to withdraw their troops, and to recognize Abdur Rahman, as amir of Afghanistan, with the exception of Kandahar and some districts adjacent. After some negotiations, an interview took place between him and Mr (afterwards See also:Sir) Lepel See also:Griffin, the See also:diplomatic representative at Kabul of the See also:Indian government. who described Abdur Rahman as a See also:man of See also:middle height, with an exceedingly intelligent See also:face and See also:frank and courteous See also:manners. shrewd and able in conversation on the business in See also:hand. A. the See also:durbar on the 22nd of See also:July 188o, Abdur Rahman was officially recognized as amir, granted assistance in arms and See also:money, and promised, in See also:case of unprovoked See also:foreign aggression, such further aid as might be necessary to repel it, provided that he followed British See also:advice in regard to his See also:external relations. The evacuation of Afghanistan was settled on the terms proposed, and in 1881 the British troops also made over Kandahar to the new amir; but Ayub Khan, one of Shere Ali's sons, marched upon that See also:city from Herat, defeated Abdur Rahman's troops, and occupied the place in July. This serious See also:reverse roused the amir, who had not at first displayed much activity. He led a force from Kabul, met Ayub's See also:army See also:close to Kandahar, and the See also:complete victory which he there won forced Ayub Khan to See also:fly into Persia. From that See also:time Abdur Rahman was fairly seated on the throne at Kabul, and in the course of the- next few years he consolidated his dominion over all Afghanistan, suppressing insurrections by a See also:sharp and relentless use of his despotic authority. Against the severity of his See also:measures the powerful See also:Ghilzai tribe revolted, and were crushed by the end of 1887. In that year Ayub Khan made a fruitless inroad from Persia; and in 1888 the amir's See also:cousin, Ishak Khan, rebelled against him in the north; but these two enterprises came to nothing. In 1885, at the moment when (see AFGHANISTAN) the amir was in See also:conference with the British See also:viceroy, Lord Dufferin, in India, the See also:news came of a collision between Russian and Afghan troops at See also:Panjdeh, over a disputed point in the demarcation of the north-western frontier of Afghanistan. Abdur Rahman's attitude at this See also:critical juncture is a See also:good example of his political sagacity. To one who had been a man of war from his youth up, who had won and lost many fights, the rout of a detachment Din (See also:Light of the nation and See also:religion); and his zeal for the cause of See also:Islam induced him to publish See also:treatises on Jehad. His eldest son Habibullah Khan, with his See also:brother Nasrullah Khan, was See also:born at Samarkand. His youngest son, Mahomed See also:Omar See also:Jan, was born in 1889 of an Afghan See also:mother, connected by descent with the Barakzai family. See also S. See also:Wheeler, F.R.G.S., The Amir Abdur Rahman (See also:London, 1895) ; The See also:Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., edited by Mir See also:Munshi, See also:Sultan Mahommed Khan (2 vols., London, 1900); At the See also:Court of the Amir, by J. A. See also:Grey (1895). (A. C. 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