Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan (Pashto: غازي محمد ايوب خان ; Dari: غازی محمد ایوب خان) (1857 – 7 April 1914) also known as The Victor of Maiwand or The Afghan Prince Charlie was, for a while, the governor of Herat Province in the Emirate of Afghanistan. He was Emir of Afghanistan from 12 October, 1879 to 31 May, 1880.[2][3] He also led the Afghan troops during the Second Anglo-Afghan War and defeated the British Indian Army at the Battle of Maiwand. Following his defeat at the Battle of Kandahar, Ayub Khan was deposed and exiled to British India. However, Ayub Khan fled to Persia (now Iran). After negotiations in 1888 with Sir Mortimer Durand, the ambassador at Tehran, Ayub Khan became a pensioner of the British Raj and traveled to British India in 1888, where he lived until his death in 1914 in Lahore, Punjab.[1] He was buried in Peshawar and had eleven wives, fifteen sons, and ten daughters.[4] Two of his grandsons, Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi and Sardar Muhammad Ismail Khan, served as brigadiers in the Pakistan Army.[5][6][7][8]
In Afghanistan, he is remembered as the "National Hero of Afghanistan."[4]
During the second Anglo-Afghan war, Afghans under the command of Ayub Khan clashed with Anglo-Indian troops at Maiwand on 27 July 1880 and emerged victorious.[5] The Afghan victory at Maiwand was strategically significant for Afghanistan as it saved the country from getting dismembered by Britain, and saved Kandahar from a permanent British occupation. The defeat at Maiwand also compelled the British to withdraw from Qandahar. After the battle, the Afghans buried the dead Anglo-Indian soldiers and erected a monument in their honor and memory.[5]
Ayub Khan later went on to besiege the better equipped British forces at Kandahar but did not succeed. On 1 September, 1880, he was defeated and routed by forces led by GeneralFrederick Roberts at the Battle of Kandahar, which saw the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.[9]
After second Anglo-Afghan war
A year later, Ayub again tried to take Kandahar, this time from AmirAbdur Rahman Khan, but again failed.
"Ayub Khan had an opportunity of realizing his strength as an independent ruler in Afghanistan. Certain tribes in Kushk district having revolted, he desired to send a force from Herat to punish them; but when he asked his men to march, they refused, because he had not paid them for a long time."
From The Twillingate Sun, Thursday, 3 February 1881.
In Afghanistan, he is remembered as the "National Hero of Afghanistan." He had eleven wives, fifteen sons, and ten daughters.[4] Several of his descendants have served in various capacities in Pakistan. Two of his grandsons, Sardar Hissam Mahmud el-Effendi and Sardar Muhammad Ismail Khan, served with the rank of Brigadier in the Pakistan Army.[5]
After retiring from the military, he became a polo player and organised Pakistani polo for over twenty years, with leading teams invited to play from abroad.[6] He died in August 1983 in Lahore, and had two sons.[citation needed] One of his sons, Sardar Azmarai Javaid Hissam el-Effendi, was a professional polo player. He also coached the Pakistani polo team from 2003 to 2007 and was awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 1996 by the government of Pakistan.[citation needed]
^ abcd"When the Pakistan Army Polo Team went to India in 1955". The Friday Times. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. The unmistakable figure next to Sher Ali is Brigadier Sardar H.M. el-Effendi. He was of Afghan ancestry, the grandson of Sardar Ayub Khan, who defeated the British at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880, during the second Anglo-Afghan war
^"Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan Of Pakistan (1920–2016)". Criterion Quarterly. 7 September 2016. Lieutenant Sardar Hissamuddin Mahmud El-Effendi, a scion of the Afghan royal family, was assigned to the 11th PAVO Cavalry.
