Payandah Khan
| Payandah Khan پاينده خان | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emir of Emirs[a] The Exalted Khan[b] | |||||
 Portrait of Payandah Khan | |||||
| Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire | |||||
| Grand Vizier | 1774 – October 1800 | ||||
| Predecessor | Rahimdad Khan | ||||
| Successor | Fath Allah Khan | ||||
| Born | 1758 Kandahar, Durrani Empire | ||||
| Died | October 1800 (aged 41–42) Kabul, Durrani Empire | ||||
| Cause of death | Execution | ||||
| Spouse | 10 wives
| ||||
| Issue | 25 sons and 4 daughters
| ||||
| |||||
| House | Barakzai dynasty | ||||
| Father | Hajji Jamal Khan | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Conflicts | Rebellion of Azad Khan Battle of Attock (1793) Afghan Civil War (1793–1823)  | ||||
Sardar Payandah Khan Barakzai,[c] (1758 – October 1800) also known as Payinda Khan, and by his honorific title as the Exalted Khan, was chief of the Barakzai tribe, as well as a civil servant and the Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire under the reigns of Timur Shah Durrani and Zaman Shah Durrani from 1774 until his execution in 1800, after being stripped of all his powers.[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life
Payandah was born as a fourth son in 1758 to Hajji Jamal Khan, a member of the Mohammadzai branch of the Barakzai Pashtun tribe. His father was a former opponent to Ahmad Shah Durrani, and later the chief of the Barakzai tribe, and the Grand Vizier of the Durrani Empire under his reign, as well as under the reign of Timur Shah Durrani until his death in 1772.
Rise to power
The previous head of the Barakzais, Payandah Khan's elder brother Rahimdad Khan, eventually became unpopular among the Barakzais, which led to Timur Shah replacing him with Payandah Khan in 1774, and Payandah Khan was given the title Sarfaraz Khan (The Exalted Khan) ever since.[1]: 148
Payandah Khan helped Zaman Shah Durrani in seizing the Durrani throne,[6] and supported him throughout his campaigns after helping him and his legitimacy of being king.[2]: 157
In December of 1793, Payandah Khan routed the Sikhs at Attock.[7][8]
Death and legacy
As Zaman Shah Durrani got rid of his enemies in the long run, the Durrani Empire saw a period of prosperity that it had not seen for a while.[1] Fath Allah Khan began suspecting that a plot was formulating on Zaman Shah among Payandah Khan, and Azim Khan Alakozai, the head of the Jawansher Qizilbash, and numerous other prominent chiefs. Zaman Shah was then informed of what had come, where he fabricated witnesses to the event, while Payandah Khan's sons claimed Fath Allah was attempting to bring the fall of the Barakzais.[3]
Nonetheless, Payandah Khan and other conspirators were rounded up and executed, with their heads being displayed publicly in Kandahar. This execution brought dire consequences, such as the alliance between the Sadozais and the Barakzais which was now broken.[2]: 161-162 [4] As a result, Fateh Khan, who was the eldest of Payandah Khan's children, fled to Persia where Mahmud Shah Durrani was in exile, and swore his allegiance to him. This eventually led to Mahmud Shah replacing Zaman Shah after Fateh Khan engineered the blinding of Zaman Shah.[2]: 162 [1]
Payandah Khan had 10 wives, 25 sons and 1 daughter by the time he died at the age of 41. These sons would become influential leaders in Afghan history, having 3 separate branches of being rulers of Kabul, Kandahar and Peshawar.[5]
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Hazārah, Fayż Muḥammad Kātib; McChesney, R. D.; Khorrami, Mohammad Mehdi (2013). The History of Afghanistan: Fayż Muḥammad Kātib Hazārah's Sirāj al-Tawārīkh. Brill. ISBN 9789004234925.
- ^ a b c d Lee, Jonathan L. (2018). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781789140101.
- ^ a b Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. ISBN 9783700172024.
- ^ a b Malleson, George B. (1879). History of Afghanistan: From the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878. W. H. Allen & Company. ISBN 0343739771. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ a b Dalrymple, William (2013). Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307958297.
- ^ "Zamān Shāh | emir of Afghanistan | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ www.DiscoverSikhism.com. History Of The Sikhs Vol. IV The Sikh Commonwealth Or Rise And Fall Of Sikh Misls. p. 459.
- ^ Gupta, Hari Ram (1944). History of the Sikhs vol.3. p. 54.