Shahzada Sultan Jan Saddozai, Kurram valley, 1878

by
Sultan Jan Saddozai
Shahzada Sultan Jan (third from left) and Mahomed Hayat Khan (center) with Nawabs, 1878. Source

 

Original caption: “Shahzada Sultan Jan of Kurram valley and Nawabs”.

Shahzada Sultan Jan Saddozai was sixth in descent from Ahmad Shah Durrani. Shahzada Hassad, grandson of Timur Shah Durrani, fled to Peshawar around 1830 AD and sought the protection of Ranjit Singh. His son Shahzada Jumhoor (father of Shahzada Sultan Jan) took the side of British during Second Anglo-Sikh war (1848-1849), and in November 1849 he was made an Extra Assistant Commissioner of Kohat. He died in 1869. On his death Shahzada Sultan Jan became the head of the family. In 1872 he became Extra Assistant Commissioner of Kohat. 

During the Second Anglo-Afghan War, British employed Shahzada Sultan Jan in Kurram. After the Khost expedition, he was left there by Frederick Robert as governor with some Turi militia, but the British troops had no sooner left than the Khostwals rose in revolt and British had to send a force to rescue Shahzada Sultan Jan and his followers. After this, he was employed as Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Kurram till October 1880, when he returned to Kohat. 
 
Shahzada Sultan Jan and his father Shahzada Jumbhoor lie buried in Shahpur village about two kilometers away from Kohat city.
 
Reference: Report on the settlement of the Kohat district in the Panjab by Henry St. George Tucker.
 
kurram
The political officers (of the British empire) in Kurram, 1895 (c). Shahzada Sultan Jan (who was sixth in lineal descent from Ahmad Shah Abdali) is on left sitting. Photo by Frederick Saint John Gore.
Kurram valley
The gate of Ahmadzai, Kurram valley, 1895 (c). Photo by Frederick Saint John Gore. The old man standing on left is Shahzada Sultan Jan Saddozai, a descendent of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

 

Share

Leave a comment