Mohammed Akbar
Wazir Mohammed Akbar Khan ( Pashtun وزير محمد اکبر خان; * 1816 ; † 1845 ) was an Afghan military leader and later an emir . He commanded the Afghans during the First Anglo-Afghan War .
Life
Akbar was a son of Dost Mohammed , the ruler of Afghanistan and founder of the Baraksai dynasty. In the first phase of the Anglo-Afghan war, the British managed to take Kabul and resident William Macnaghten sent Dost Mohammed into exile in India .
In the course of 1841 there was a general uprising and the siege of the British garrison in Kabul. The arrival of Mohammed Akbar with 6,000 men in Kabul worsened the situation. On December 23, 1841, after negotiations, a battle broke out between Macnaghten and Akbar on the Kabul River , in which Macnaghten was killed. On January 6, 1842, the retreat of the British garrison began under Major General Elphinstone . They tried to reach the garrison in Jalalabad , about 140 km away. The train consisted of approximately 12,000 civilians, 690 British and 2,840 Indian soldiers. They were attacked by Mohammed Akbar as soon as they left the garrison. The attacks continue and the promised escort did not appear. Several negotiations with Akbar ensued along the way, and hostages were left behind, including Elphinstone himself on January 11th. The last British survivors - twenty officers and forty-five soldiers, chiefly from the 44th East Essex Regiment - were killed on the morning of January 13th at the Battle of Gandamak killed or captured. Only the British military doctor Dr. Brydon managed to escape to Jalalabad on the afternoon of January 13th.
From November 1841, Mohammed Akbar led the siege of Jalalabad . On February 28, March 2 and March 3, 1842, he unsuccessfully attacked the fort. On March 1st, March 24th and April 1st the British defenders made sorties. On April 5th, the fort received false news that a relief army under George Pollock had been defeated at the Chaiber Pass . In the evening it was announced that Pollock had been victorious. Nevertheless, Sale decided to attack the siege army. At sunrise on April 7th the British troops began their attack in three columns . At seven o'clock Akbar Khan was defeated and fled to Kabul. The Afghans' camp fell into the hands of the British.
In May 1842, Akbar Khan became the new Emir of Afghanistan in Kabul. He ruled until his death in 1845.
Web links
- Literature by and about Mohammed Akbar in the bibliographic database WorldCat
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Akbar, Mohammed |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Akbar Ḫān, Wazīr Muḥammad |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Afghan tribal leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1816 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1845 |