Bacha Khan: Defying an Empire

The life of Pashtun leader Bacha Khan, who fought to end British colonial rule in India by non-violent means.

This is the story of the extraordinary life of the Pashtun leader Bacha Khan, who fought to end British colonial rule in northwest India by non-violent means at the same time as Mahatma Gandhi campaigned across the rest of the country.

Khan was from the border region straddling parts of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even though he advocated peaceful resistance, he still spent 15 years in jail. When Britain granted Indian independence in 1947, Khan initially opposed its partition into two separate countries, India and Pakistan. He later backed down – but then called for an autonomous “Pashtunistan”, which landed him in jail again, this time under the new Pakistani government.

When Bacha Khan died in 1988, aged 98, hundreds of thousands of mourners paid their respects and India, Pakistan and Afghanistan all lowered their flags in tribute. Until recently, Khan was written out of school history books in Pakistan, but he is now recognised for his achievements as an educator, campaigner and opponent of colonial rule.