Ghaffar Khan was born in 1890 in the town of Utmanzai, a town near Peshawar what was Northwest Frontier Province of India during that time period. Utmanzai was a thriving town located on a main road. The British Empire had taken control of the Frontier about fifty years prior. The British had never planned on taking over this part of India.3 However, it all started when Dutch privateers that controlled the Indian spice trade raised their prices.3 In London, a group of merchants found the price raise to be unjustified, so the group formed the “East India Trading Company” in 1599.3 While they did not go to India conquer the land, political tension led to them taking over the land despite their company policy. Finally, in 1857 the Indian army protested against the British and the company was disbanded by the Queen of England in 1858 due to this incident.
Ghaffar was the youngest of four children.2 He had two sisters and a brother, Abdul Jabar, who attended the “Edwardes Memorial Mission High School”.2 When Ghaffar was young, he helped his father, Behram Khan, out on his farm land.2 He did well in his studies and admired his teacher, Reverend Wigram who was the head of the Edwardes Memorial Mission High School. The school, “trained young Pathans in English, science, and mechanics, mainly to prepare them,… for Punjab university”.6 His brother, Abdul was the first to attend a British school.6 Ghaffar was the second child in his village to attend this school and he was very proud to do so.6
When Ghaffar was in his final year of schooling he was summoned for the Guides and was granted commission. Ghaffar and his father were thrilled.7 However, once Ghaffar saw how the Guides made fun of a friend of his for “wanting to look like...
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... able to better the lives of his fellow people around him through teaching them nonviolent ways which eventually led to the independence of India.
Works Cited
Baacha Khan Trust, "Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.", 2014. http://www.baachakhantrust.org/Chronology
of Baacha Khan.pdf. (Accessed February 24, 2014).
Eknath Easwaran, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, A Man to Match His Mountains.
Tomales, CA: The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, 1984.
Nagler, Michael. Waging Nonviolence, "Waging Nonviolence: People Powered News & Analysis.”,
July 17, 2013. http://wagingnonviolence.org/2013/07/who-was-badshah-khan/. (Accessed
February 24, 2014).
Swarthmore College, "Global Nonviolent Action Database.", September 2011.
http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/pashtuns-campaign-against-british-empire-india-1930-1931. (Accessed February 25, 2014).