Barkhurdar Khan Achakzai is not a name you will find easily in British records. His history lives in two places: in the oral history of the Achakzai tribe, and in the memoirs of his most famous descendant, Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai.
According to Khan Shaheed’s autobiography “Zama Zhwand aw Zhwandoon” (The Way I Lived), Barkhurdar Khan was the founding patriarch of the modern Achakzai family.
His Position in Durrani Empire
When Ahmad Shah Abdali (1722-1772) founded the Durrani Empire in 1747 in Kandahar, he did not build a regular army. He built a tribal confederacy. His core was the Abdali / Durrani tribes, and one of the most loyal among them was the Achakzai – a sub-tribe of Barakzai Durrani.
Barkhurdar Khan was the Sardar and military commander of the Achakzai contingent. Khan Shaheed writes: “Our ancestors since the time of Barkhurdar Khan remained connected to the national Afghan court and government and were apparently educated and well versed in the ways of courts and governance. “This means he was not just a fighter; he was part of the Durrani Darbar in Kandahar.
His Role in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761)
This is his most famous contribution. In 1761, Ahmad Shah Abdali faced the Maratha Empire at Panipat, near Delhi. It was the biggest battle of the 18th century. According to Achakzai family tradition recorded in History Barkhurdar Khan accompanied Ahmad Shah Baba in the great Battle of Panipat.
He commanded 3,000 Achakzai horsemen. His contingent was placed in the Afghan right flank, famous for its fierce tribal cavalry charges. The Afghans won. The victory made Ahmad Shah the master of India from Punjab to Delhi, and it cemented the Achakzai as one of the most respected tribes in the Empire.
Family Lineage
After Him Barkhurdar Khan established a family that would serve Afghan rulers for 150 years:
Barkhurdar Khan (General of Ahmad Shah) father
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Bostan Khan(son)
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Inayatullah Khan(grand son)
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Sultan Mohammad Khan(great grandson)
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Noor Mohammad Khan a renowned Islamic scholar (great great grandson)
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Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai great great great grandson
Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai (1907-1973)Later, his grandsons fought in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880, where Ayub Khan’s Afghan army defeated the British.
Why He Is Important Today?
Barkhurdar Khan represents the first documented link between the Achakzai tribe and the idea of an Afghan state. That is why Samad Khan Achakzai always started his political speeches with him – to say that Pashtuns of Balochistan were not refugees, they were co-founders of the Durrani state. He was not a king, but without generals like him, Ahmad Shah Abdali could never have created modern Afghanistan.
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