Umra Khan


Khan Umara Khan of Jandul, also called "Napoleon of Pathans", was a Pashtun chief on the north-western frontier of British India, who was chiefly responsible for the Chitral Expedition of 1895.

Life

He was the younger son of the Khan of Jandul; but he killed his elder brother, seized the throne, and made himself a power on the frontier.
In 1894 he held undisputed sway over almost the whole of Bajour, when his restless ambition caused him to interfere in the internal affairs of Chitral. He instigated Afzal ul-Mulk, a son of Chitral's Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk, to murder his brother Nizam ul-Mulk, and then overthrew the fratricide and supported the claims of his uncle Sher Afzul to the throne. The Government of British India intervened and ordered Umra Khan to leave Chitral. When he refused, the Chitral Expedition was despatched; Umra Khan was driven into exile in Afghanistan, and died there in 1904.