ADVENTURERS, EMIRS & GENERALS
AYUB KHAN
1857-1914 AFGHANISTAN
THE ‘NATIONAL HERO OF AFGHANISTAN’
The Emirate of Afghanistan emerged in 1823 with the first emir being Dost Mohammad Khan. Dost Muhammad had been able to defeat the British during the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1842 but Afghanistan still remained the main pawn between Britain and Russia during the Great Game.
Dost Mohammad was immediately succeeded by his third son Sher Ali Khan but internecine warfare meant that his elder brothers also ruled. Sher Ali regained the emirate and his son Yaqub Khan succeeded him in 1879. Yaqub’s younger brother was Ayub and he initially served as the governor of Herat. Elsewhere, the British had not forgotten their humiliation during the First Anglo-Afghan War and planned to settle the score.
A British diplomatic mission to Kabul ended
