Who was ‘Turk Lala’ from Peshawar?

When the conditions in India started to deteriorate during the ‘War of Independence’ of 1857, its ill effects began to reach Kashmir and it reached the point of famine.

It is also written in the history books that some people started selling children to run the hearth of the house. When the situation reached this point, Sheikh Rehmatullah, a person belonging to a religious family of Kashmir, sent one of his daughters and son Ghulam Samdani from Kashmir to Peshawar so that they could live a better life there.

After a difficult journey, he finally reached his maternal uncle’s house in Peshawar, who was a rice trader.

When Ghulam Samdani came to Peshawar, one challenge he faced was that he should earn something to support his household, so he started working in small shops.

After some time he got a tea shop contract from the British. At that time Peshawar was under the British. After some time, Ghulam Samdani became the owner of crores of rupees.

Ghulam Samdani also bought the land for the expansion of the famous mosque of Qasim Ali Khan in Peshawar, while Ghulam Samdani also built the famous mosque in Qisa Khwani Bazar. Ghulam Samdani’s third wife gave birth to a son named Abdul Rahman, who grew up to be known as Abdul Rahman Peshawari, Turk Lala and Hafiz Napoleon.

Abdul Rahman Peshawari was born in 1886 in Peshawar. In his biography, his brother has written that when he started memorizing 14 verses of the Qur’an as a child, a problem arose in his throat due to which his voice became weak and he had to stop memorizing.

After that his father got him admitted in Municipal Board Peshawar in 1905.

He was fond of reading books since his childhood. He was proficient in Persian, Pashto and English languages. It is written in his biography that one of his friends was Sardar Abdul Rauf who studied in Aligarh. He was the grandson of Nawab Sir Aslam Khan. The British were among the signatories of the Durand Line Treaty between

Abdul Rahman was fond of playing cricket and football, while he also loved horse riding.

Education and ‘Hafiz Napoleon’ in Aligarh

A representative delegation from Aligarh University came to Peshawar in 1905 where they met Abdul Rahman’s father Ghulam Ahmad Samdani and told him to admit Abdul Rahman Peshawari to Aligarh.

Abdul Rahman’s father accepted this advice. Abdur Rahman Peshawari was sent to Aligarh and enrolled in eighth grade there. It is written in his biography that during his studies in Aligarh, Abdur Rahman Peshawari fell in love with Napoleon and started reading books on his life. He became so famous for quoting Napoleon in Aligarh that people started calling him ‘Hafiz Napoleon’.

During his student days in Aligarh, he took the lead in anti-British movements. He was expelled from the university for writing an article against the British. However, in the book ‘Abdul Rehman Shaheed’ written on the life of Abdul Rehman, it is written that in 1908 he was expelled along with Maulana Hasrat Mohani, but he was re-admitted to Aligarh College in 1911.

At that time, the political situation had completely changed. According to the book, there was a revolution against the British in the language and in the minds of most of the college students.

According to the biography, the period from 1908 to 1912 was a very turbulent period in the history of Asian Muslims. During this period, Austria occupied two provinces of Turkey on the help of the British. In 1911, Italy attacked Tripoli and in 1912, Turkey was attacked by the Balkan states.

Abdul Rahman Peshawari’s participation in the medical delegation from India to Turkey

When Italy attacked Turkey in 1912, news of it started reaching India. When the news of the war reached, appeals for help in various forms started from the Muslims.

A proposal was made to send a medical delegation to Turkey. Dr. Sohail Khan is associated with the Department of Education in Abdulwali Khan University and who has written many papers on history. He has written in one of his articles regarding Abdul Rahman Peshawari that in December 1911, when the delegation was prepared, Abdul Rahman Peshawari supported going to Turkey. .

The delegation was headed by Dr. Mukhtar Ansari, who treated Abdul Rahman Peshawari for heart disease. Under the leadership of Dr. Ansari, there were 22 members of this delegation, in which five were doctors and the rest were their assistants.

Abdul Rahman Peshawari participated in this delegation as an assistant. According to Dr. Sohail, Abdul Rahman sold all his belongings and left for the Turkish mission without informing his father.

In a detailed letter to Hamsheera before his departure, he also mentioned his financial hardship and his father’s refusal to allow him to travel.

Dr. Sohail writes that this medical delegation of Dr. Ansari reached Turkey in December 1912. After staying in Istanbul for a month, the delegation left for the battlefield on February 8, 1913.

The delegation was formed for the three fronts of the battlefield. Abdul Rehman Peshawari was the only member of the delegation who went to all three fronts and offered his services. They would go out into the battlefield without regard for life and search for the wounded in the lethality of cannon balls and hail of bullets. They would take the wounded out of the battlefield on their backs and take them to the hospital.

The delegation that Abdul Rahman Peshawari was a part of returned to India from Turkey in 1913, but Abdul Rahman stayed there and never returned.

Dr. Sohail says that the then Turkish Caliph Sultan Muhammad Khamis sent the delegation back to India and kept Abdul Rahman with him.

After that, Abdul Rahman Peshawari joined the Turkish army and received military education and training in Constantinople and Beirut, but when the First World War broke out, he was given the rank of lieutenant in the Turkish army and was called from Beirut to the dangerous front. Daniel was sent.

In the biography of Abdul Rahman Peshawari, it is written that when he decided to join the Turkish army, at the same time he joined the military college there.

When Turkey declared war on Russia, Great Britain and France on October 29, 1914, he was an ally of Germany. According to the biography of Umari, Abdul Rahman was a foreigner, but because of his love for Turkey, he was appointed to the Turkish army at that time. It was given while his military training was not yet completed.

Dara Daniel Pass was a very important front for Turkey in World War from which the French and British fleets were trying to enter Constantinople.

It is written in Abdul Rahman’s biography that he continued to serve at Dara Daniyal. After Dara Daniel, Abdul Rahman was also present at the Gallipoli front where the French and British forces landed in 1916.

According to the biography, Abdul Rahman Peshawari was sent to Afghanistan in 1915 with a delegation led by the famous Turkish naval officer Ruf Bey, who was also the first prime minister of Turkey after independence, but that delegation could not reach Afghanistan.

German armies had to face defeat in World War and thus Turkey also had to face defeat. Bulgaria surrendered on September 29, paving the way for the Allied forces to capture Constantinople, and Turkey was forced to surrender on October 30, 1918.

Where did Abdul Rahman go after the defeat of Turkey?

When Turkey was defeated, many political figures decided to leave the country and go to other countries, but Abdul Rahman Peshawari remained there and later went to Ankara and joined the army of Mustafa Kamal Pashaki.

In this regard, it is written in the book that after the World War, when the British occupied Istanbul, they hid in the city of Abdul Rahman so that the British would not touch them.

When Rufbey received secret information that the British had decided to dissolve the Turkish Parliament and imprison its members, he secretly sent Abdur Rahman to Ankara to go there and attack the Turkish army under the command of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Join in.

After organizing the Turkish army, Mustafa Kemal Pasha formed a provisional government in Ankara in 1920 and was elected its president. In the same year, France and the Allies signed an agreement with the Turkish government in the French city of Savery, which became known as the ‘Treaty of Savery’, but Mustafa Kemal Pasha started a popular movement against the harsh terms of the agreement.

It is written in the biography of Abdul Rahman Peshawari that Afghanistan was the first to recognize the government of Mustafa Kamal Pasha and sent its ambassador there. In response, the Ankara government also decided to send its ambassador to Afghanistan, and in March 1921, Abdul Rahman Peshawari was appointed ambassador to Afghanistan.

Abdul Rahman Peshawari arrived in Afghanistan more than four months after being appointed ambassador, as he traveled most of the journey on foot. The two attendants accompanying him disappeared on the way due to harsh conditions.

Amanullah Khan, who was in Kabul at that time, warmly welcomed Abdul Rehman Peshawari. One of the reasons for this was that one of Abdul Rahman Peshawari’s wives was related to the royal family of Afghanistan.

Abdul Rahman Peshawari was the ambassador of Turkey to Afghanistan till 1923 and later returned to Turkey. In 1924, differences arose between Musfati Kemal Pasha and Rufbey over the fact that one side was the caliphate and the other side was democracy, and thus Rufbey had to leave the prime ministership.

Murder of Abdul Rehman Peshawari

Between 20th and 21st May 1925, three persons attacked and injured Abdul Rahman Peshawari in Constantinople. A bullet went through his right lung and injured the spinal cord. After being injured, he remained under treatment. According to Abdul Rahman Peshawari’s biography, this news was published in the Mumbai-based newspaper ‘Bombay Chronicle’. According to the news, Peshawari was going to Roofbey’s house that night through the neighborhood of Akhlamor in Istanbul. He was attacked on the way. He died after being under treatment for a month in the hospital.

The biographies contain different stories from different sources regarding the attack on him, one of which is that since Peshawari was opposed to the then pro-democracy Khalq Party headed by Mustafa Kamal Pasha, the party killed him. Killed.

Another theory is that the assailants killed Peshawari mistakenly because they resembled him.

After his death, Abdul Rahman Peshawari was buried with military honors in Machaqah cemetery.

Even today, Peshawari is held in high esteem in Turkey. He is known as He Turk Lala or Lala Turk in Turkey.

In the famous Turkish drama Ertugrul Ghazi, there is also an important role of ‘Abdul Rahman Alp’, through which homage has been paid to Peshawari.

In the play, Abdul Rahman Alp was among the special soldiers of Ertugrul Ghazi, the main character of the play, who was with him all the time. When Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan came to Pakistan in 2016, he also mentioned Abdul Rahman Peshawari in his speech to the Parliament. That his services will never be forgotten by Turkish people.

Last week, the team of the drama Ertugrul Ghazi, in which the characters of the play Abdul Rahman Alp and Jalalullah were participating, also proposed to make a drama on Abdul Rahman Peshawari in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad to pay tribute to his services for Turkey. can be presented.