Faqir of Ipi
Faqir of Ipi born Mirza Ali Khan (Urdu/Pashto: مرزا علی خان) (born 1897) was a Pashtun from today's North-Western Pakistan, then British India. His followers addressed him as ‘Haji Sahib' (or Respected Pilgrim). The village of Ipi is located near Mirali Camp in North Waziristan Agency, Waziristan, from where the Faqir of Ipi started his self styled Jihad against the British government. He waged a highly effective guerrilla warfare against the British Empire throughout the 1930s and 1940s until the British departure in 1947. At one point nearly 40,000 British and Indian troops were reported to be in the field trying to capture him, while he succeeding in evading the tight net surrounding him. His own force of armed tribesmen, probably not exceeding one thousand men, armed with rifles and a few machine-guns, and occasionally one or two pieces of antiquated cannon were fielded against this much larger British army equipped with modern artillery, tanks and aircraft. The Faqir of Ipi was always short of ammunition, had no radio communication, and relied upon a traditional network of informants and messengers for his intelligence while the British had much more sophisticated communications and intelligence capabilities developed in World War II. When he died in 1960, The Times of 20 April described him as "a doughty and honourable opponent... a man of principle and saintliness... a redoubtable organizer of tribal warfare...." But only with a tinge of irony could the obituary claim that "many retired Army officers and political agents... will hear the news with the tribute of wistful regret".
Early life
He was born Mirza Ali Khan in 1897 in Shankai Kairta, which is located near Khajuri Post in North Waziristan Agency. His family was from the Bangal Khel clan of the Haibati Madda Khel section of the Tori Khel Wazirs, which belongs to the greater Utmanzai branch concentrated in North Waziristan. His father was a religious man, named Arsala Khan. Mirza first went to religious schools on the British side of the border, and eventually, to a place near Jalalabad, where he became a Murid (pupil) of the Naqib of Chaharbagh, at the time the most famous and influential religious leader in Afghanistan. In 1923 Mirza Ali Khan performed the Hajj in Mecca and thereafter settled down in the village of Ipi, situated near the British military road connecting Bannu and Razmak. He was known as a peaceful, religious preacher. There he gradually acquired the reputation of saintliness among the clan of Daurs, but not attracting as yet the attention of the authorities as a potential agitator.
Raising the flag of rebellion
The case of Islam Bibi
In March 1936, however, came the turning point in the Faqir's career. The incident was the trial case of the so-called 'Islam Bibi',the crisis was triggered by the conversion and marriage of a 15-year-old Hindu girl Ram Kori, named and known as Islam Bibi, to a Pashtun school teacher Syed Amir Noor Ali Shah of Bannu. A minor girl still, the British Resident of Waziristan and the Brigade Commander Bannu applied strong political pressure on the Torikhel and Madda Khel Waziris for the release of the girl. The next morning two companies of Tochi Scouts surrounded the village holding Islam Bibi, and a flight of fully armed RAF Audaxes circled overhead in a show of force. The tribal elders acceded to the Political Agent's plea to allow Islam Bibi to declare her decision in front of a Jirga comprising both sides. Before such a Jirga could be arranged, however, the Deputy Commissioner of Bannu, with the concurrence of the NWFP Government, somehow managed to whisk Islam Bibi and her parents away into the interior of the Punjab.
The school teacher was accused of abduction and arrested. The case reached the court in Bannu city 'amid a blaze of publicity.' The trial magistrate found no evidence to suggest that Islam Bibi left her home under compulsion. It was more than clear that she escaped and married Noor Ali Shah out of her own free choice.
Noor Ali Shah's claim to the girl's custody was dismissed as he could not prove 'legal marriage'. He received two years imprisonment for abduction. This verdict proved the trigger for the Faqir.
Rebellion: Battle against the Bannu Brigade & the Khaisora campaign
The verdict 'enraged' the Muslims - especially the Daur tribesmen, Faqir Ipi's kinsmen, the Daur Maliks and mullahs left the Tochi far the Khaisora Valley to the south to rouse the Torikhel Waziris. The enraged tribesmen mustered two large lashkars 10,000 strong and battled the Bannu brigade, with heavy casualties on both sides. Widespread lawlessness erupted as tribesmen blocked roads, overran outposts and ambushed convoys. The British retaliated by sending two columns converging in the Khaisora river valley. They suppressed the agitation by imposing fines and by destroying the houses of the ringleaders, including that of the Faqir of Ipi. However, the pyrrhic nature of the victory and the subsequent withdrawal of the troops was credited by the Wazirs to be a manifestation of the Faqir's miraculous powers. He succeeded in inducing a semblance of tribal unity, as the British noticed with dismay, among various sections of Tori Khel Wazirs, the Mahsuds and the Bhittannis. He cemented his position as religious leader by declaring a Jihad against the British. This move also helped rally support from Afghan tribesman across the border.
Quagmire
Soon after the campaign a general uprising broke out throughout Waziristan, realising the futility of confronting the British Army directly especially with their advantage of airpower tribesmen switched to guerrilla warfare. In one attack alone a British convoy of 200 heavy vehicles, escorted by 6 armoured cars, had been ambushed and wiped out in a narrow defile at Shahpur Tangi. Squadrons of the two air forces (RAF and RIAF) tried many tactics including scorched earth retaliation involving the burning of standing crops with jerry can petrol bombs and the killing of cattle with strafing attacks. This situation continued till Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
World War II: The Faqir & the Axis
During World War II till as late as 1942, extensive efforts were made by Germany and Italy to ally with the Faqir and organise a full scale tribal uprising against the British. Support included money, weaponry and with propaganda. The assistance was limited because of the obvious difficulties in supply and communication. These efforts were followed up primarily by the Italians as the Germans believed a British defeat was inevitable at that stage. However with the advent of the USSR in the war, pressure was put on Afghanistan to halt German and Italian infiltration of the tribal areas.
Pakistan Independence & the revolt diminishes
The creation of Pakistan in 1947 significantly dulled the Faqirs insurgency, as the Government was a Muslim led one the religious grounds for the insurgency had been lost. This did not stop the Faqir from causing problems for the Pakistani government till his death. On 4 November 1954 his Commander in Chief, Mehar Dil, surrendered himself personally to the Deputy Commissioner Bannu, and this, in effect, brought the Waziristan insurrection to an end;
Final days of the Faqir
The Faqir of Ipi died at night on April 16, 1960. A long term sufferer of asthma during his last days, he became so sick that it was not possible for him to walk for a few steps. People from far away often used to come and see him and ask for his blessing. His funeral prayers or Namaz-I-Janaza was held at Gurwaikht led by Maulavi Pir Rehman. Thousands of people from different places came for his Namaz-I-Janaza. He was buried at Gurwaikht.
References
- Dr. Shah, Syed Wiqar Ali German Activities in the North-West Frontier Province War Years 1914-1945. Quaid-e-Azam University. Available online at [1]. Last accessed on 22/03/06
- Government of Pakistan: The Frontier Corps (NWFP) Pakistan and it's headquarters. Available online at [2] Last accessed on 22/03/06
- The Legend of the Faqir. PakDef.com. Available online at [3]. Last accessed on 22/03/06.
- Siddiqui A. R. Faqir of Ipi's Cross Border Nexus. Available online [4]. Last accessed on 22/03/06.
- Hauner, Milan (Jan., 1981) One Man against the Empire: The Faqir of Ipi and the British in Central Asia on the Eve of and during the Second World War. Available online at [5]. Last accessed on 22/03/06.
- Shah, Idries, Destination Mecca, Chapter XXIII Contains interview with and the only photograph ever taken of Fakir of Ipi (London 1957). Possibly confirms the Fakir's dervish or Sufi status.
- Batl-i-Hurriyet: Fakir of Ipi — Iman-Parwar Jihad By Dr Fazal-ur-Rehman Kitab Saraay, First Floor, Alhamd Market,Ghazni Street, Urdu Bazar, Lahore