AZIM KHAN, MUHAMMAD

AZIM KHAN, MUHAMMAD (d. 1823), was one of the sons of Painda Khan and a brother of Fateh Khan, who appointed him governor of Kashmir in April 1813. In 1814, Maharaja Ranjit Singh made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Kashmir. On the death of Fateh Khan in 1818, Azim Khan hurried from Kashmir to Kabul, and inflicted a crushing defeat on Prince Kamran, the assassin of Fateh Khan. He placed Ayub Khan, a son of Taimur Shah, on the throne and himself became prime minister.

In 1819, Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir and, in 1822, he seized the city and province of Peshawar from Yar Muhammad Khan, brother of `Azim Khan. Azim Khan led an expedition to recover Peshawar and launched a holy war against the Sikhs. The Afghan army stood near Naushera on both sides of the Kabul river. Ranjit Singh himself held command of the Sikh army.

A fierce battle was fought on 14 March 1823. The Afghan host was defeated and Azim Khan fled to Kabul. Peshawar was left with Yar Muhammad Khan as governor of the Sikh kingdom. Azim Khan died of grief shortly afterwards.

References :

1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1855-«9
2. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I. Princeton, 1963
3. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times. Delhi, 1990