https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Ashfaqulla_KhanAshfaqulla Khan - Revision history2026-07-31T08:22:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Ashfaqulla_Khan&diff=292424&oldid=prev->The Rambling Man at 13:37, 19 December 20212021-12-19T13:37:54Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian poet and fighter for independence (1910–1927)}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2013}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2013}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Ashfaqulla Khan<br />
| image = Ashfaqulla Khan 2619.JPG <br />
| caption = <br />
| other_names = <br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1900|10|22|df=yes}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Shahjahanpur]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1927|12|19|1900|10|22|df=yes}}<br />
| death_place = [[Faizabad]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />
| known_for = Mastermind behind Kakori train robbery<br />
| organization = [[Hindustan Republican Association]]<br />
| website = {{URL|https://www.shaheedashfaqullah.org}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Ashfaqulla Khan''' (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was an [[List of Indian independence activists|Indian independence activist]] in the [[Indian independence movement]] and co-founder of the [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]].{{Sfn|S. Waris|2003|p=8-14|loc=}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=RAO |first1=N. P. SHANKARANARAYANA |title=Ashfaqulla Khan |date=January 2014 |publisher=Litent |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Ashfaqulla_Khan/IHPBAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ashfaqulla+khan&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Early life==<br />
Khan was born in [[Shahjahanpur]], [[India]] to Shafiq Ullah Khan and Mazharunissa. He was born in a [[Muslim]] [[Pathan]] family<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ashfaqullah Khan – निर्भय क्रांतिकारी अशफ़ाक उल्ला खान|url=https://www.jagran.com/blogs/politics/freedom-fighter-ashfaqulaah-khan-profile-ram-prasad-bismil-kakori-conspiracy/|access-date=2020-09-12|website=Jagran blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 22, 2018|title=Ashfaq Ullah Khan|url=https://www.aajtak.in/education/history/story/ashfaqulla-khan-birth-annivarsary-was-a-freedom-fighter-in-indian-independence-movement-kakori-kand-train-loot-british-government-tedu-570003-2018-10-22|website=[[Aaj Tak]]}}</ref> of Khyber tribe.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Joseph|first=Raveena|date=2015-09-03|title=The martyr monologue|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/theatre-nishas-pandit-aur-pathan-focuses-on-freedom-fighters/article7611592.ece|access-date=2020-09-12|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Waris|first=Prof. Farukh S.|title=UNSUNG HEROES Volume-II|date=31 March 2015|publisher=Indus Sourcebooks|isbn=978-81-88569-33-5|pages=8}}</ref> He was the youngest among his five siblings.<ref name=nic/><br />
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In 1920, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] launched his [[Non-cooperation movement]] against British rule in India. After the [[Chauri Chaura incident]] in 1922, Gandhi decided to withdraw the call for this movement.<ref name=TOI/><br />
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At that point, many young people, including Khan, felt depressed. That is when Khan decided to form an organization with like-minded freedom fighters which resulted in the formation of [[Hindustan Republican Association]] in 1924. This association's purpose was to organize armed revolutions to achieve a free India.<br />
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==Kakori Robbery==<br />
To give a boost to their movement and buy arms and ammunition to carry out their activities, the revolutionaries of the [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] organised a meeting on 8 August 1925 in [[Shahjahanpur]]. After much deliberation, it was decided to loot the government treasury carried in the trains. On 9 August 1925, Khan and other revolutionaries, namely [[Ram Prasad Bismil]], [[Rajendra Lahiri]], [[Thakur Roshan Singh]], [[Sachindra Bakshi]], [[Chandrashekar Azad]], [[Keshab Chakravarty]], [[Banwari Lal (revolutionary)|Banwari Lal]], [[Murari Sharma|Murari Lal Gupta]], [[Mukundi Lal]], and [[Manmathnath Gupta]] [[Train robbery|attacked and robbed]] a government train in [[Kakori]] near [[Lucknow]].<ref name=nic/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-who-was-ashfaqullah-khan-the-27-year-old-freedom-fighter-hanged-by-the-british-6206893/|title=Explained: Who was Ashfaqullah Khan, and why did the British hang him?|date=10 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/kakori-conspiracy-ram-prasad-bismil-roshan-singh-ashfaqulla-khan-1108738-2017-12-19|title=Kakori Conspiracy: Why were Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Roshan Singh hanged?|first1=|last1=|date=19 December 2017|website=[[India Today]]}}</ref><br />
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A month passed after the train action, and yet none of the train robbers were arrested, even though the [[British government]] had spread a large investigative net.<ref name=nic/> On the morning of 26 October 1925, Ram Prasad Bismil was caught by the police. Khan was, however, the only one of the group untraced by the police. He went into hiding and moved to [[Banaras]] from [[Bihar]], where he worked in an [[engineering]] company for ten months. <br />
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He wanted to move abroad to learn engineering to further help the freedom struggle and so he went to [[Delhi]] to find ways to move out of the country. He took the help of one of his [[Pathan]] friends who was also his classmate in the past. This friend, in turn, betrayed him by informing the police about his whereabouts<ref name=TOI>{{cite news |work=The Times of India (newspaper)|title=Daredevilry of sons of the soil |first=Aparna |last=Singh |date=2 August 2004 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/799244.cms |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref><ref name=nic/> and on the morning of 7 December 1926 police came to his house and arrested him.<br />
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Khan was detained in the [[Faizabad]] jail and a case was filed against him. His brother Riyasat Ullah Khan was his legal counsel. While in jail, Khan recited the [[Quran]] and started saying his prayers regularly and strictly fasted during the Islamic month of [[Ramadan]]. The case for the Kakori [[dacoity]] was concluded by imposing the death sentence on Bismil, Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Thakur Roshan Singh. The others were given life sentences.<ref name=nic>{{cite web |url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr2000/fdec2000/f151220001.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021105203929/http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr2000/fdec2000/f151220001.html |archive-date=5 November 2002 |title=Ashfaqulla Khan: The Immortal Revolutionary |first1=N.P. |last1=Shankaranarayana Rao |work=Press Information Bureau, Government of India |access-date=27 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/wielding-the-pen-and-pistol/article23319486.ece |author=S. Ravi|date=22 March 2018|title=Wielding the pen and pistol|newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=27 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/history/kakori-martyrs-were-symbols-of-communal-harmony-in-indias-freedom-struggle|title=Kakori Martyrs Were Symbols of Communal Harmony in India's Freedom Struggle|website=The Wire}}</ref><br />
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==Death and legacy==<br />
Khan was put to death by hanging on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad Jail.<ref name=TOI/> He is considered a martyr for the cause of Indian independence.<ref name=nic/><ref>[https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jammu-kashmir/community/tributes-paid-to-martyr-ashfaqulla-khan/149370.html "Tributes paid to martyr Ashfaqulla Khan"]. ''The Tribune'' (India newspaper), 22 October 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2019.</ref><br />
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==Portrayals==<br />
The actions of Khan and his compatriots have been depicted in the Hindi film ''[[Rang De Basanti]]'' (2006), where his character is depicted by [[Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1977)|Kunal Kapoor]]. [[Chetanya Adib]] portrayed Khan in the [[Star Bharat]] television series ''[[Chandrashekhar (TV series)|Chandrashekhar]]''. ''Mujahid-E-Azadi – Ashfaqullah Khan'', an Indian television series airing on [[DD Urdu]] in 2014, starring [[Gaurav Nanda]] in the titular role.<ref>{{cite web |title=DD Urdu Program Schedule |url=https://doordarshan.gov.in/sites/default/files/%20DD%20Urdu%20Program%20Schedule%20of%2027th%20July%2C%202019.pdf |publisher=doordarshan.gov.in |date=27 July 2019}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Mohammad Abdullah (India)|Mohammad Abdullah]]<br />
* [[Sher Ali Afridi]]<br />
* [[Shivaram Rajguru]]<br />
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== Citations ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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== General bibliography ==<br />
* {{Cite book|last=S. Waris|first=Prof. Farukh|url=https://esamskriti.com/essays/pdf/13-SEPT-Unsung-hEROES-2.pdf|title=UNSUNG HEROES Volume-II|date=31 March 2015|publisher=Indus Soucebooks|isbn=978-81-88569-33-5|pages=8–14}}<br />
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{{Indian independence movement}}<br />
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ashfaqulla}}<br />
[[Category:1900 births|Khan]]<br />
[[Category:1927 deaths|Khan]]<br />
[[Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|Khan]]<br />
[[Category:Executed revolutionaries|Khan]]<br />
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries|Khan]]<br />
[[Category:People executed by British India by hanging]]<br />
[[Category:People from Shahjahanpur]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:Executed Indian people]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century executions by British India]]<br />
[[Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]]<br />
[[Category:Indian nationalists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence armed struggle activists]]</div>->The Rambling Man