Kuldeep Singh Deep at 12:12, 14 March 2026

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{{Short description|Leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
[[File:Azimullah Khan.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Azimullah Khan (''The Indian War Of Independence'' by [[Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar]])]]

'''Azimullah Khan Yusufzai''' (17 September 1830 — 18 March 1859) also known as ''[[Dewan]] Azimullah Khan'' and ''Krantidoot'',{{efn|''"Ambassador of Revolution"''}} was the ideological leader of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. He was initially appointed Secretary, and later Prime Minister (hence the prefix ''Dewan'') to [[Nana Saheb Peshwa II|Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb II]].

Azimullah Khan was involved in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], primarily ideologically, influencing important nobles such as Nana Saheb.

==Biography==
Azimullah Khan’s full name was ''Azimullāh Khān [[Yusufzai|Yūsufzaī]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Agrawal |first=M. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnJ0MwbAsEAC |title=Freedom Fighters of India (in Four Volumes) |date=2008 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8205-468-4 |language=en|page=16}}</ref> He lost his father as a child and was rescued as a starving Muslim boy from the famine of 1837–38 along with his mother when they were provided shelter at a mission in [[Kanpur]]. There he learnt English and French, which was an achievement for an Indian in the 19th century.<ref>The Siasat Daily (2022) ''[https://www.siasat.com/azimullah-khan-strategist-in-first-war-of-independence-2442307/ Azimullah Khan: Strategist in First War of Independence]'' by Syed Naseer Ahamed</ref><ref>Michael H. Fisher (2007) ''Multiple Meanings of 1857 for Indians in Britain''</ref> After working as secretary to several British officers, he was taken into the service of the [[Nana Saheb Peshwa II|Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb II]], adopted son of the late [[Baji Rao II|Peshwa Baji Rao II]], as secretary and advisor. Nana Sahib was involved in an extended appeal to the [[East India Company|British East India Company]] to pass on to him the £80,000 annual pension that his adoptive father (exiled to the [[Bithoor|Bithor]]) had been granted. While Nana Sahib had inherited Peshwa Baji Rao's property and title, the pension paid by the Company had terminated on the latter's death. Nana Sahib chose Azimullah to lead a delegation to England in 1853 to plead his case with the Board of Control and the British Government.<ref name="WAGNER">{{cite book|first=Kim A.|last=Wagner|page=2|title=The Great Fear of 1857. Rumours, Conspiracies and the Making of the Indian Uprising|year=2014|publisher=Dev Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-93-81406-34-2}}</ref>

In England, Azimullah was taken under the wing of [[Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon]]; an intellectual and translator whose husband was a civil servant, court functionary and the cousin of the then Prime Minister.<ref name=RoadtoRebellion>Friday Times (2018) TFT E-Paper Archives ''[https://thefridaytimes.com/31-Aug-2018/road-to-rebellion Road to Rebellion]'' by Parvez Mahmood</ref> This introduction probably came about through the philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]], who was an official of the East India Company and had been a childhood friend of Lucie's. Azimullah lodged with the Duff Gordons at their home in [[Esher]], and in Lucie's company may have met her friends [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]], [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]], [[George Meredith|Meredith]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]], [[Robert Browning|Browning]] and [[William Makepeace Thackeray|Thackeray]] (though there is no direct evidence).<ref name=RoadtoRebellion /><ref>Modern World History – ''[https://modernworldhistory-levelfive.blogspot.com/2015/11/december-3-2015-british-imperialism-in.html British Imperialism in India]''</ref> The mission to obtain resumption of the pension for Nana Sahib was unsuccessful and reportedly embittered Azimullah Khan.<ref name="WAGNER"/>

On his way back, Azimullah's party stopped in [[Constantinople]], which was then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. There he met with the Times correspondent [[William Howard Russell]], who noted the young Muslim official's interest in the losses and setbacks suffered by the British Army. Azimullah is reported to have contacted [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] spies.<ref name="WAGNER"/> Although his mission had failed, he probably came back with a more dangerous idea, planting in the Nana Sahib's mind the seed of the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]]. (Azimullah also brought back a French printing press, which was used – by others – to print and distribute subversive literature against the British in India.)

Azimullah's own role in the great uprising that followed, the "Indian Mutiny", was political rather than military. Although he was chief advisor to the Nana Sahib, one of the principal leaders of the rebellion, he was a [[Muslim]] at a [[Hindu]] court, a talker, at a time when military men were needed, and without personal wealth, nobility, or a following of supporters, and so he soon became a marginal figure. He did however play a key role in the negotiations that terminated the [[Siege of Cawnpore]]. Representing Nana Sahib, Azimullah met with the British commander of the garrison Major-General [[Sir Hugh Wheeler]] and agreement was reached that the garrison and their families would be evacuated and taken by boat to safety in Allahabad. The following day he was seen among a group of Nana Sahib's advisers and officers who were present at the ambush and killing of most of the refugees as they boarded the waiting boats.<ref>{{cite book|first=Saul|last=David|pages=215–216|title=The Indian Mutiny|date=4 September 2003|publisher=Penguin Adult |isbn=0-141-00554-8}}</ref>

Azimullah Khan probably died of a fever in late 1859, after the crushing of the rebellion, on the run from the British in the inhospitable border country of the Nepalese [[Terai]].<ref>FP (2014) ''[https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/kerala-cm-pinarayi-vijayan-muslim-coined-bharat-mata-ki-jai-slogan-azimullah-khan-1857-revolt-13752808.html#:~:text=In%201859%2C%20he%20fled%20to,important%20role%20in%201857%20Uprising. Who was Azimullah Khan?]''</ref> Other accounts have him dying of smallpox while attempting to reach Calcutta in disguise, or of escaping India and eventually being murdered in Constantinople.<ref>{{cite book|first=Saul|last=David|page=373|title=The Indian Mutiny|date=4 September 2003|publisher=Penguin Adult |isbn=0-141-00554-8}}</ref> Azimullah Avenue, a road in [[Kanpur]] is named in his honour.

==Legacy==
What many consider India's first national song was made during the Rebellion, ''[[Payam-e-Azadi]]'' or ''‘The Message of Freedom’'' was written by Azimullah Khan and was published from [[Delhi]] in [[Urdu]] and [[Hindi]].<ref>Liberation: Central Organ of [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI]] – ''[https://liberation.org.in/liberation-2022-june/freedom-75-first-war-independence#:~:text=The%20best%20instance%20of%20this,Hindostan%20hamara. India’s first national song – The 1857 revolutionary Azimulla Khan]''</ref><ref>75 Year Azadi (2022) ''[https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?9794#:~:text=Hum%20Hain%20Iske%20Malik%2C%20Hindustan%20Hamara%2C%20is%20a%20revolutionary%20anthem,often%20run%20by%20Azimullah%20Khan. Revolutionary Anthem by Azimullah Khan – Hum Hain Iske Malik, Hindustan Hamara]'' Indian Cultural Portral</ref> It ran as follows:

<blockquote>''Hum haen iss ke malik, Hindoostan hamaaraa |'' ''Paak watan hae qaum kaa Jannat se bhee piyaaraa.'' [We are its owners, [[Hindustan]] is ours. It is our holy land, lovelier than paradise.]

''Yeh hamaari milkiat Hindoostan hamaaraa |'' ''iss kee roohaniyat se roshan hae jug saaraa.''[This is our property, Hindustan is ours. The whole world sparkles with its spiritualism.]

''Kitnaa qadeem kitnaa naeem, sab duniyaa se niyaraa |'' ''kartee hae zarkhez jisse Gang-o-Juman kee dhaaraa.'' [It is old as well as comfortable, it is unique in the world. The [[Ganges]] and [[Yamuna]] irrigate its lands.]

''Ooper barfeela parvat pehre-daar hamaaraa |'' ''Neeche sahil per bajta sagar kaa naqqaaraa''. [The snow-clad mountains stand guard above us. The nose of the ocean reaches the shores below.]

''Iss kee khanen ugal raheen sona, beera, paaraa |'' ''iss kee shaan shaukat kaa duniyaa maen jaikaaraa.'' [Its mines produce gold, silver and mercury. Its glory is renowned throughout the world.]

''Aayaa Firangee door se, aisa mantar maaraa |'' ''loota donon hathoon se piyaaraa watan hamaaraa''. [The foreigners came from far away, and played a trick. Our dear land was looted with both hands.]

''Aaj shabidon ne tumko, ahl-e-watan lalkaaraa |'' ''Todo ghulamee kee zanjeeren barsan angaaraa.'' [Today you have been called on, my countrymen. Break the chains of slavery and spit fire.]

''Hindoo-Mussalmaan Sikh hamaaraa bhai piyaaraa-piyaaraa |'' ''yeh hae azaadi kaa jhanda isse salaam hamaaraa.'' [Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs love each other as brothers. This is the flag of freedom, we salute it.]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Islam |first=Shamsul |title=Muslims Against Partition of India — Revisiting the legacy of patriotic Muslims |publisher=Pharos Media |year=2017 |isbn=9788172210670 |location=New Delhi |publication-date=2017 |pages=65 |language=English}}</ref></blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==Further reading==
* Lutfullah, Syed. ''Azimullah Khan Yusufzai: The man behind the war of independence 1857''. Karachi: Mohamedali Educational Society, second edition, 1970.
* Ward, Andrew. ''Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and The Indian Mutiny of 1857''. New York: Henry Holt, 1996.
* Fisher, Michael H. ''Indian Political Representations in Britain during the Transition to Colonialism''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
* Fisher, Michael H. ''Counterflows to Colonialism: Visitors and Settlers from India in Britain, c. 1600–1857''. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004.
* Jarman, Francis. "Azimullah Khan - A Reappraisal of One of the Major Figures of the Revolt of 1857". In: ''South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies'', vol. XXXI, no. 3, December 2008, pp. 419–49.
* Swatantryaveer Sawarkar, Marathi: 1857 che Swatantrya Samar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Azimullah}}
[[Category:Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1859 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kanpur]]
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian Muslims]]

Azimullah Khan - Revision history

Kuldeep Singh Deep at 12:12, 14 March 2026