Wazīr Akbar Khān, born as Mohammad Akbar Khān and also known as Amīr Akbar Khān, was an Afghan prince, general, and finally emir for about three years until his death.
Wazir Akbar Khan was militarily active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. He is prominent for his leadership of the national party in Kabul from 1841 to 1842, and his massacre of Elphinstone"s army at the Gandamak pass before the only survivor, the assistant surgeon William Brydon, reached the besieged garrison at Jalalabad on 13 January 1842. Wazir Akbar Khan became the emir of Afghanistan in May 1842, and ruled until his death in 1845.
Akbar was born as Mohammad Akbar Khan in 1816 to Emir Dost Mohammad Barakzai of Afghanistan and Mermən Khadija Popalzai.
With this letter, Dost Mohammad formally set the stage for British intervention in Afghanistan. At the heart of the Great Game lay the willingness of Britain and Russia to subdue, subvert, or subjugate the small independent states that lay between them.
Akbar Khan led a revolt in Kabul against the British Indian mission of William McNaughten, Alexander Burnes and their garrison of 4,500 mentor In November 1841, he besieged Major-General William Elphinstone"s force in Kabul.
Elphinstone accepted a safe-conduct for his British force and about 12,000 Indian camp followers to Peshawar.
They were ambushed and annihilated in January 1842. lieutenant was claimed in at least one set of British war memoirs that, during the retreat, Akbar Khan could be heard alternately commanding his men, in Persian to desist from, and in Pashto to continue, firing. Historians think it unlikely that Akbar Khan wished for the total annihilation of the British-led Indian force.
An astute man politically, he would have been aware that allowing the British-led Indians to extricate themselves from Afghanistan would give him the time to consolidate his control of the diverse hill tribes.
Whereas a massacre of 16,500 people, of which only about a quarter were a fighting force, would not be tolerated back in London and would result in another, larger army sent to exact retribution. This was in fact what happened the following year.
In May 1842, Akbar Khan captured Bala Hissar in Kabul and became the new emir of Afghanistan. He ruled until his death in 1845.
Some believe that Akbar Khan was poisoned by his father, Dost Mohammed Barakzai, who feared his ambitions.
The historical figure Akbar Khan plays a major role in George MacDonald Fraser"s novel Flashman.