Major Khush Ahmad-ul-mulk
Last surviving son of the former ruler of Chitral who worked to help refugees from Afghanistan
MAJOR KHUSH AHMADUL-MULK, who has died aged 96, was the last surviving son of His Highness Sir Shuja-ul-mulk, the Mehtar (ruler) of the princely state of Chitral (now part of Pakistan) for over 40 years.
Shuja-ul-mulk had become the ruler through the intervention of the British. When the Great Mehtar Aman-ul-mulk died in 1892, fratricide engulfed the state as warring princes slaughtered each other to gain the throne.
The volatile situation alarmed the British who eventually – after three years of carnage – resolved that the new ruler had to be someone whose hands were not stained with blood. Among the princes only the late Mehtar’s youngest son, 14-year-old Shujaul-mulk, fulfilled this requirement.
Khush Ahmad-ul-mulk – the 13th of his 16 sons – was born on August 15 1920 at the idyllic Summer Palace at Birmoghlast. The year before his birth had seen the outbreak of the Third Angloafghan War, when Afghan troops crossed the frontier at the western end of the Khyber Pass and captured the town of Bagh. The Amir of Afghanistan invited the Mehtar to switch sides, but he declined and the Chitral State Bodyguards and Chitral Scouts chased the invaders deep into Afghan territory. Sir Shuja was showered with honours by the grateful British: a knighthood, an 11-gun salute, 2,000 Lee Enfield rifles and, a year later, the title of His Highness.
The young prince and his many brothers grew up in a world where not much had changed since Lord Curzon said (of their grandfather) that “He alone had the power of life and death. Theoretically the whole property of the country belonged to him, and, in more than theory, he actually disposed of the persons and possessions of his subjects.”
Khush Ahmad was sent to school in British India. The 1,000-mile journey took 20 days and entailed travelling on horseback over the snow-covered 10,000ft Lowari pass, through the Pashtun state of Dir and over the Malakand Pass before taking a train southwards.
The Doon School in Dehradun, where he received most of his education under the care of the Headmaster, Arthur Foot (a Wykehamist who had taught at Eton), inculcated the notion of service and the moral fastidiousness that distinguished Khush Ahmad throughout his life.
Decades later he recalled a day when he was playing football at the school and injured his foot so badly that doctors advised amputation. A telegram was relayed to his father seeking permission to proceed with the operation. The reply was prompt: his leg was not to be amputated even if it cost the boy his life. In the ruler’s mind, a prince was better dead than crippled. Fortunately, both life and leg were eventually saved. Khush Ahmad was forever grateful for the decision and in old age he would often be found sitting under his favourite walnut tree humming thankful songs to his father.
Sir Shuja’s draconian edict was in keeping with the ethos of the ruling family. Khush Ahmad later remembered an English teacher asking his class to write letters home to their parents. Following the teacher’s instruction, he wrote to his “dear father”, only to receive a reply from his father’s secretary admonishing him for the inappropriate language. He was instructed to address his father as “His Highness” and close the letter “I have the honour of being your most obedient servant” instead of “your loving son”.
After school Khush Ahmad joined the Indian Air Force as a trainee pilot and briefly flew Tiger Moth aircraft although he had to abandon flying after a series of blackouts during aerobatics. He was encouraged to pursue a career in the Indian Civil Service and the British (through Iskander Mirza, then Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, later President of Pakistan) promised that he would be appointed Assistant Commissioner within months, and Deputy Commissioner a year or two later. Khush Ahmad preferred, however, to return home to Chitral.
He served from 1943 to 1946 as Chief Secretary to his brother, His Highness Muzaffar-ul- Mulk, trying, but failing, to persuade the new Mehtar to introduce reforms in the antiquated system of Chitral. He stood to gain from a transaction whereby lands were to be seized from their inhabitants and granted to him, but he considered the plan immoral and returned the lands to the local people. Khush Ahmad fell out of favour and was forced to leave his brother’s service.
The sympathetic British Political Agent in Chitral arranged for him to be commissioned into the Frontier Corps, and for the next twenty years he served in the Kurrum Militia, Tochi Scouts, Mekran Militia, Pishin Scouts, Zhob Militia, South Waziristan Scouts, Mahsud Battalion, Bajaur Levies and Khyber Rifles, all along the Durand Line. He loved the terrain of the frontier and admired the wild independence of the tribes.
In 1966, however, he confronted the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps over what he saw as degrading roles being assigned to the Chitral Scouts at cultural events. The Scouts’ dances embodied local honour and ought not to be used for general amusements, Khush Ahmad insisted. Yet again, his principles cost him a job.
In 1979 he was appointed Commissioner for Afghan Refugees and he worked assiduously to help those who fled after the Soviet invasion. His efforts won him abiding respect and affection from the Afghans.
In 1991, in his mid-seventies, he undertook a perilous trek over the 14,000ft Dorah pass, fording two rivers on the way, to meet Afghanistan’s guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Masood. Aware that his family would never consent to the trip, he set off discreetly with one assistant and a horse, leaving a note asking his family not to mourn in case he did not return.
Masood treated him as a state guest and took him all over Afghanistan before arranging for his safe passage back.
Throughout his life Khush Ahmad had a great gift for friendship with all sorts and conditions of people. He was interested in everybody and had a knack for eliciting stories and confidences, never probing but simply listening. Local people flocked to his house in Ayun, not only to ask the favours that they would request from any prince, but also simply to talk; they knew that they would be treated with dignity.
In retirement he wrote a book of poetry in his native Khowar tongue; he also published hundreds of newspaper articles dealing with environmental issues and arguing for a better deal for Chitral. He created a botanical garden around his house where he nurtured rare trees and shrubs of all kinds, many brought in by his wide network of friends. He firmly believed that the autumn was lovelier in Chitral than anywhere else on earth, and would invite friends to Ayun on the precise day when he calculated that the trees would be looking their best.
Khush Ahmad-ul- Mulk died peacefully at his home in Ayun and his funeral prayers were offered the following day. Every official in Chitral was there, every member of the old ruling family and thousands of ordinary people, many arriving on foot. Before nightfall the old prince was laid to rest in accordance with his wishes, in his own garden in a grave that he had dug with his own hands some years earlier.
He is survived by his wife and two sons, Shahzada Masood ul Mulk, Chief Executive Officer of Sarhad Rural Support Programme, and Shahzada Maqsood ul Mulk, a hotelier, conservation expert and chairman of Chitral Horticultural Society.
Major Khush Ahmad-ul-mulk, born August 15 1920, died June 2 2017