KHAN ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN
(Abdul Ghaffār Khān)
Abdul Ghaffār Khān, also known as Bādshāh Khān (بادشاه خان, 'King Khan') or Bāchā Khān (باچا خان, 'King of Chiefs') and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (فخرِ افغان, 'Pride of Afghans'), was a Pashtun independence activist against British colonial rule in India. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition and lifelong pacifism; he was a devout Muslim and an advocate for Hindu−Muslim unity in the Indian subcontinent. Due to his similar ideologies and close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi, Khan was nicknamed Sarhadi Gandhi (Hindi: सरहदी गांधी, lit. 'Frontier Gandhi') by his close associate Amir Chand Bombwal. In 1929, Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar, an anti-colonial nonviolent resistance movement. The Khudai Khidmatgar's success and popularity with the Indian people eventually prompted the British to launch a severe crackdown against him and his supporters; the Khudai Khidmatgar suffered some of the most severe repression of the entire Indian independence movement.