Farzana Shahid

The Unchosen Farzana Shahid

There was a clash of perspectives in the nineteenth century when the British tried repeatedly to establish themselves in Afghanistan across the tribal belt between the Sikh Kingdom (later absorbed into British India) and Afghanistan. They encountered a lot of opposition from the local people, who considered it a religious duty to resist them. The terrain was such that no military conclusion could be reached. Some tribes recognized that change was inevitable, but some remained hostile till the end. Abdul Hakim remained steady in his opposition, regardless of the odds against him. He was defeated in a final skirmish through a series of surprising events. Defeat and the knowledge that his eldest son had joined the British army, served to demoralize him in his retirement, but he opposed the British in another way, by encouraging the establishment of a gun-making cottage industry in the region.