Will you believe, if I tell you, that an Army of Indian Revolutionaries, in coalition with Iranian men, fought battles against the British Army in Iran during the First World War (1914-1918)? Will you believe that the Indian revolutionaries, which included Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Parsis, had actually formed a Provisional Government of Free India in Iran during the War?
I know, most of you have not read, or heard, about this glorious chapter of the Indian Freedom Struggle and friendship between India and Iran. In fact, the leader of this Indian militia in Iran, Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje, himself pointed out in 1953, “I had been in Indian Beluchistan, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Germany, France and many other countries and I have some data on the Independence Indian Movement. In India, the moderate people want to ignore our history.”
Still, the history of these revolutionaries can be reconstructed with the help of colonial records, memoirs and other sources.
Two key Indian leaders who had operated from Iran during the First World War were Sufi Amba Prasad and Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje.
Sufi Amba Prasad, a resident of Moradabad, first came to the notice of the British Government in 1897 when his Urdu newspaper, Jami-ul-Ulam, was confiscated and he was sentenced for 18 months for trying to incite the Indian Muslims against the British Rule. The High Court noted the sentence should have been more. The bench said, “Having regard to the gravity of the offence which Amba Prasad committed, and to the misery, ruin, and punishment which he might have brought upon ignorant people, the sentence which was passed upon him was entirely inadequate.”
Later in 1904-05, Amba Prasad went to Ambala, served as correspondent of the Amrit Bazar Patrika, and led the agrarian movement in Punjab along with Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Ajit Singh and Agha Haider. They organized the Anjuman-i-Muhabbat-i-Watan, and brought out a new Journal, Bharat Mata. Lala Lajpat Rai was arrested first and then all other leaders of Punjab. In 1909, Ajit and Amba Prasad left India for Iran. While Ajit Singh moved to Europe and would later form an Indian National Army in Italy with Iqbal Shedai, Amba Prasad stayed in Iran and organised the Indian revolutionary movement in Shiraz.
Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje, a Marathi man who came under the influence of Bal Gangadhar Tilak at an early age, went to Japan, then Mexico and the USA to learn agricultural science and military training in 1906-07. Holder of a military training diploma from California, he played an important role in forming the Ghadar Party in America and headed its military combat wing.
Arun Coomer Bose in his authoritative book, Indian Revolutionaries Abroad 1905-1922, writes, “Agashe was the first Indian revolutionary to go to Iran, and he reached there in late 1906. Amba Prasad too left India after his acquittal, on 11 January 1908, and reached Iran after spending some time seeking opportunities at Kathmandu and Kabul. He was Joined there by Ajit Singh, Rishikesh, Thakur Das, and Zia al-Huq, before the end of 1909. Shiraz was their chief centre of activity, and they were soon on excellent terms with the Kashghai (Qashqai) chiefs. Early in May 1910, they started publishing from Shiraz, in co-operation with their local friends, a revolutionary journal, the Hayat. Their activities and the sympathy they received from the local nationalists were obviously irksome to the British, who after the de facto partition of the country in 1907 had secured considerable control over South and East Iran. Attempts were made to arrest these Indian revolutionaries, but they managed to escape to Baft with the connivance of the Deputy Governor of Shiraz. Early in September 1910, Ajit Singh, Amba Prasad, and Zia al-Huq went to Bushehr….. Zia al-Huq was arrested, but others including Ajit Singh, Amba Prasad, Thakur Das, and Rishi Kesh managed to escape through a long-neglected route with the active help of friendly local chiefs.”
Amba Prasad remained at Shiraz, publishing Hayat and organising revolutionaries against British colonialism.
On the other hand, it was decided in 1914 that a contingent of Ghadar Party revolutionaries would go to Constantinople and from there march towards India. The head was Khankhoje while Parmath Nath Dattta (alias Dawood Ali Khan) was one of the other important associates. At Constantinople it was decided that Khankhoje with Zugmayer and Griesinger (two German officers) would reach Iran where the Persian Democratic Party of Syed Hassan Taqezadeh was already fighting against the British. Mukhbir-e-Sultaneh, the Governor of Fars, was openly pro-German. Tribal chiefs, like Mulla Khan Muhammad and Bahrain Khan Bampuri, were carrying out occasional raids on British positions in south-east Iran and even inside Baluchistan.
Manmath Nath Gupta, one of the main accused in Kakori Conspiracy Case, wrote, “Dr. Khankhoje and Mohammed Ali reached Turkey, where they met Syed (who, according to Dr. Bhupendra Nath Dutt, was a Punjabi whom Anwar Pasha had brought from Tripoli and put in charge of “Jahan-i-Islam”) and Pramath Nath Dutt alias Dawood Ali. They met Anwar Pasha and Talat Pasha……. Khankhoje and his colleagues formed a group to go towards Persia with a lot of revolutionary literature, but the all-powerful British intelligence was on their heels. They fled to Shiraz. There they met Sufi Amba Prasad. They went to Hareez and Kirman and formed the final groups, consisting of both Indian and Persian fighters….. Dr. Khankhoje sent Pramath to find out how things were on Baluchistan borders. Pramath did not find it safe. He escaped with a bullet. Dr. Khankhoje went to Bam to organise the Baluchis, befriended a Baluchi chief, Sardar Jiham Khan, and with the help of his men, attacked the bonder area. A provisional Government was set up there and Sardar Jihan Khan was appointed the revolutionary representative. Dr. Khankhoje returned to Bam where he got the news that Pramath Nath, Agase and some Germans after being defeated in a skirmish had gone to Bast. Khankhoje went with his men to that place. But they were all surrounded by the British soldiers. Khankhoje was arrested in a wounded condition. He learnt later that Pramath Nath and Agase had gone to Shiraz. Khankhoje escaped to Nepariz (Neyriz) disguised as fakir…. Dr. Khankhoje joined the Persian army and fought against the British till 1919 when the Persian army surrendered.”
According to Arun Coomer Bose Parmath Nath, Agashe and Khankhoje reached Kerman between June and July of 1915. The locals welcomed them enthusiastically and they started training a revolutionary militia with the help of the Democratic Party people.
Uma Mukherjee in her book wrote, “The Indian party that went to Bushire (Bushehr) under the leadership of Khankhoje was driven by the enemies to Shiraz, where it was joined by Sufi Amba Prasad. The party then proceeded to Kerman where it set up its base, organizing a force jointly with Indians and Persians….. Pramatha Nath Datta who was sent to the border of Balochistan and Afghanistan by Khankhoje, returned with bullet wounds in his leg and remained at Kerman along with Agashe while the rest under Khankhoje proceeded to Bam in Persian Bcluchisthan where they raised troops from among the Baluchs. A Baluch chief Jihan Khan also joined them. The Indian expedition and the Baluch troops combined to attack the Frontier Province and set up a provisional government there under Jihan Khan.”
“Khankhoje with a small force returned to Bam and then to Baft in Western Persia fighting all the way, but was wounded and captured. But he fled from the clutches of the enemies and came to Nehriz (Neyriz) with the help of a local man. Meanwhile Pramath Nath Datta and Agashe also came fighting to Baft and thence to Nehriz where they, along with some of their German companions, had fallen captives at the hands of the enemies. Khankhoje, after arriving at Nehriz, managed to free them and then the three Indians waded through utmost difficulties to Shiraz (1916). As Khankhoje has stated, he then joined the Persians and fought in their camp against the British till 1919.”
“Members of the Mission we may observe that “Abdul Aziz (Basant Singh), Jan Mohammed (Chait Singh), Hassan Ali Khan (Kersasp) after crossing mountains and surmounting many other difficulties, managed to reach Kandahar. Afterwards they returned to Hirat, after that we received no news. Khankhoje, who was wounded on the frontier of Beluchisthan, returned to Kerman. Mr. Hassan Ali Khan by virtue of his extraordinary services, has won testimonials. Kedar Nath (alias Kedar Ali) and Sufi Amba Prasad (alias Mohammed Hussain Sufi) were captured at Shiraz. Kedar Nath was hanged, and Sufi Amba Prasad committed suicide in January, 1917, the day before he was to have been shot. Basant Singh and Kersasp were arrested on the Persian border and were executed. Rabi Chand (alias Mubarak Ali Khan) and Rishikesh Latta (alias Zia Uddin) were rewarded with three certificates each in recognition of his services. The Mission also devoted itself to the circulation of leaflets and pamphlets in diverse languages among the soldiers and pilgrims as well as in mosques. Mullahs and Mujabids were also sent to various tribes in Persia to persuade them to stir up disturbances against England.”
Later, Khankhoje went to the USSR and Berlin to organise revolutionaries with the help of Lenin but failed. Afterwards, he went back to Mexico to complete his PhD and established himself as an eminent Botanist. After India’s independence he was invited by the Central Provinces Government, later Madhya Pradesh, to head the Agricultural Policy Committee, but he returned to Mexico in 1951. He came back to India for good in 1956 and settled down in Nagpur, where he passed away in 1967.
(The ideas expressed are personal to the author)
