Warbuton and the legend of Button Sahib "The Controller of Devils"

[RescueRanger]

Some 24 kilometers from the city of Sheikhupura, Punjab in Pakistan is the town of Warburton. This quaint and sleepy little hamlet has a rather remarkable history, one which not many Pakistanis will know. I first learned about the history of Warburton during my time in University and was surprised to learn that not many of the present locals know how the town came to earn its name.

To explore this we must travel back in history to 1840, when the daughter of the Afghan Royal Family Shah Jahan Begum gave birth to her first son who was given the name Jahan Dad Khan, by a cruel twist of fate Shah Jahan Begum was a direct relative of the tyrannical Badsha Sultan Shah Shujah Durrani (King of Afghanistan) who but a year earlier was reinstated into power by the help of Ranjit Sing and the British. When Shah Shujah was assisanted by Shuja ud-Daula[*], any and all who were associated with Shah Shujah were targets for violent reprisals, during this time of great turmoil many English who were in the retinue of his service along with suspected loyalists and family members were either put to the sword or held prisioner for ransom. Shah Jahan Begum's husband a high officer in the royal court disowned and divorced her.


Major Sir. Louis Cavagnari 30th Foot, In Afghanistan with Afghan Sardars. 1839-1840

It is during this time that the British sent an envoy alongside a sizible contingent of soliders from the 30th Foot (Cambridgshire Regiment), lead by Sir Louis Cavagnari, among the main host was one Ensign in the British 30th Foot (Cambridgeshire Regiment). This was a turbulent time in Afghanistan and many English soliders were killed during the conflict and many held hostage, among those were members of the royal family who were being chased by the men loyal to Wazir Akbar Khan (Crown Prince of Afghanistan).

Somwhere among this faded in the annals of history the young princess who was married at the age of 14 and divorced with child, being chased by the might of the Afghan army encountered a young British army engisn named Robert Sandford Warburton[**] who was infatuated by the princess and helped her flee to the British garrison at Kabul home to the British 44th Foot where he was recieved by Lieutenant Sir Vincent Eyre, Robert Warburton and Shah Jahan Begum were married in the presence of other officers. Ensign Warburton adopted Jahan Dad Khan and baptised him as John Paul Warburton, by this time they had also another son Robert Warburton (The famed Political Officer who wrote 18 years in Khyber)[***]

But their troubles would not end there for shortly after their arrival was the British garrison set upon by the Afghans loyal to Wazir Akbar Khan and his allies, and the resulting battle all but destroyed what remained of the 44th Foot, Sir Vincent Eyre was wounded in action and held hostage, by chance or by miracle, Shah Jahan was able to flee once more to safety and arrived in Peshawar.[****]

Warburton the elder, started off his career helping English families escape Afghanistan and the NWFP to Amritsar, he had made somewhat of a name for himself, in 1863 he joined the Punjab Police. Over 40 years of service, he solved many famous cases in Punjab, ranging from Serial Poisoning Killer Sharfuddin to Cattle Kidnapping blackmailers!

He served primarily in Ludhiana, first as ASP, later DSP, from where his services were called in to solve cases in Peshawar, Sialkot, Patiala, Karnal, Delhi and so on. His last role was AIG Railways in Lahore, where he busted a judge for taking a bribe from Nawab of Bahawalpur. In the book Controller of Devils there are many pages recounting his expert handling of criminal investigations and brining criminals to book:


John Warburton was in love with his history and never forgot his roots even his daughter was named Durrani Warburton:


On his retirement, he received unanimous tributes from leading Hindus and Muslims of Lahore. This was not just for his services solving crimes but also prevent many communal riots which were increasingly frequent in Punjab. His retirement gift was a grant of land, in Punjab.




And so was born the Town of Warburton, situated midway Sheikhupura and Nankana, less than 80 kilometres West of Lahore.Warburton remains a small quite town today, perhaps, like the story of Button Sahib. Four routes of Pak Railways serve the town. Punjabis call it Wa-ar-button.


A photograph of an elderly Button Sahib with his daughter Durrani Warbuton outside Warburton train station. But perhaps my favourite part of the history of this great civil servant is the poem dedicated to him by the great Rudyard Kipling, turly a testiment to the character and unfliniching dedication to service:


* Husain, Farrukh (2018). Afghanistan in the Age of Empires. Silk Road Books. ISBN 978-1527216334.
**: genology records (Online): https://warburton.one-name.net/clans/Mongon/ps01/ps01_064.html
***: National Army Museum (UK) War records: https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1950-11-55-14
****: Martineau, G.D. (1945). Controller of Devils "A life of John Paul Warburton of the Punjab Police. Dorset, England: Temple House, pp.4–5.

@Joe Shearer I thought you would like this bit of history .

 

[RescueRanger]

 

[Joe Shearer]

View attachment 1080
Some 24 kilometers from the city of Sheikhupura, Punjab in Pakistan is the town of Warburton. This quaint and sleepy little hamlet has a rather remarkable history, one which not many Pakistanis will know. I first learned about the history of Warburton during my time in University and was surprised to learn that not many of the present locals know how the town came to earn its name.
View attachment 1084
To explore this we must travel back in history to 1840, when the daughter of the Afghan Royal Family Shah Jahan Begum gave birth to her first son who was given the name Jahan Dad Khan, by a cruel twist of fate Shah Jahan Begum was a direct relative of the tyrannical Badsha Sultan Shah Shujah Durrani (King of Afghanistan) who but a year earlier was reinstated into power by the help of Ranjit Sing and the British. When Shah Shujah was assisanted by Shuja ud-Daula[*], any and all who were associated with Shah Shujah were targets for violent reprisals, during this time of great turmoil many English who were in the retinue of his service along with suspected loyalists and family members were either put to the sword or held prisioner for ransom. Shah Jahan Begum's husband a high officer in the royal court disowned and divorced her.

View attachment 1082
Major Sir. Louis Cavagnari 30th Foot, In Afghanistan with Afghan Sardars. 1839-1840

It is during this time that the British sent an envoy alongside a sizible contingent of soliders from the 30th Foot (Cambridgshire Regiment), lead by Sir Louis Cavagnari, among the main host was one Ensign in the British 30th Foot (Cambridgeshire Regiment). This was a turbulent time in Afghanistan and many English soliders were killed during the conflict and many held hostage, among those were members of the royal family who were being chased by the men loyal to Wazir Akbar Khan (Crown Prince of Afghanistan).

Somwhere among this faded in the annals of history the young princess who was married at the age of 14 and divorced with child, being chased by the might of the Afghan army encountered a young British army engisn named Robert Sandford Warburton[**] who was infatuated by the princess and helped her flee to the British garrison at Kabul home to the British 44th Foot where he was recieved by Lieutenant Sir Vincent Eyre, Robert Warburton and Shah Jahan Begum were married in the presence of other officers. Ensign Warburton adopted Jahan Dad Khan and baptised him as John Paul Warburton, by this time they had also another son Robert Warburton (The famed Political Officer who wrote 18 years in Khyber)[***]

But their troubles would not end there for shortly after their arrival was the British garrison set upon by the Afghans loyal to Wazir Akbar Khan and his allies, and the resulting battle all but destroyed what remained of the 44th Foot, Sir Vincent Eyre was wounded in action and held hostage, by chance or by miracle, Shah Jahan was able to flee once more to safety and arrived in Peshawar.[****]

Warburton the elder, started off his career helping English families escape Afghanistan and the NWFP to Amritsar, he had made somewhat of a name for himself, in 1863 he joined the Punjab Police. Over 40 years of service, he solved many famous cases in Punjab, ranging from Serial Poisoning Killer Sharfuddin to Cattle Kidnapping blackmailers!
View attachment 1085
He served primarily in Ludhiana, first as ASP, later DSP, from where his services were called in to solve cases in Peshawar, Sialkot, Patiala, Karnal, Delhi and so on. His last role was AIG Railways in Lahore, where he busted a judge for taking a bribe from Nawab of Bahawalpur. In the book Controller of Devils there are many pages recounting his expert handling of criminal investigations and brining criminals to book:
View attachment 1086

John Warburton was in love with his history and never forgot his roots even his daughter was named Durrani Warburton:
View attachment 1087

On his retirement, he received unanimous tributes from leading Hindus and Muslims of Lahore. This was not just for his services solving crimes but also prevent many communal riots which were increasingly frequent in Punjab. His retirement gift was a grant of land, in Punjab.

View attachment 1088View attachment 1089


And so was born the Town of Warburton, situated midway Sheikhupura and Nankana, less than 80 kilometres West of Lahore.Warburton remains a small quite town today, perhaps, like the story of Button Sahib. Four routes of Pak Railways serve the town. Punjabis call it Wa-ar-button.

View attachment 1090
A photograph of an elderly Button Sahib with his daughter Durrani Warbuton outside Warburton train station. But perhaps my favourite part of the history of this great civil servant is the poem dedicated to him by the great Rudyard Kipling, turly a testiment to the character and unfliniching dedication to service:
View attachment 1091

* Husain, Farrukh (2018). Afghanistan in the Age of Empires. Silk Road Books. ISBN 978-1527216334.
**: genology records (Online): https://warburton.one-name.net/clans/Mongon/ps01/ps01_064.html
***: National Army Museum (UK) War records: https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1950-11-55-14
****: Martineau, G.D. (1945). Controller of Devils "A life of John Paul Warburton of the Punjab Police. Dorset, England: Temple House, pp.4–5.

@Joe Shearer I thought you would like this bit of history .

Utterly charming!

I only wish he had been to La Martiniere Lucknow, my last school's sister school, that gave India so very many distinguished soldiers, sailors and airmen, and civil servants besides.

It included Durranis. My personal favourite is Lt. Col. S**** , from Rajrif, who had a dramatic career that would beggar a Bollywood soap opera. His son having joined the fauj is the fourth generation of this proud Pathan family to be fauji.

The British were not generous. The closest I can find within my circle of known people - acquaintances would be very, very cheeky - would have been Ashwini Kumar, also, naturally, Punjab Police, the old cadre, Imperial Police. Uncle Ashwini was six months junior to my father; so when Rustamji formed the BSF, he naturally wanted the old man to join, as the former leader of the para-militaries who had clashed with Brigadier Torgul's East Bengal Rifles in 1965. The terms were an IG position six months later, and when asked why, he was told that Ashwini Kumar would be appointed immediately as IG, and it was desired that there should be a 6 month lead for him, so naturally the offer was declined.

Ashwini Kumar was the officer who tracked the killers of Pratap Singh Kairon, in a brazen highway assassination, found them hiding out in Kathmandu, broke in and literally sat on their heads (not he alone! there were others with him) and barred the door to an enfuriated Nepalese police until he and his team were rescued by the Indian Embassy, and the killers haled back to stand trial and suffer execution.

He went on to be head of the Indian Hockey Federation, besides reaching DG position in the Punjab Police.

AIG is now a staff/admin. position in most police HQs; people on the move go from DIG to (these days!) IG, not the state IG, who is DG & IGP, and then a khokha DGship. The Brits could have been more generous with Button Sahib, but he must have made up in the love of his countrymen.

Lovely story, thank you SO much.