[15][16][17][18] In 1817, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Amir Khan allied with the East India Company, the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, the Marquess of Hastings, resolved to defeat the Pindaris whom they deemed a menace.

Bowing to the inevitable, Amir Khan came to terms with the English, agreeing to disband his men in return for a large stipend and recognition as a hereditary Nawab, who quietly settled down to consolidate his little state.

[21] Two family members of the theologian Shah Waliullah—Shah Ismail Dehlavi (1771–1831) and Maulvi Abdul Hai (died 1828)—became disciples of Syed Ahmad, an event that raised his mystic confidence and stature.

The movement fought against local practices and customs related to saint veneration and grave visits, which they regarded as bid'ah (religious innovations) and shirk (polytheism) that corrupted Islam.

Syed Ahmad's reformist teachings were set down in two prominent treatises: Sirat'ul Mustaqim (The Straight Path) and Taqwiyatul-Iman (Strengthening of the Faith), compiled by his acolyte Shah Muhammad Ismail.

Syed Ahmad urged Muslims to follow the path laid down by Muhammad (Tariqa -i Muhammadiyah), abandon all superstitious activities in various Sufi orders, and called for a total reformation of Tasawwuf.

[28] Syed Ahmad called upon the Muslim masses to abandon practices related to Shia influence, such as the tazias which were replicas of the tombs of the martyrs of Karbala taken in procession during the mourning ceremony of Muharram.

Syed Ahmad intended to establish a strong Islamic state on the North-West Frontier region in the Peshawar valley, as a strategic base for the future invasion of India.

[33] Syed Ahmad called upon the local Pashtun and Hazarewal tribes to wage jihad, and demanded that they renounce their tribal customs and adopt the Sharia.

These included: allowing brides as long as half of the agreed money was given; young girls eligible for marriage should be married immediately; flogging people who didn't pray.

After being bribed by Ranjit Singh,[40] many Pukhtun leaders rose against him and around two hundred mujahideen were killed in the Peshawar valley, which compelled him to migrate and try his luck in Kashmir, his long-cherished dream.

He had levied from the peasants a tithe of their goods, and this measure caused little or no dissatisfaction, for it agreed with their notion of the rights of a religious teacher; but his decree that all the young women of marriageable age should be at once wedded interfered with the profits of Afghan parents, proverbially avaricious, and who usually disposed of their daughters to the wealthiest bridegrooms.

Early in November 1830, he was constrained to relinquish Peshawar to Sultan Muhammad at a fixed tribute, and he proceeded to the left bank of the Indus to give battle to the Sikhs.

The hill 'khans' were soon brought under subjection by the efforts of Sher Singh and the governor of Kashmir; yet Ahmad continued active, and, in a desultory warfare amid rugged mountains, success for a time attended him; but, during a cessation of the frequent conflicts, he was surprised, early in May 1831, at a place called Balakot, and fallen upon and slain.

[42]On 6 May 1831, on the day of Jumu'ah 23 Zulqa'da 1246 AH, Syed Ahmad Barelvi's mujahideen forces prepared for the final battle at Balakot Maidan in the mountainous valley of Mansehra district.

[45] Scholar Edward Mortimer believes Syed Ahmad anticipated modern Islamists in waging jihad and attempting to create an Islamic state with strict enforcement of Sharia.

[46] Scholar Olivier Roy considers Syed Ahmad to be the first modern Islamic leader to lead a movement that was "religious, military and political" and to address the common people and rulers with a call for jihad.

[24] The mujahideen were unprecedented for their tactics of popular mobilization aimed at swiftly achieving the objectives of social reformation through military means, combined with fierce hostility towards non-Muslim powers such as the British Empire and the Sikhs.

Syed Ahmad was committed to expand his emirate to the whole of South Asia and authored tracts calling upon Indian Muslims to join the cause of jihad.

[47] Syed Ahmad attained the exemplar status of shahid (martyr), one of the highest honours in Islam, and would inspire generations of Militant Islamist ideologues and jihadi activists throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

[48] The jihad movement of Syed Ahmad made a great impact on Islamic scholarly tradition of South Asia and would deeply divide many clerics and theologians.

Meanwhile, South Asian Islamists eagerly embraced Syed Ahmad's teachings and popularised his writings that sought the militant restoration of an Islamic state.

All major organisations that wage militant jihad in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir use the rhetoric and legacy of Syed Ahmad's mujahideen to shore up support from the conservative base.

Hafiz Saeed's Lashkar-e-Taiba and Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Muhammad are two major militant Islamist organisations inspired by Syed Ahmad that wage jihad against India in Kashmir.