DILAWUR KHAN AND THE KING
Far away in the north of India a little boy was born. He was trained
to two things--to be a robber and to obey the Prophet Mohammed; and he
learned what he was taught thoroughly, for he could steal cleverly and
he was careful to pray five times a day and to fast through Ramadan.
From the high hill side he watched the roads by which men crossed the
country. When poor people passed along he always stayed quietly where
he was, and let his sword lie by his side, though he kept his gun in
his hand to be ready. But, if instead of a poor man he saw a rich
trader pass, he swept down into the valley, and made the merchant a
prisoner. He had hidden haunts in the hills, and he took his prisoner
with him to one of them. There he kept him safely till money was sent
to buy his freedom. If it was a long time before any money was sent, or
if Dilawur Khan did not think that the sum that had been sent was large
enough he would cut off one finger from his captive’s hand and send it
to his friends, to tell them that if they did not send soon it would be
too late.
A price was set on Dilawur’s head, and one time he was seen by some
horse soldiers. They chased him, but though he ran on foot and they
were on horseback they could not catch him, for he dashed into a field
of tall com and lay there while they rode up and down.
At another time a government officer met him in a village, but the
Englishman could not capture him there because the village was beyond
the bounds of British India. But though the officer could not take him
prisoner, he tried another way. He looked at the strong man before him
and he felt that in spite of the wild life he was living he was a true
man, so he said to him that he would give him service in the Guide
Corps if he would live an honest life. But Dilawur refused the offer
with scorn and said he would go on with his reckless life whatever the
English said or did.
He was a faithful follower of the Prophet. Five times a day when the
call for prayer rang out he bowed himself before Allah, and he kept
fast each year through the month of Ramadan. Some Mohammedans have
thought it a good thing even to kill those who do not worship Allah,
and Dilawur Khan believed that in his life of robbery he was serving
God by injuring His enemies.
But Dilawur could not forget what the officer had said to him, and
the more he thought of it, the more it seemed to him that it would be
better to give himself up to the English than to have them catch him as
an outlaw. Besides he wished very much to get the money that had been
promised to anyone who would capture him, so he found out the officer
whom he had met before and asked for the reward for bringing his own
head! The officer still believed that if once Dilawur gave his word he
would keep it. So, instead of executing him, he allowed him to serve in
the army.
One day some time after this Dilawur was in Peshawur, and as he passed
through the Bazaar he saw a noisy crowd. He went up to find out what
was going on, and there, to his surprise, he saw a colonel of the
army speaking to those around him. As he listened he found that the
colonel was speaking of the King of India, the Son of God, and he knew
that he was trying to win men to believe in the foreigner’s faith.
Dilawur was sure that he could answer everything the colonel said,
and could show the crowd that there was no truth in the religion of
Christ. So he began to argue, and when he went away he took one of the
colonel’s books home with him in order that he might study it and prove
to everyone who would listen how false it was. But when he read it,
he could not prove that it was false, so he took it to three of the
religious teachers of his own faith. The first one was very angry with
him for reading such a book; the second told him to put it away, and to
remember to pray at the set times for worship; and the third one told
him that if he read such books he would lose his faith in the Prophet.
This surprised him very much, because he had read the Koran, his own
sacred book, for many years, and he believed in it thoroughly, and
thought that any book that would make him lose his faith in the Prophet
of whom the Koran told, must be a wonderful one indeed.
After some time he heard that the man who had written the book had
come to Peshawur. When he heard it he said, “I would walk many miles
to see that man.” He went to see him and talked with him often, and
from that time he began to attack the faith of those who followed the
Prophet, and to urge them to prove to him the truth of the Koran. And
as he thought and talked, the story of the love of Christ entered into
his heart and the man who had once been a reckless robber, and who was
now a brave soldier, took service also in another army and became a
follower of the King.
But he had been a leader amongst the Mohammedans and they could not
bear to have him leave them. They tried to kill him in many ways, and
at last Dilawur was so used to attack that he challenged anyone whom he
met after dark, with the words, “If you are a friend stand still!”
He served the army well, and he served Christ loyally amongst his
comrades. He rose to the highest command that an Indian soldier could
then hold, and he was trusted on special service. At length on one
occasion a secret message had to be carried north through the mountains
into Central Asia. Dilawur Khan was a true man and he knew the passes,
so he was chosen to go on the dangerous errand, but ere it was finished
he died amongst the snow mountains. Though he knew that he was dying,
he was not afraid, but he sent a message to his officers to say that
he was glad to die on duty, and a greeting to his friends. He carried
the spirit of a soldier’s obedience into his service of Christ. “Has He
commanded?” he would ask, and if the answer was “yes,” he would add,
“Then that is enough for me.”