Wazir Akbar Khan
| Wazir Akbar Khan وزير اکبر خان | |
|---|---|
| Ghazi | |
A drawing of Akbar Khan by Vincent Eyre | |
| Emir of Afghanistan | |
| Reign | May 1842 – 1843 |
| Predecessor | Shuja Shah Durrani |
| Successor | Dost Mohammad Khan |
| Born | 1816 Mazar-i-Sharif, Durrani Empire |
| Died | September 1847 (30—31) Jalalabad, Emirate of Kabul |
| Burial | Blue Mosque, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan |
| House | Barakzai |
| Father | Dost Mohammad Barakzai |
| Mother | Mermən Khadija Popalzai |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Military career | |
| Battles / wars | Dost Mohammad's Campaign to Jalalabad (1834) Standoff at the Khyber Pass (1834–1835) Battle of Jamrud 1842 retreat from Kabul Battle of Gandamak Kabul Expedition (1842) |
Wazir Akbar Khān (1816–1847) also known as Mohammad Akbar Khān or Amīr Akbar Khān was a Barakzai prince and military commander who served as emir of Afghanistan from 1842 to 1843. He also served as vizier and heir apparent to his father, Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (r. 1826–1839, 1843–1863), until his death in 1847.
Wazir Akbar Khan's fame began with the 1837 Battle of Jamrud. He was militarily active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. He is prominent for his leadership of the national party in Kabul from 1841 to 1842, and his massacre of Elphinstone's army at the Gandamak pass before the only survivor, the assistant surgeon William Brydon, reached the besieged garrison at Jalalabad on 13 January 1842. Wazir Akbar Khan became the emir of Afghanistan in May 1842, and ruled until Dost Mohammad Khan's return in 1843. In 1847 Wazir Akbar Khan died of cholera.