
Alan King was a Captain in the British Indian Army and commander of the Khyber Rifles during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.
Biography[]
Alan King was born in Peshawar, British India, the son of a British Army major in the 3rd Lancers and his Pashtun wife. Both his Christian father and Sunni Muslim mother were disowned by their families for their interfaith marriage, and King often faced racism from his full-blooded English colleagues once he joined the British Army. King was raised by the silk merchant Hamed Bahra - the father of Karram Khan - after his parents' deaths in the 1833 rebellion, and he lived in Peshawar until he was twelve. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in England before serving in the British Indian Army, rising to the rank of captain.

King talking with Susan Maitland
In 1857, King was sent from Delhi to the Khyber Pass to assist Brigadier-General J.R. Maitland in suppressing the rebellion of the Pashtun warlord Karram Khan, with whom King had grown up. King survived an Afridi ambush with the help of deserter Ahmed Khan Afridi (whose brother had been deprived of his tongue and flayed by Khan for speaking out against him), after which King made his way to Peshawar to meet with the general. King was given command of the Khyber Rifles, a unit of Pashtun auxiliaries motivated by reasons similar to Ahmed, and was told that they were undisciplined; they refused to salute because they saw it as undignified, and suffered from desertion. King trained the Khyber Rifles and transformed them into an effective fighting force, earning him the admiration of General Maitland's daughter Susan Maitland. When King was not invited to a ball held in honor of Queen Victoria's birthday on account of his race, Susan left the ball to dance with King at his camp. She later accompanied him on a ride into the countryside, where they were caught in a sandstorm and attacked by some Karram Khan's rebels. King shot the rebels and prevented them from kidnapping Susan, and they were later rescued by Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath, who, despite his racism towards King, was assigned to lead a search party. Brigadier-General Maitland informed King that he would have his daughter return to England to prevent the rebels from taking a hostage.
After Lieutenant Ben Baird and his searching party were taken hostage, Karram Khan sent back the body of Corporal John Stuart with a note demanding that the British hand over an expected shipment of Lee Enfield rifles, lest they send back more British bodies. Maitland had no intention to cave in to the rebels' demands, and King met with Maitland privately and suggested that, just as Ahmed had said that the hill countries would only fight together under Karram Khan, the hill tribes might not rebel if Khan was dead. King proposed that he could pretend to defect to the rebels and assassinate Khan, and, while Maitland initially hesitated due to his unwillingness to risk the life of one of his officers, he ultimately reconsidered. By then, King had already set off for the Khyber Pass as Maitland sought Major Ian MacAllister's advice on allowing King to go about his mission.

King meeting with Karram Khan
King met with Karram (whom he continued to call "Hassan") at his remote camp in the mountains, where Karram said that he had looked forward to seeing his brother again, although he expected for their reunion to be on the field of battle. King said that he intended to desert, as the English would never accept him because of the blood that he and Karram shared. Karram pointed out King's decorations for his service in the British Army, saying that the British showed their contempt in a strange way, but King said that his self-respect was worth more to him than a few pieces of metal. While Karram said that many in the British service had spied on him while pretending to be defectors, King said that nobody had sent him, and that he wished to serve Karram. Karram introduced King to his allied chieftains and welcomed him into his camp, but he privately assigned Ali Nur to watch King, saying that the British loved their games.

King eating dinner with Karram
Over dinner, Karram recounted his childhood rivalry with King, from King letting Karram's pet snake escape as revenge for Karram feeding King's bird eggs to the snake, to their sword-fighting and war games. Karram then expressed his desire to incite a rebellion in India: "The fools will lay waste to their own cities; it is on what they leave of India that I shall build an empire for Karram Khan." Shortly after, King witnessed Karram have an angry outbusrt when he discovered that his ambush of a British supply convoy found only empty wagons rather than ones carrying rifles. Karram then confronted King with a sword and demanded to know his true purpose. King said that he had been sent to kill Karram and would have, but that an incident at the garrison had persuaded him that he could no longer serve the British. Karram then asked about the white-skinned girl, causing King to grow defensive; Karram then forced King to admit that he loved her, and Karram said that, after he had taken India, King could have her and whatever he wanted. Karram then presented the captured Baird to King, and, while Baird begged for King's help, King splashed his face with milk before he was sent off, causing Karram to believe that King was truly on his side.

King's failed attempt on Karram's life
That night, King crawled into Khan's bedroom with a knife in his mouth, intent on assassinating him. However, Karram awoke and aimed a gun at King before King could strike him with his dagger. Karram confronted King, saying that, if King had not hesitated, he may have killed him. King admitted his purpose, and Karram said that his split-second hesitation differentiated him from great men. Karram then disarmed King and had him sent out of the tent to be executed with the others. Baird and the other hostages were executed with spears thrown by Karram from a horse. However, Karram decided to return King to Peshawar out of gratitude for King's sparing of his life the night before; he warned him that, the next time they met, Karram would kill King without hesitation.

King rallying the Khyber Rifles
King met with Brigadier-General Maitland and reported on Lieutenant Baird and Private Sibley, Jenkins, and Burnett's executions, and he also reported on his failure to assassinate Karram, divulging that he had passed up and opportunity to kill Karram. He also reported that a council of tribal leaders, including the Wazirs and Bangash, had met with the Afridis and assembled 5,000 men. King reported to Maitland that Karram claimed that the Enfield would never be used against him, and Maitland proceeded to have King put under arrest. Shortly after, King learned from Heath that the British were being redeployed to Shimla, and that Susan intended to write King from Simla. Moments later, Maitland learned that a mutiny in Meerut had spread across the country, and that, if the mutiny spread to the Khyber Pass, the British would be fair game. King was released from house arrest to attend an officers' meeting, and he was ordered to lead the Khyber Rifles to attack Karram Khan's forces at Jatri. However, Ahmed interrupted the meeting to inform King that the Khyber Rifles refused to use their Enfield rifles, as their cartridges were greased with pig fat, making it haram to use them. Maitland claimed that the rumor of the forbidden grease was a lie, and King repeated that claim to the Khyber Rifles. He proceeded to demonstrate how to load and fire the rifle to the men, saying that he was of Indian blood and would no more degrade India than he would the memory of his mother. The men were then asked to step forward if they refused to fight; when not one man stepped forward, King had them take up their rifles.

King addressing his soldiers before battle
King then led the Khyber Rifles into the mountains, but the men second-guessed the contents of their cartridges and threw down their arms rather than fight. King drew his revolver on his officer and attempted to have him order his men to load their rifles. When he refused, King demanded that his men return home. Instead, the officer said that the men would fight to the death with their daggers, and King drew his dagger in solidarity and led them in a surprise attack on Jatri. In the ensuing battle, the rebels inflicted heavy losses with their rifles, and King was nearly killed by Karram while wrestling in Karram's tent, only for Ahmed to throw a dagger in Karram's back before Karram could kill King.

King saluting Susan
King and his Khyber Rifles enjoyed a victorious return to Peshawar, having destroyed the will of the hill people to fight, and saved Peshawar from the Pashtun onslaught. King saluted Brigadier-General Maitland and his daughter, and he proceeded to have his horsemen march in ceremonious fashion before the British soldiers.