Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890 – 1988) also known as Frontier Gandhi was a Pashtun freedom fighter, political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition and lifelong pacifism. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was the first non-Indian to receive Bharat Ratna in 1987.
He was a devout Muslim and an advocate for Hindu−Muslim unity in the Indian subcontinent.
Bacha Khan forged a close, spiritual, and uninhibited friendship with Gandhi, the pioneer of nonviolent mass civil disobedience in India. The two had a deep admiration towards each other and worked together closely till 1947.
He founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God"), an anti-colonial nonviolent resistance movement during the 1920s. The Khudai Khidmatgar recruited over 100,000 members and became influential in the independence movement for their resistance to the colonial government.
Bacha Khan was a champion of women's rights and non-violence. Throughout his life, he never lost faith in his non-violent methods or in the compatibility of Islam and non-violence. He was closely identified with Gandhi because of his non-violence principles and he is known in India as the 'Frontier Gandhi'.
Khan strongly opposed the partition of India. Accused as being anti-Muslim by some politicians, Khan was physically assaulted in 1946, leading to his hospitalisation in Peshawar.