Dalrymple claims that Bakht Khan's Pir, Sarfaraz Ali, was a Wahhabi, though he provides no justification for this assertion—merely noting that Sarfaraz Ali was among the first clerics to call for jihad against the British. This raises an important question: Was his association with jihad the sole basis for branding him a Wahabi, or is there substantive evidence supporting this claim? Do Western historians apply the Wahabi label liberally to resistance figures?
I've been delving into Mughal history and came across several sources—predominantly by Western historians—who contend that General Bakht Khan was a Wahabi. Notably, William Dalrymple in The Last Mughal and W.W. Hunter have put forth this assertion. Are these narratives accurate? Was General Bakht Khan not a close associate of Imam Fazl e Haq Khayrabadi? Moreover, didn't Alahazrat’s grandfather, Allamah Raza Ali Khan, fight alongside or under his command? I know Shaykh Abu Hasan has a deep appreciation for history, so it would be great to hear his perspective on this matter—we seldom get to hear his historical insights!
