Abd al-Samad Khan

Abd al-Samad Khan Al-Ansari or Abd-us-Samad Khan Al-Ansari (died 1737) was the Mughal subahdar of Lahore Subah from 1713 to 1726.

Early life
He was descended from Khwaja Ahrar.

Lahore Subah
He was appointed by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar. He was succeeded as governor of Punjab by his son Zakariya Khan Bahadur.

Kashmir Subah
He was the governor of the Kashmir Subah between 1720 and 1723. He removed discriminatory policies that had been enacted against the local Kashmiri Hindus.

In 1722, he led an excursion to Kashmir with a large military force and put the holder of the Sheikh-ul-Islam title, Mulla Sharaf-ul-Din, to death. Mulla Sharaf-ul-Din was the son of a Mulla Abdul Nabi (also known as Mulla Khan), who was a bigoted extremist and conspired against the local Hindus of the region.

Samad also executed fifty rebels from an area ranging from Naid Kadal to Khwaja Yarbal.

Contemporary Kashmiri poets praise his reign: "Haka an Samad Phutrun zin, Na rud kuni Sharaf no rud kuni Din.

'Samad (horse) came swiftly; there remained neither Sharaf (cardinalship) nor Din (bigotry) anywhere.'" Mahbub Khan 'Abdul Nabi' launched anti-Hindu riots and plundering during his reign but the instigator was killed in the events.

Wars
During his tenure as viceroy he fought many wars with the Sikh army and captured Banda Singh Bahadur in the Battle of Gurdas Nangal. Abdus Samad Khan's Lahore army consisted of Kharal, Bhatti and Wattu tribes.

In March 1715, the army, under the rule of Abd al-Samad Khan, drove Banda Bahadur and the Sikh forces into the village of Gurdas Nangal, Gurdaspur, Punjab and laid siege to the village. But on 7 December 1715 the Mughals broke into the garrison and captured Banda Singh and his companions.