(که سپوره وي که پوره وي نو په شریکه به وي (باچاخان)

Tribes of the Pashtoons

[16.Jun.2015 - 19:08]

Shilmani

By:F S Shilmani

Shalmani's predominantly live in Shalman Valley in Khyber Agency near Peshawar where they share their land with the Afridi's, Shinwari's and Malagori's. Their sub-tribes are the Alim Zai, Tarak Zai, and Kam Shalman. These people have strong relationships with Mohmand's. The Shalmani's are divided into two parts, Kam Shalman and the Loy Shalman, of which Loy Shalman has a population of more than 30,000 and is located 25 km from Landi Kotal.

According to Khan Roshan Khan of Swabi in his famous book "Tazkira-e-Pathan", Shalmani are of 'Banu Bakhtar' lineage from Israel who were living in an area called "Shalman" in Syria. These Banu Bakhtar were landlords of Shalman, Ainab, and Baisood in Syria but were soon exiled by Assyrian King Shalmaneser I, II, III and IV to Khorasan. The period of exile of Israel from Syria was 771 B.C to 597 BC. Shalmaneser here refers to Shalman according to the Bible (Hosea: 10-14). They were also known as Shalmani in Khorasan because of their ancestry in Syria.

The Bible states in Hosea:10-14 "as Shalmaneser destroyed betharbel". Many Christian and Jewish historians opine that Shalman is a contracted form of Shalmaneser. Hence Shalmaneser and Shalman are one entity. Shalmaneser himself was an Assyrian King(s). There were four Assyrian kings were Shalmaneser I, II, III and IV. The same name for all the king's denote that Shalmaneser was the name of their tribe and not their original names. According to well known Jewish Historian Dr. M. D. Magee, Shalman is jewish for "Solomon" the son of David (Hazrat Daud AS).

In the present Kurdistan of Iran, there is an area "Shalman", which means that, it is that ancient name of Shalmanis' residency (Shalman) in Syria, and that they were brought this name with them when they exiled by Assyrians and Babylonians. Another proof of the exile of Shalmanis from Syria's Shalman is that, there are four largest rivers in Iran and one of them is the river "Shalman Rud". In Persian and Pashto (Pakhto) language "Rud" means the river, therefore it is known as river Shalman.

Shilmani's also live in other places like Peshawar, Hashtnagar, Malakand Agency, Swat, Shangla, Dir, Bajaur, Buner, Haripur in Pashtunkhwa, Kabul, Karman & Tora Bora in Afghanistan, and Tehran, Isfahan and Gilan in Iran. There are some well known scientists in Iran & Pakistan in different fields like chemistry, biology & nuclear sciences. In Iran's Atomc Energy Commission are known scientists A. M. Shilmani, A Kuchaki Shilmani, & Manzour Shilmani. Similarly, important Shilmani's in Pakistan include former MPA Nek Amal Khan, Jahangir Khan, Rahat Khan and Senator Abdul Malik Shilmani. Many Shilman's serve in the Militia force (FC) and the Pakistan Army. When Pakistan had not yey come into being, Bacha Khan Shalmani of Sakha Kot Malakand Agency, was the prominent figure of the Shalmani tribe and was a famous politician. Up to this day shalmani's are going side by side with other Pashtun tribes and are serving the Pakhtoon nation and the humanity in different fields like politics, education, economy, religion, defence and agriculture etc.

References:

Swati

By:zmaray Afghan

Swatis are the biggest land owning group of Mansehra and Battagram districts. Every historian has gotten his on view regarding the origin of the Swatis but the Swatis relate their pedigree to Qais Abdur-Rasheed Baba.

In the times of Mohammad Ghuri they came to Swat from Shalman in Afghanistan and defeated the Hindus to establish their rule in that valley. Sir Denzil Ibbitson is of the opinion that the original Swatis were a race of Hindu origin that once ruled the whole country into the hills of Swat and Buneer. Later on the Yousafzais expelled them from those places and drove them east and west into Mansehra and Kafristan.

The copied version of Hazara Gazetteer from Dr. Sher Bahadur Khan Pani says almost the same as far as the defeat of Swatis at hands of Yousafzais is concerned however it suggests that the Swatis are Tajiks or Tajikgeeri Moghuls. It further states that since Swatis are not Afghans and it's just that they have Afghan culture, habits and language owing to their long time affinities with Afghans.

According to a Swati tradition they ruled Swat and Bajaor for four centuries before the Yousafzais invasion that drove them to Mansehra about the end of the 17th century. The Swatis came to Mansehra, under the command of Syed Jalal Baba when the Turks ruled this territory. They ousted the Turks and captured all the hills and plains. Jalal Baba divided the whole country among the lashkar except one fourth of it, which he kept for himself.

As per another tradition of Swatis they are Yousafzais and came to Mansehra from Swat to avenge the humility their nephew Syed Jala Baba had faced at the hands of Turk soldiers. Since they came from Swat, therefore, are called Swatis.

In short Swatis of Mansehra are heterogeneous group of people and include Yousafzais, Old Swatis (The rulers of Swat) and other Afghan tribes. Syed Jalal Baba was the grand son of Pir Baba of Swat who had following in all the tribes of Swat. Moreover, Pir Baba married Bibi Maryam who happened to be a sister of a local Yousafzai Khan, Malik Dolat Khan. Therefore, there are very bright chances that lashkar of Syed Jalal Baba comprised his uncles (Yousafzais) and followers (Old Swatis).

Swatis are divided into three great clans, Ghebri, Mamiali and Mitravi of which the first claim to be Tajik, the Mamiali Yousafzai, and the Mitravi claims to be of Durrani origin. But, it's very difficult to recognize and segregate the tribes of Swatis on basis of blood except for Jahangeeris (Khans of Mansehra town) who are considered to be Old Swatis of Swat by the other Swati tribes.

The Ghebri a section of upper Pakhli occupy Kaghan, Balakot, Ghari Habibullah, Mansehra, Dhodial, Shinkiari, Batagram, Thakot and Konsh while the Mamiali and Mitravi dwell in Bherkund, Agror, Takri and Deshi. While, Allai has mosaic population from all the tribes. These groups have been further divided into many subsections and Khels. Swatis are bilinguals and can speak Hindko in addition to their mother tongue Pushto. They observe the Pathan code of honor Pukhtoonwali very strictly and call it Swatiwali.

Afridis

Afridi is a large tribe of the Pakhtoons which inhabits roughly a 1000 square miles of hilly country south and west of Peshawar Valley in the Sufed Koh Range. It includes Maidan in Tirah (which is accessed through Khajuri Plains) and the valleys of the Bara and Churah. To their east, they are bounded by the Khattaks of Akora and the Mohmand and Khalil divisions of the Peshawar Districts. In the north they are flanked by Mohmands and in the west by Chamkanis and Shinwaris. On their south is the Orakzais Agency. On the southwest, several small passes lead down into the Kurram Valley. Through their areas run the Khyber Pass. To him can be applied a whle catalogue of contradictory adjectives: brave, cautious, honorable, treacherous, cruel, gallant, superstitious, courteous, suspicious, and proud. The tribe numbers about 250,000. It is divided into eight clearly distinct clans: Adam Khel, Aka Khel, Kamar Khel, Kambar Khel, Kuki Khel, Malikdin Khel, Zakka Khel, and Sipah.

All of the Afridi clans have their own areas in the Tirah, and most of them extend down into the Khyber over which they have always exercised the right of toll. The Malikdin Khel live in the center of the Tirah and hold Bagh, the traditional meeting place of Afridi jirgas or assemblies. The Aka Khel are scattered in the hills south of Jamrud. All of this area is included in the Khyber Agency. The Adam Khel live in the hills between Peshawar and Kohat. Their preserve is the Kohat Pass. In which several of the most important Afridi gun factories are located. This area is set In the sixteenth century, the Afridies collected Rs. 12,5000 a year from the Mogul Empire, in addition to individual levies on each traveler. By 1865, their receipts had dropped to Rs. 22,900 from the Amir of Afghanistan, ;lus an individual levy of Rs. 5 per laden camel (Rs. 3 if the load was food), Rs. 3 per horseman, and Rs. 11/2 per unladen camel or pediestrian. Reliable figures on more recent subsidies paid by British India and Pakistan are not available, but there is little doubt they far exceed the Mogul figure

Aside in a separate strip of unadministered territory attached to Kohat District. Except for the Adam Khel, i.e Afridi clans are migratory, moving down out of the lofty Tirah to the lower hills and the Khajuri Plain in the winter.

Although the entire tribe proved itself capable of concerted action against both the Moguls and the British, the Afridies are given to bitter interclan feuds, leaving them little time for major quarrels with neighboring tribes. Most noted of the feuds are those between the Adam Khel and the Aka Khel and between the Kuki Khel and the Zakka Khel. The last-named clan, incidentally, is considered something of an archetype of the Afridies. It is reputed to be so untrustworthy that the other clans refuse to accept the word ofa Zakka Khel unless he swears upon the Holy Koran before believing him. The bickering is enhanced by the considerable influence exercised among the Afridies by the mullahs and the adherence of the various clans to the Samil and Gar factions.

The Afridies are light-skinned, pleasant-looking men, somewhat slighter in stature than the Yusufzai. A Hebraic cast of features and a partialityh for full beards, added to the grace with which most of the older men wear their flowing garments, convey an impression of an assembly of Old Testament prophets.

The Afridies, especially the Adam Khel, Kambar Khel, and Malikdin Khel, joined the British Indian army in grater numbers than most other tribes. The famous Khyber Rifles, whose headquarters are at Landi Kotal in the Khyber, have-except for periods when the British banned the Afridies from service because of revolt or intrigue-been very much an Afridi organization. In recent years, the Afridies have built up a profitable trucking business between various points within the Frontier and from Peshawar to Afghanistan. Much as the Sikhs in India, they also serve as the motor mechanics of northwestern Pakistan, and are capable of prolonging the life of the most decrepit vehicle almost indefinitely.

Despite the Afridies, willingness to participate in a juhad at the wave of a green flag, their religious laxity has been the subject of much concern to their fellow Pathans. In the seventeenth century, Khushal Khan Khattak, the great Pushto poet and lifelong ally of the Afridies, lamented:

The call of the muezzin is not to be heard in Tirah, Unless it is the crowing of the cock at the dawn of day.

The Roshani heretics of the sixteenth century found a refuge in the Tirah after having been driven out by other more orthodox tribes, and reportedly Pir Roshan, the founder of the sect, is still venerated there today.

Perhaps the Afridies best answer to charges of irreligion, however , is a story they tell of themselves. One day long ago, a saintly pir, or holy man, came among the tribe. They paid homage to him and asked for his prayers. He denounced their lack of virtue and reviled them with the fact that in all their country they did not have a single shrine or tomb of a saint of their own whose intercession they might solicit. Impressed by the argument, the Afridies killed the pir on the spit and created an impressive shrine over him at which they conducted their devotions there after.

The origin of this tribe, owing to want of written record is obscure. "Their traditional records," says James, would lead us to believe that in common with other Pathan tribes, they are the descendants of Khalid-bin-Walid, a Jew who embraced Islam. During the reign of Mahmud of Ghazana, a chief by the name of Afridi, owing to his feuds, was obliged to fly from his country in Afghanistan and seek refuge with a kindred spirit, by name of Wazir, in the wilds of Sheratala. Here he seems to have settled and remained with his family for considerable time.

Similarly Turner Says that;"Afridi an individual of unknown country and parentage, came to Ghor, and there had an intrigue with a woman of the Karari tribe, the eventual results of which was the tribe of Afridies."

H.W . Bellew gives some what different account. He says, "The Afridies are without doubt the same Aparyata of Herodotus; both name and the positions are identically the same."

Another legend says that in ancient times a Governor of the province of Peshawar summoned some members of the Afridies to his 'Darbar' or court of audience. One of them, with native self possession and independence, took his seat at the entrance to the Darbar, and as the Governor stopped, and asked him who he was? Zah sok yam? ("Who am I?") He replied with solid indifference, Zah hum Afrida yam........"I am also a creature of God." In the Persian language Afridia means "a created being." From this circumstance the tribe received the name of Afridi.

Hayat Khan, the author of Hayat-e-Afghani considers Afrid as the grand son of Karlan's younger son Usman, nick named Afrida. (Note: Refer to the Family Tree at Top of Page)

Afridis have been painted in different colours by their detractors and admirers. H.W. Bellow says that;

"His manliness is at once apparent, and his proverbial hospitality, courtesy, courage, cheerfulness and loyalty makes him an excellent companion, and a valuable soldier and entitle him to respect and admiration."

In general, Afridies are tall, athletic, hardy and capable of great endurance. In the rank of In warfare, unless thoroughly humbled or convinced of the advantages of peace, they never omit to follow up a retiring enemy.

Some writers have described Afridis as the best specimen of the Pakhtoons. Tall, with handsome features, robust and strong body, fair complexion, eagle eyes, dressed in khaki colour. The young boys like wearing colourful waistcoats and silk turbans, and the women like colourful wax-work shirts and printed with flower dupattas (head scarf).

Khaljies are Afghan

By:Abdul Hai Habibi

In the Indian HistoricalCongress, held in 1939, one of the speakers who spoke on this issue said thatthe Khaljies were not Turks, and his studies were published in the Proceedingsof the Indian History Congress. But before this Edward Thomas had published abook entitled The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi, in 1871 in London,in which he recalls that from 1193 to 1554 A.D., the Delhi Sultans were Pathan=Afghankings. During this period five Moslem dynasties and 40 kings ruled over theDelhi throne.[1]Sir Wolseley Haig, who published the third volume of the Cambridge History ofIndia in 1928, in which he discusses Turks and Afghans in India, says for thesake of precaution that the Khaljies were related to Afghans and adds that theywere Turks who adhere to Afghan customs and live in the Garmser area ofAfghanistan. Since their second race came into being in India, they have deniedbeing the descendants of Turkish origin.[2]

In the whereabouts of 1205A.D. and after the death of the Ghorid emperor Mui'ziz-ud-din Mohammad Saam, anumber of Afghans, some of whom were of the Pashto speaking Afghan origin andothers belonged to the Turkish race were raised in Afghan courts and got mixedwith Afghans. Therefore, scholars like Thomas and his predecessors considerthem afghan even they might have been related to Turks or Arabs. For example,when Khazir Khan, the son of Malik Sulayman conquered Delhi in 1404 A.D., heand his followers (according to Mohammad Qasim Firishta) considered themselvesto be the descendants of the Prophet Mohammad. Yahya, son of Ahmad Shahrani,who wrote Tarikh-e Mubarak Shahi in 1404 A.D., in the name of his sonMubarakshah, and other historians like Shams Siraj A'fif in Tarikh-e Ferozshahiand Abdul Qadir Badayuni, the author of Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh also considerthis dynasty to be Sayyids or the descendents of Mohammad the Prophet. ButMohammad Qasim Ferishta says: "Before this Malik Sulamaan never claimed to be adescendent of the Prophet Mohammad."[3]The same subject has also been written by Maulawi Ahmad Ali Hindi.[4]While Zakaullah, the modern Indian historian manifests that Malik Sulaymaan andhis son were Afghans and not Sayyids of the Arabic race.[5]

Since in this article theissue under investigation is the Khalji and refutation that they are linked tothe Turks, explanations and details into other issues will not be discussed.From the available historical and linguistic reasoning it can be said thatKhalji is the present Ghalji and is the name of certain Afghan tribes. Thisroot is present in Gharj, Gharcha, Ghalcha and other historical words, and "gh"has converted to "kh", hence Ghalji has been mispronounced as Khalji. Thischange is seen in the texts of the third, fourth and following centuries of theHijera.

According to Minhaj Serajthere were over 15 great Khalji personalities who ruled from 1203 A.D. onwardsover India and were spreading Khorasanian and Islamic culture all over northernIndia and the highlands of North Bengal.[6]Once again the Khaljies ruled over Delhi from 1203 to 1320 A.D. All theserulers were the Ghaljis of Afghanistan. Several places are still known inAfghanistan as Khalaj. Such as the Khalaj (near Gizeo of Rozgan, north ofKandahar), the Khalaj[7] ofHelmand valley and the Khalaj of Ghazna, which Yaqut also mentions [8]as being near Ghazni in the land ofZabulistan.

In view of linguisticanalysis, Khalji, Ghalji or Ghalzi are Gharzay, meaning mountain-dwellers (inPahsto ghar means a mountain and zay born of). In the tale of Kak Kohzad(Mulhaqat-e-Shahnama, vol. 5, p. 33) these people are of Afghan descent andaccording to the author of this book they lived in Zabul (between Ghazni and Helmand)in the plain which is linked with Hindwan. These people are said to be tentdwellers. Kohzad is the translation of Pashto Gharza and the Ghalji. Tent dwellersstill live in the same manner in this region. Just as in Pashto this ancientword is Gharzay=Gharlji=Khalji. In Arabic it is written Gharj, and kohzad inDari has the same structure and meaning. The term is so old that Panini, thefounder of Sanskrit grammar (about 350 B.C.), has called the tribes of centraland northern Rohita-Giri=Hindu Kush, as Pohita Giries or mountaineers [9],which means kohzad or gharzay=Khalji.

We know that Indians calledthis land Roh. Huen Tsang has also noted this word in 630 A.D. and after 1203A.D. Indian authors have called Afghanistan, (extending from Heart to HasanAbdal) Roh[10]and its inhabitants as Rohela, which means kohzad or Ghalji=Khalji. In India aplace named Rohil-Kohzad is related to Rohela (Kohzad) and was the dwellingplace of Afghans who had settled in India. In the names of some tribes "gh" hasben converted to "kh" e.g. Khir=Khez=Qir=Ghez[11]or the present Saghar, south of Ghor, has been recorded as Saakhar by MinhajSierj. [12]

With great doubt MohammadQasim Firisha states from Tabaqat-e Akbari of Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad Bakhshi Hirawithat Khaljies are the descendants of Khalij Khan, the son-in-law of GenghisKhan. But this statement is not true, since historical documents reveal thatKhaljies or Ghaljies lived in Zabulistan three centuries before Genghis. Theunknown author of Hudud-ul-Alam writes in 982 A.D.: "In Ghazna and the vicinityof these towns, which have been mentioned here, live Taraks of Khalj." They area nomadic people and possess a lot of sheep. These Taraks of Khalj are found ingreat numbers in Balkh, Tukharistan and Gozganan also. [13]

Minhaj Siraj once againproves that the Khaljies ruled long before Genghis and his son-in-law over Indiaand their empire stretched as far as the highlands of North Bengal. A fullchapter of the 20th part of his book deals with these people. [14]

He says that the Khaljieslive near Ghazni, Garmseer and Ghor, but has not said anything about thesepeople being Turks. On the other hand, he clearly refers to other rulers ofTurkish descent as Turks.

Khalj, which has beenaltered to Khalakh by calligraphers, was a well-known word among geographerslong before the compilation of Hudud-ul-Alam. Ibne Khurdadbeh (844-848 A.D.)also speaks about Khaljiya. He confirms that there is a difference betweenKhalj and says: "the winter dwelling of Turksof Kharlukh (Kharlikh) is near Taraz and nearby them lie the pastures of Khalj(Khaljiya).[15]From this it is evident that the nomadic tribes of Khalji of that time, similarto their present habits, moved towards warmer regions during the cold season ofthe year. According to Ibn-e Khurdadbeh these regions were called Jarmiya(Jurum of Baladhuri and Minhaj Siraj). Ibn-e Khurdadbeh writes that theirwinter pastures were on this side of the Oxus river (p. 3). Some of these nomadictribes still go to these areas.

Another geographer IbrahimIbn-e Mohammad Istakhri (about 951 A.D.) writes Khalj are a clan of Atrak (mostprobably a plural of Tarak) who came to the region between India and Seistanduring ancient times. They had large stocks of sheep and their language andclothes resemble those of Turks.[16]

Some oriental scholars areof the belief that Gharjies are the descendants of Helthalites (presumably amixed race of Hepthalite and Pakhts who have been living in Afghanistan sincethe Vedic Aryan period). Marquart says: Khalch or Kholackj are descendants ofthe Yaftals, who have been mentioned as Khwalas in Syrian sources (about 554A.D.). After this in 569 A.D. ambassador Zemarchos has written this name asXoliatai.[17]

Mohammd son of AhmadKhwarazmi (980 A.D.) says: Khalj and Taraks of Kabjiya[18]are the descendants of Hayatila who held great prestige in Tukharistan. [19]

The Khalj and Afghans havealways been mentioned together and indispensably their place or origin and racewas common. Abu Nasr Mohammad, son of Abdul Jabbar Utbi (1023 A.D.), in theconquests of Subuktagin writes as follows: "the Afghans and Khalj obeyedSubuktagin and reluctantly joined his forces."[20]Ibn-ul-Athir has also mentioned this event in the same manner. [21]

Minorsky clearly writes thatthese Khaljies are the ancestors of the present Afghan Ghalji. Barthold andHaig have written the same in the Islamic Encyclopedia. [22]It can therefore be said that Khalji or Ghalji were related to the Hepthalitesand Zabul rulers, since the Helthalites, (Hayatila of Arabs) ruled overZabulistan. Their features struck on coins resemble the features of the Ghaljiyouth who live in this area and have high noses, almond eyes, bushy hair, andstrong features.

Therefore, Khaljies orGhaljies are not the descendants of those Turks or Ghuz who had come to Khorasanduring the Islamic period, but are Hepthalites of the Arian race who werefamous as White Huns and lived in Tukharistan and Zabulistan and the name of theirancestors has remained in the names of the present Ghalji the Kochi=Koshitribes of Zabul. Similarly the root of Hiftal is seen in Yaftal and Haftali inAbdali. The word Ghalji is known in Badakhshan now as Ghalcha=Garcha. In Dariliterature this word means a simple man or mountain dweller. Abu Tayib Musa'bi(about 938 A.D.), the poet of the Samanid court says:

If a Garcha can live overone hundred years, 
Why did the Arab (Prophet)live only sixty three?

The word Koch and Balochhave been written in the same place in appendages of Shahnama, and the Arabshave Arabized them to Qufs and Balus. In fact they are Khalji=Ghalji nomadshaving an ancient history in Ariana. Some scholars believe that these Kochi (nomads)are the Apa Kochiya mentioned in Achaemenian inscriptions who lived in thisregion before commingling between the Hunnish Arians. [23]The blending of White Huns of Arian descent with Pakhts (Paxtoons) in Bactria,the valleys of the Hindu Kush, Kabulistan, and Zabulistan was a natural phenomenonsince two northern and southern branches of the Arian race have got mixed. Itis not evident what language the White Arians (Hun=Hepthalite) spoke, but fromthe closeness of dialects in the upper Hindu Kush e.g. Gharcha, Wakhi etc. itcan be guessed to have resembled Pashto and certain Pashto sounds which are notfound in Pahlawi, Dari, Avesta and Sanskrit are present in these dialects untilnow. These white Arian Huns were Haftali (Abdali) who attacked India fromZabulistan and conquered Kashmir. The Sanskrit inscription of the 7thcentury A.D. found in 1839 A.D. in Wihand on the banks of the Indus river nearAttock refers to them as strong men who ate meat and calls them Turushka. [24]

The Kashmiri historian,Kalkana, in his book Raja Tarangini (1148 A.D.) writes about these kings andtheir ferocious attacks over Kashmir and says that the Turushkas carried their weaponsupon their shoulders and shaved half their scalp. He says that the Kushanidkings Kanishka, Hushka, and Jushka are the descendents of Turushka.[25]

Turushka of Indian sourceswill be discussed later. The Huns who after the 6thcentury A.D.increased in numbers after amalgamating with the Pashtoons and attacked India have been called Khans in India and until the present time Pashtoons are calledKhan all over India due to the alteration of h and kh in central Asianlanguages. For example the Hwarazm was converted to Khwarazm. The Turkspronounce Khanam as Hanam while the Afridis of Khyber pronounce Khan and Khun.In Masalik of Ibn-Khurdadbeh the name of Turkhan has been written as Tarkhum(p. 41). Therefore it is possible that Huns or Khun could have been convertedto Khan, which means that the Afghan Khalji Khans were not Turks and we havethe following reasoning to prove this statement.

1.      Mahmud Kashghari (1074 A.D.), who was of Turkish descent and a Turkologistsays: The ghuz of Turkmans comprise 24 tribes, but two Khaljiya tribes resemblethe Turks are not considered Turks.[26]This Turkish historian who has studied the Turks and even note their tribes,refrains from adding the name of Khalj with the Turks. [27]

2.     Mohammad sonof Bakran in the whereabouts of 1203 A.D. writes: The Khaljies of Taraksmigrated from Khalukh to Zabulistan. They have settled in the plain nearGhaznayn. Because of the hot weather their color has changed and they becameswarthy, their language also changed. As a misreading Khalukh is read Khalj. [28] From this declaration of theauthor of Jahan Nama it is clear that due to differences in color and languagethe Khaljiya were separate by all means from the Turks and a misreading existedbetween Khalj and Khalukh.

3.     Minhaj Seraj, who is from Khorasan and is wellfamiliar with the affairs of this land, knows a number of Turkish rulers ofIndia, but has always referred to the Turkish and Turks and the Khaljiya asKhaljies.

4.     Zia Barani, the Indian historian (1357 A.D.) in hisbook Tarikh-e-Ferozshahi, has a special chapter where he says the king must beamong the Turks but when Malik Jalaluddin Khalji ascended the Delhi throne hesays: "the people found it difficult to tolerate a Khalji king." [29]Since Khaljies were not Turks Indianhistorians also considered them to be Afghans.[30]

5.     In Afghan literature the Khalji of India have beenreferred to as being Afghan Ghalji. Khushal Khan Khattak, the famous Pashtopoet (died 1688 A.D.) in a long elegy enumerates the Afghan kings and considersSultan Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-1295 A.D.) to be a Ghalji of Wilayat(Afghanistan). 

"Then SultanJalaluddin ascended the Delhi throne who was a Ghalji from Wilayat." [31]

Afghans usually referred tothe lands behind Khyber as Wilayat and the Indians referred to Khorasan andAfghanistan by this name. This shows that until the time of Khushal Khan theKhaljies were considered Afghans and not Turks.

6.     Another reason which proves that the Khaljies areAfghans is an ancient book in which it is stated that the Pashto language (Afghani)is the language of the Khaljiya. Since Pashto is the language of the Pashtoons(Afghans) therefore the Khaljies are also Afghans. 

A manuscript on the miraclesof Sultan Sakhi Sarwar[32](known as Lakhdata died 1181 A.D. and buried in Shah Kot of Dera Ghazi Khan) iswritten in Persian whose author is unknown. In this book the author relates astory from Tarikh-e Ghazna by Abu Hamid-al-Zawali and quotes Hasan Saghani. [33] "KabulShah, Khingil, who according to Yaqubi lived about 779 A.D. [34]sent a poem in the Khaljiya language to the Loyak of Ghazni." Analysis of thispoem shows that it is ancient Pashto which is said to have been the language ofKhaljiya. This means that the Khalji spoke Pashto, and they are the presentAfghan Ghaljies.

7.     Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, well known as Fakhr-eMudabir and author of Adab-al-Harb and other famous books, writing on the Historyof India (1205 A.D.) says that the armies of Sultan Qutb-ud-Din comprised ofTurks, Ghori, Khorasani, Khalji and Indian soldiers. [35]This proves that in the beginning of the 7th century Hijera theTurks and Khaljies were two separate nationalities. If not so then they wouldnot have been mentioned separately in the same sentence.

8.    Until the time of Babur, the founder ofthe Indian Mughal dynasty the Ghalji of present Ghazna have been mentioned asAfghan Khalji and not as Turks. Babur says: "In 1507 A.D. we had ridden out ofKabul with the intention of over-running the country of Afghan Khaljies,northeast of Ghazni and brought back with us one hundred thousand head of sheepand other things."[36]

Turk-Tarak Turuska

There are two reason as towhy the Khaljies have been mistaken to be Turks:

First: The Sakas, Kushanidsand Huns came to Bactria and Tukharistan and southern Hindu Kush from TransOxiana and they were desert dwelling Arians and their culture resembled that ofTurks of Altai and western China. These people probably had cultural andlinguistic similarities with the Turks. Since these people got mixed with the aboriginesof Ariana (ancient Afghanistan), the Tajiks and the Pashtoons. According toJahan Nama their language and color changed. Therefore, Barthold and some otheroriental scholars considered the Pashto speaking Ghaljies to be descendants ofthese people. Even the name Abdali is related to these people and Awdal=Abdalhas derived from Haftal=Yaftal. Classic writers have written this name asEuthalite. The tribes of Kafiristan (present Nuristan), northeast Hindu Kushalso referred to Moslem Afghans as Odal up to the 19th century. [37]The Kabul Shahs of the 7thcentury whose titles and names were inDari or Pashto were the descendants of the Dumi tribe of the Kushanids. [38]

The second reason is that inArabic script the word Tarak and Turk resemble each other and since Turks werewell-known among Arab writers from the early years of Islamic period,therefore, they considered Tarak of the Afghan Khaljies to be Turks from theTurkish race. While the Taraki Ghaljies are famous Afghan nomadic tribes whosenumber in the plains of Ghazni (according to Shahnama from their land there wasa way to Hindustan) surpass 50,000. Until the present time these people movetowards the valleys of the Indus and Tukharistan during winter. They possesslarge herds of sheep, speak Pashto and are true representatives of Afghanculture.

But the word Turushka, mentioned in Sanskrit works,has been used in different forms in Raja Tarangini. In first Tarangini, shlok170, three Kushanid emperors have been considered to belong to the Turushkatribe. Paragraph 20 of another Indian work, Chavithakara, also deals with thisissue the same way.[39]But in Rajaa Tarangini (vol. 2, p. 336) this word has been mentioned by Kalhanaas the name of Muslim conquerors who were in war with the Kabul Shahs. SirAurel Stein says: "Undoubtedly, here Turushka means the Moslems. In 871 A.D.Saffarid Yaqub Layth captured Kabul and like the Arab conquerors attacked theremnants of Kabul Shah from Seistan and Rukhaj. Therefore the danger poised byTurushka, which Kalhans says, was from the south is not devoid of truth. [40]

From these facts it is evident that the Indian word Turushka, as was thought, not only meant a Turkbut was also used to mean the Arabs, the Saffarids of Seistan and all those whoattacked India and the Kabul Shah from the west. For example, Harasha, a Turushkaking ruined all the temples and idols of Kashmir about of 495 A.D. [41]Discussing Samagram Raja (1003-1028 A.D.) in Tarangini 7 shlok 57 who was acontemporary of Subuktagin and Sultan Mahmud, the battles of Turushka Kammiraconducted by Subuktagin or Amir Mahmud have been mentioned. This further meansthat Turushka was a word also applied to the conquerors from the west i.e. theKushanids, Huns, Moslems and Turks. This word has also been inscribed in theSanskrit inscription of Wihand, in which the carnivorous and mighty Huns havebeen called by this name.

The ancient Arians of theVedic period who moved towards the east from Afghanistan called their soldiersKshatria. This word (kash+tura) means a swordsman in Pashto. The title suitsthe warrior soldiers and the name of the Tarakay tribe is related to this sameroot. There are a number of other similar Afghan names of this type likeTurman, Turyalay, Turkalanay with an initial tur+a suffix.

The word tura is widespreadin a number of historical names like Turoyana, which according to the Vedas,was a king of the Pakht (Pashtoon) tribes. At present this world is used asturwahuney, meaning one who wields a sword. According to Kalhana, Turman wasthe name of a Kshatria king of Gandhara and in present usage also means aswordsman.

After reading the statedfacts we can conclude that the Khaljies were Pashto speaking Taraks and notTurks. Confusion between the two words started in Arabic script from the earlyIslamic period.[42]Similarly, the Iranian word Turushka did not mean Turks but as a converted formof the Vedic Kshatria, which has been used in Pashto literature as tur kash,meaning those soldiers armed with swords. However, it must be added thatseveral centuries after the advent of the Christian era, Afghan Khaljiesintermingled with powerful Turks of the courts in battles and journeys,therefore they acquired Turkish names and customs. Thus authors had a right toconfuse the two nationalities while there existed a confusion between the wordsTarak (the Afghan Khalji tribe) and Turk also. Due to these facts a number ofTurkish words have been used in Pashto from the time of the Kushanids and theHepthalites (Huns) and have acquired a special Pashto form, like wulus(nation), jirgah (a council) kuk (meaning rhythm in Turkish), khan (achieftain=hun) and tugh (flag) etc.

It must not be forgottenthat Mahmud son of Husayn Kashghari, the Turkish scholar 1073 A.D., hasdenominated a special form for Khalj. He says that in the Samarqand battleswith Alexander only 22 persons were left from the Turkish tribes. While walkingwith their families as men on foot they met two persons carrying loads on theirbacks and consulted them. They advised them as follows: "Alexander is a passerby and he is bound to leave and will not stay in this country, only we willremain."

In Turkish they referred tothese two persons "qal-aj" meaning that they remained and stayed. Thereforethey became famous as Khalj and their successors were the two clans ofKhaljies. Since thier character and mode resembled the Turks Alexander saidthey are Turkman, that is they resemble the Turks. Hence they are still referredto as Turkman. All Turkish tribes are composed of 22 clans but the two clans ofKhaljies do not consider themselves to the Turkish. [43]

This denomination of Khaljand Turkman, in which Alexander was considered to be a Persian speaker, has theform of a fable and does not bear any historical evidence. But the fact thatthe Kushanids and Helthalites (Huns) were ruling over this land during the 7thand 8th centuries A.D. has been recorded in a number of historicaland linguistic documents. Inscriptions also bear these facts. And that they have mingledracially and culturally with the Pashtoons is a very natural phenomenon.

Since the Kushanid andYaftali tribes had a number of Turkish cultural and linguistic elementsinstilled among them and the Turharian Tigins ruled over the south and north ofthe Hindu Kush, until the beginning of the Islamic period, and Zabulistan (thepresent land of the Khaljies) was considered the center of the Hepthalites,bearing the title of Zabul Shah, it is possible that they married and got mixedwith the Khalji mountain dwelling people. In this process they accepted thelinguistic and cultural effects on one another. For example the word Bag (meaning God, king or great)which has a deep root in Sanskrit and Avesta was usually inscribed on the Achamenian,Sassanid, Kushanid and Yaftali inscriptions and coins. In Turkish it wasentered in the form of Bag (meaning an emperor or king). [44]On the other hand on the inscription of the Yaftali period, in Jaghatu ofGhazni, the Turkish title of Ulugh has been written with the name of a king incursive Greek script and we know that Ulugh also means Bag or great. The namesof most Khaljies and even other Afghans are Turkish like Qaraqush (a hawk),Balka (sage), Sanqur (falcon) etc.[45]Previously we discussed a number of Pashto words bearing Turkish roots.

On the separation of theKhalji=Ghalji, Minhaj Siraj's statement is worth consideration in which hesays: "Sultan Jalaluddin Khwarazm Shah and Malik Khan of Heart reached Ghaznaynand a large army of Turks, and rulers of Ghor, Tajik, Khalji and Ghori gatheredat their service."[46]Here Minhaj Siraj mentions the Turks and Khalj as two separate entities.Juwaini, in Tarikh-e Jahankusha also speaks about the presence of Khalji in thebattle of Parwan and the defeat of the Genghis army. [47]

In the common usage of thepeople of Khorasan the word Khalji was pronounced with a (ghein) as Ghalji.Even today in Afghanistan this mode of pronunciation is widespread. We alsohave historical proof for this statement: the oriental branch of the Moscow Academyof Sciences has printed in Arabic Al-Tarikh-ul-Mansuri of Mohammad son of AliHamawi from a unique manuscript in photographic form in which the supporters ofKhwarazm Shah have been continuously referred to as Qalji. [48]Since in western Khorasan and Iran (ghein) is pronounced as (qaf) qiran asghiran and Quran as Ghuran, therefore, they converted Ghalji to Qalji and ifthey would have heard this word in the form of Khalji they would have writtenit in its original form, because these people do not convert (khe) to (Qaf).

Now after all these detailswe can conclude that Khaljies belong to the present Ghalji tribes of Zabul ofAfghanistan, whose original name in Pashto was Gharzay meaning kohzad ormountaineer. Thus Gharzay was converted to Ghalji or Khalji in the historicalrecords of Afghanistan and India.

1.      ↑ The Chronicles of PathanKings, p. 7, Delhi 1967.

2.     ↑ Cambridge History of India.3/61.

3.     ↑ Tarkikh-e Firishta, p. 162.

4.     ↑ Qasr-e A'rifan. P. 341,published in Lahore 1965.

5.     ↑ Tarikh-e Hindustan, Vol. 9.

6.     ↑ Tabaqat-e Naseri, I/422.

7.     ↑ Istakhri has mentioned theseKhalk in the province of Helmand, p. 245.

8.    ↑ Mu'jan-ul-Buldan. 2/381.

9.     ↑ Hindustan as seen by Paniniby Dr. Agrawala, Lucknow University, 1953.

10.↑ See Tarikh-e Farishta.

11.  ↑ Notes of Tabaye-ul-Haywan,18.

12. ↑ Tabaqate-e Nasiri 1/387,Habibi edition.

13. ↑ Hudud-ul-Alam in which theword Khalj has been misinterpreted as Khalkh by the calligrapher and publishedthat way.

14. ↑ Tabakat-e Nasiri after1/422.

15. ↑ Al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik,28.

16. ↑ Masalik-ul-Mamalik ofIstakhri, 245.

17. ↑ Minorsky's commentary onHudud-ul-Alam, 347 from Iranshahar of Marquart after 251.

18.↑ In the original sourceKanjina has been written incorrectly. In Bayhaqi it is Kapchi and in Tabaqat-eNasiri Kochi and the Arabs have converted it to Qufs. In the appendages to theShahnama it has been written Koch and at present this word is Kochi inAfghanistan. This word is a remnant of the name of Koshi=the Koshan of thefirst century B.C.

19. ↑ Mafatih-ul-Ulum, 72.

20.                      ↑ Tarikh-e Yamini, 26.

21. ↑ Al-Kamil 8/348, Ibn-ul-Athirwrites in Al-Kamil:L Yaqub Layth conquered Khaljiya and Zabul.

22.                      ↑ Minorsky's comments onHudud-al-Alam, 348.

23.                      ↑ Old Persian 165 and SabkShinasi by Bahar 2/67.

24.                      ↑ Kabul by Alexander Burns,190. London.

25.                      ↑ Raja Tarangini 4/179,Tanslated by Sir Aurel Stein, London 1900, and India of Bohler 2/206.

26.                      ↑ Divan Lughat-ul-Turk 3/307,Istanbul, 1915.

27.↑ Divant Lughat-ul-Turk,photographic publication p. 4-41.

28.                      ↑ Jahan Nama, 73.

29.                      ↑ Zia Barani's Tarikh-eFerozshahi, 173. Calcutta.

30.                      ↑ Tazkira-e Bahaduran-e Islam,2/331.

31. ↑ Divan of Khushal Khan 669,Kandahar.

32.                      ↑ For the biography of thissaint refer to Khazinat-ul-Asfiya 2/248 and Ab-e Kawtbar by Shaikh Ikram p. 91onwards.

33.                      ↑ Born in Lahore 1181, died1252 A.D.

34.                      ↑ Tarikh-al-Yaqubi 2/131.

35.                      ↑ Introduction to the Historyof Mubarak Shah, 33. London, 1927.

36.                      ↑ Tuzuk-e Babur 127, Bombay.

37.↑ Charles Mason, narrative ofvarious journeys in Baluchistan and Afghanistan. 1/232, London 1842.

38.                      ↑ A new research on theKabulshahan, p. 30, Kabul 1969.

39.                      ↑ Aurel Stien's comments onRaja Tarangini 1/30.

40.                      ↑ Aurel Stein's comments onRaja Tarangini after 336.

41. ↑ Raja Tarangini. 7 shlok,1095.

42.                      ↑ Between 651-709 A.D.historians speak about Nizak rulers in Badghis, Merv and north of Kabul whohave minted coins stating NYCHKMLKA in Pahlavi. These people or family have alsobeen considered Turks while in the coins belonging to them Shah (o) TarakaNisaga, with two short As of Taraka is evident (R. Ghirshman's book on theChinites=Hepthalites, p. 23 printed in Cairo in 1948). The word Taraka with twoshort As bears complete resemblance with the Afghan name Tarak.

43.                      ↑ Diwn-ul-Lughat-ul-Turk3/307.

44.                      ↑ Diwan-ul-Lughat-ul-Turk3/116.

45.                      ↑ Refer to Tabaqat-e-Nasiri. Vol.2. The Khalji kings in India.

46.                      ↑ Tabaqat-e Nasiri 2/259.

47.↑ Jahan Kusha of Juwayni2/194.

48.                      ↑ Al-Tarikh-ul-Mansuri 140.

Karlani Tribes: A Note on their Origin

By: Omar Usman

A group of tribes such as the Afridi, Wardak, Dilazak, Khattak, Shitak etc. are collectively referred to as Karlan tribes. According to geneology trees, they are descendants of Karlan; however, the origin of Karlan is disputed in itself. All descendents of the Karlani tribes have their own geneology trees marked from Karlan onwards. The dispute is only confined to where to place their head, i.e., Karlan in the existing trees. According to H.A. Rose, the Karlan's were not only of disputed origin, but they were also disciples of Pir Roshan, widely regarded as a heretic by other tribal groups. Today, these tribes straddle the Afghanistan-Pakistan belt and have visible cultural differences with their neighbouring tribes. Since the exact origin of Karlani's has been a debate for many decades if not centuries, to which I cannot add anything new, the most I can do is to make a note of the few references to their origins. Following are the different variations that are reported by Raverty, H. Rose, and S. Mohmand.

(1st source) Qais Abdul Rashid  |_ Sarban    |_ Sharakhbun      |_ Amar-ud Din        |_ Urmar (Abdullah and Zikria are not direct sons)          |_ Abdullah          | |_adopt_ Karlan          |_ Zikria

According to a narration by H.A. Rose, Abdullah, son of Urmar adopted Karlan. The baby Karlan was found by Abdullah's brother Zikria. Since Abdullah was child-less, Zikria exchanged the baby for a steel cooking pot (Karai).

(2nd source) Qais Abdul Rashid  |_ Sarban    |_ Sharakhbun      |_ Urmar        |_ Amar-ud Din          |_adopt_ Karlan (3rd source; Khattak Tradition; Muhammad Afzal Khan) Qais Abdul Rashid  |_ Sarban    |_ Sharakhbun      |_ Honai      | |_ Karlan _      |_ Urmar     |        |___adopt__|

According to Khattak sources (Muhammad Afzal Khan), Honai was the blood-father of Karlan, but was later adopted by his brother Urmar. H.A. Rose however, claims that the Khattak's have mistaken this Honai with another who was son of Syed Gisu Daraz, a sufi of Chishtia order.

(4th source; Dalazak Tradition) Caliph Ali  |_ Imam Hussain    |_ Imam Jafar Sadiq      |_ Ismail        |_ Khatim          |_ Rijal            |_ Qab              |_ Karlan

The Dalzak sources makes direct reference of Karlan as son of Syed Qab, a descendant of Caliph Ali. Whereas the Bangash tradition places the link with Syed Gisu Daraz as has appeared earlier in this write-up.

(5th source; Bangash Tradition) Caliph Ali  |_ Imam Hussain    |_ Imam Jafar Sadiq      |_ Ismail        |_ Khatim          |_ Rijal            |_ Kab              |_ Umar                |_ Ghur                  |_ Gisu Daraz                    |_ Wardak                    |_ Honai                      |_ Karlan

Yet another origin by Sial Mohmand from his pashto book accounts the origin as follows:

Qais Abdul Rashid  |_ Ghurghasht    |_ Burhan      |_adopt_ Karlan

Many sources available on the Internet place Karlan as a direct descendent of Qais Abdul Rashid; his 4th adopted son. Some popular diagrams have also appeared on Wikipedia showing Karlan from Ghurghasht stock. This is wrong entirely and I have not been able to follow up on any supporting references. For example, the tree appearing on Wikipedia cites Olaf Caroe, but Olaf Caroe writes in his book regarding the origins of Peshawar Urmars, "As we know, their ancestor is dragged into the genealogies under something like a bar sinister, and figures as an adopted Sarbanri who in his turn adopted a foundling as the progenitor of all Karlanris."

Qais Abdul Rashid  |_adopt_ Karlan

Apart from the Arab link, what the remaining sources agree upon though is that Karlan was adopted.

References

1.      H.A.Rose, Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Provinces, Nirmal Publishers, pp-224

2.     M.J.Sial Mohmand, Pukhtano Qabilo Shajaray

3.     O.Caroe, The Pathans, pp-191

Tribes of the Kurram

Kurram is divided into three distinct areas of Lower, Upper and FR Kurram. TheUpper Kurram is the most populated part of the Agency and inhibited the mostprominent and popular tribes of Turi and Bangash along with some other smalltribes of Mungals, Jajis, Muqbals and Hazaras. The Lower Kurram is inhibited byrelatively small number of Turis, Sunni Bangash and well-organized Zaimakhttribes. The FR Kurram is mainly populated by the Para- Chamkannis, Ali Sherzai andMassuzai tribes.

Tribes of Upper Kurram

Turi

It was the end of the fifteen-century that the Turi tribe first came intoprominence. They wandered in nomadic fashion till they came to Ariob inAfghanistan, the adjacent area at the top of the valley and they established theirsummer headquarters and in the winter took their flocks down as for as the riverIndus. From Nilab, on the bank of Indus River near Attack, the tribe appears tohave annually immigrated during the hot weather to the Kurram Valley, then ownedby the Bangash. In his dairy of the 1506 A.D. the Emperor Babur mentions thepresence of Turis in the Kurram valley.

The Pathan genealogies show the Turis, as well as the Jajis, to be GhurghushtPathans of the Kakai Karlanri branch. In genealogy according to Olaf Caroe, Theyare Karlanri Pukhtuns, with Khugiani and Zazi (Jajis) as their Tarbors (cousins).All of them are the descendents of Khugi; a son of Koday from his second wife andthus Koday in turn is a son of Karlanri.The Turis, themselves claim that they cameoriginally from Persia with a Turkish family headed by Toghani who married with aPersian lady. This Turkish family quite later migrated eastward from Persiasometime before the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India and eventuallysettled at Nilab. In other place they claim that they came from Samarkand toNilab. If their migration from Persia is considered then this afford a plausibleexplanation to the Shia religion of the Turis.There is little bit doubt in theorigin of tribes that they established their summer headquarters at the head ofthe Valley and in the winter they took their flocks and herds down as for as theIndus at Nilab returning each year to the parent colony. The Bangash remainedthroughout the century in possession of the Kurram valley while the Turis pursuedtheir nomadic wanderings up and down the valley. During one of their annualmigration, about the year 1700 A.D. a quarrel broke out between the Turis and theBangash owing to an insult of a Turi woman. At that time the Jajis and Turis wereunited and the first assault made on the Bangash took place in the Hariob valley,which the Jajis seized. The Turis, throwing off the disguise of nomad vassals,attacked and captured Berki, which stands on the high grounds above Kharlachi.

Then they proceeded to consolidate themselves for a time, after which theycaptured Peiwar and by passing Shalozan they took Malana in the Upper Kurram. Oncethe Turis were in possession of these upper villages, the tide of conquestfollowed on uninterruptedly. The Turis gradually made themselves masters of theKurram valley. They drove the Bangash out of the Kurram valley and settled in themajor villages of Peiwar, Berki, Krakhela, Kachkena, Malana, Bilyamin, Alizai andthe Road Ghara (Bank of the River Kurram). The Turis maintained possession of thevalley till the middle of the 19th century, when they were in turn conquered bythe Afghan, who remained till the second Anglo-Afghan, war of 1879-80. Finally theTuris came under the protection of the British Government in 1892. The Turis arethe main and powerful tribe in the Kurram valley. The Turis are divided into fivemain sections or clans, sometimes spoken of collectively as the Paniplara (literally five fathers)

Bangash

Bangash is one of the major Pakhtun tribe. Though, some traditions has a claim oftheir Arab origin but it is hard to testify this claim and its validity in term ofwho they are. it suffices to note that by all standard they are perfect afghansare Pakhtuns. Their commons ancestor Ismail, lived at Gardiz in Afghanistan butthey were hard pressed by the powerful Ghilzai tribe and thus sometime toward theend of fourteen or in the beginning of the fifteen century they migrated eastward.After, wandering through Multan, Derajat and Khost area for almost two centuriesthey finally settled in the Kurram valley by the time came the Turis, who at thefirst were subordinate to them but gradually in their own turn decline the Bangashand pushed them in to the Kohat district .However, a significant number of themstill live in big villages of Shalozan and Zeran in the upper Kurram. They are nomore different from their co-religious Turi, accept, perhaps in the pride offamily and tribal origin. They are mostly referred together as Turi- Bangash andenjoy equal rights. Sharing the faith of Shiaism in Islam, they follow theircommon religious and traditional leadership. Like the Turi, they also deeplyrevered Sayeds families and at the same time equally divided in the Drewandi andthe Mian Murid factions.

Mangals and Maqbals

Mangals, Muqbils and Zadrans,, according to Olaf Caroe are believed to be thedescendent of the same line of their ancestors as that of Turis , Zazi andKhogianis. Majority of these tribe are living across the border in Afghanistan ofPaktia and Khost provinces. For different reason some of them come into the valleyand started living along side the Turi in Kurram. The Mangal setters also cameoriginally from Gabar and are settled in a scattered habitation from the Paiwarkotal to Zeran in the vicinity of Spin Ghar lower hills and higher villages behindthe villages of Paiwar, Shalozan, Mulana, and Zeran. The villages they holddirectly under their control are Turi kotri sursurang under the Paiwar kotal.

Ghilji or Khilji

The Ghilzais (also known as Khiljis or Ghaljis) are one of two largest groups ofPashtuns, along with the Durani tribe, found in Afghanistan with a large groupalso found in neighboring Pakistan. They are the most populous Pashtun tribe inAfghanistan, occupying the north of Kandahar and extending eastwards towards theSuleiman Mountains.

The Ghilzais are concentrated in an area spanning Ghazni and Kalat-i-Ghilzaieastward into western Pakistan, but are predominantly a nomadic group unlike theDurrani who can be found in permanent settlements. Population estimates vary, butthey are most likely around 20 to 25% of the population of Afghanistan andprobably number over 9 million in Afghanistan alone with 2 million or more foundin neighboring Pakistan. They are reputed to be descended at least in part fromthe Khalaj or Khilji Turks, who entered Afghanistan in the 10th century as well asthe numerous other invaders from Central Asia and the Middle East who have enteredAfghanistan over the centuries. Most Ghilzai are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafischool and are often devout to their faith and also follow the Pashtun code ofhonor known as Pashtunwali.. Most Ghilzai work as herders as well as inconstruction and other jobs that allow them to travel. Often displaying an uncannymechanical apptitude, the Ghilzai nonetheless have an extremely low literacy ratehovering below 10%.

The Ghilzai have played a prominent role throughout the history of the MiddleEast, Central Asia, and South Asia.. The Nasher (Ghaznavids) are Ghilzais, as wellas the Lodi dynasty, who were rulers of the Delhi Sultanate (1450-1526), wereGhilzai Pashtuns. In 1709, Mirwais Khan Hotak, a Ghilzai Pashtun and founder ofthe short-lived Hotaki Dynasty (1709-38), led an Afghan tribal revolt againstPersian rule that eventually led to the short-lived Afghan domination of Persia from 1722 until 1734 when Nadir Shah began to wrest control from the Ghilzais.

Tribes of F.R. Kurram

Kurram, as mentioned earlier, is an un-administered area totally independent andisolated. This part of the Kurram Agency is inhabited by powerful tribes of AliSherzai , Massuzai, and Para Chamkanis. To have a better understanding of thetribal configuration, the area may be represented by the better k. If from thepoint where the three lines meet, a fourth line be drawn to the righthorizontally, the meeting point of the four lines is Sadda the upright is thekurram river, the lowest quarter is Zaimusht area, the next Ali Sherzai, the nextMassuzai and the highest and last Para Chamkani. A brief description of thesetribes are given below.

Ali Sherzai

The Alisherzai,s occupy a strip of country screeching from Sadda along the top ofZaimusht area . The Alisherzai are of Orakzai origin for the purposes ofjurisdiction they are divided into pitao and sorai (those who live on the sunnyside of the hill and those who live in the shady side). The former are under thekurram political jurisdiction and the later Kohat . Some of the Alisherzai ownproperty and live in Sada (a sub-division and flourishing market), Kurram Agency .They have practically less connection with there co-tribes man in the inaccessiblearea. with the rest of the Alisherzai tribe the Kurram authorities have littledealing.

Masuzai

Massuzai are also Orakzai the factional division are formed into the Gar &Samil Massuzai . The former consist of the Mastukhail and Dilmarzai and later ofthe Ashkhel and khwajAkhel. A section of the tribe live in the Khurmana valley inTirah. Massuzai have no land in upper and lower kurram. The Gar Massuzai, used tohave land at some dissent period Ibrahimzai and Baleshkhel villages near sada. Itfinally passed over from their hands but on a compromises, whereby the, new inhabitant became bamsayas of the Gar Massuzais, and were bound to entertain theJurga when it came to Sada.

Chamkani

The Chamkanis are traditionally supposed to belong to the Ghoriakhel section ofthe Sarbani pakhtoon. Some authority assign them a Persian origin. They certainlyhave no connection with the Afridies are Orakzai but by their Sarbani origin theyare related to the Mohmands, Daudzai, and Khalils tribe settled in and aroundPeshawar in the sixteenth century, some of them moved to the north of the east ofthe kurram valley near Kirman village on the northern slopes of the Sikharam ofthe spin Ghar range. However, most of the tribe is at present located in theThabai and awi Darras, in the Khumana valley in Tirah. Although, there is somedoubt as to whether the tribe should be called Chamkani are Para Chamkani, sinceit is contended that the later name belong on the to the Haji khel section. Thematter is however, of academic interest only, because people of the kurram intalking of the tribes speak of them as Parras, omitting all together the tagChamkani.

The Chamkanis are divided into four main section, the Badakhel, as alreadymentioned have left the tribe altogether and have settled in the Kurram proper.The Khanikhel, the Hajikhel, and the Khwajakhel, who divide into two parties, theKhanikhel, who live far back around Thabai, the khwajak and Haji Khels who livenear Kirman in upper Kurram .They are more accessible and are to a large extentdependent for their safe passage on Turi tribe and are somewhat amenable. Whereas,the Khanikhel occupy a possession very like that of Massuzai. In the whole historyof British occupation of the valley there had always been trouble while dealingwith one or other section of the Para- Chamkanis. FR. Kurram is still a closed andprohibited area with no roads hospitals, and Schools. http://www.khyber.org/tribes/info/Tribes_of_the_Kurram.shtml

Tribes and Castes in Bannu

Excerpts from Gazetteer of the Bannu District, 1887

Contents

1.      The Pathans

1.      Bannuchis or Bannuwals

2.     Waziris

1.      Waziri Clans

1.      Hathi Khel

2.     Serki Khel

3.     Sperkai

4.     Bizan Khel

5.     Umarzai

6.     Muhammad Khel

7.     Bakka Khel

8.    Jani Khel

3.     Bhittanis of Marwat

4.     Marwats

1.      Clans Affiliated to Marwats

5.     Niazais

6.     Khattaks

2.     Syeds

3.     Jats

4.     Awans

5.     Hindus

The country about Edwardesabad between the Kurram and Tochi rivers, is held by the Bannuchis. The remainder of the Bannu tahsil, north-east of the Kurram and south-west of the Tochi is in the occupation of Wazirs. Marwat is held almost entirely by Marwats, Isakhel by Niazais, and Bhangikhel by Khattaks. On this side of the Indus the Salt Range tract is Awan territory; while Niazai hold the north and Jats the south of the Mianwali Thal and Kacha.

The Pathans

The Pathans together constitute 42.4 percent of the population, in which they are in every way the most important element. The census returns of 1881 give the following detail of tribes:

Note: Many of these men are returned twice over, under both tribe and clan; and the total is therefore too large. An enormous number of mere clans or sub-divisions had been returned as castes in the report.

Bannuchis or Bannochwals

This designation includes both true Bannuchis and miscellaneous Pathans now amalgamated with them. The former comprise those who belong to any of the khels or sections, the common ancestors of which were admittedly descended from Shitak and his wife Bannu. The most important of those khels are Isakki, Mandan, Surani, Miri, including Mama Khel, Nurar, and Barakzai, Mamash Khel, Amandi, and Daud Shah. The latter consists of miscellaneous groups and families scattered throughout Bannu proper. Of this class the Moghal Khels of Ghoriwal are the finest, and till show in speech and appearance their Yusufzai descent. But as a rule all Bannuchis look, speak, and act much alike, and it is not easy for an Englishman to distinguish their different clans. They have been described as the Jhuta or "leavings" of all the tribes who have contested the possession of their fruitful valley. And Edwardes says of them:

"Although forming a distinct race in themselves, easily recognizable at first sight from any other tribe along the Indus, they are not of pure descent from any common stock, and able, like the neighbouring hill people, to trace their lineage back to the founder of the family, but are descended from many different Afghan tribes, representing the ebb and flow of might and right, possession and spoliation, in a corner of the Kabul empire, whose remoteness and fertility offered to outlaws and vagabonds a sure asylum against both law and labour."

As to their character there are no two opinions, the Bannuchi being invariably represented as a compound of Pathan vices without one redeeming virtue. It would seem to be impossible to write of them with patience. Edwardes, the first Englishman brought in contact with them says, "They have all the vices of Pathans rankly luxuriant - the virtues stunted. Except in Sindh, I have never seen such a degraded people." Reynell Taylor who succeeded Edwardes in the administration of the district, is even more explicit. "Taken as a class," he writes:

"They are very inferior to their neighbours, the Waziris. Small in stature, and sallow and wizened in appearance, they always reminded me of the lives they had led in youth, of which their appearance is in fact but a natural result. When we first arrived in Bannu it was a common thing to find a man who had never in his life been more than two miles from his own village, the village possibly being at war with its neighbour, which rendered wandering in the fields in the neighbourhood a service of danger, while within the walls it is sad to think of the heat, dirt, squalor, and stagnation that must have existed. The villages, in those days walled up to the sky, so that no air could reach the houses below, must indeed have been hot-beds of all that was enervating and demoralizing, and the characteristics of the full-grown Bannuchi weed correspond but too well with the nature of its origin and training. Here and there a fine character may possibly be found, and they have no doubt some domestic virtues, which in some measure redeem their public and social immorality, but, taken as a class they certainly are the worst dis-positioned men I ever had to deal with. They are vicious, false, back-biting, treacherous, cruel, and revengeful. I have never known or heard of men so utterly regardless of truth."

To sum up all, Mr. Thorburn, reporting for the present work, describes them as "a low, vicious race, very litigious, utterly regardless of truth, ready to take any advantage, however mean, over their enemy, without any manly feelings about them, always harping on the word honour, though possessing none."

Socially, the normal state of the Bannuchis is one of feud. There is hardly a village in the valley that is not broken up into factions. Many families even are similarly distracted by intestine quarrels. The former violence of inter-tribal warfare, when village was at war with village through the length and breadth of the valley, has subsided under the firm hand of British rulers, but the spirit which prompted it is still untamed, and finds free vent in the use of the dagger and the poisoned cup. So little have they learned in this respect, that there can be but little doubt that, if British rule were removed from Bannu, not a month would pass here and they would relapse into the state in which Major Edwardes found them in 1848. With all their faults, the Bannuchis are quiet and submissive subjects, and as agriculturists are industrious, above the average of Pathans. Mr. Thorburn writes of them, "On the whole they are an inoffensive people; of little political importance; and however much we may be inclined to despise them as men, we should remember that they are excellent revenue-payers, and that to their prolificness and to the climate in which they live are to be ascribed most of their bad qualities, whether mental or physical." They are also not inhospitable. In religious matters they are extremely bigoted. They are strict observers of the Koran, pray at all hours of the day and in any place, and blindly obey the directions of their priests. Their women, strictly and jealously guarded, are treated by their husbands as little better than slaves. They are great home-stayers, being seldom met with beyond their local limits.

In stature, the Bannuchi is wizened, spare, and fleshless, having little muscular development - results which probably are attributable to the use of the unwholesome water of the Kurram for drinking purposes, and to the malarious state of the atmosphere, caused by incessant irrigation from the same source. Their women are often fair-skinned, but always sallow. In habits they are extremely dirty. Water flows past their doors, but they rarely use it to wash either their persons or their clothes. Their villages are built of mud, the houses closely packed together, and, like their inmates, very dirty. Formerly every village had a high mud wall, but to procure the demolition of these was among the first achievements of British rule. The villages and hamlets are very numerous; there are upwards of 583 on an area of 102 square miles, and, were the order prohibiting the erection of new villages removed, this number would probably be quickly doubled. In 1867 the District Officer did for a short time remove the restriction, and at once, in a few months, 229 new hamlets sprung up. Most of these, however, were subsequently demolished by order of the Commissioner of the Division.

Their clothes are of strong homespun cotton, none, but the headmen, or maliks, indulging in cloth of finer texture. Woollen clothing is eschewed in the coldest weather by all classes, and this, not, it is believed, from poverty or any prejudice of caste or religion, but simply in obedience to immemorial custom. The chapli or sandal is worn by the men, but the women use the ordinary slipper. Many of the head-men, or maliks, now wear slippers instead of sandals.

Waziris

Most of the Waziris settled in this district occupy grants of land in and upon the borders of the thal, which intervenes between the hills and the fertile centre of the Bannu valley. Before the establishment of British rule, the tribe was entirely nomadic in its habits, depending chiefly for support upon its flocks and herds. They had indeed begun in an intermittent way to encroach upon the Bannuchi lands, but none of them, prior to the annexation, had permanently settled below the hills. It has always, however, from the very first, been the policy of the English Government to allow them unchecked intercourse with the plains, and by grants of land to induce them to settle within the border. By such means, large numbers of the tribe have been weaned from a life of plunder, and are beginning to learn some of the lessons of civilization. It has been found that the inter-position of colonies of Waziris between the more settled portion of the plains and the hills has, more than any other measure, tended to secure the peace of the frontier. Experience has shown, too, that these rough mountaineers are capable of being tamed and converted into peaceful agriculturists.

The settlers in the plains have, on the one hand, lost none of the characteristic virtues of their tribe. In person they are tall and robust, they are united among themselves, possessed of many manly virtues, having a true regard for honour, and are comparatively truthful - a complete contrast in all these particulars to their Bannuchi neighbours; on the other hand, they are fair cultivators, industrious and thrifty and regular tax-payers. Most of them migrate to their own hills for the hot weather, returning in October and November in time for the sowings for the spring harvest. There are besides the cultivators, large numbers of the tribe who find active and lucrative employment within the border as carriers of salt and fuel. The houses, even in their permanent villages, are constructed of nothing more solid than grass and reeds, and large numbers of them live in small gipsy-like tents (kijdis), consisting simply of a camel-hair blanket stretched over two sticks.

Waziri Clans

Being such a troublesome and important element in the population of the district, it will be well to give some particulars regarding each of their clans or Khels. This can best be done in the form of a statement such as is given below, which is taken from the Settlement Census of 1873 at which only resident population was enumerated. The first six Khels belong to the Ahmadzai branch of the Darweshkhel Wazirs, the last two to the Utmanzai branch. The order in which the different clans are entered follows that of their settlements along the border from near Latammar in the north to the skirt of the Gabar mountain to the south:

Compared with the figures of the 1868 Census, the increase in the numbers of the Waziris is considerable. There can be no doubt that in the last few years the number of Wazirs who have settled in the plain for the spring crops at least has largely increased.

Hati Khel

This clan is divided into two main branches, Kaimal and Edal. The former has three chief sections, viz., Ali or Khaidar Khan, Musa and Purba, and the latter four, viz., Bai, Bakkar, Isa and Kaimal. The Kaimal Khels outnumber the Edal Khels by about four to one. With the exception of the Patol Khels, who are a branch of the Ali Khels, and mostly live in the hills, the whole clan is now settled in the plain, and is rapidly assimilating to the Marwats. In the Settlement enumeration, only from 150 to 250 souls, then in the hills, were not counted. Of the different hamlets Chauki Azim is the largest. Hamlets and separate homesteads are very numerous, because each group of families is settled at pleasure on its own land. About 200 of the houses are mud-built and flat-roofed. All the rest are still temporary thatch structures as are seen in the sandy parts of' Marwat. The special hill home of the Hati Khels is immediately behind their plain possessions, and is surrounded by Umarzais, Kabul Khels, and Khataks. The Hatikhels have always been well behaved, and are now the most loyal, orderly and wealthy Waziri clan settled within British territory in the district. Not more than one-fifth of the clan now retires to the hills in the hot weather. Though they own little or no land in the Shawal direction, those who choose withdraw for the summer to that locality.

Sirki Khel

This is a poor little clan, and is either a branch of or nearly related to the Hati Khels. From first, to last it has been unfortunate. For some years after annexation it was not amenable to rule, in consequence of which some of its Thal area was given to, and otherwise absorbed by, its two powerful neighbours; the Hati Khels and Spirkais. Then it has never had any strong sensible chief or chiefs to push its interests. It has three main sections, Tobla, Bobla and Shuni, all of which hold land in the Thal. Nearly half of its numbers were in the hills at the settlement enumeration, and so omitted.

Sperkai

The main divisions are Muhammad Khel, Sudan Khel, and Sada Khel, but the first has long ranked as a distinct clan, and the collective name now applies to the two latter. Of them the Sudan Khel division has four main sections of pretty equal strength, viz., Baghban, Bokal, Kundi and Bharrat. The Sada Khel division is small in numbers, and has no section worth naming. Besides the above there are about thirty families of a people called Dhir affiliated in the clan, who seem originally to have been hamsayahs or dependants derived from some other stock. The Spirkai still largely go to their ancestral hills about Shawal for the summer. About 250 of them neither own nor cultivate land in the plain. The well known Sohan Khan was the chief of this clan at annexation. He belonged to the Baghban section. His son Mani and grandson Jalandar Shah are the present headmen. The clan is strong, well off, and does not give much trouble. It is the rival of the Hati khels, of whose prosperity and independence its leading men are jealous. Some twenty-five families of Badin Khel, who are either a distinct Ahmadzai clan, or are closely, related to the Bizan Khels, hold land with the Spirkais.

Bizan Khel

This is on the whole a well conducted clan. Its main divisions are Doulat, Iso and Umar Khan. The fourth called Moghal Khel is still mainly resident in the hills. The other three have long been settled in the plain. In all some 170 souls belonging to the clan find no place in the Settlement Census. The Payindah Khels require mention here. They are a cognate clan, but not apparently descended from Bizan, the common ancestor of the sections named above. These Payindah Khels maintain themselves more by carrying salt and trailing than by agriculture. They hold some land within Spirkai limits.

Umarzai

Their main divisions are Manzar, Tappai, Boza, all holding lands in our territory, and lastly Sayad, which last is only now beginning to settle down in the plain in any numbers. The clan owns part of the hilly country between the Kurram and their own plain possessions. They still go largely to the hills in the hot weather. Many of their members hold land in the Surani and other Bannuchi tappas north of the Kurram, and cultivate such land directly or through Bannuchi tenants. The Umarzais are great wood-carriers, and supply the cantonments with half the wood fuel there consumed, bringing it in by the Gumatti Pass. Collectively the clan is rude, thriftless and kept little in hand by its grey-beards, but amongst its members are a sprinkling of shrewd acquisitive men. During the 1870-71 border disturbances the Umarzais sympathised with their kinsmen, the rebellious Muhammad Khels, and some of their young men fought on the rebel side. The whole clan probably numbers twice as many as the portion counted in the Settlement Census. For some years after annexation the Umarzais gave much trouble, and were treated as outlaws until in 1852-53. Major Nicholson punished them, and after a time re-admitted them into our territory.

Muhammad Khel

As before said this clan is lineally a branch of the Sperkai, but has long ranked as a separate clan. It is divided into four tarafs, viz., Muhammad Khel Khas, Sudan Khel, Shudakai, and what may be called miscellaneous. The first is the most numerous, and has no fewer than five recognized sections, of which Ro, Kuda and Kauzi are the most important. The Shudakai taraf is an affiliated Khel from the remnant of some old hill tribe, which cannot trace descent from Spirki. In the Settlement Census not more than fifty souls escaped enumeration through absence in the hills. The clan has several strong men in it of a turbulent disposition. In 1870-71 it rebelled, and gave much trouble before it was re-admitted into our territory. On the whole the Muhammad Khels are the least lightly assessed of all our Waziri clans; but they are rightly so, as, owing to most of their lands being irrigated, a crop of some sort is always assured to them. Their poorer members eke out a subsistence by selling fire-wood and mats in the town and cantonments.

Bakka Khels

The main divisions are Takhti, Narmi and Sardi. The first are both the most numerous and wealthy. Though very independent in manner, the clan is generally well conducted, and has shrewd, able representatives to support its interests. It is pretty comfortably off. Its hamlets and homesteads are strong and well built. It is the most numerous Waziri clan settled within our border. All its members come down to the plain for the cold weather. Few families escaped enumeration in the Settlement Census. The Masauds are annually encroaching more and more on the hill territory remaining to the Bakka Khels, and thus compelling them to become plain-dwellers.

Jani Khels

The case of the Jani Khels closely resembles that of the Bakka Khels, the Masauds gradually supplanting them in the hills, and so, nolens volens, the clan is becoming more and more permanent settlers in our territory. It has three chief branches, Edia; the most numerous, Tor and Malik Shahi. The latter are comparatively few and poor. The clan has never given much trouble, though at times if thwarted it threatens to withdraw to the hills. Such a threat has hitherto been for this and for most other clans a brutum fulmen, and now that cultivation has so enormously increased, and that the Masauds are year by year absorbing more and more of the hill lands of their Darwesh Khel kinsmen, it is unlikely that any clan will ever be so foolish as to seriously go off to the hills in a body. Both Jani Khels, and Bakka Khels bring quantities of fire-wood into Edwardesabad in the cold weather.

The Bitannis of Marwat

The Bitannis are a rude people just emerging from barbarism. But those who have taken to civilized ways show themselves to be keen-witted, and perhaps more energetic and desirous of making 'money than their Marwat neighbours. A portion of the tribe was located in British territory in 1866. Prior to that time they had been great raiders and cattle-lifters, and had acted as guides to Waziri marauders, who could only gain access to the southern portion of the district through the Bitanni passes; but of late years they have been very orderly. They do not take service yet under Government. They occupy the lower hills just beyond the border of Marwat from the southern slopes of the Gabar mountain to the Gomal valley. Since the transfer of Mulazai to Dera Ismail Khan in 1875 the Bain Pass terminates the connection of this district with them. We have now mostly to do with Danna and Wurgara Bitannis. The latter are often termed a fakir kaum, and are the descendants of the clan which held the Bitanni hills before the conquering influx of the Danna Bitannis. The Dannas are divided into two clans, Boba and Bobak. Their united number inside, and immediately beyond the Bannu border is small, probably under 1,700 souls. The Wurgaras may number 150 souls. About seven-eighths of their whole numbers visit the plains in the cold weather.

Marwats

Like other Pathans the Marwats are divided into numerous Khels, the most important of which are:

1.      Musa Khel with sections Takhti Khel, Januzai and Pasanni

2.     Achu Khel with sections Begu Khel, Isa Khel, and Ahmad Khel

3.     Khuda Khel with sections Sikandar Khel, and Mammu Khel

4.     Bahram with sections Umar Khan Khel and Totezai; the latter with sub-sections Tajazai, Dilkhozai, Land and Ghazni Khel, and lastly Tappi.

To the above may be added the Abba Khel Sayads, who are affiliated to the Dreplara Tappa, also the Michan Khels and other Sarhang Niazais scattered throughout Marwat. Though all such are now to all intents and purposes Marwats, they have been shown under their proper ancestral headings in the Settlement report. The tribe thus made up occupies the whole of the Marwat tahsil which is territorially divided into three great tappas, viz., Dreplara, Musa Khel-cum-Tappi, and Bahram. The latter is subdivided into two minor tappas, viz., Umar Khan Khel and Totazai. For administrative purposes a knowledge of the position and limits of each Tappa is not necessary. Taken as a whole the Marwats are as fine and law-abiding a race as any to be found on our border. They are a simple, slow-witted people, and contrast, in all that is manly, most favourably with the Bannuchis. They are strongly attached to their homes, and very averse to travel or to service out of their own country. As the climatic influence due to canal irrigation and marshes has effected the Bannuchis to their detriment, so here, a sandy soil and dry air has had an opposite result on the Marwats, for hard fare and poverty notwithstanding, they are healthy, happy and light hearted. They are Pathans of very pure descent, and as such are naturally proud and fiery. Their passions when once aroused are not easily soothed, but feuds among them are said to be now of rare occurrence. They are tall and muscular, and have almost ruddy complexions, and, specially the women, are fair and handsome. In manners they are frank and open, simple and yet manly. For natives, they are remarkably truthful. Their women enjoy great social freedom; they seldom conceal their faces, and converse readily with strangers, even with Europeans. Upon them, however, falls the labour of water-carrying, which is by no means light. Accompanied generally by a man as an escort, they go in troops of ten or twenty to fetch water from the Gambila, often a distance of ten or twelve miles. The Marwats were, at annexation, nomad graziers, wandering about with their herds and camels, and living chiefly in temporary huts of branches of trees, with a wall of thorns and a roof of straw. Even now that they have very largely settled down in permanent villages, the houses are constructed of reeds, twigs, and the branches of trees, the whole village being encircled by a hedge of thorns. This fact they assign, and probably with truth, to the scarcity of water rendering the construction of mud huts impossible. In dress, the only noticeable peculiarity is among the poorest classes, whose sole garment consists of a single large woollen blanket, half of which is worn round the legs like a petticoat, while the other half is thrown over the shoulders, a hole being slit in the blanket for the head to pass through. Chocolate-coloured turbans are also largely affected by the Marwat peasantry.

Clans Affiliated to the Marwats

The following clans are also commonly known as Marwats and live in the Marwat tract; and though not Marwat by origin, have by association and inter-marriage become so assimilated as to be practically identical with them.

1.      Mula Khels descended from Hazrat Bilal, a Habshi saint. They have houses in every village in Marwat, and also two villages of their own.

2.     Michan Khels who are Sarhang Niazis descended from a saint called Michan. His descendants are considered holy and to possess charms against snake bites. Haji Murid, a descendant of Michan, is a saint of great repute, and his tomb is on the bank of the Kurram near Lakki. Michan himself is buried at Wana in the Waziri hills..

3.     Mirza Khels of Wali who are really Khataks and Utman Khels.

Niazis

The Niazais consist of many sections which are settled about the Indus, both kacha and uplands, in the Isakhel and Mianwali tahsil. In the former tahsil, are the Isa khel, Mushwani, Sultan Khel, Sarhang, and other sub-sections; in the latter the main divisions are Adris, comprising Watta Khels, Ballu Khels, Yaru Khels, &c., and Taja Khels, Musa Khels, Pai Khels, Buri Khels, &c. As a tribe the Niazais are indifferent cultivators, and have still a good deal of Pathan-like pride of race about them. They make good soldiers, and are not averse to taking service. Those on the Mianwali side of the river are better husbandmen, and altogether a more orderly people than their Isakhel kinsmen. Of all sections of the Niazais, the Isakhels and Taja Khels are the two who retain most of the quantities of a fighting race accustomed to rule over others weaker than themselves.

Khattaks

The Khataks are mostly confined to the Isakhel tahsil. There are besides a good number settled amongst the Ahmadzai Wazirs, and a sprinkling between Mari and Niki in Mianwali, and elsewhere throughout the district. Except in Isakhel they are mostly tenants only. Those in Isakhel are divided into two classes, viz., the Bangi Khels, who number 6,816, and inhabit the hilly country of that name, and several villages in the plain immediately south of Kalabagh; and the Gudi Khels, who are settled in villages all along the skirt of the Maidani Range. There are also some Kabul Khels. The Khataks are a hardy laborious tribe, and make excellent cultivators. They take service in the army freely. Individually they are poor. They have not a single wealthy man, not even a chair-sitter amongst them. In disposition they are simple, faithful and orderly. Physically they are strongly built, but as a rule shorter in stature than any other of the Pathan peoples in the district, the Bannuchis perhaps alone excepted. The Bangi Khel Khataks, who occupy the tract known by their name in the north of the Isakhel tahsil, are esteemed the swiftest footmen and best mountaineers in British territory.

Syeds

Of the 12,614 Sayads in the district, Bannu proper contains over one-half and Marwat about one-quarter. Those in Bannu proper are found in every village, but those in Marwat are mostly confined to two, viz., Abba Khel and Gorakka. As a rule the Sayads are land-owners not tenants, and bad, lazy land-owners they make too. In learning, general intelligence, and even in speech and appearance they are hardly distinguishable from the Pathans or Jats amongst whom they live. Here and there certainly honourable exceptions are to be found. The way the lands now held by them were originally acquired was in most cases by gift. Though many of them still exercise considerable influence, their hold as a class on the people at large is much weaker than it was thirty years ago. The struggle for existence caused by the increase of population since annexation has knocked much of the awful reverence the Pathan zamindar used to feel towards holy men in general out of him. He now views most matters from rather a hard worldly than a superstitious stand-point. Many a family or community would now cancel the ancestral deed of gift under which some Sayad's brood enjoys a fat inheritance. But for the criminal consequences which would ensue from turning them out neck and crop, the spiritual consequences would be risked willingly enough.

Jats

The term Jat is commonly used in Bannu to apply to all Musalman cultivators who are not Pathans, Biloches, Sayads, or Koreshis, and often includes Awans and Rajputs, so that the figures cannot be taken separately. More than 9,000 persons entered themselves as "Jat, Awan" in the Census of 1881, and are included under the head of Jats. There are in round numbers 4,000 Musalman Jats in Bannu proper, 7,000 in Marwat, and 43,000 in Isakhel and Mianwali. Those in the two frontier tahsils have assimilated in speech and appearance to the Pathans amongst whom they live. The Marwat Jats are fine fellows; those in Bannu are much as the Bannuchis are, and with the Awans they make up the mass of the hamsayah "Hindkais" of the tahsil. Those in Isakhel and Mianwali resident in parts in which the Niazai element is strong have always been rather kept down by that dominant tribe. The Jats on the whole are an energetic thrifty race. They are split up into numerous sections or gots. They are darker coloured, and not so tall or well made as the Niazais, but still they are, when properly nurtured, strong men. Those in the Kacha, being more subject to autumnal fever, and leading almost amphibious lives, have a weaker physique than their upland brethren. There is little marked individuality of appearance whereby to distinguish between the different gots. Throughout the Kacha and in the neighbouring parts where the Niazais are predominant, the terms "Jat" and hali (ploughman) are used indiscriminately. The Bannuchis and Waziris speak of all Jats and Awans loosely as "Hindkais." In many cases it is impossible to say whether a certain got should be classed as Awan or Jat. None of the different Jat gots claim descent from one common ancestor; indeed few of them seem to know or care much about their past tribal histories, and many of them speak of themselves simply as log (people).

Of the Jats in Bannu proper, whether strictly or only popularly so called, the greater part are said to have migrated from the east of the Indus, chiefly from Mianwali and from Pindigheb in Rawalpindi, early in the present century, having been driven from their homes in those parts by famine. They are most numerous in the neighbourhood of Ghoriwal and Shamshi Khel. The majority of them are tenants cultivating for Bannuchi landholders. There are a few in every village. They have now identified themselves in all respects with the Bannuchis, and are keen partisans of the chief (malik) under whose protection they may be living. The same remarks hold good with regard to the Marwat tahsil. It is only, however, in the more fertile parts of this tahsil that Jats are found. In Isakhel it is stated that several clans of Jats settled in the country together with the Niazais, who gave them the lands they now occupy. In Mianwali, Jats are found scattered throughout the country, but especially in the kachi.

Awans

There were at the Settlement Census of 1873, in round numbers 13,000 Awans in the cis-Indus portion of the district, all of whom were residents of the Mianwali tahsil, about 2,500 west of the Salt Range, and the remaining 10,500 east of it in the Pakhar ilaka. In the three trans-Indus tahsils, Mr. Thorburn found it impossible to separate Awans from Jats, and thought it best therefore to class all Awans resident trans-Indus as Musalman Jats. He estimated the number so classed at from 3,000 to 4,000. It has just been shown that the same confusion affects the figures of the Census of 1881. There is only one Awan village east of the Indus, that of Jalapur in Isakhel.

Hindus

The Hindus are pretty equally scattered throughout all parts of the district except the Waziri tracts and Bhangi Khel, in both of which there are very few. Of the 30,000 in the district, fully two-thirds are engaged in trade, the rest gaining a living as agriculturists. The majority are Aroras (Kirars), the rest being Brahmins and Khatris. They are a cowardly, secretive, acquisitive race, very necessary and useful it may be in their places, but possessed of few manly qualities and both despised and envied by the great Musalman tribes of the district. Of the Aroras 11,275 returned their tribe as Uttaradhi and 10,580 as Dakhana at the Census of 1881.

http://www.khyber.org/publications/031-035/tribescastesinbannu.shtml#Waziris

Kharoti, a Short Note

Kharoti's live around Kohistan and in the land from Koh e Suleiman to Birmal. Kharoti is a sub-tribe of the Ghilzai's. They have a long tribal rivalry with the Wazirs and the Nusairs over land they dispute to be theirs. Some of the important khels (sections) of the Kharoti are the Zako Khel, Ya Khel, Adya Khel, Amand, Shamo Khel, Suleiman Zai, Khadar Khel, Zobi Khel and the Kharmo Zai. Some well known people from the Kharoti are Gulbadin Hekmatyar, former Afghan president Hafizullah Amin & Ghulam Sarwar Nashir (president Spinzar Cotton company & founder of Nasher Art Gallery). The famous Gomal River also has one of its main headwater spring near Baba Karkol in Katwaz; an area predominated by Kharoti and Suleiman Khel's.

Kheshki

By: Anas Parvez Kheshki

Kheshki is the name of a tribe which has brotherly relations with Muhammad Zee. Like other tribals, this tribe has also migrated from Ghwara Marghai (Afghanistan) and started living in the present locality in 1515. One big portion of this tribe migrated to the north west of Afghanistan and started living in Darrah Ghorband. Its third big portion went to Qasoor(west Punjab) and started living there in 1526.Then from there some of its branches went to Khorjah(India). and lived there. Apart from this, some people of this tribe went to Tanda and Hero Daal and some of them did migrate to Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Bahawal Poor, Multan and started living there. Some people of this tribe are also living in Ghinta Ghar (PESHAWAR) which is known by "Mahallah Kheshki". Apart from these areas some families of this tribe live in Charsadda Khas and some families live in Hazarah also. Kheshki Tribe has produced great Generals and Ahle Qalam.Mehmood Khan Kheshki and Shah Nazar Khan Kheshki were the great and popular generals of Mughal army. In Ahle Qalam Arzani Kheshki was the great poet of Pushto history. He is the first ever poet in Pushto history having a Deewan of his own about Pushto poetry. Abdullah Khan Kheshki was also a famous Aalim and Mohaqqiq. This tribe has also produced some famous Awliya-e-Karam who are more than 50 in number. The most famous of them are Haji Gagan Shoryani Kheshki, Sheikh Wato Kheshki, Sheikh Ahmad Atozee Kheshki, Mian Channo Kheshki and Arzani Zerzee Kheshki.

Although most Pukhtoons and their different families are living in some specific and famous places of their own, but they are also living in such places where there is no specific difference regarding their village and family, means that they are living with others without specific difference. Same is the case with Kheshki Pukhtoons, who in addition to their specific cities and villages where they have a specific identity and famous name and majority, are also living in such places where they are living with other nations and families in their cities and villages .
Here we are going to mention those famous places where these people are living at present.

  • Ghorband(Afghanistan)
  • N.W.F.P(Pakistan)
  • Punjab(Pakistan)
  • Khorja(India)

Kheshki's of Ghorband

According to the sayings of some old people Ghorband Kheshkis came here from Hilmand (Afghanistan) and Qandahar (Afghanistan).At that time they were known by these three names;

1.      Aibat(Hebat)

2.     Masaud

3.     Sultan

Aibat was living in Darrah Saidan.Masaud was living in Darrah Fandqistan.And the third one Sultan was living in Yakhdara and Tayaskhan.Even today that place is known by the name of Sultan Khel.

The area of Ghorband has 24 big and many more small darras.And these all has been divided in to the districts of SiahGard,Shenwari, SurkhParsa and Sheikh Ali.Kheshki Pukhtoons are living in the district of SiahGird.Round about ten thousands houses of Kheshkis are there in this district. This area is very green.It has clean and bright water.Its mountains are full of white snow.This area has alot of fruit trees.Even there are trees of fruits in the streets too. In Ghorbandis, Kheshkis are famous for their Ghairat and bravery.And they have always played a positive and important role in this area.Whenever there is any hard time on Ghorbandis,all the Ghorbandis who are Persians look at these Pukhtoons for help.

The present Kheshkis still obey the old traditions.Men always wear white clothes and also wear six meters long head wear.Women also wear long shirts and also wear five meter long black chadars.Women decorate these chadars by their own hands.Kheshki women usually recite the Holy Quran and some of them have also readout pushto books. Kheshki pukhtoons are always against women education but now they are tending towards women education.Now a days most of them are well educated. These women also do work in fields apart from their choras.

Kheshki's of Khorja (India)

In these fights the migration of Ibrahim Zee also comes. Their enmity with Jano Zee was started.They migrated from here and went to Khorjah which is a place near Delhi(India).Here they built two villages on the bank of a river by the name of Kheshgi Bala and Kheshgi Payan.

Kheshki Charsadda

Some Kheshki Pukhtoons are also living in the three families, Mera Khel, Khudai Dad Khel and Painda Khel of Charsadda Khas. Some people of these families especially of Mera Khel are alos living in Sholgarah two three miles to the north west of Charsada Khas.It is that area where there is Kheshki's Derai and this Derai is that area where before 1010 the people of Kheshki(Nowshera) were make lived temporarily

Kheshki Nowshera

After some disputes with Alagh baig in (1490-1485)when Yousuf Zee came down from Khyber,Dallazak gave them, the area of Dowawa due to sympathey with them . At that time Dallazak were living in the areas from Bajwar to Mradan and Sawabi. Also to the south of River Kabul ,this area was in the control of them. But the lands of Ashnaghar were in the ownership of the Jahangiri Kings of swat. The capital of the area was Mangloria. The last King of this family was king Sultan Awais. The lands of Ashnaghar were in the fenancy of same farmers whose owners were there King. When yousuf Zee came to Dowawa,they asked more land from Dallazak.They were given the land up to Bajawar of Danishkol and Auber. Adter some time Yousuf Zee also snatched Ashnaghar from the tenants of the Kings of Swat by force.And thus slouly they took the areas of Mardan, Sawabi, swat and Dir from Dallazaks the last battle between yousuf Zee and Dallazak was faught at Katlang. In this battle Dallazaks were badlt defeated. Those who remaind lined at the other side of Abaseen in Hazara, while some of them remained in Dowawa.The battle of Katlang destroyed Dallazaks as a nation.In this battle of Katlang; Mohammad Zee,Kheshki, Googyani and Utman Khel also faught against Dallazak, in favour of Yousuf Zee

Allah Bakhsh Yousufi writes:

"Acording to some thoughts up to 1010 Yousuf Zee had taken control of district Mardan,Dir and Swat.

Due to their support, Mohammad Zee were make lived in Hashtangar,Googyani and Utman Khel in Doaba and Kheshkis in Nowshera.

When Kheshkis came down with Muhammad Zee and took control of Ashnaghar with yousuf Zee,and tey started their life here.Two three miles to the north-west of Charsadd-e-Khas and built a vilage by the name of Kheshgi Darra.And when they got this present area(village)due to the distribution by Sheikh Malli (1525-30),they came here and stsarted living on the bank of river Kabul in two villages.The present Kheshki is divided in to two parts,Kheshki Bala and Kheshki Payan. According to the distribution and partition of 1877 both the villages are divided in accordance with the lands and Khels in to eight,eight Khels and Tals.

Traceback

As for as Pushto history is concerned, it is thousands years old, but its hereditary history starts from Qais Abdur-Rasheed, who was there in the beginning days of Islam and who had embraced Islam by the hands of Muhammad (P.B.U.H). And his name was replaced from Qais to Abdur-Rasheed by Muhammad(P.B.U.H). The lineage of Kheshki's are shown in the following list. All the brothers of Kheshki (apart from Muhammad Zai) are today classed as Kheshki's.

1.      Qais Abdur Rasheed

1.      Saraban

1.      Sharkhabun (Sharfudin)

1.      Kand

2.     Zamand

1.      Kheshki

2.     Muhammad zai

3.     Katanree

1.      Aziz Zi

2.     Batak Zi

3.     Umar Zi

4.     Ghaibi Zi

4.     Nakbe Zi

1.      Zemal

2.     Abu Bakar

3.     Azar

4.     Musa

5.     Nokhi

1.      Bajo Zi

2.     Jamil Zi

3.     Mansur Zi

4.     Amchi Zi

5.     Bati Zai

6.     Shuryani

1.      Khalaf Zi

2.     Wato Zi

1.      Jalo Zi

2.     Shaban Zi

3.     Arif Zi

4.     Ibrahim Zi

5.     Muhammad

6.     Asho Zi

3.     Hussain Zi

1.      Shamo Zi

2.     Mehdi

3.     Badin Katani

1.      Umar Zi

1.      Mula Zi

2.     Ala Zi

2.     Isa Zi

7.     Salamak

8.    Amchozi

9.     Karlani

10.Zer Zi

11.  Aziz Zi

12. Umar Zi

13. Batak Zi

3.     Kasi

2.     Kharshabun (Khairudin)

2.     Bait

3.     Ghorghasht

* Items in Red are a variation and are quoted by Sher Ali Khan in his book.

Migration

Historically Pukhtoon migration starts from The Attacks on Hindustan by Mahmood Ghaznavi (388-421.H).

It continued in the time period of King Ghauri, Lodhi and Soori, including Mughal Kings like Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jehan in the area of Hind and Pukhtoonkhwa .But from Ghwara Marghai to Pukhtoon area, their migration starts from 14th century and continues upto 1519.

As for as Kheshki migration is concerned, according to a history by Khursheed Jehan and Hayat Afghani, Zamand Nation was living in the area of Pasheen which was also called Pashang in the middle of 8th and 9th century. This area is connected with Arghistan.Kheshki Nation which is called by the above two historians as a large tribe of Zamand, in consequences with fighting between them and Tarinaan, wentout from that area. One part of these People went to Multan and started living there,and the other big part went to Ghazni.Some of them went to Ghaurband Dara through Kabul and started living there.Kheshki's large portion including other Zamands went to Qasoor(Punjab) with King Babar and started living there. Here they formed two villages which were called Barkalle and Larkalle. From here one of their big tribe, Ibrahim Zee went to the town of Khorjah near Dilli (India) due to their fights with their brothers, JanoZee and they started living there, and even uptill now they are living there with a separate entity. Kheshki's one other relative, Salamhaak went to Tanda (Punjab) due to harsh conduct by Amcho Zee and Hussain Zee and they started living in Tanda.Some Batak Zee went to Herodaal due to their fights with their own fellowmen and started living in Herodaal.

Kheshki's one big group came to Ashnaghar with Mohammad Zee and started living in the area of present district Nowshera.They built two big villages.One is called Bar Kalle(Kheshki Bala) and the other is called Kooz Kalle (Kheshki Payan).Some of its families remained in Charsadda with Muhammad Zee.In Sholgara(Charsadda) these people have built a bandah which is in the name of Kheshki. In the Nawe Kalle of Sholgara and 2,3 miles to the east of Charsadda in Kala Dher also there is a house of Kheshkis.

A part from it some of its families are also living in Kandahar(Afghanistan),Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu(N.W.F.P).Some of their families are also living in Bahawalpur (Punjab) and Hazara.According to some Historians some of their families are also living in the mountains of Darra Khyber and Mohmand Agency. In Peshawar Gintaghar, there is a mohalla which is known by the name of Kheshki but their descendents are no more here.

History of Kohat

Extracts from the Gazetteer of Kohat District

Contents

1.      The Buddhist Period

2.     Babar's Expedition

3.     Character of Subsequent History of Kohat

1.      Nadir Shah's Invasion

2.     Mr. Elphinstone's Visit

3.     Fall of Shah Shuja

4.     Sikh Conquest (First Sikh War)

5.     Kohat Granted to Sultan Muhammad Khan

6.     Second Sikh War

4.     History of Tribes Occupying District

1.      Bangash Tribe

1.      Bangash Pedigree

2.     Settlement in Kuram

3.     Defeat of Orakzais

4.     Settlement of Baizais in Kohat

5.     Gar and Samil Factions

6.     Effect of Factions on Present Times

7.     Dr. Bellew's Hypothesis

8.    Divisions into Miranzai and Kohat

9.     Sanad and Position of Chiefs

2.     Niazi Tribe

1.      Settlement in Kohat

3.     Khattak Tribe

1.      Malak Ako

2.     Sagri Khattaks

3.     Bhangi Khels

4.     Akora Khattaks

5.     Grant of Teri to Khwaja Muhammad Khan

5.     State of District at Annexation

6.     Construction of Roads

1.      Kohat Pass Road

1.      Further History of Pass till 1853

2.     Bahadar Sher Khan

2.     Road to Khushalgarh

3.     Road to Bannu

7.     Miranzai

1.      First Miranzai Expedition

2.     Anarchy in Upper Miranzai

3.     Kabul Khel Expedition

4.     Second Miranzai Expedition

5.     Murder of Ghulam Haider Khan

6.     Third Miranzai Expedition

7.     Government's Refusal to Annexe Biland Khel

8.    Akora Tappas

1.      Nilab

9.     Shakardarra

10.Mutiny Years

1.      State of Border Tribes

2.     The Mutiny

11.  Death of Major Henderson

12. State of Kohat Pass from Mutiny to 1875

13. Bazoti Troubles

1.      Demonstrations Against Kabul Khel Wazirs

14. Kohat Pass Troubles

1.      Settlement with pass Afridis

2.     Jawaki Disturbances

3.     Afghan War & Disturbed State of Miranzai Border

4.     Waziri Expedition of 1880

5.     Barak Disturbances

6.     Change in Management of Kohat Pass

7.     Evacuation of Kuram and Biland Khel

15. Officers Connected with District

16. Notes

The Buddhist Period

The early history of the district is limited to the vaguest traditions. It is said that in Buddhist times two Rajas named Adh and Kohat settled along the northern border of the district. Raja Kohat gave his name to the town of Kohat, and Raja Adh to the ruins of an old fort on the hill side north of Muhammadzai, a village four miles to the west of Kohat. The remains of this fort, which is known as Adh-i-Samut, consist of the ruins here and there of the old ramparts. These show that the plan of the fort was merely escarping with walls and bastions a spur of the hill projecting between two ravines. Like most of the forts of those days, Adh-i-Samut is situated far below the crest of the range, and is easily commanded with the weapons of the present day from the adjacent hill-side. The masonry of the ruins is inferior. None of those gigantic blocks are to be seen, such as compose the walls of the Buddhist forts of Bil and Til Kafir Kot on the Indus in the Dera Ismail Khan district. No ruins of buildings are now to be found within the fortified enclosure. There is a small spring, the presence of which undoubtedly led to the selection of the position. The other sights consist of an old banyan tree and a small stalactite grotto. The only other remnant of the Buddhist days is a road cut out of the mountain aide, near the Kohat Kotal, leading by a very even gradient towards the crest of the hill.

Babar's Expedition

The first historical mention of Kohat is to be found in the memoirs of the Emperor Babar. The district was then being taken possession of by the Bangashes and Khattaks who now hold it. Babar's annals, however, throw little or no light on the extent of their occupation. He first mentions generally that Bangash was a Tummun entirely surrounded by hills inhabited by Afghan robbers, such as the Khogiani, the Khirilchi, the Buri and the Linder, who, lying out of the way, did not willingly pay taxes. He then narrates that in the year A.D. 1505, when at Peshawar, he was induced by Baki Cheghaniani to visit Kohat on the false hope of obtaining a rich booty. Babar had never before heard even the name of Kohat. He reached the town through the Kohat pass in two marches, and fell on it at luncheon time. After plundering it he sent foraging parties as far as the Indus. Bullocks, buffaloes and grain were the only plunder. He released his Afghan prisoners. After two days he marched up the valley towards "Bangash." When he reached a narrow part of the valley, the hill men of Kohat and that quarter crowded the hills on both flanks, raised the war shout and made a loud clamour. At last they foolishly occupied a detached hill. Now was Babar's opportunity. He sent a force to cut them off from the hills. About a hundred and fifty were killed. Many prisoners were taken. These put grass in their mouths in token of submission, being as much as to say "I am your ox," a custom which Babar first noticed here. Notwithstanding he had them beheaded at once. A minaret of their heads was erected at the next camping place. The next day he reached Hangu. Here again he met with resistance. The Afghans held a fortified Sangar, which was stormed by Babar's troops, who cut off the heads of one or two hundred of them for another minaret.

Babar gives us no further account of either Kohat or Hangu. In two marches from Hangu he reached Thal, and thence marched for Bannu through the Waziri hills along the Kuram. His guides took him along the gosfand-lar or sheep road, which was so bad that most of the bullocks plundered during the previous expedition dropped down by the way. Babar uniformly speaks of the inhabitants of the country as Afghans, making no mention of special tribes by name. Like Kohat, Hangu appears to have been established as a town previous to the advent of the Bangashes.

Character of the Subsequent History of Kohat

The history of the Kohat district from the time of Babar is little more than an account of the Bangash and Khattak tribes. These clans appear to have taken possession of the district during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but before giving the history of this settlement it will be well to sketch the connection of Kohat with the outside world up to the annexation of the Punjab in 1849. From the time of the Emperor Akbar to the invasion of Nadir Shah the Kohat district formed a part of the Mughal Empire.

Nadir Shah's Invasion (AD 1738)

In 1788 Nadir Shah invaded India. His main army appears to have forced its way through the Peshawar district. A portion of his forces is said to have marched by the Kuram route through Biland Khel to Bannu. The Kohat district thus escaped invasion. After the sack of Delhi, the whole of the Trans-Indus tract was surrendered to Nadir Shah. His death in 1747 was followed by the establishment of the Durani Dynasty in the person of Ahmed Shah. From that time till the conquest of Peshawar by the Sikhs, Kohat remained a portion of the Afghan kingdom. Till the beginning of the present century such Government as there might be was administered through the local Bangash and Khattak chiefs. These collected a little revenue, but were more often called on to furnish levies, and many of them served in person in Hindustan, the Punjab and Cashmere.

Mr. Elphinstone's Visit (AD 1809)

In the spring of 1809 Mr. Elphinstone passed through the Kohat district on his way to Peshawar to the court of the King Shah Shuja. He marched from Kalabagh on the Indus through the Bhangi Khel country to Chashmai near Shakardarra, and thence by Malgin and Shadi Khel to Kohat. It was February and the rain fell heavily, so that the march as far as Malgin was not pleasant. Some of the baggage was plundered by robbers. Mr. Elphinstone speaks of the country as belonging to the Baraks, whom he stigmatises as a wild tribe living in a state of anarchy and independent of the Khan of Teri. He probably confounded the Sagris and Bhangi Khels with the Baraks; the real Baraks being more to the west. He was escorted by Musa Khan, one of the King's officers. At Dodha he was met by Umar Khan, the son of the Khan of Kohat (Azizullah) with seven or eight hundred matchlock men. The party went on to Peshawar through the Kohat pass. Mr. Elphinstone mentions that the people of lower Bangash (Kohat) were very obedient to their Khan and to the King; those of upper Bangash less so.

Fall of Shah Shuja (AD 1810)

After the fall of Shah Shuja in 1810 Kohat was brought more directly under the control of the rulers of Kabul and Peshawar, and like the rest of Afghanistan was subjected to a constant change of masters. Kohat was first leased for Rs. 33,000 to Mirza Girani, Munshi Bashi. He was succeeded by Sardar Shakur Khan, who in turn had to evacuate in favour of Shahzada Muhammad Sultan, brother of the King Mahmud Shah. This prince resided at Kohat for some years. After the murder of Wazir Fateh Khan in 1818, the whole of Afghanistan, except Herat, revolted from the Abdali Dynasty. The country was parcelled out among Fateh Khan's brothers. Dost Muhammad Khan had Ghazni; Muhammad Azim Din had Kabul; Sultan Muhammad Khan, Syed Muhammad and Pir Muhammad had Peshawar. Samad Khan obtained Kohat and Hangu. Samad Khan was on good terms with Dost Muhammad Khan, who afterwards obtained possession of Kabul, and thus excited the jealousy of his other brothers at Kandahar and Peshawar. Samad Khan's sons were expelled from Kohat by a force under Pir Muhammad in 1827. Mr. Masson, who visited these parts in that year, passed through Hangu just as Sadu Khan, the son of Samad Khan, was retiring thence to Kabul. [1]

Sikh Conquest (1834)

Ranjit Singh first marched to Peshawar in 1819. In 1832 Azim Khan was defeated by Ranjit Singh with great slaughter near Nowshera, after which the Peshawar Sardars became tributary to the Sikh Government, who sent an army each year to collect the revenue and ravage the country. In 1834, on the flight of the Sardars, Harri Singh, the Sikh General, gained possession of Peshawar, and a Sikh Governor, Autar Singh Sindhanwalia, was now sent to Kohat. A Sikh outpost was at the same time established at Teri. On the arrival of the Sikhs at Kohat, Sardar Pir Muhammad made his way to Kabul by the Paiwar Kotal.

Kohat Granted to Sultan Muhammad Khan (AD 1836)

In 1836, however, Ranjit Singh became reconciled to Sultan Muhammad, and restored to him in service jagir Hastnagdar and half Doaba with Kohat, Teri and Hangu, the annual revenues of which were Rs. 1,50,000. The Sikhs now abandoned Kohat, and their garrison at Teri was at the same time massacred by the Khattak chief Rasul Khan. Harri Singh Nalwa was killed in 1837 in a battle near Jamrud. Tej Singh administered the Peshawar Government for a short time in his place until relieved by General Avitabile, who retained charge for five years from 1838 to 1842, and was again followed by Tej Singh, who governed for four years. In 1846 Tej Singh was succeeded by Sher Singh, who was accompanied by Colonel George Lawrence as assistant to the newly appointed British Resident at Lahore. All this time Sultan Muhammad remained jagirdar and ruler of Kohat.

Second Sikh War (AD 1848)

In 1848 the second Sikh war broke out. The troops at Peshawar did not mutiny till October 1848. Colonel G. Lawrence knowing that the road to Attock was closed then took refuge at Kohat, where he was hospitably received by Khwaja Muhammad, son of Sardar Sultan Muhammad. The Sardar himself had remained at Peshawar in order to receive over charge of that province in accordance with a treacherous agreement that he had made with Chattar Singh, the Sikh General. Previous to Colonel Lawrence's departure Sultan Muhammad had sworn solemnly to provide for his safety and that of his family and of the officers with him. The party, however, soon found that though well-treated they were really prisoners. In the beginning of November Lawrence was sent back to Peshawar and delivered over to Chattar Singh. On the termination of the war, Lawrence, who had been previously released by the Sikhs, was re-appointed to Peshawar, Lieutenant Pollock being appointed Assistant Commissioner at Kohat, which, with the rest of the Panjab, had been formally annexed to the British dominions on 29th March 1849.

History of Tribes Occupying the District

It will now be convenient to give some account of the tribes already mentioned as occupying the district.

The Bangash Tribe

The Bangashes are not real Pathans. They claim a problematical descent from Khalid Ibn Waleed Ibn Moghaira, a Sheikh of the Arab tribe of Koreish, whose descendants are said to have settled in Persia, whence they were driven at the commencement of the 13th century by the tyranny of the Mughal Emperor Jenghis Khan. They passed via Sindh into Hindustan, and their chief Ismail was appointed Governor of Multan. His oppression gained him the title of Bangash, or tearer up of roots, and his descendants have been known as Bangashes ever since. He and his people excited the enmity of the neighbouring tribes, who drove them off. They retired to the Suleman mountains and eventually settled in Gardez.

Bangash Pedigree

Ismail is said to have ruled in Gardez for 30 years. After his death his sons moved down into the Kuram valley. The statements as to the names of his sons and grandsons vary. Some say that he had four sons; Gora, Gara, Samil, and Bai. Others say that Bai was a descendant of Gara. Miran and Jamshed were also sons of Gara. The only facts to be deduced from these mythical genealogies seem to be that the Bangashes were originally divided into two main sections, Gara and Samil. The Gara comprised of the Baizais and Miranzais, who now occupy the tappas of those names. The descendants of Jamshed are included under the general head of Miranzais. The Samilzais are not divided into any well marked sub-sections. They also have given their name to a tappa, which is mainly occupied by their descendants.

Settlement in Kuram

The whole tribe at first settled in the Kuram valley. This immigration is supposed to have taken place subsequent to the invasion of Taimur (AD 1398); in the beginning of the 15th century they gradually moved down into Miranzai and eventually ousted the Orakzais from the country about Kohat. They appear to have done this in alliance with the Khattaks, who were simultaneously invading the Kohat district from the south. The Orakzais previously held as far as Reysi on the Indus. The Khattaks took the eastern country, Reysi, Pattiala and Zera; the Bangashes took the valley of Kohat. This occupation had been probably completed prior to the time of Babar's invasion in AD 1505. [2]

Defeat of the Orakzais

The decisive engagement which made the Bangashes masters of the Kohat valley is said to have been fought near Muhammadzai. Local traditions describe the battle as having lasted day and night for three days, till at last a youth in white appeared on the scene shouting "Dai, Dai, Dai, Sam de Bangasho; Ghar de Orakzo," which, being translated, means "It is, it is, it is, the plain of the Bangashes; the hill of the Orakzais." This legend is supposed by the Bangashes to satisfactorily dispose of any claims of the Orakzais to proprietary rights in the Kohat or Miranzai valleys. According to another tradition the Kohat valley before the Bangash invasion was occupied, not by Orakzais, but by the tribes of the Gabris, Safis and Maujaris, who are not now to be traced. Whoever the original inhabitants may have been they now entirely disappeared. They were either exterminated, or more probably they were incorporated with the Bangash settlers, at first as Hamsayahs till in process of time they became indistinguishable from the real Bangashes

Settlement of Baizais at Kohat

The original settlements of the Bangashes were in the Kuram valley. Miranzais, Samilzais, and Baizais were all located there. The Baizais, whose summer quarters were at Ziran in Kuram, used to move during the winter to the Kohat plain, much as the Waziris and Ghilzais now do. After a time they quarrelled with the inhabitants of the country. Being unable to cope with them alone, they got the men of Upper Miranzai and Hangu to join them, and with their assistance conquered the country, which has been since known as Baizai. In dividing the tract the Hangu and Miranzai confederates got allotments which their descendants still hold.

As the Bangashes took possession of these lower valleys the lands abandoned by them in Kuram were taken possession of by a new tribe, the Turis, who gradually obtained the mastery over the Bangashes that remained, and are now the dominant tribe there. The Bangashes still possess the following tracts in the Kuram valley: Baghzai occupied by Jamshedis, and Shalozam, Makhazai, Hajikhel, and Ziran occupied by Shamilzais.

Gar and Samil Factions

There seems at some remote period to have been a bitter feud between the two great branches of the Bangashes, the Gar and the Samal, and all the neighbouring tribes joined either one faction or the other. The distinction still remains long after the origin of the quarrel has been forgotten. The Khattaks, the Waziris, the Zaimushts, and most of the Orakzais and Khaibar Afridis are Samil. The Turis, the Adam Khel Afridis and some of the Orakzai and Khaibar Afridi tribes are Gar. The factions are not of much political importance nowadays, having been superseded by the more rabid enmity between Shias and Sunnis.

Effect of Factions in Present Times

In our own territory, though one village may be pointed out as Gar and another as Samil, the old faction feeling has almost disappeared except when kept alive by some further cause of enmity. As regards the relations of our people with trans-border tribes, as a rule where both are Gar or both Samil they are friendly. Where they belong to different sides, they are hostile. The Gar villages of Upper Miranzai hate the Waziris and the Zaimushts, who are Samil. The Khattaks and Waziris are both Samil, and are on good terms with one another. In the wars between the Sunnis and Shias which go on in Tirah, a Samil tribe on one side will sometimes interpose in favour of a Samil tribe on the other, on account of the old connection; and so with the Gars. Thus in 1874, when a great confederacy of the Sunni tribes had collected together to crush the Shias, the Ismailzais who are Samil got off the Bar Muhammad Khels, and the Ali Khels who are Gar got off the Mani Khels, so that the expedition came to nothing.

Dr. Bellew's Hypothesis

Dr. Bellew in his "Races of Afghanistan" explains the existence of these factions in the following way. He writes that "The factions evidently came into existence on the conversion of the people en bloc to Islam, when all became a common brotherhood in the faith, and called themselves Musalmans, though they yet maintained a distinction expressive of their original religious separation; a sign that their conversion was effected by force. And thus the people of the two rival religions, at that time flourishing side by side in this region, namely, the Buddhist and the Magian, ranged themselves naturally under the respective standards or factions of their original religions; the Buddhist Saman or Sraman giving the name to the one, and the Magian Gabr, Gour or Gar to the other." The theory is ingenious, but the simple explanation given by the people themselves seems more probable, viz., that the factions took their origin in a quarrel between the Gar and Samil sections of the Bangash tribe, in which the neighbouring clans took sides. The Bangashes did not enter the district till the 14th or 15th century, long subsequent to their conversion to Mohammedanism. It is hardly likely that they should have been affected by religious distinctions, which had come to an end centuries before they came into existence as a separate tribe.

The following villages and tracts are respectively Samil and Gar:

 

Samil

Gar

Baizai

 

Baizai (No Strong Gar Feeling)

Samilzai

Muhammadzai
Kaghazai
Ushtarzai
Landai Kachai

Sherkot
Alizai
Khadizai
Machai except Landai
Marai
Nusrat Khel

Hangu

Shahu Khel (Partly Gar)
Hangu

Shahu Khel (Partly Samil)
Lodi Khel
Bezar
Raisan
Ibrahimzai

Miranzai above Hangu

Baliamin
Muhammad Khoja
Zaimusht and
Orakzai villages

All the old Bangash villages except Muhammad Khoja and Baliamin

Khattak

Khattaks are all Samil

 

The following statement shows the division of the border tribes into Gar and Samil:

Of the other Afridi tribes towards the Khaibar, the Aka Khels, Sipahs, Malik din Khels and Zakha Khels are Samil, while the Kambar Khels and Kuki Khels are Gar.

Division into Miranzai and Kohat

The Bangash tribe seem from the time of their first settlement to have been divided into the Upper Bangashes of Miranzai or Hangu, and the Lower Bangashes of Kohat. The Samilzai tappa was sometimes attached to Hangu, sometimes to Kohat. Probably when they arrived they had no recognised chiefs, managing their affairs on the democratic system peculiar to these Pathan clans. When, however, they settled in a comparatively rich and open country, easily accessible to the armies of the Mughal Emperors, the latter would naturally have found it advisable to recognise certain leading men as chiefs, and to employ them in the collection of revenue and the furnishing of levies.

Sanad and Position of the Chiefs

The Khan of Hangu has a succession of sanads given to his ancestors dating as far back as 1632 (from the Emperor Shah Jahan). The earliest of these gives him the farm of Kachai and Marai. Another from the Emperor Aurangzeb, dated A.D. 1700, gives him the lease of both Upper and Lower Miranzai on a net revenue of Rs. 12,000. The succession to the chief ship in the Kohat family has been more broken, and probably the older sanads have been lost and mislaid. The earliest forthcoming dates from A.D. 1745 and was given by Muhammad Shah to Izzat Khan, the ancestor of the present chiefs.

The rule of the Khans of Kohat and Hangu must have been of the most intermittent character. The boundaries of their jurisdictions were perpetually varying, and they were constantly engaged in internecine disputes. Upper Miranzai seems to have been all along almost independent. Sometimes a powerful chief, with the support of the king, became Governor of the whole country from the Indus to the Kuram. For instance Ghulam Muhammad of Hangu in the time of Nadir Shah is said to have ruled over Baizai and as far as Matanni in the Peshawar district. Zabardast Khan, Izzat Khel of Kohat, in the time of Timur Shah, held the whole country as far as Biland Khel, the Hangu family being temporarily expelled. When the Durani monarchy broke tip, its dominions were divided among the numerous brothers of Fateh Khan, and from that time members of the Barakzai family constantly resided both at Kohat and Hangu overshadowing the local chiefs. These sometimes held a public position as lessees of portions of the country. At other times they sank into obscurity or fled for refuge into the neighbouring hills.

The detailed history of these Khans and lessees is very confused and of no interest to the general reader, though an acquaintance with it is very necessary for officers connected with the district. It will be found in detail in the appendices to Mr. Tucker's Settlement Report. The Bangashes now form the bulk of the population of the Kohat and Hangu tahsils.

The Niazi Tribe

Associated with the Bangashes are large numbers of Niazis, who are now hardly to be distinguished from them. The Niazis are by origin Pawandahs, the general name for the migratory tribes who carry on the trade between Afghanistan and the Panjab through the Gomal pass in the Dera Ismail Khan district. A remnant of this tribe to the number of about 400 men are still engaged in the Pawandah trade. These Niazis are a Lodi tribe; their first settlements were in the Tank tahsil. They spread thence about the end of the 15th century into the Bannu district. Being driven out by the Marwats they moved on into Isa Khel and Mianwali, where they are now the dominant class. According to Sr. Thorburn they settled in Isa Khel about A.D. 1600 and in Mianwali about A.D. 1750.

Settlement in Kohat

Little is known of the settlement of the Niazis in the Kohat district. It must have taken place a century or two before their settlement in Isa Khel. According to local tradition they arrived here in the time of Daulat Khan son of Bai Khan. This would make their settlement contemporaneous with that of the Baizai Bangashes, which seems to have taken place previous to the time of Babar's invasion (A.D. 1505). It is probable, however, that they arrived before the settlement of Baizai. They probably first established themselves along the lower course of the Kohat toi, about Kamal Khel, and spread along one of its main feeders up the Sumari valley to where it debouches on Miranzai near Togh., Tegh, Barabbas Khel and Kotki in Miranzai, the two villages of Samari, Gadda Khel and a number of villages lower down on the Kohat toi, as well as the large villages of Togh east of Kohat, are now occupied by Niazis. In the Bangash pedigree tables, showing the allotment of shares in the land to the different sections, the Niazis are shown among the original sharers, but I expect that most of their lands were acquired independently of the Bangashes. The Niazi villages form a lone strip interposing between the Khattaks and the Bangashes from Togh, in Miranzai to Manda Khel, a distance of more than thirty miles. Except in Upper Miranzai the Khattaks and Bangashes hardly ever come directly in contact. The Baizai Togh is acknowledged to have been founded by settlers from the Miranzai Togh, when the Kohat lands were partitioned among the Baizais. This alone proves that the Niazi settlement must have been of very old date.

The Bangashes, including the Niazis, occupy the Hangu tahsil and the Baizai and Samilzai tappas round Kohat. The Khattaks hold all the rest of the district.

The Khattak Tribe

The first settlement of the Khattaks was at Shawal, a valley in the Waziri country lying to the west of Bannu, near the Pir Ghal peak. They migrated thence eastwards to the British district of Bannu and settled with the Afghan tribes of Honai and Mangal, who then held it. These tribes were driven out by the Shitaks, a clan allied to the Khattaks, also from Shawal, probably during the 14th century.[4] The Shitaks gradually drove back the weak Khattak communities previously settled along the left bank of the Kuram. The Khattaks thus pressed from behind gradually spread over the southern portion of the Kohat district. They first took Possession of the Chauntra Bahadar Khel and Teri valleys, and jointly with the Bangashes drove out the tribes previously occupying the north-eastern part of the district, and obtained the Gumbat, Pattiala and Zira tappas as their share.

Malak Ako

Malik Akorai, or Ako, the first of a long line of Khattak chiefs, who flourished in the 16th century, was a man of Karbogha, a village north-west of Teri. The Khattaks seem to have been firmly established there in his time, and to have carried on a predatory war with the neighbouring Bangashes of Darsamand. Malik Ako quarrelled with his relatives at Karbogha and removed to the Khwarra. The Karbogha men were subsequently induced to emigrate. They tried to settle in Shakardarra, but the Awans of Kalabagh were too strong for them, and after a good deal of fighting the Khattaks moved off and eventually settled with Malik Ako at Sunialu in the Khwarra. The Karbogha Khattaks were first class robbers, and from their strongholds in the Cherat range, they ravaged the country far and wide. The Malik had a special dislike on religious grounds to Hindu jogis. He used to kill them and keep their earnings, which eventually filled two large earthen jars. He successfully resisted the lances of the Emperor Akbar under Shah Beg Khan, Governor of Peshawar. When the Emperor himself happened on one of his campaigns to be at Nilab, A.D. 1581, he sent for Malik Ako and arranged with Lim that the Khattaks were to enjoy a transit duty on all cattle passing along the Peshawar-Attock road, in consideration for which they were to be responsible for its safety. Malik Ako also obtained a grant from the emperor of the country south of the Kabul river from Khairabad to Nowshera. He subsequently founded the village of Akora on this road, and established a serai there. Akora became thenceforth the capital of the tribe.

Sagri Khattaks

The Sagris, a branch of the Bolak Khattaks, who had accompanied Malik Ako to the Khwarra, soon afterwards moved down to Shakardarra and Nandraka. They drove out the Awans, and took possession of the country nearly as far as Kalabagh. They afterwards crossed the Indus and drove the Awans out of Makhad and the surrounding tract. The Shakardarra and Makhad tappas are still held by the Sagris. They have always had a chief; but the family holding the chief ship has been more than once changed. An account of the Sagri Khattaks will be found in Appendix IV to Mr. Tucker's Settlement Report. The present chief Ghulam Muhammad Khan lives at Makhad and is a jagirdar of both the Pindi and the Kohat district.

Bhangi Khels

The Bhangi Khel Khattaks were a section of the Sagris. They broke off from the latter and acquired an adjoining tract now included in the Bannu district.

Akora Khattaks

The Sagris seem to have been altogether independent of the family of Malik Ako, who established themselves at Akora and were the acknowledged chiefs of all the other Khattaks, from the Kabul river, to the neighbourhood of Bannu. Malik Ako's successors appear to have held their eldership under the confirmation of the Delhi Emperors, and usually met a violent death at the hands of their relatives. The celebrated Khushal Khan was their most noted chieftain. His great grandson Sadullah Khan, being on bad terms with his father Afzal Khan (the historian), established himself on the site of the present town of Teri which has ever since been the head-quarters of the western Khattaks. Sadullah himself afterwards succeeded to the chief ship of the whole tribe, but from this time forward the western Khattaks were separately governed by a chief of their own residing at Teri.

At first the Teri chief was merely the Naib of the Akora chief. Eventually the Teri chief ship became settled in the family of Shahbaz Khan, the younger son of Sadullah Khan, from whom the present chief, Nawab Sir Khwaja Muhammad Khan, is descended. The elder branch, the descendants of Saadat Khan, resided at Akora. They interfered a good deal in Teri matters, and exercised a sort of over-chief ship till they were overwhelmed by the Sikh invasion. The Teri chief ship was but little affected by the Sikh conquest, but the Akora chief ship as a whole was entirely broken up. All the leading members of the family were at feud with one another, and murder was more rife than ever. Two or three petty chiefs survived from the wreck and were found at annexation in possession of small jagirs bestowed on them by the Sikh Government. These will be mentioned further on. They divided between them the whole of the Akora Khattak portion of the Kohat tahsil.

Grant of Teri to Khwaja Muhammad Khan

During the second Sikh war Khwaja Muhammad Khan, the chief of Teri, took the side of the British Government. At annexation he was continued in the management of the whole Teri tahsil, which was confirmed to him in perpetuity at a fixed assessment equal to about a third of the revenue of the tract. Further information regarding him will be found further on in "Leading Families of the District."

State of the District at Annexation

At the annexation of the Punjab on the 29th of March, 1849, Kohat was included in the Peshawar district. The state of things was then as follows:

  • Lieut. Pollock was supported at Kohat by a force of levies, mostly Multanis from the Derajat.
  • Bahadar Sher Khan was the leading man among the Bangashes of Kohat, and Ghulam Haidar Khan, on the departure of the Barakzais, had regained his position as Chief of Hangu.
  • Upper Miranzai was practically in a state of independence, the villages for many years past having paid no revenue whatsoever to the Barakzais.
  • Khwaja Muhammad Khan was the chief of the Teri Khattaks, but had very little power over a large portion of the tract. Chauntra, including Bahadar Khel and Lawaghar, was nearly independent of his authority, and the upper portion of the Darra towards Dallan was almost as free as the adjoining villages of Upper Miranzai.
  • The Akora Khattak country was divided between the jagirdars Jafir Khan and Afzal Khan. Afzal Khan's jagir was generally in a state of anarchy.
  • Shakardarra formed a part of the jagir of Ghulam Mustapha Khan, the Sagri Chief of Makhad. Ghulam Mustapha was then an old man, and his son Ghulam Muhammad Khan, the present Chief, really managed the country.

Construction of Roads

Kohat Pass Road

The attention of the District Officers was first drawn to the construction of roads to connect Kohat with Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Bannu. The first brought us at once into collision with hill tribes. At annexation the Government had agreed to continue to the Afridis of the Kohat pass the allowances that they had drawn under native rule. In the cold weather of 1849-50, Colonel Lawrence commenced to make a good road through the pass, but in 1850 the Bazotis showed their disapprobation by cutting up a working party of Sappers. On this there was a military expedition from Peshawar under Sir Colin Campbell. The Commander-in-Chief Sir Charles Napier himself accompanied the column, which marched through the pass, destroying the villages on the way, and reached Kohat on 12th February. The 1st Punjab Infantry under Captain Coke and some other troop were now left at Kohat, while the remainder of the force marched back through the pass to Peshawar, not without some opposition on the part of the Afridis.

Further History of Pass till 1853

No practical benefit resulted from this expedition, and the pass remained closed as before till the following November (1850), when fresh arrangements were made, and it was reopened, Rahmat Khan Orakzai [5] being associated in the management. The attempt to make a good road was at the same time abandoned. The pass now remained open for nearly three years. Eventually a quarrel sprang up between Rahmat Khan and the Afridis. In October 1853 the latter seized Rahmat Khan's post on the Kotal, and the pass was then closed. After this Captain Coke made an attempt to hold the Kotal with Bangash levies. These, however, fled precipitately on the first attack by the Afridis, Captain Coke being himself slightly wounded on the occasion. The Daulatzai tribes (viz., the Bazotis, Feroz Khels and Utman Khels), the Sipaiahs and the southern Jowakis were now associated with the Bangashes in the defence of the Kotal, and were given allowances, Rahmat Khan Orakzai being at the same time got rid of. Our position at the northern end of the pass was also strengthened by the construction of Fort Mackeson. The Afridis now came to terms; the pass was reopened at the end of 1853, and with one trivial interval remained open till 1865.

Bahadar Sher Khan

Bahadar Sher Khan, the Bangash Chief, was engaged at annexation as lessee for several villages near Kohat. In the beginning of 1851 he was in difficulties with his revenue, and fled into the Sipaiah hills. He was soon recalled however by Captain Coke and placed in charge of our relations with the pass Afridis, a position that he occupied till his death in 1880.

Road to Khushalgarh

The road by Khushalgarh to Rawalpindi gave comparatively little trouble. Occasional robberies were committed by the neighbouring Jowakis, who even ventured now and then to plunder boats on the Indus. Our relations with the Jowakis were very uncertain in their character. Sometimes when the Kohat pass was closed, a postal line would be established vid Bori; at other times we were threatening them with punitive expeditions. In 1853 the conduct of the Bori Jowakis was exceptionably bad, and at the end of that year a force was marched into the Bori valley. Some villages were burned, and in the beginning of 1854 Captain Coke was able to report their complete submission. The southern Jawakis had before this been associated in the arrangements for defending the Kotal.

Road to Bannu

The main route from Kohat to Bannu before annexation passed by Nar and Karak through the Khuni Gah ravine. As early as 1850 a scheme was taken in hand for opening out a more direct route vid Bahadar Khel and the Surdagh pass. A military road to Bahadar Khel was absolutely necessary to enable us to control the great salt mines at that place, which were jeopardised by the rebellious character of the neighbouring Khattaks as well as by attacks from the Waziris of the adjoining border.

A good deal of excitement had been caused in the neighbourhood of these mines, and among the salt traders generally, by a very heavy increase in the salt duty introduced in January 1850. In February 1850 the Bahadar Khel and adjoining Khattaks took advantage of the troubles in the Kohat pass, to show signs of insubordination. On this Lieutenant Pollock marched with a small force through their country to Latammar, which he reached unopposed on 2nd March 1850. This was enough to quiet the country, and in April the salt duty was reduced to the present low rates.

In October 1850, the men of Bahadar Khel and Drish Khel attacked a party of Multani levies who were protecting a working party employed on the new Bannu road near Totakki. They drove them off and took possession of the Bahadar Khel mines, but the insurrection was quelled on the arrival of a small force under Captain Coke and Lieutenant Pollock, who reached Bahadar Khel on 10th October. Arrangements were now made for constructing a fort at Bahadar Khel.

Hitherto the Waziris and Khattaks had been in league; but in November 1851 the Waziris attacked the village of Bahadar Khel and were roughly handled by the villagers and by a company of the 4th Punjab Infantry. This broke up the alliance; but to the present day the Khattaks of this border are generally on intimate terms with the neighbouring Waziris.

The last and the most serious of these disturbances occurred in the summer of 1852. There were rumours that our troops had met with serious reverses in Ranizai. The Deputy Commissioner, Captain Coke, was himself absent in Ranizai with his regiment. The Khattaks of Bahadar Khel, Karak, and Lawaghar, who had been annoyed at the establishment of military posts at Nari and Latammar, took advantage of our supposed difficulties to rise in open insurrection. They again seized the salt mines, while the men of Lawaghar threatened the garrison of Nari. Captain Coke, on receipt of the news, at once marched back with the 1st Punjab Infantry, four companies of the 3rd Panjab Infantry, and two squadrons of the 1st Punjab Cavalry. He reached Kohat on 3rd June and the next day made a forced march of 60 miles via Nari to Bahadar Khel. The villagers having refused to give in, and having retired to the adjoining hills, Captain Coke dismantled their village. These prompt proceedings led to the submission of the men of Surdagh and Latammar within a week. Most of the Bahadar Khel malcontents had given in by the end of August, but the Lawaghar men, protected by the remoteness and the difficult character of their country, did not submit till the following cold weather. The village of Bahadar Khel was removed to a site commanded by the new fort.

After this the new road to Bannu was completed without further disturbance, and by 1853 a good fort had been constructed at Bahadar Khel. This part of the country henceforward remained perfectly quiet till the Barak rising of 1880. Nari was at first garrisoned by the 5th Punjab Infantry under Captain Vaughan, but the change of route rendered it a post of but little importance, and when the fort of Bahadar Khel was built the troops at Nari were withdrawn, except a small detachment that was retained there for many years afterwards. About this time the old crumbling Durrani fort at Kohat was enlarged and reconstructed on a plan of Colonel Napier's.

Miranzai

It remains to sketch the history of Miranzai and the Akora Khattak ilaqa. As regards Lower Miranzai, Ghulam Haidar Khan, the Chief, was continued in charge after annexation as tahsildar. Our boundary to the west was at that time quite unsettled. For two years no revenue was taken from Upper Miranzai, and Sardar Azim Khan, Governor of Kuram, seeing that the British Government, were taking no steps to annex it, made arrangements in 1851 for including it within his own province. The Upper Miranzai villagers objected strongly to passing again under Kabul rule, and petitioned the Deputy Commissioner to be annexed to the Kohat district, to which they asserted they had always hitherto been attached. In accordance with their wishes the Upper Miranzai villages were solemnly annexed by proclamation in August 1851. Sardar Azim Khan in spite of this continued his arrangements for taking possession of the tract, and detachments of Kabul Cavalry had advanced as far as Torawari. The Waziris and Zaimushts were at the same time given khillats and instigated to continue their predatory attacks on the Bangashes of the valley. Captain Coke accordingly addressed a remonstrance to the Sardar, which he forwarded by his right hand man Mir Mubarak Shah, and meanwhile prepared to defend Miranzai by force.

First Miranzai Expedition (AD 1851)

The Waziris had already assembled at Biland Khel to attack Darsamand, when Captain Coke in September 1851 with a small military force and some Khattak levies, under their Chief Khwaja Mohamed Khan, set out on what is known as the first Miranzai expedition. After all there was no fighting beyond a little firing in the neighbourhood of Thal and Biland Khel, and the force returned to Kohat on 12th November. Captain Coke took advantage of this opportunity to settle the revenue arrangements of Miranzai.

Anarchy in Upper Miranzai

The only object of the Upper Miranzai villages had been to escape from the clutches of the Kabul Government. They had no intention of paying revenue, or becoming British subjects in anything but name. Captain Coke was exceedingly anxious to bridle the unruly inhabitants of these parts by the construction of a fort like that at Bahadar Khel, but his attention was too much taken up with matters elsewhere for him to interfere with any effect in Miranzai. At the end of 1854 Upper Miranzai was in a state of anarchy. The villages had paid no revenue since their nominal annexation; they resisted our civil officials, and fought with and plundered one another. At the same time no sooner were they attacked by Turis and Waziris from outside, than they screamed out loudly for aid, urging absurd reasons for their past misconduct. In addition to this the valley was an asylum for all the murderers and robbers of Kohat and the neighbouring districts, who raided from it in security of the adjoining portions of the Hangu and Teri ilaqas.

Kabul Khel Expedition of 1852

One or two attempts had been made in this interval to bring the Waziris and Turis to order. In December 1852 an expedition was sent up the Gumatti pass from the Bannu side against the Umarzai Waziris, who were to some extent assisted by the Kabul Khels, and caravans had from time to time been seized in reprisal.

Second Miranzai Expedition (AD 1855)

At last, in the beginning of 1855, it was determined to despatch a military force against Upper Miranzai. General Chamberlain commanded and Captain Coke accompanied the expedition. The troops first marched to Togh, where all the Upper Miranzai villages gave in their submission. The force marched thence via Nariab to Darsamand. At this latter place Afridis, Zaimushts and other hill men to the number of about 4,000 collected to oppose it, occupying the surrounding hills. On 29th April the enemy was attacked and routed. They fled with such precipitation that very few were kilted. The force then marched into the cultivated country of the Waziris along the Kuram below Thal, on which the Kabul Khels submitted without fighting. This, which is known as the second Miranzai expedition, lasted from 4th April to 21st May 1855.

Murder of Ghulam Haider Khan of Hangu

On 7th June 1855, Ghulam Haidar, who was Khan of Hangu and also tahsildar, was murdered by a relative, Munawar. The murderer forthwith escaped into the Orakzai hills. Ghulam Haidar Khan left some young sons, and a brother Muzaffar Khan, the present chief. Captain Coke, however, at once appointed Mir Mubarak Shah to the vacant tahsildar-ship. The Hangu family were the heads of the neighbouring Samil clans of the Orakzais, with whom in old days they had habitually taken refuge when in difficulties with the Governors of Kohat. It is not extraordinary, therefore, that these clans, especially the Rabia Khels, Sheikhans and Mishtis now began to raid on our villages. Accordingly General Chamberlain, accompanied as before by Captain Coke, led a force to Hangu. On 31st August the troops attacked the Rabia Khel strongholds in the Samana mountains, while a raiding party of Khwaja Muhammad Khan's Khattaks destroyed their villages in the Khankai valley behind. After this the Orakzais submitted. The force returned to Kohat on 7th October. The Commissioner, Colonel Edwardes, having insisted on Muzaffar Khan being appointed tahsildar of Hangu in the place of his murdered brother, Captain Coke, who objected to the removal of his own nominee, Mir Mubarak Shah, resigned the Deputy Commissionership. He retained the command of his regiment and continued to take a part in the subsequent expeditious. This was in October 1855. Captain Henderson, who commanded the 3rd Punjab Infantry, now became Deputy Commissioner, retaining at the same time his regimental appointment.

Third Miranzai Expedition (AD 1856)

In spite of the expedition in 1855, Upper Miranzai continued to give trouble. The Turis had been raiding as before, Darsamand had withheld its revenue, and the Zaimushts were rebellious. This led to the third Miranzai expedition. General Chamberlain, accompanied by Captain Henderson, with 4,500 men and 14 guns, started on 21st October 1856, and marched up the valley as far as Nariab. The Zaimushts of Torawari, continuing to be contumacious, their village was attacked and the greater part of it burned. The Zaimushts were fined. Darsamand had already given in and paid up the revenue due. The force now marched up the Kuram valley, nearly as far as the Paiwar Kotal. The Turis were fined Rs. 8,000. The Miamai section of the Kabul Khels having murdered some grass-cuts, the troops now turned against this latter tribe. After some fighting in the hills beyond Biland Khel they submitted. The force returned to Gandionr on 21st December, and after the settlement of some further difficulties with the Zaimushts was broken up.

Govt. Refuses Annexation of Biland Khel

The local officers at this time were very desirous that the Bangash village of Biland Khel and the trans-Kuram lands of Thal should be included in British territory. In spite of their representations the Government decided by orders, dated 14th September 1858, that the river Kuram was to be the British boundary in this direction. This decision appears to have led to fresh difficulties with the Waziris. In 1859, they raided on the trans-Kuram lands of the village of Thal, and their border was generally in an unsettled state. Eventually the murder of Captain Meecham on the Bannu road near Latammar led to another expedition against the Kabul Khels. A force under General Chamberlain, consisting of 3,900 men and 13 guns, accompanied by Captain Henderson, crossed the Kuram at Thal on 20th December 1859 and marched to Maidani; the Waziris lost some 50 men and much cattle. The force broke up on 7th January 1860. The Kabul Khel country was mapped, but the murderers escaped, except the ringleader, Mohabat, who not long afterwards was given up by the Ahmadzais and hanged.

The Akora Tappas

Nilab

As regards the north-eastern corner of the district, the Nilab tappa was fairly well managed by Jafar Khan. Afzal Khan, however, who was jagirdar of the Zira and Khwarra valleys, had allowed his country to fall into a state of utter anarchy. Zira had been nearly depopulated by Jawaki inroads. The Khwarra Khattaks were stronger, and were more or less in league with the neighbouring Hasan Khels. The whole jagir was an asylum for the outlaws of the Pindi district, who robbed and plundered at their pleasure, but were safe from pursuit as soon as they had crossed the Indus. The village of Sheikh Allahdad in especial had an unenviable notoriety, as being crowded with murderers and other criminals, who had been attracted to it as much by the advantages of its situation for purposes of plunder as by its sanctity. On 29th September 1853, Coke having quietly slipped down the Khushalgarh road, made an unsuccessful attempt to surprise Sheikh Allahdad. Most of the men that he had hoped to seize had fled before his arrival. The state of the country being intolerable, Afzal Khan was sent off to the Peshawar district and deprived of the management of his jagir, which in the beginning of 1854 was attached to the Kohat district. When Coke camped at Shadipur in November 1854, he found almost every village in the Zira valley in ruins. Owing to the exertions of Mir Mubarak Shah, this state of things was soon rectified; the fugitive inhabitants were recalled; police stations were established, and in this and the following year a road was opened out by the Mir Kalan pass to Peshawar. Zira and Khwarra are still a wild and thinly peopled country, where a good deal of cattle-stealing goes on.

Shakardarra

The Shakardarra jagir was perfectly peaceful from the first, the Khan and leading Maliks being generally engaged in fighting with one another in our courts as to the right of the former to resume the inams enjoyed by the latter, a contest which has kept them occupied down to the present day.

Mutiny Year

The mutiny year was a comparatively peaceful one in Kohat. On the breaking out of the mutiny the district was garrisoned by three regiments (2,700 men) of infantry, one cavalry regiment of 580 men, and a battery of artillery with 186 men.

On 14th May one regiment of infantry moved on Attock. Its detachments were recalled from Nari and Bahadar Khel, being replaced by Khattaks. On 18th May most of the mounted police were sent to Peshawar, and were followed by 600 foot police and village levies, most of whom, however, were in a few days sent back. Other military detachments were withdrawn to join Nicholson's force. The 2nd Punjab Cavalry marched to Peshawar on the 31st May. On 29th May three companies of the 58th Native Infantry arrived at Kohat. The 6th Punjab Infantry was largely a Hindustani regiment, and the arrival of the 58th made the Hindustani element for the time unpleasantly strong. The 58th men were quietly disarmed on 8th July. The 3rd and 6th Punjab Infantry were eventually so reduced by the transfer of detachments to form the nucleus of new regiments that by the end of August they could hardly muster 400 men between them. To supply the place of regular troops, local levies were raised to the number of 100 horse and 800 foot. Khwaja Muhammad Khan with a portion of these held the posts on the Bannu road.

When Captain Coke (then at Bannu) was ordered down country, Mir Mubarak Shah (5th June) started off to join him with 80 horses, which were attached to the 1st Punjab Infantry during the campaign. Mir Mubarak Shah was himself killed in fight soon after. These are the only levies that left the district for Hindustan. As a rule, the people did not object to serve at Peshawar, and volunteered readily for service at home, but shirked going south-east. The following levies were despatched to Peshawar:

 

Horse

Foot

16th May

Bahadur Sher Khan Bangash

60

80

19th May

Khattak villagers
Hangu villagers

50
42

83
198

27th May

Kohat villagers

-

174

30th May

Police and Jail Guard

-

42

31st May

Jafar Khan's levies

11

82

26th June

Shakardarra villagers

1

44

Total:

154

703

Bahadar Sher Khan remained at Peshawar for many months, and rendered good service, for which he was afterwards handsomely rewarded.

State of Border Tribes

The border tribes during this time kept unusually quiet, though a good deal of anxiety was felt with regard to them. At one time the Samil tribes on the Hangu border assumed a hostile attitude, and one unsuccessful raid was attempted by the Utman Khels. With the fall of Delhi all apprehension ceased.

The Mutiny

The following account of the event of 1857 is taken from the Punjab Mutiny Report. This district was presided over during the anxious period of 1857 by Captain B. Henderson. The force stationed at Kohat at the commencement of the mutiny consisted of three regiments of Punjab infantry and one of Punjab cavalry, with some artillery; in all about 3,500 men. This garrison was gradually reduced to about one-fifth of its original strength by the despatch of reinforcements to Peshawar, Attock, and the movable column. Thus on the 15th May, or within 24 hours of the receipt of intelligence of the outbreak at Mirat and Delhi, a complete regiment of infantry marched to Attock; on the 31st the regiment of cavalry proceeded to Peshawar, and from time to time smaller detachments were sent to reinforce General Nicholson's column as well as the reliable troops at Peshawar. The places of the absent forces were in some degree filled by levies of the warlike tribes in the district and beyond the border. Captain Henderson further contributed some 1,400 levies, as well as a large body of his police to the Peshawar forces.

Much anxiety was caused by a rumour which reached the Deputy Commissioner on the 22nd May, that the stock of ammunition, which had recently been received at Kohat, and some portion of which had been served out to all the troops, was prepared with the mixture of pig's and bullock's fat, and that it was intended to coerce the men into using it on the 1st June following. No other grievance was spoken out; but all the troops were said to have declared that they would refuse the ammunition. The traders began to conceal their property, and to carry it to the houses of Sayads and powerful villages; and the common bazar report was that the cavalry would not take the cartridge, and made no secret of it. Immediate precautions were taken. Strong infantry picquets were placed over the guns; the treasure was removed into the upper fort of Kohat, which was garrisoned by a company of the 3rd Punjab Infantry, and target practice was discontinued for a time. The excitement gradually subsided and happily nothing came of it.

The progress of events in Hindustan and the Punjab necessarily reacted on the people of Kohat, and created considerable excitement amongst them; nevertheless the peace of the district was preserved in a remarkable degree. There was a alight increase of violent crime; but on the whole the behaviour of the people, everything considered, was excellent. There was but one attempt at a petty raid with about 120 men, which resulted, writes Captain Henderson; "in the helter-skelter flight of the would-be assailants, who narrowly escaped destruction."

The Turis beyond the border, as well as a party in Bori, were at one time inclined to give trouble by plundering, but they were peaceably brought to reason, and obliged to give security for good conduct. The Afridis of the Kohat pass, before notoriously the most unruly tribe in the district, behaved in an admirable manner, furnishing levies with alacrity, and keeping the pass so safe that it was considered by Captain Henderson "the safest portion of the road in the whole country"; and during the seven months of trouble they were not charged with a single crime; not even a petty theft. This satisfactory state of things was mainly due to the wise measures taken by the district and military authorities to put down revolt and to counteract the evil effect of false and exaggerated rumours by disseminating throughout the district any good tidings that came to hand.

On the outbreak of the rebellion all the neighbouring tribes offered their services to the Government; but their feeling is described by Captain Henderson as "a strange mixed one, their best wishes at heart being in favour of the King of Delhi, in whom they clearly felt a great interest, though they were inimical to the Purbias. It was a constant subject of anxiety," continues Captain Henderson, "to the temper and feelings of the tribes all round, and we have not many real friends amongst them, though so long as we have power they hesitate to break their connection with us; but they were worked upon to rise against us, day after day, by faqirs and mullahs bearing every imaginable falsehood that could be invented against the Government; but, though the excitement was everywhere intense, and common report was everywhere rife that we were about to make our escape from the country, it was not until the end of August and early in September that any attempt at collecting men with any hostile intent was made, and before any harm was done, or matters had been brought to a head, dissension was happily brought about in their councils, and all angrily separated." The news of the fall of Delhi shortly afterwards completely placed these tribes on our side, and congratulations poured in from every quarter.

Towards the end of May a detachment of three companies of the 58th Native Infantry was sent to Kohat. As these men had been heard once or twice speaking in a manner that evinced bad feeling, they were disarmed on the 8th July without any show of resistance. Throughout the crisis there was not a single military execution at Kohat. Five men in all were fined and imprisoned for seditious language.

Death of Major Henderson (AD 1861)

Major Henderson died at Kohat on 21st August 1861. He was succeeded by Captain Shortt and Captain Munro, who held the district till 1866. During this period there is little to record till the closing of the Kohat pass in 1865.

State of Kohat Pass from Mutiny to 1875

The Kohat pass had been closed for a few days in September 1859 by Captain Munro, and again for a few days in September 1860, by Captain Henderson owing to petty disagreements with the Afridis. It was again closed owing to internal dissensions among the tribes in the beginning of 1865, and remained closed for a year and a half. At last the various disputes were finally settled, and the pass was reopened on the 6th November 1866. The Hasan Khels however continued to be contumacious, and it was not till they had been blockaded, and preparations had been made for an expedition against them, that they were brought to terms in the beginning of 1867. Meanwhile in April 1866 Lieutenant Cavagnari had succeeded to the charge of the district which he held with a few breaks till 1877.

Bazoti Troubles (1867-69)

Towards the end of 1867 the Bazotis also became troublesome. In March 1868 they came down in force to the mouth of the Oblan pass, where they were attacked by a force under Colonel Jones. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Captain Ruxton, commanding the 3rd Punjab Infantry, was on this occasion killed while trying to storm the enemy's position. On 25th February 1869 Colonel Keyes led a retaliatory expedition into the Bazoti country. A sudden raid was made on the village of Gara which was destroyed. The troops were unable to reach Danakhula as had been originally intended. Our forces retired with trifling loss, the enemy hanging on their rear. On 4th April the Bazotis and other Daulatzais tendered their submission and agreed to pay a fine of Rs. 1,200.

Demonstration Against Kabul Khel Wazirs

In this same year the Kabul Khel and Tazi Khel Waziris attacked Thal, and carried off seven or eight hundred head of cattle. This was in revenge for a Turi attack on them in 1866, supposed to have been instigated by the Thal men. Colonel Keyes in April 1869, with a force of about 1,000 men, made a demonstration against them, and on his arrival at Thal the Kabul Khels came to terms, surrendering the stolen property with a fine of Rs. 2,000. On 15th April 1870, Captain Stainforth was murdered in the pass. Some fines were inflicted and one of the murderers was hanged.

In April 1874 the Deputy Commissioner took a small military force up to Thal by way of a demonstration against the Waziris, against whom there was a long list of offences. A satisfactory settlement was arrived at, and fines aggregating to Rs. 12,000 were realized without the use of force. In this year there was a great coalition of the Samil tribes against the Sayads of Tirah. The Sayads were overpowered and had to take refuge in British territory, but owing to disagreements among their adversaries they were able in a few mouths to regain possession of their villages and lands.

Kohat Pass Troubles (1875-1877)

In December 1874 the permanent settlement of the district was commenced under the superintendence of Major Hastings.

In 1875 our relations with the pass Afridis were again disturbed owing to the proposals for the construction of a good road through the pass. These proposals had been first mooted by Captain Cavagnari in 1873. He had been assured by Bahadar Sher Khan, who had now managed the pass Afridis for nearly 25 years, that there would be no difficulty in persuading the pass men to agree to the project, and eventually in July 1875 the Government of India sanctioned the proposal on this understanding. By October, however, it was clear that the Afridis as a body would not willingly consent to the new road. They grew more and more excited and contumacious. On 27th December 1875 the pass was closed, and on 7th February 1876 the pass Afridis were formally blockaded. This had but little effect. Some crops belonging to Akhorwals in the Peshawar valley were cut under the protection of our troops, but otherwise no active measures were taken against the malcontents. Both the Jawakis and the Hasan Khels were inclined to be troublesome, and constant raids were occurring all along the Adam Khel border. In July the Jawakis Agreed to pay up the fine against them, but the Hasan Khels continued to be recalcitrant, and on 30th August 1876 they were Included in the blockade. During the winter a Hasan Khel outlaw named Naim Shay was the terror of the Peshawar border, and had the audacity to attack the thanna and plunder the bazaar at Nowshera.

Settlement with Pass Afridis

The blockade being quite ineffective the alternative lay between carrying out the road project by force, which would have necessitated a general campaign against the Adam Khel, or coming to terms with the pass Afridis on the basis of a postponement of the project. The latter course was selected. The Hasan Khels were gained over to the side of Government, and after a good deal of discussion it was arranged that the Government was to have the right of making a good road down the steep slope on the north side of the Kotal, and that the repair of the remainder of the road through the valley should be left to the Afridis. They also surrendered some plundered property and paid a fine of Rs. 3,000. Their former allowances were now restored to the pass men with an addition for the Kotal road, and the pass was reopened on 24th March 1877, Bahadar Sher Khan being made a Nawab for his services. The Jawaki disturbances commenced soon after, and these were followed by the Afghan war, and with the exception of the portion passing over the Kotal, the road through the pass has never been touched.

Jawaki Disturbance (1877-78)

The misbehaviour of the Jawakis during the pass blockade, more especially in the matter of the Kotal towers, had drawn on them the displeasure of the local authorities, and the forfeiture of their allowances (Rs. 2,000 a year) had been mooted at the time of the final settlement with the pass Afridis. The forfeiture had not been formally announced, but the Jawakis were in an uneasy state, which in July 1877 resulted in an outbreak. Among other offences they carried off a large number of Commissariat mules and cut up a party of sepoys going on leave. They were at once blockaded, but the length of their border, and its propinquity to the Khushalgarh road, made the blockade more troublesome to the blockading aide than to the Jawakis. On 30th August there was a small military expedition, columns being suddenly marched into the Jawaki country from various directions. There was no serious opposition; the troops, however, retired the same day, and the demonstration had but little effect. A military occupation of the Jawaki territory was at last decided on. In the beginning of November 1877 a force under General Keyes entered the Torki valley from the south, while General Ross marched into the Bori valley from the Peshawar side. Gradually the whole country was explored, and the Jawakis being expelled from their most secluded recesses had to take refuge with the adjoining tribes. They were eventually allowed to submit on easy conditions, their former share in the pass allowances being resumed. The troops were finally withdrawn from Jawaki lands in March 1878.

Afghan War & Disturbed State of Miranzai Border

Hardly was the Jawaki affair over when the Afghan war commenced. The main road to Kuram runs for nearly a hundred miles through the Kohat district, the resources of which were much strained by the requirements of the troops marching through. In November 1878 General Roberts force which had been collecting at Thal crossed the Kuram en route for the Paiwar Kotal. The war, and more especially the Khost expedition, excited the fanaticism of the border tribes above Hangu, and our own villagers in Upper Miranzai were probably to some extent affected by the contagion. In consequence of this it was difficult to guard the line of road. Serais were burned, coolies and travellers were murdered, and occasional raids were committed both by Zaimushts, Orakzais and Waziris. The attacks of these last, however, were rather directed against the Thal convoy route from Bannu and the road up the Kuram valley, than against the Kohat district itself. The cup of the Zaimushts and of the western Orakzais being at last full, an expedition was directed against them in the end of 1879. On 8th December, General Tytler, accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner, Major Plowden, entered the Zaimusht country from the side of the Kuram with a force of about 3,000 men. After a victorious march, during which he stormed their principal strongholds, he returned to Miranzai by the Sangroba valley, reaching Thal on December 23rd. His return had been hurried by the bad news that Sir Frederick Roberts force had been shut up in the Sherpur cantonments. Still the results of the expedition had been considerable. The Zaimushts had been crushed, and paid up at once a fine of Rs. 21,000. The Alisherzais, fearing that their turn would come next, had also paid up a heavy fine. The Mamuzais were ready to pay up, but there was some hitch, and finding that no further military measures against them were in contemplation, they afterwards refused. Some other tribes also escaped the punishment that they deserved.

Waziri Expedition (October 1880)

In March 1880 the convoy route from Bannu to Thal was finally closed owing to the constant attacks by raiders, consisting principally of Dauris, Khostwals, and men belonging to the remoter Waziri tribes. The continued misbehaviour of the Waziris in the neighbourhood of Biland Khel and along the Manduri road at last called imperatively for punishment. On 27th October 1880 General Gordon led a small force, about 800 strong, against the Kabul Khel and Malik Shahi Waziris. He surprised them on the Churkaunai plateau, and seized a large quantity of cattle. On this, they immediately submitted and paid up a fine of Rs. 13,200. The whole business was over in a day, and the force returned to Thal on the 28th.

Barak Disturbances

During the war there was a great demand for men both as guards and labourers on the line of road up the Kuram valley. These were in a great measure supplied by our old friend, the Khattak Chief, who had been made a Nawab in 1873, and a K.C.S.I in May of the same year, and was now Nawab Sir Khwaja Muhammad Khan. This service was very unpopular. At last in March 1880 large numbers of the Barak Khattaks, who were employed at Thal, ran away to their homes. The movement among the Baraks rapidly developed into a sort of. insurrection against the Nawab's authority. In June and July it became difficult to execute criminal or civil processes in the portion of the district lying south of the Teri toi. Prisoners were forcibly released, and all Government was at a standstill. In August 1880 a small force was marched into the heart of the Barak country, when most of the malcontents submitted, though a complete pacification of the Lawaghar tract was not effected for more than a year afterwards.

Change in Management of Kohat Pass

Nawab Bahadar Sher Khan died in August 1880. He had managed the pass Afridis for 29 years. He was succeeded as a temporary measure by his brother Atta Khan, but in June 1882 our relations with these tribes were placed under the direct control of the Deputy Commissioner, the employment of a local Khan as a middleman being dispensed with.

Evacuation of Kuram and Biland Khel

During the Afghan war a small portion of the Kuram valley, including Biland Khel, was annexed to the Kohat district. When Kuram was evacuated by our troops in October 1880, the Deputy Commissioner advocated the retention of a portion of this tract on the same grounds as had been fruitlessly urged in 1858. The proposal was disallowed, and the Kuram river once more became the district frontier. In the beginning of 1881 the troops stationed at Thal and in the Miranzai valley were finally withdrawn, and the district reverted to its normal state.

Officers Connected with District

Lists are annexed of the officers who have managed the districts as Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners since annexation. Officers who have held charge for less than three months have been omitted. On the formal annexation of the Punjab on 29th March 1849 Kohat was included in the Peshawar district. Colonel G. Lawrence was the first Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, and held the appointment till his transfer to Rajputana in July 1850, when he was succeeded by Major Lumsden. Lieutenant Pollock who had come up from the Derajat was stationed as Assistant Commissioner at Kohat, till May 1851, when Kohat was formed into a separate district and placed under Captain Coke of the 1st Punjab Infantry. Captain Coke was succeeded in October 1855 by Captain Henderson of the 3rd Punjab Infantry, who held the district, with one interruption, till his death in 1861. Both Captain Coke and Captain Henderson continued while Deputy Commissioners to hold command of their regiments as before, though in all military matters they were entirely subordinate to the officer who might be commanding the station of Kohat. Shahzada Jamhura, a native gentleman of Peshawar, had accompanied George Lawrence when he returned to Kohat, and had afterwards helped to garrison the fort of Attock under Lieutenant Herbert till its surrender to the Sikhs. After this he had joined Lieutenant Taylor at Lakki in the Bannu district. He was sent to Kohat as Extra Assistant in November 1849, and he held this appointment till his death in 1868. He occupied a very influential position in the district, in which he has been succeeded by his son the present Shahzada Sultan Jan.

List of Commissioners who have held charge of the Peshawar Division since annexation:

Names

From

To

Lt. Col. F. Mackeson, CE

March 1852

September 1853

Capt. H. R. James, Offg. Comr.

September 1853

November 1853

Lt. Col. H. B. Edwardes

November 1853

February 1857

Lt. Col. J. Nicholson, Offg. Comr.

February 1857

May 1857

Col. H. B. Edwardes

May 1857

April 1859

Capt. H. R. James

May 1859

February 1862

Major R. J. Taylor

March 1862

September 1863

Capt. H. R. James

November 1863

October 1864

Col. J. B. Beecher

November 1864

June 1866

Mr. D.C. Macnabb

June 1866

July 1866

Major F. R. Pollock

July 1866

November 1866

Mr. D.C. Macnabb

November 1866

January 1867

Major F. R. Pollock

February 1867

March 1871

Mr. D.C. Macnabb

March 1871

March 1874

Lt. Col. F.R. Pollock

March 1874

October 1876

Mr. D.C. Macnabb

October 1876

December 1876

Col. Sir F.R. Pollock KCSI

January 1877

31st March 1878

Lt. Col. W.G. Waterfield

1st April 1878

23rd November 1878

Mr. D.C Macnabb

24th November 1878

8th June 1879

Lt. Col. W.G. Waterfield

9th June 1879

23rd April 1880

Col. J.W.H. Johnstone

24th April 1880

29th August 1880

Col. W.G. Waterfield CSI

30th August 1880

31st April 1881

Mr. J.G. Cordery

1st April 1881

5th April 1883

Col. W.G. Waterfield

21st April 1883

 

List of the Officers who have held the post of Deputy Commissioner of this District since annexation:

Names

Term of Office

From

To

Lt. F.R. Pollock, Asst. Comr.

June 1849

31st May 1851

Capt. John Coke

1st June 1851

October 1855

Capt. R. Henderson

October 1855

7th April 1858

Capt. S. Graham, Offg.

8th April 1858

20th February 1859

Capt. A.A. Munro, Offg.

21st February 1859

15th December 1859

Capt. B. Henderson

16th December 1859

21st August 1861

Capt. J.B.G.G. Shortt

24th August 1861

21st December 1861

Capt. A.A. Munro

22nd December 1861

28th February 1863

Capt. J.B.G.G. Shortt

1st March 1863

9th April 1866

Lt. P.L.N. Cavagnari

10th April 1866

3rd April 1870

Capt. C.E. Macaulay

4th April 1870

3rd July 1870

Capt. P.L.N. Cavagnari

4th July 1870

28th February 1871

Capt. T.J.C. Plowden

1st March 1871

15th February 1873

Capt. P.L.N. Cavagnari

16th January 1873

12th May 1877

Capt. T.J.C. Plowden

23rd May 1877

12th May 1881

Mr. H. St. G. Tucker

13th May 1881

12th September 1881

Major T.J.C. Plowden

19th September 1881

27th October 1881

Mr. H. St. G. Tucker

19th December 1881

--

Notes

1.      Mr. Masson was a traveller, who passed through these parts alone, and generally on foot almost like a faqir. He came from Bannu, and made his way through the Waziri country passing near the hill of Kafir Kot. He mistook the variously shaped rocks for the ruins of a gigantic fortress, with regard to which he was told numerous lies. He seems to have reached Upper Miranzai. He then travelled vidMuhammad Khoja to Hangu. He then describes Hangu and the country thence to Kohat much as a traveller would do now. Sadu Khan was regularly established at Hangu and had a small flower garden. He was well bred and amiable and was a devout Musalman. While at Hangu intelligence was received of the approach of a hostile force from Peshawar. Sadu Khan immediately collected the revenue due to him and proceeded to Kohat, where his elder brother, Muhammad Usman Khan, resided. The brothers in consultation, concluding that it was impossible to repel the invasion, returned to Hangu, and taking all their property with them retired by the Kuram valley to Kabul.

Between Hangu and Kohat Masson was kindly received by the villagers. He was stopped on the road by Pir Muhammad Khan's troops. Pir Muhammad Khan was at first sulky, but afterwards treated him kindly. Masson put the number of houses at Hangu at about 300, at Kohat at about 500. There are now 272 houses in the first and 1,615 houses and 469 shops in the latter. He mentions that Samad Khan resided at Kabul leaving the government of Kohat to his sons. The revenue of Kohat was said to be Rs. 80,000, that of Hangu Rs. 20,000. This would be Durani money. He mentions that there was a difficulty in collecting the revenue. Even in case of Muhammad Khoja force had to be used. Pir Muhammad Khan's attack on Kohat was part of a pre-concerted scheme for advancing against Dost Muhammad Khan from both Peshawar and Kandahar. The attack was unexpected, and Sadu Khan spoke of the whole business as a most flagitious one. 

Pir Muhammad Khan having placed Abdul Wahab Khan as Governor of Hangu returned to Kohat. He now treated Masson with much civility. Pir Muhammad Khan was recalled to Kabul to meet an expected attack from the notorious Syed Ahmed Shah. He gave Masson a seat on his elephant and took him with him to Peshawar. Through the pass and as far as Masanni they were in dread of attack from the hill men. The Peshawar sardars had much to do with Kohat. Yar Muhammad Khan was the eldest and nominally the chief, and had the larger proportion of revenue, but Pir Muhammad, the youngest, was perhaps the most powerful, from the greater number of troops that be retained, beside being considered of an active and daring spirit, Sultan Muhammad Khan was not supposed to want capacity, but was milder and more amiable than his brothers; but his excessive fondness for finery exposed him to ridicule, and the pleasures of the harem seemed to occupy more of his attention than public affairs. Syed Muhammad Khan was much inferior in intellect to the others and looked upon as a cypher in all matters of consultation and Government. Soon after these events, Yar Muhammad Khan was killed in battle against Syed Ahmed Barelvi near Zeydah in AD 1828. Masson's amount is clear and wonderfully free from Mistakes.

2.     From the history of Khushal Khan it appears that the Orakzais were certainly ousted before the time of Malik Akorai, a contemporary of the Emperor Akbar (1556-1565); who led the Khattaks beyond the Khwarra to their present settlements

3.     Were originally Samil

4.     Major Plowden in his Notes on the Tarikh-e-Murassa gives the date of the Shitak invasion as Circiter A.D. 1300. Mr. Thorburn in the Settlement Report of Bannu puts it at 500 years from the present time, Circiter 1375.

5.     This Rahmat Khan was father of the present Chief Usman Khan, who resides sometimes in Peshawar and sometimes in Tirah. He has not much influence in the hills.

Yusufzai, a Note on

The ancient history, or even that up to a late date, of the nation now known as Yousafzai, is but very imperfectly, if at all, known in any connected record of successive events. Casual notices relating to it are, however occasionally met with the different native records of the past transactions of the various sovereigns of the two great empires on the natural boundary line between which it lies-- India on one hand and Persia on the other. The position of the Yousafzai on the main road of the communication between these two empires, would naturally ensure for it to participate in the political vicissitudes of each; and, of such having been the case, the ruins and antiquities which at this day abound in all parts of the country, are the mute witnesses.

In all probability, it had been previously traversed by Darius Hypstapes. The earliest authentic account we have of this region dates from the time of Alexander the Great, who, as is well known, marched through it on his advance from Kabul to India in about 326 B.C . From the time of Alexander, to all the following rulers and leaders, the Yousafzai's were always among them and were very much liked by them. At the time of Babur's ruling, in the sixteen century, Babur took Malik Suleman Yousafzai's daughter as his own wife, as she was known for her beauty around the area. Malik Suleman Yousafzai among other Yousafzais would always be present in the wine parties and later when Malik Suleman Yousafzai , along with his son , Malik Shah Mansur Yousafzai, Babur's brother-in-law accompanied Babur to what was then their usual route, through Swat, Bajawar and Kunar and on arrival at Kabul, were received with due honor, whilst as a mark of particular friendship, Babur decorated them all. On his Brother-in-law he bestowed the "tugh" or "badge of honour" and each of the others with Shah Mansur was given a "khilat" or ," robe of honor". Before departing for their homes, Babur, at their own request, settled a long standing dispute as to the limit of the Yousafzai's, and decided that all of the Country till Abua in Swat would be Yousafzai land; with the Country beyond that had no concern.

There is much uncertainty as to the exact date when the Yousafzai's settled in the country that now bears their name. According to Akhun Darwaiza, they came from Kandahar, Afghanistan ; and in their migration eastward, arrived at Kabul when Mirza Ulugh Beg was governor. He succeeded his father Shah Rukh Sultan, who was the son of Taimur Lang, in 1446 A.D. The whole of Peshawar district had already been colonized by different Afghan tribes; and, on his second visit, fourteen years later, he found that the Yousafzai's had spread well into swat. The settlement of the Yousafzai's in their present limits, on these data, must, therefore, have been between and subsequent to the dates above-mentioned.

An account from the migration from Kandahar of the Yousafzai's, their wanderings, and final settlement in their present limits which are, Districts Swabi, Mardan, Malakand, Bunair, Swat and Dir . It will suffice here to note that they took their present possessions from the Dilazaks, whom, without much difficulty, they drove over the Indus to the Hazarah mountains, after a single but desperate and decisive battle fought on the plain between the villages of Gadar and Langarkot. The site of the latter village is the present Garhikapura, which is near Mardan.

It was not clear who the Dilazaks were, they were supposed to be "Tarkilanri Pukhtoons", but the Yousafzai's dismissed this relationship and took them as from an Indian origin. After setting themselves firmly in the plain, the Yousafzai's pushed on into the hill country beyond , and in a few years were the masters of Swat and Bunair. In 1519 A.D, when Babur journeyed this way, their limit included the lower half of Swat, and it was subsequent to this that they spread into their present limits. For many years after Babur's time, the Yousafzai's under the government of Malik Ahmed and Sheikh Malik lived in peace and prosperity , and devoted themselves to the cultivation of their newly acquired lands, which were about this time divided into hereditary lots and distributed amongst the different clans and their respective families, by common consent, under the direction of Sheikh Mali. The division of the land then made holds good to the present day throughout the Yousafzai Country.

But when Khan Kajoh succeeded to the chiefship, a feud broke out between the Yousafzai's and their neighbors the Ghorikhails, who occupied the Peshawar district. It lasted many years, both sides facing serious loses and injuries. This was finally settled by the great clan fight at Shaikh Patur, when the whole of the Ghorikhails were completely broken and dispersed, and lost numbers of their men and women captives to the victorious Yousafzai's. Shortly after this event, and during the early part of Akbar's reign, the Yousafzai's were further strengthened by the removal of their constant enemies the Dilazaks,. A great many of their families were deported to Hindustan, and their villages were made over to the Mahmands.

Whilst in this part of his extensive dominions, Akbar built the fort of Attak Banaras, and placed his son Salim in it as Governor. It was about this time, that the tribes of Lamghan, Bajawar and Swat quarrelled as to the boundaries of their respective lands. The Yousafzai's who had never yet succeeded in occupying the whole of Swat, seized this opportunity for the advancement of their own interests, and formed an alliance with the Lamghanis, or Lughmanis, and both together ousted the Bajawaris and Barr Swatis, and appropriated their lands. The Yousafzai's took Barr Swat and the hill to its North while the Lamghans took Bajawar.

After setting down, agents came several times from the government to get their government dues but the Yousafzai's drove them out. This called for the emperor Aurungzaib Alamgir to enter with his troops, but the Yousafzai's did not wait for them and made a strategical retreat to the hill. After sometime they came back down and we re-allotted their homes and land. Some were taken as hostages as to be a lesson for the Yousafzai's for the future. After this they kept quite and peaceful during Shah Alam's reign. But in the following reign of Mahomad Shah, the Yousafzai's once again started to disobey government policies and rebelled against the authority of the governor of Peshawar, and laid violent hands on his son who was amongst those who came to collect the revenue. The Yousafzai's continued this in 1725A.D when it was Nadir Shah's reign. as the Yousafzai's were the only Afghans who refused submission to his authority. When the Mughals entered the Yousafzai land, the Yousafzai once again retreated to the hills, but this time the Mughals were harsh and burned down all the crops and lands , leaving the sick and old with difficulties to escape. When the Mughals tried to go uphill to fight the Yousafzai's , the Yousafzai's full of spirit ran down the hill weilding their swords and attacked the Mughals, they in return started panicking and retreated. The Yousafzai's with increased clamor , poured down the hill from all sides and pushed the retreating enemy as far as the Chalpani Ravine. In 1823 the Sikhs became the masters of Peshawar , punishing the Yousafzai on numerous accounts. In 1835, Dost Muhammad Khan came down from Kabul to fight the Sikhs. His troops however retreated without meeting the enemy, but not before they had plundered the whole country as far as the Indus. A couple of years later the Kabul leader came down to face the Sikhs. He was more successful than his previous expeditions, and after a confrontation managed to kill the Sikh general , Hari Singh at jamrudzai. He then proceeded to squeeze from the unfortunate peasants what little the Sikhs had failed to extract. He and his Durranis departed laden with the curses of the people, who declare them to have been greater tyrants than the Sikhs. About this time, Sir Alexander Burnes arrived at Kabul. His mission led to the advance of a British army into these lands in 1828. In 1841 acquired the memorable revolt at Kabul. In the following year came the avenging army under general Pollock. His troops performed only in time to join the Sikh campaigns that brought them into Punjab in 1845-46, and ended with the establishment of the British rule through all the country, as far as Peshawar in 1819. This then led to the colonization of the area. However, the Yousafzai still with their old traditions and rules led their normal life style and continue to do so until now.

History and Settlement of Bannu

Excerpts from Gazetteer of the Bannu District, 1887

Contents

1.      Early History

1.      Akra

2.     Til Kafir-Kot or Raja Til Kot

3.     Remains at Rok and Mari

2.     Insignificant Bannu?

3.     Order of Descent of Afghan Tribes

1.      The Bannuchis

2.     The Niazis

3.     The Marwats

4.     The Wazirs

5.     The Bittanis and Bangi Khels

6.     The Awans and Jats

4.     Mughal Rule in Bannu

5.     Durrani Rule in Bannu

6.     Nawab of Mankera Seizes Marwat

7.     Sikhs Conquer Isakhel & Marwat

8.    Edwardes Sent to Bannu

9.     Bannu Proper Annexed

10.Anarchy in the Second Sikh War

11.  The Mutiny

12. First Constitution of the District

13. Change of Boundaries

14. Administration, Annexation in 1860

15. Summary of Events since 1860

16. List of Deputy Commissioners in Bannu

17. List of Officers in Charge in Mianwali

18.Developments Since Annexation

19. Notes

Early History

Of the early history of the district nothing can be stated with any certainty beyond the fact that its inhabitants were Hindus, and that before the Christian era the country formed an integral portion of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire of Kabul and the Punjab. This is amply testified by relics of antiquity, which, have from time to time been discovered in the district, and have been discussed by General Cunningham at pages 25 to 33, Vol. XIV of his Archaeological Survey Report, and at pages 84 to 87 of his Ancient Geography of India.

Akra

The best known are the Akra mounds lying nine miles south west of Edwardesabad. There is a picturesque, but rather highly coloured account of them in Edwardes "Year on the Frontier," Volume I, pages 335 to 341. These mounds now consist of several rounded eminences, each covered with potsherds, stones and rubbish of sorts. The highest rises abruptly about 250 feet above the level of the country immediately surrounding it and covers an area of 33 acres. No ruins exist on it, and the only traces of masonry to be found are at the northern end where tunnelling has exposed portions of arches and brick walls. The kiln bricks found are all very large. A shaft sunk to about 40 feet in 1868-69 at the southern extremity of the mound only resulted in the exhumation of a few bones. The stratum pierced was clay. This hillock and its more insignificant neighbours are gradually but very slowly disappearing, their materials having been in request for generations past as manure. Judging from the quantities of chips of bone found, the chief mound must have been utilized for some long period as a common sepulchre by the inhabitants round about. It is the bone-earth (phosphate of lime) which makes Akra so valuable to the cultivator. Sir Robert Egerton, when Financial commissioner, visited the mounds, and at his suggestion they were declared Government property. The villagers are allowed to excavate as formerly, but are expected to bring in antiquities when found. The popular tradition ascribes the earliest occupations of Akra to Hindus to whom succeeded Greeks, Indo-Grecians and Indo-Scythians. Subsequently Hindus colonized the place calling it Sat Ram, and remained in possession until Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed it and them. Coins and other antiquities establish the settlement here of Hindus, and of races acquainted with Greek art, also of Muhammadans in later times. Thus four years ago, a villager brought in an inscribed stone he had turned up, when ploughing below the chief mound. It is now in the Lahore museum, but has disintegrated from exposure to the air. All that General Cunningham and the Sanskrit Professor at St. Petersburg could pronounce about it was, that the inscription was in ancient Sanskrit and had it been better preserved and more perfect, it "would have been invaluable." Again small moulded Buddhist (?) images are constantly laid bare here after rain. They are usually terra-cotta, but are sometimes of slate, sandstone, or soapstone. The coins found are most copper and of many sorts. Among coins lately obtained at Akra are several Graeco Bactrian copper coins of Eukratides, Philoxenes, Menander and Apollodotus; but the majority found are of the Barbaric kings, Azas, Mayas, Wema Kadphises, Kanerki, and Hwerki; coins of the Brahman kings of Kabul, Samanta Deva and Syalpati, and of the Ghaznavide kings, Sabuktagin and Mahmud are also found together with a few later Musalman coins up to Iltitmish (Altamash). Probably the place was gradually abandoned after Mahmud's raid. The most valuable antiquities are small cut cornelians and agates, apparently the stones of Greek signet rings. The following figures are beautifully engraved on some of them, a helmeted head, a horse, a bull, two cocks, etc. They are clearly of Greek design. A small mound similar to those at Akra exists at Islamnagar and another at the Tochi outpost. There are few others, but their size is very insignificant.

Til Kafir-Kot or Raja-til-Kot

The ruins of Til Kafir-Kot lie a few miles to the south of the debauchment of the river Kurram into the Indus, upon a spur of the Khissor hills, which ere enter the Isakhel tahsil from the neighbouring district of Dera Ismail Khan. They occupy a commanding situation [1] immediately overlooking one of the channels of the Indus. The outer walls composed of immense blocks of stone, some 6 feet by 3 wide and 3 deep, with the exposed side smoothly chiselled are of great strength. In the centre are the remains of several Hindu temples or sanctuaries, the domes of which are very perfect, with steps leading up to them. The carving, representing idols and other designs, both inside and outside, is in a good state of preservation. No pottery, bones, or coins, are believed to have been yet found among these ruins.

Remains at Rok and Mari

For some years past the Indus has, during the rains been encroaching on the Mianwali plain, and has on several occasions laid bare, and then engulfed masses of stone, at a depth of some 10 or 15 feet below the level surface of the thal. In 1868, the river retired before it had quite washed away the remains it had exposed and Mr. Priestley, on examination, found at Rokri "a number of heads, apparently cast in some kind of plaster, and one mutilated figure of the trunk of a human body made in similar material, also a quantity of copper coins, fragments of pottery, ivory, etc." The ruins discovered consisted of portions of two circular walls composed of blocks of stone, and large well-shapen burnt bricks, over which was a layer of white plaster, many fragments of which were found profusely ornamented with thin gold and ornamented scroll work. The bottom of these circular walls is about 15 feet below the present surface of the plain. Mr. Priestley considers that the statues, which have clear cut and well shapen features, are suggestive rather of Greek than of Hindu cut.

Some figures of the same type as those at Akra have been recently obtained. Mr. Dames obtained an engraved crystal seal bearing a well-cut head of Greek type.

In Mianwali we have at Mari a picturesque Hindu ruin crowning the gypsum hill there locally called Maniot, on which the "Kalabagh Diamonds" are found. Its centre building now serves as a Hindu temple. The ruins themselves have once been extensive.

The temples are very similar in style to those at Kafir-Kot Til Raja, but larger and better preserved in two cases. The massive fortifications are however what make Kafir-Kot Til Raja chiefly remarkable. The stone used in building the temples both at Kafir-Kot and at Mari is a kind of travertine full of petrifactions of leaves, sticks, grass, etc. etc. It is said to be found in the neighbourhood of Khewra in the Salt Range.

The above, together with two sentry-box-like buildings, supposed to be "dolmens", near Nammal, and several massive looking tombs (?) constructed of large blocks of dressed stone in the Salt Range, comprise all the antiquities above ground in the district. There can be no doubt many remain concealed beneath the surface which accident alone will reveal. Thus the encroachments of the Indus, and even of the Kuram near Isakhel, often expose portions of ancient masonry arches and wells. The only other antiquity worth mentioning is a monster "bauli" at Van Bhachran said to have been built by order of Sher Shah. It is in very good preservation, and is similar to those in the Shahpur district.

Insignificant Bannu?

Within historical times, Bannu has never been a theatre for great events, nor have its inhabitants ever played a conspicuous part in Indian history. The secret of its insignificance was that. It lies off all the great caravan routes between Hindustan and Kabul. True, the valley has been occasionally traversed by conquering armies from the west; and Masson, and others, have written of it as being a "highway" between India and Kabul. But in point of fact such armies first debouched upon what is now British territory either by the Khaibar or the Kuram route, which latter commences at the head of the Miranzai Valley in the Kohat district. Thus Timur Lang (Tamerlane) when in 1398 he marched via Bannu and Dang Kot on the Indus into the Panjab, most probably came by this Kuram "route," and a century later (1505) when Babar ravaged Bannu, his army had advanced by the Khaibar Pass to Kohat and thence to Bannu. It therefore seems erroneous to write of Bannu as being a "highway" between India and Kabul. Of the five trans-Indus districts, it is really the only one from which no great route leads westwards. These routes are the Khaibar, the Kuram, the Gomal, (Gwalari) and the Bolan, and they respectively appertain to Peshawar, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan and Sindh. The Dera Ghazi Khan district, besides being indirectly connected with the Bolan, has two important passes of its own, the Sakhi Sarwar and the Chachar, one or both of which promise soon to become valuable trade routes. Under the circumstances it appears only reasonable to attribute the historical unimportance of Bannu to its secludedness. If so, research into its past can have nothing more than a local interest, and it can only be profitable to inquire when and how the allocation of the tribes now settled in the district was effected. Mahmud of Ghazni is said to have ravaged the district, expelling its Hindu inhabitants, and reducing the country to a desert. Thus there was no one to oppose the settlement of immigrant tribes from across the border.

The order of Descent of Afghan Tribes

Before going into details it will be well to give a general account of the series of Afghan immigrations into this district. The order of descent was as follows:

1.      The Bannuchis [2] who about five hundred years ago displaced two small tribes of Mangals and Hannis, of whom little is known, as well as a settlement of Khattaks, from the then marshy but fertile country on either bank of the Kurram.

2.     The Niazis, who some hundred and fifty years later spread from Tank over the plain now called Marwat, then sparsely inhabited by pastoral Jats.

3.     The Marwats, a younger branch of the same tribe, who within one hundred years of the Niazai colonization of Marwat, followed in their wake, and drove them farther eastward into the countries now known as Isakhel and Mianwali, the former of which the Niazais occupied after expelling the Awans they found there, and reducing the miscellaneous Jat inhabitants to quasi-serfdom.

4.     Lastly, the Darweshkhel Wazirs, whose appearance in the northern parts of the valley as permanent occupants, is comparatively recent, dating only from the close of the last century, and who had succeeded in wresting large tracts of pasture lands from the Khataks and Bannuchis, and had even cast covetous eyes on the outlying lands of the Marwats, when the advent of British rule put a final stop to their encroachments.

The Bannuchis

The first to settle were thus the Bannudzais or Bannuchis. Their previous home had been in the mountains now held by the Darwesh Khel Wazirs, with head-quarters in Shawal. Sweeping down thence they soon conquered the country lying between the Kuram and Tochi rivers, and once firmly established, devoted themselves to agricultural pursuits. Their subsequent expansion was small, and only extended to their present possessions on the left bank of the Kuram. Weak Khatak communities were already settled there, but were gradually supplanted by the more numerous Bannuchis, whose pressure was irresistible. As soon as their conquests were secured to them, the new colonists seem to have parcelled out the country in a loose way amongst themselves, each group of families receiving once for all the share to which it was entitled by ancestral right. [3] It must not be supposed they first held by the wesh or communal tenure of the Marwats. The sons of their spiritual guide, a Sayad named Sheikh Shah Muhammad Ruhani, whose descendants now own the Sadat Tappa, have the credit of having effected the partition, and are said to have been so strictly honest in this work that every one was satisfied. They however reserved the best lands for themselves, as was only natural, considering their superior honesty and sanctity. For the next three hundred years the history of the Bannuchis is a blank. So much is clear that first the Khataks, and subsequently the Marwats, were at chronic feud with them, and that the Marwats were strong enough to check all attempts at expansion eastward of the fens of Ghoriwal; also that the fertility of the valley and the superstitious character of its inhabitants attracted to it persons calling themselves holy Sayads and leaned doctors, and that all such were welcomed and given land; also that many of the old inhabitants remained as "hamsayahs" or dependants of their conquerors, many of whom being indifferent to miscegenation, in the course of generations lost much of their purity of descent from their common progenitors, Shitak and his wife Bannu. Thus the Bannuchis became the hybrid race they now are. Nevertheless each of the numerous clans, into which they still divide themselves, preserves to this day its table of descent from Shitak. Eight pages of the Hayat-i-Afghani are taken up with those tables, but no one probably, except perhaps the learned author, has ever taken the trouble to study them. Besides the true Bannudzais, the so-called descendants of Shitak, the hamsayah group and the priestly and learned classes, all of whom are now loosely styled Bannuchis, there are several other dominant families, sprung from later colonists, who are also included in the collective term. In fact "Bannuchi" in its broadest sense now means all Muhammadans, and by a stretch even Hindus long domiciled within the limits of the irrigated tracts originally occupied by the Bannudzais. But locally and strictly the term is only applied to those claiming descent from Shitak. On the decay and disruption of the Moghal empire, bands of adventurers settled themselves on unoccupied land, and taking part with one or other of the factions into which the Bannuchis were split up gradually obtained a footing. The most notable case of the sort is that of the Mughal Khels of Ghoriwal, Yusafzai group, who conquered territory for themselves seven generations ago and still preserve in speech and physiognomy proof of their origin. Later on, during and immediately subsequent to the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah adventurers from the Durrani armies, by inter-marriage with Bannuchis or less honourable means, secured here and there plots of land and even states for themselves. From the death of Timur Shah (1793) the influx of outsider, except as hamsayahs into the Bannu valley may be said to have come to an end. Stormy times followed his decease. The Wazirs had appeared on the scene, and, greedy for land, were annexing many a fair outlying field from the Bannuchis. Then the Sikh visitations commenced (1823-1845) and continued until annexation. In such troublous times the valley had few attractions for enterprising foreigners.

The Niazis

The Bannuchis must have been settled down for nearly two centuries before the Niazai irruption into Marwat took place. The Niazais are Lodis, and occupied the hills about Salghar which are now held by the Suleman Khels, until a feud with the Ghilzais compelled them to migrate elsewhere. Marching south by east, the expelled tribe found a temporary resting place in Tank. There the Niazais Lived for several generations occupying themselves as traders and carriers, as do their kinsmen the Lohani Pawandahs in the present day. At length towards the close of the fifteenth century, numbers spread north into the plain now known as Marwat, and squatted there as graziers, and perhaps too as cultivators, on the banks of the Kuram and Gambila, some fifteen miles below the Bannuchi Settlements. There they lived in peace for about fifty years, when the Marwat Lohanis, a younger branch of the Lodi group, swarmed into the country after them, defeated them in battle, and drove them across the Kurram at Tang Darra in the valley beyond which they found a final home. At the time of the Niazai irruption, Marwat seems to have been almost uninhabited except by a sprinkling of pastoral Jats; but the bank of the Indus apparently supported a considerable Jat and Awan population. The most important sections of the expelled Niazais were the Isakhel, Mushwanis, and a portion of the Sarhangs. The first named took root in the south of their new country and shortly developed into agriculturists; the second settled farther to the north round about Kamar Mushani, and seem for a time to have led a pastoral life; while the majority of the Sarhangs, after drifting about for several generations, permanently established themselves cis-Indus, on the destruction of the Ghakar stronghold of Muazam Nagar by one of Ahmad Shah's lieutenants. That event occurred about 1748, and with it terminated the long connection of the Ghakars with Mianwali. They seem to have been dominant in the northern parts of the country even before the emperor Akbar presented it in jagir to two of their chiefs. During the civil commotions of Jehangir's reign, the Niazais are said to have driven the Ghakars across the Salt Range, and though in the following reign the latter recovered their position, still their hold on the country was precarious, and came to an end about the middle of the last century as stated above. The remains of Muazam Nagar, their local capital, were visible on the left high bank of the Indus about six miles south of new Mianwali until a few years back, when the site was eroded by the river. The Niazais thus established themselves in Isakhel about 270 years ago, but their Sarhang branch did not finally obtain its present possessions in Mianwali until nearly 150 years later. The acquisition of their cis-Indus possessions was necessarily gradual, the country having a settled though weak government, and being inhabited by Awans and Jats.

The Marwats

Closely following on the Niazais came, as already stated, the Marwat immigration. Driven from Shalgarh, they too had first settled in Tank alongside of their Niazai brethren. Both clans acknowledge Lodi as their common progenitor, and whilst in Tank there was amity between them. Time went on, and the Niazais spread into Marwat, then a nameless sandy plain. Several more generations passed before the Marwats, taking advantage of internal dissensions amongst the Niazais, swarmed northward, drove their kinsmen east of Tang Darra, and erecting their black tents on the banks of the Kuram and Gambila, squatted there as graziers. For some time they mainly confined themselves to pastoral pursuits. By degrees, as their numbers increased, groups of families went forth from the central settlements to seek new homes for themselves about the plain, but each within the rather vague limits of the allotment of the section to which it belonged. Such groups in turn became centres from which other migrations took place. Thus in process of time the whole plain became occupied, and a large proportion of the Marwats settled down into agriculturists, each community holding and cultivating its lands according to the wesh tenure. During Mughal times, the Marwats, being little interfered with, and being strong and united enough to defy encroachments by surrounding tribes, enjoyed the singular good fortune of being left to themselves, ad thus developed and worked out their ancient communal institutions. Meanwhile the Mughal Empire, which had long been declining, received its death-blow, so far at least as its Indus provinces were concerned, from Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1756; and soon after the whole of what now is the Bannu district was incorporated into the newly risen kingdom of Kabul. Marwat was never regularly occupied, but in good years, if the required amount of tribute was not forthcoming, a force was marched into it and exacted what it could. During such visitations the material loss was not great, as those who led a pastoral nomadic life retired with their flocks and herds to the hills, and those who tilled the soil either remained and compounded with the royal tax-gatherers or fled to the hills. Thus beyond the partial destruction of his crops, no Marwat lost much, as the stay of the Kabul troops was never long, and the burning of his house only gave him the extra trouble of procuring a few ox-loads of reeds from the marsh and twigs from the jungle, and running up a hut with them.

The Wazirs

The fourth and last great wave of colonists from the west was that of the Darwesh Khel Wazirs. The tribe is divided into two great sections, the Utmanzai's and the Ahmadzai's, and has for many centuries occupied the hills between Thal in Miranzai, and the Gabar mountain. Until about one hundred years ago their camps only descended occasionally into the plain during the cold season, and always clung to the mouths of the passes leading up into their hills. Latterly their visits became annual; and between 1750 and 1775 the Jani Khel and Bakka Khel sections of the Utmanzai branch, seized the Miri grazing lands, lying between the Tochi (Gambila) and the hills. The Muhammad Khels and Ahmadzai clan next took possession of the stony ground at the mouth of the Kuram Pass, and soon after other Ahmadzai's began to occupy the Thal beyond the left bank of the Kuram, driving off the Khattak and Marwat grazing camps they found there. Still the visits of those savage highlanders only lasted during the cold months, and no great alarm was caused. Years went by. The strength of the Duran hold on the country began to wane, and by about 1818 Bannu had become practically free. A short period of semi-independence followed, and finally the Sikh domination was established. Taking advantage of the general distraction, the united Darwesh Khel's commenced systematic encroachments on Marwats, Khattaks and Bannuchis alike, and on occasion sold their aid to one or other of the rival parties in the country. On one occasion they crossed the Kuram to attack old Lakki, the head-quarters of the Marwats, but were routed and pursued as far as Latambar. After that they confined their operations to the north bank of the Kuram, and extended their hold north and east to within a few miles of Latammar and Shinwa, both Khattak villages. Once the Bannuchis became alive to their common danger, their walled villages and united front were sufficient to make good the defence of all but their outlying fields in the Daud Shah, Surani, and Jhandu Khel tappas. Both sides too learnt that peace is more profitable than war, and now and again swore a truce, during which friendly intercourse was maintained. Thus in 1826-27, when Masson paid Bannu proper a visit, be found Bannuchis and Wazirs "on a good understanding" together.

The Bitannis and Bhangi Khels

Two more Afghan tribes require mention, the Bitannis and the Bhangi Khel Khattaks. The former occupy the eastern and southern slopes of the hills between the Gabar mountain and the Gomal valley; and possess some small hamlets on the Marwat border. They have only appeared as permanent squatters inside British territory within the last sixty or seventy years, and their cultivation consists mostly of patches of stony land, near the mouths of the different passes leading into the hills from Marwat. The latter are a strong united, little section of the great Khattak tribe, and seized or spread into the hilly country north of Kalabagh known as Bhangi Khel about four hundred years ago.

The Awans and the Jats

Of non-Afghan tribes the only important one is that of the Awans of Pakhar in Mianwali. They have been almost the sole occupants of that extensive tract for at least six hundred years, and may perhaps have resided there since the Arab invasions of the seventh century, but as to whether they originally came from Arabia, as they claim to have done, is more than doubtful. Of the many sub-divisions of the Pakhar Awans, those of the Achhrals and Darals are most numerous. Previous to the decline and extinction of Ghakar authority in Mianwali, the Awan possessions extended westward of the Salt Range. But the advancing Niazai tide compelled them to retire before it, and for upwards of one hundred years past the mountain barrier, which runs from Sakesar to Kalabagh, has here abruptly marked the limits of Pathan expansion to the east, and Awan contraction to the west. To the south the Mianwali Thal had no allurements for the invading colonists, and up to the close of the last century, hardly a fixed settlement was to be found in it, or in the alluvial bed of the Indus west of it. Until then the Thal was but a great prairie, a frequent grazing ground for wandering bands of Jat shepherds. With the advent of Sikh domination came more settled times. Here and there a well was sunk or pond excavated, round which a few huts were erected and a permanent grazing centre thus created. In the bed of the Indus groups of Jat families had been drifting about for centuries. They too now began to take root, as organized communities settled in one particular locality. Their numbers were largely augmented by the addition of new immigrants from the west. A Biloch (Pathan) clan became dominant about Piplan, and a Biloch family settled near it at Dab from Shahpur.

Mughal rule in Bannu

Having now followed the several tribes from their previous resting places to their present homes, their connection with the outer world has to be noticed. How the Mughals ruled the trans-Indus portion of the district is not known. No forts containing foreign soldiery seem ever to have been established in their time; nor does any governor or revenue-collector appear to have ever resided amongst the Bannuchis. This is surprising as they were a civilized community possessing a highly developed system of canal irrigation and tillage, at least so far back as the reign of Akbar, if not a century earlier; for Babar in 1505 observed. "the Bangash river (Kuram) runs through the Bannu territory, and by means of it chiefly is the country cultivated." Elsewhere population was sparse, and mainly pastoral, hence forts and governors were not required. The probability is that, as in later times, the people were allowed the luxury of self-government provided they paid a fixed annual amount of tribute - for Bannuchis grain or cash, and for others so many sheep, goats and camels, and perhaps also horses and men for service. When payment was withheld a force would come and levy what it could. That unfortunate prince Dara Shah, son of Shah Jahan, is said to have once visited the valley when en route to Kabul and the largest canal on the left bank of the Kuram, Shahjoya (probably King's Son), is said to have been enlarged and extended under his auspices. Cis-Indus, an open country and less warlike races made rule easy. Accordingly we find that Ghakar feudatories of the great Mughal held Sway there until towards the middle of the last century, and until the Durani invasions swept away for ever, the last vestige of royal authority in those parts.

Durrani rule in Bannu

There still survive in Marwat a few old white-beards, who can tell strange stories of Nadir Shah and his nameless deeds. They remember to have talked in their youth with fellow clansmen who had marched to the sack of Delhi under the banner of that pitiless conqueror. Thus the modern history of Bannu may be said to date from the Durani invasions of India. Nadir Shah's great invasion took place in 1738. In that year a portion of his army entered Bannu by the valley of Dawar, and by its atrocities so cowed the Bannuchis and Marwats as to extract a heavy tribute from them. Ten years later a Durani army under one of Ahmad Shah's generals entered the valley by the same route; and crossing the Indus at Kalabagh drove the Ghakars who still ruled in the cis-Indus tracts of this district, owing nominal allegiance to the emperor of Delhi, out of the country, and razed Muazam Nagar, their stronghold, to the ground. For the next seventy years, Ahmad Shah and his successors to the throne of the newly created kingdom of Kabul maintained a precarious hold on its eastern provinces, amongst which was this district, collecting tribute in the western valley by an army sent periodically to extort it at the sword's point and in the eastern through local chiefs, to whom a large share was remitted as the price of their good will. But for those latter, too, the presence of royal troops was often required to coerce them and their clansmen into obedience. As the king's authority grew weaker, that of his vassals in his eastern or winter Indus provinces grew stronger, until one by one each declared himself independent and commenced to make war on his neighbours, only to fall on easy prey a few years later to the devouring Sikh.

The Nawab of Dera Ismail Khan seizes Marwat

In the general scramble for territory which commenced early in this century amongst these quondam vassals, but now independent princes, Nawab Hafiz Ahmad Khan of Mankera managed to annex Isakhel and part of the cis-Indus tract as well; but in 1821 he resigned the latter to the Sikhs, after standing a short siege in his fortress of Mankera, prudently declining further contest with Ranjit Singh, "the lion of the Panjab." With a keen eye for his own aggrandisement and coming events, this prudent Nawab had, three or four years before his withdrawal to trans-Indus, taken advantage of the distracted state of Marwat to assist one of the two factions into which that country was divided. The "black" or Abezarite party had lately gained a decided superiority over the "white" or Nawazite party, which in its distress was unpatriotic enough to call in foreign aid. The Nawab despatched his troops, accompanied by a revenue-collector named Diwan Manak Rai, and with their assistance the "whites" overthrew the "blacks" in a pitched battle at a place called Lagharwah, between new Lakki and Tang Darra, on which the wily Diwan informed both that his master had ordered him to take possession of the country for himself. From that date Marwat lost its independence: and for the next four years the Nawab's troops each spring, when the crops were ripe, ravaged the lands of the "blacks" and extorted a large share of the produce from the "whites". On one occasion the Diwan had the temerity to advance to Akra in Bannu valley, and requisition the Maliks or village headmen for supplies and tribute; but they shut themselves up in their villages, and defied him and his master, on which the disappointed Diwan had the discretion to retire, vowing future vengeance.

The Sikhs conquer Isakhel and Marwat

The Nawab annexed Isakhel in 1818, and overran Marwat in the following year, but was not left long to enjoy the fruits of either conquest by the insatiable Ranjit Singh, who had no sooner gained the Indus for a frontier, than he determined to advance it to the Suleman Range itself. In 1823 he crossed the Indus at the head of a large force, marched through Isakhel and Marwat without opposition, and pushed on to the outskirts of Bannu. After a stay of a month or two, he retired without attempting to plant a garrison in the country at all. For the next twelve or thirteen years the troops of the Dera Nawab and of Maharaja Ranjit Singh harried the Marwat plain alternately, until, in 1836, the Nawabs short-lived semi-independence was finally extinguished, and the Sikhs had it all to themselves. The Marwats never offered any combined resistance to the Sikhs, but on each visitation either fled to the hills, carrying their flocks and herds with them, or remained and paid what they could of the kalang (arbitrary money) and grain assessment put on each village or tappa. Resistance would have been useless, as their villages were mere collections of huts constructed of twigs, osiers, and reeds, either open or encircled with a thorn hedge.

Not so the Bannuchis, who from 1823 to 1845 were every second or third year invaded by a large Sikh army, which never entered their valley without fear and trembling; and although it generally succeeded in squeezing out of them a considerable revenue, never quitted it without having suffered severe loss at the hands of some stout rebel. Thus on one occasion Malik Dilasa Khan, head of the Daud Shah Tappa stood a siege of several days in his mud fort, and repulsed the Sikhs after inflecting upon them a loss of over two hundred men. Now the Bannuchis as a tribe were a nation of cowards compared with the Marwats; but they had nearly four hundred compact villages, each a fort in itself surrounded by a thick mud wall, strengthened with numerous towers behind which they fought well. Added to this they were adepts at night assassination, and on the entrance of the Sikhs into their little pandemonium, they by common consent suspended their own feuds for the time, called their Waziri foes "brothers," and attacked with one accord the Kafir (infidel) enemy, whenever they could with safety to themselves. From first to last no attempt was made to occupy the valley permanently, and in open Marwat even it was not until 1844 that a fort was erected, a Sikh garrison located in it and the country consigned to the tender mercies of a kardar or revenue-collector, the celebrated Fateh Khan Tiwana.

It was far otherwise in the eastern valley whore no serious opposition had ever been experienced by the Sikhs. Their connection with the cis-Indus portion of that valley commenced towards the close of the reign of Timur Shah, the feeble son and successor of Ahmad Shah the celebrated conqueror of Delhi and destroyer of the Marhattas. Before Timur Shah's death, which occurred in 1793, the Sikh troops had on several occasions overrun the greater part of Mianwali, and levied contributions and tribute from its villages; but it was not until after the fall of Mankera (1822) that it was completely annexed and settled. The trans-Indus portion, that is Isakhel, continued subject to the Nawab of Dera until 1836, when it was formally incorporated into the Sikh kingdom. But for the ten or twelve years preceding that event, the Nawab's sovereignty was more shadow than substance; for in their expeditions to Marwat and Bannu, the Sikhs used to march through Isakhel whenever they required it as a highway, and treated the Nawab and his government with scant courtesy.

Edwardes sent to Bannu

Soon after the close of the first Sikh war, the council of Regency, which had been appointed, under the control of a British resident, to administer the Punjab during the minority of the Maharaja Dalip Singh, drew the attention of their adviser, the late Sir Henry Lawrence, to what they were pleased to term the "outstanding revenue" of Bannu. After due inquiry into the state of affairs in that quarter, the Resident sanctioned the despatch of a strong Sikh force, accompanied by a British officer, to compel payment, if necessary, but if possible "to conciliate the Bannuchis; to subdue them by a peaceful and just treaty; and reduce the nominal revenue, which was never paid, to a moderate tribute in acknowledgement of sovereignty." The British officer selected to accompany the force was the late Sir Herbert Edwardes, then a subaltern. But as the cold season had well nigh come to an end his army crossed the Indus, he, after a short stay of six weeks in the valley, retraced his steps to Lahore, arriving at that capital in May 1847. Although but little revenue had been collected, the Expedition was by no means barren of important results, as a thorough reconnaissance of the country bad been made, discipline and obedience had been forced on an unruly soldiery, and a suspicious people had learnt to place confidence in the authority and good faith of an Englishman. In the cold weather of the following year (1847-48) Lieutenant Edwardes returned, and crossing the Kuram at Lakki, marched up its left bank into the Waziri Thal, where he was joined by a column from Peshawar, under Lieutenant Taylor. The junction being effected, the two officers pitched their camp at Jhandu Khel in Bannu proper. By that time all the chief Bannuchi Maliks had come in and tendered their submission, and were with the camp busy watching the course of events and each other. But the Bannuchi priesthood at first remained sullenly aloof, awaiting the action of the Wazir jirga (representative council). After some wavering the Waziris too submitted, and so the Sayads and Ulama became penitent, and promised allegiance to the young Maharaja. Lieutenant Edwardes' next step was to commence a broad high road right through the heart of the valley to the open Marwat country beyond, and to select a good site for a crown fort, which should command the heads of as many canals as possible. Having chosen his site, he laid out the lines of his fort, and allotted a portion of the work to each of his Sikh regiments.

Bannu Proper Permanently Annexed

Hitherto the Bannuchi peasantry had been incredulous that the occupation of their valley was seriously intended; but as day by day the walls of the fort rose higher and higher, they became disillusioned, and felt that their days of freedom were numbered. This thought goaded some of the most bigoted to desperation, and plots for a general insurrection, supported by an invasion from Dawar began to be agitated. The old tactics of way-laying stragglers beyond the camp and shooting sentries in dark nights, which had the secret approval of the priesthood, were resorted to, and Lieutenant Edwardes himself twice narrowly escaped falling a victim to the assassin's dagger. Meantime a rough revenue survey was going steadily on, and the outer walls of the fort continued to grow higher and higher, until it seemed safe to launch the audacious order that the walls of the four hundred strongholds of the valley should be pulled down by the very hands which had erected, defended and kept them in repair for the last five and twenty years. Forth went the order, "Throw down to the ground the walls within fifteen days, or I shall punish you," and down went the walls. The Bannuchis thus riveted their own chains, and proved themselves loyal subjects of the Maharaja, but for their loyalty all the more contemptible. It was now spring time, and Lieutenant Edwardes had still to visit Marwat and tracts south of it, so he handed over charge to Lieutenant Taylor. At first, Bannuchis and Wazirs were constant in their attendance on their new Sahib, anxious to ingratiate themselves with him; and their new Sahib was working day and night trying to make the yoke of subjection sit as lightly as possible on them. It seemed, indeed, as if the change from wild un-restraint to orderly rule had been accepted by the people more as a boon, for which their forefathers had sighed in vain, than as a sad necessity.

Anarchy in the Second Sikh War

The dream of peace was of a sudden rudely broken. The murder of Messrs. Vans Agnew and Anderson at Multan was the signal for a general uprising of the Sikh soldiery, to whom the new order of things was particularly galling. Diwan Mulraj raised the standard of rebellion, and the Panjab was ablaze. Acting under instructions from Lieutenant Edwardes, who had on the outbreak of the storm boldly marched to attack the Diwan, Lieutenant Taylor placed Fateh Khan Tiwana, in command at Dalipgarh, and started off to Multan to assist his chief in his abortive effort to besiege that stronghold with too disaffected troops and raw country levies. When the news of the rebellion of the Diwan, and of the risings of Sikh soldiery in different parts of the Panjab which immediately followed it, reached Dalipgarh, its Sikh garrison laid siege to the inner fort, in which Fateh Khan Tawana and his Muhammadan levies bad shut themselves up. After holding out for ten days, Fateh Khan, finding that further resistance was impossible, as his supply of water had failed, caused the gates to be opened, and rushed out sword in hand on the enemy, by whom he was immediately cut to pieces. After sacking the fort, the Sikh marched off with a number of captive local chiefs who had thrown in their lot with ours, to join their brethren in arms on the Jhelum, only to add their quota of slain to the number who fell under the well directed fire of our guns at Gujrat. On their departure Muhammad Azim Khan, a son of Dost Muhammad Khan, the Amir of Kabul, came down and occupied the empty fort. His advent only increased the anarchy which prevailed, for he was not strong enough to coerce the people into submission, and the chiefs who had invited him down were in a weak minority, and found that they were generally looked upon with suspicion.

Meanwhile the Lakki fort built four years before to overawe the Marwats by the unfortunate Fateh Khan, whose death has just been related, was in the hands of a portion of the rebel Sikh garrison, and remained so for some months, until Major Taylor having meantime achieved his majority, was enabled to return from Multan. Advancing by Isakhel, he invested the fort, which capitulated after a siege of a few weeks. He then pushed on for Dilipgarh as the new crown fort was called, from which Muhammad Azim Khan and his Afghans retired, without risking a fight. Within ten days after the final overthrow of the Sikhs at Gujrat, 21st February 1849, the Bannu valley was quietly re-occupied, and the Bannuchis after having experienced in the space of a few months the sweets and bitters of freedom, of Barakzai and English rule, welcomed Major Taylor back as a deliverer.

The Mutiny

The following account of the events of 1857 is taken from the Panjab Mutiny Report:

At the two stations of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, in this district, there were located two regiments of Panjab Infantry, two of Panjab Cavalry, two Panjab Batteries, one Sikh Infantry regiment, one very weak police Battalion, and 180 police horse. Many of these troops were instantly ordered away to Peshawar, Jhelum, &c., and for two days, until the arrival of the 3rd Sikh infantry from Dera Ismail Khan, the station of Bannu was guarded only by a battery of Punjab Artillery and the inhabitants of the country, "an experiment," says Captain Coxe, Deputy Commissioner, "which it might have been dangerous to protract." The rapid march of the troops caused a temporary panic amongst the traders of Bannu. Captain Coxe closed the gates and talked the people out of their fears. A fresh cause of anxiety was caused by the arrival of the suspected 39th Native Infantry from Jhelum. Captain Coxe felt their presence a source of imminent danger until 600 or 700 Multani horse had been raised and collected at Dera Ismail Khan. The 39th were quietly disarmed on the 14th of July without the presence of other troops. Three days before this, Captain Renny, Commanding the 3rd Sikh Infantry, informed the Deputy Commissioner of a plot among the Hindustanis of his regiment, 113 in number, to murder all their officers. These 113 men ere disarmed the same evening, and were subsequently dismissed from the service. The plot could not be brought home to them though there is little doubt it had been laid. Another conspiracy was reported amongst the 39th Native infantry at Dera Ismail Khan with the object of seizing the fort. Timely information saved it.

When the news of the mutiny of the portion of the 9th Irregular Cavalry reached Captain Coxe, he marched to the Indus with a party of Multani horse, and travelling 60 miles in 17 hours, raised all the country to act against them if requisite, and sent Mr. Cowan, Extra Assistant Commissioner, to follow them up. His force, co-operating with Captain Hackin's party, was instrumental in effecting their destruction. The frontier tribes were turbulent during this period as is their wont, but the presence of a moveable column sent by the Chief Commissioner restrained them from ravaging our territory.

The Leiah district remained very tranquil. Only one or two slight punishments were inflicted for offences connected with the mutiny. Much anxiety was caused at one time by the arrival of a wing of the 17th Irregular Cavalry under Captain Hackin, but it remained firm. When the Khurral insurrection broke out in September, Captain Hackin marched against the rebels, leaving at Leiah 40 of his men who had fallen under suspicion. The day before he marched news reached Leiah that the whole of the 9th Irregular Cavalry had mutinied at Mianwali. Captain Fendall says, "I certainly at first thought it was a deep-laid scheme for raising the whole country, that the 9th Irregular Cavalry were to appear before Dera Ismail Khan; bejoined by the 39th Native Infantry, come on to Leiah, pick up the wing of the 17th Light Cavalry, go towards Gugera, coalescing with the tribes, and march on to Multan (where there were two suspected regiments of Native infantry). It was feasible, and would have temporarily lost us the lower Punjab." But this dreaded junction did no take place. The news proved to be an exaggeration. The mutineers of the 9th Irregular Cavalry, who, strange to say, were all men of the Cis-Sutlej states were only 30 in number, and were entirely destroyed in a desperate fight in which Mr. Thomson, the Extra Assistant of Leiah, was very dangerously wounded. His gallant conduct in the most spirited little battle was conspicuous.

The First Constitution of the District

At the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, the trans-Indus portions of the present districts of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan were formed into one district, under the latter name, with headquarters at Dalipnagar, now Edwardesabad. Major Taylor thus became the first Deputy Commissioner of all this district except Mianwali, which became a sub-division of the late Leiah district.

Change of Boundaries

On January 1st, 1861, the old Leiah division was broken up, and the Derajat division formed with Bannu for its most northern district. Previously the trans-Indus portion of the new district comprising the tahsils of Bannu, Marwat, and Isakhel, had belonged to the Dera Ismail Khan district, with Edwardesabad, then Dalip Nagar, as its head-quarters and the cis-Indus portion, comprising of the sub-division of Kachhi or Mianwali, to the old Leiah district. In 1862 Pakhar, a tract lying along the eastern base of the Salt Range, and the Mianwali-Thal villages of Harnoli and Wichwin were added to Bannu, whilst the eighteen villages of the Nurpur Ilaka were taken from it, and annexed to Shahpur. Since then only one change of importance has been made, viz.. in 1875, Mullazai and a strip adjoining up to the water-shed of the Bitanni Range, until then a part of Marwat were transferred to the Dera Ismail Khan district. In 1874 Dhulla Azmat and seven other villages were transferred from Mianwali to Isakhel.

Administration, Annexation in 1860

Until the commencement of 1861, when Bannu was erected into a separate district, the border administration absorbed most of the Deputy Commissioner's time. Still a strong and just rule was enough in itself to largely promote the expansion of cultivation and the rapid development of natural resources. During the greater part of the incumbency of Major Taylor, the first Deputy Commissioner, the Umarzai Wazirs, were in rebellion; yet he found time, amidst the cares of his other duties, to enlarge and extend the Kachkot canal, and commence the reclamation of the Nar tracts, which until then had been debatable jungle land, claimed alike by Marwat and Bannuchis. This jungle was divided into blocks of from 50 to 500 acres each, and given to local chiefs and Pathan officers, who had been useful to him and Major Edwardes in the stormy times of 1847-49.

The next Deputy Commissioner was Major John Nicholson, from 1852 to the cold weather of 1855; and he, during a three-and-a-half years' incumbency, chastised the Umarzais, completed his predecessor's Nar reclamation schemes, partially reclaimed another waste tract called Landidak, and made a first Summary Settlement of the Bannu Pargana. His administration though severe was popular, and during all but the first year of it, the border was peaceful, and crime of all sorts was reduced to a minimum. The value of his strong rule and "English Justice" was seen at the time of the Mutiny troubles, for during them, with the exception of some petty border disturbances, Bannu remained profoundly tranquil; and the Niazai Pathans and Awans under their respective chiefs enlisted in numbers and did good service for us, both locally and at Peshawar, and in the neighbourhood of Delhi. Throughout the whole of that dark time too Captain Coxe, the Deputy Commissioner, was carrying out the second Summary Settlements of trans-Indus Bannu, and the country was making great strides in peaceful improvement.

Summary of Events since 1860

With the opening of 1861, Bannu became a separate district, and since then nothing has occurred to seriously retard its general progress towards a fair share of prosperity. It is true that border disturbances have now and again broken out, but their effect has always been very local. It is true, too, that between 1868 and 1871 partial depression and hardship was experienced from a series of bad years, which culminated in 1869-70. But the drought only affected un-irrigated uplands, and during it all who cultivated canal irrigated and even alluvial Indus lands were highly prosperous. Thus those drought years brought great gain to a good half of the peasantry of the district, and were by no means an unmixed evil. Now, for the last few years preceding 1877-78, the accident of the season has reversed the tables. The un-irrigated uplands have borne bumper crops, prices have fallen very low, and the incomes of those who gained by the 1868-71 drought have fallen correspondingly.

List of Deputy Commissioners since 1861

Below is a list of officers who have acted as Deputy Commissioners since A.D. 1861. Those who held temporary charge for periods of only three months and under are not mentioned.

Name of Deputy Commissioner

From

To

Captain Munro

1st January 1861

22nd December 1861

Captain Smyly

23rd December 1861

2nd November 1862

Major Urmston

3rd November 1862

15th January 1866

Captain Sandeman

16th January 1866

24th April 1866

Major Minchin

26th April 1866

28th August 1866

Major Birch

29th August 1866

20th November 1867

Major Munro

19th January 1868

1st June 1868

Major C.V. Jenkins

1st August 1868

21st December 1869

Mr. S.S. Thorburn

22nd December 1869

27th May 1870

Captain R.T. Hare

28th March 1870

9th March 1871

Major J.W.H. Johnstone

10th March 1871

19th December 1874

Mr. H.B. Heckett

4th February 1875

14th February 1877

Major J.W.H. Johnstone

15th February 1877

24th March 1878

Mr. R. Udny

25th March 1878

22nd August 1882

Mr. H.C.T. Robinson

23rd August 1882

28th May 1883

Mr. M. L. Dames

29th May 1883

Is still in Charge

List of Officers in Charge of the Mianwali Sub-Division since 1863

A list of officers who have held continuous charge of the Mianwali sub-division for six months and more since 1863 is given below. The special use of this and the above list is, that peasants have a habit of referring to dates of old cases by only naming the officer in charge at the time, but whether his incumbency over district or sub-division was ten years or twenty years before, the said peasant can seldom say, "I won the land when Coccus, [4] (Coxe,) was Dipati," (Deputy Commissioner) is all that the Bannuchi can often tell you, so a knowledge of the exact period of each officers consulship will facilitate work:

Name of Officer in Charge

Year

Name of Officer in Charge

Year

Captain Smyly

1863

Mr. Tolbort

1872

Mr. Cowan

1864 & 65

Mr. Benton

1873

Captain Sandeman

1865

Captain Roberts

1874

Mr. Moore

1866 & 67

Mr. Jenkyns

1875 & 76

Mr. Priestley

1868

Pundit Suraj Kaul

1877

Mr. Ogilvie

1869

Mr. Homan

1881 & still in Charge

Lieutenant Bartholomew

1870 (5 months)

    

Mr. Thorburn

1870 & 71

    

Developments Since Annexation

The following interesting sketch of the condition of the district at annexation, and of the progress made since then is taken from Mr. Thorburn's Settlement Report:

"At annexation Bannu proper was divided into twenty-one tappas or circles, each loosely ruled over by a tappa malik or chief, and each a little semi-independent state in itself. Amongst these twenty-one chiefs were two primi inter pares who wore recognized as the respective heads of the two great factions to one or other of which every Bannuchi belonged. In each tappa again, were from ten to thirty or more separate walled and towered enclosures, within which resided the descendants of the founders (or their supplanters,) of what I must call for want of a better term the "village," and their dependants. These latter, whether owning land or not, were and are known as hamsayahs. The walls and towers had all been lately partially dismantled, but were still sufficiently high for purposes of defence against musketry fire. In every "village" one man was recognized as malik, subordinate to the tappa malik, and all the dues paid to either were, as a rule, divided by the Maliks amongst those of their immediate kinsmen who supported them. The limits of both tappa and "village" were those of the holdings of men resident at the time within them, and wore consequently subject to occasional variations. Though might was right, the intense bigotry and superstition [5] of the people subjected their impulses in a great measure to the guidance of their Ulama; the general law of the land may be said to have been sharia corrected by assassination. All Bannuchis lived by the plough and spade, save the despised Hindus who had a monopoly of all trading and banking. Cultivation was fairly skilful and general, except on the confines of two hostile villages, where the peasant could only sow and reap at the risk of being shot from the boundary watch tower of the adjoining village. Notwithstanding the perpetual feuds of individuals and communities inter se, prescription and the necessity of a modus vivendi had established a common custom between "villages" and even tappas respecting canal irrigation, and this custom, though broken at times by civil commotion or other causes, always in the end re-established itself.

To the north and west of Bannu proper were the Darwesh Khel Wazirs, who from contact with the civilized Bannuchis, and from the pressure of their own increasing numbers were already passing from the pastoral nomadic to the settled agricultural state. Still these Wazirs were at best three-quarters savages, living in black tents, kezhdi, or slight booths of matting and grass, clothed according to the season in coarse woollen garments or sheepskin, and filthily dirty in their habits. South of the Wazirs and Bannuchis were the Marwats, who, though they had suffered evenly from the grinding exactions of Sikh domination and their own dissensions, were still a fine, united, and mainly agricultural race. A considerable minority of those resident near the hills still lived in tents, and led a pastoral life, but with such exceptions the whole tribe was agricultural, living in sectional communities each on its own allotment and each strictly governed by its own board of elders. Most families resided in wattled booths surrounded by thorn hedges, and it was not until after the mutiny that such frail structures began to be replaced by mud-walled and rafter-roofed huts. Now going on to Isakhel, we find that at annexation the various communities there, with the exception of some of the Khataks, were well housed, thriving agriculturists, possessing flocks and herds as well, and more land than they could utilize. At the time much of the bed of the Indus was a jungle of Shisham trees and tiger grass, in which the sport-loving Niazis of both banks used to have great drives after pig, hog-deer, and other game. Here and there the jungle had been cleared and settled on by a small compact group of families, half graziers, half cultivators. Across the Indus in Mianwali the social state of its inhabitants was much as in Isakhel, excepting that in the south, cultivation was more backward, population being very sparse and a roving pastoral life being easier than that of the settled cultivator.

To contrast the difference between 1850 and 1877 in a few words, I may say that since the former year cultivation has more than doubled, population has increased 20 per cent. Seven thousand nomadic and mostly pastoral Wazirs have grown into 14,000, holding 60,000 acres of cultivated land, litigation has increased to such an extent that out of every one hundred heads of families nine indulge once a year in a law suit, criminal statistics show that crime has fallen to the level of an orderly cis-Indus district like Shahpur, the land revenue has grown from Rs 3,80,559 in 1854 to Rs. 4,35,523, although the incidence per cultivated acre has fallen from Rs. 1-6-11 to 0-12-2. Instead of one high road of sixty miles in length and destitute of bridges, there are now 300 miles of high roads with scores of masonry bridges on them, and finally, instead of a restless suspicious population, there is now a quiet law-abiding trustful people the great mass of which, I honestly believe, thoroughly loyal."

Notes

  1. Kafir-Kot is 2,194 feet above the sea level.
  2. The first authentic mention of the Bannuchis occurs in Babar's "Memoirs". He includes the whole of the western valley, i.e., the present tahsil of Bannu and Marwat, as "Bannu territory," and says "of the Afghan tribes, the Kerani, the Kivi, the Sur, the Isakhel and Niazai cultivate the ground in this country." the three first are Bannuchi clans, viz., the Kerani are the Mirakhels and Ismailkhels, the Sur are the Suranis, and the Kivi are the Niris of today. The mention of the Isakhel, as though they were distinct from the Niazais, shows at least that then, as now, they were the most distinguished section of their tribe. Babar also establishes the interesting fact that when he came (1505) the Niazais were settlers in what now is Marwat.
  3. Pathan tribes, however barbarous, seem generally to divide new acquisitions on some established equitable principle, e.g., ancestral shares or number of families or mouths (khola) in each Khel. The tracts seized by Waziri clans from forty to a hundred years ago were also divided, and the Haramtala estate granted to the thieving Dhanna and Wurgaro Bittanis in 1866 has been divided by them amongst themselves according to ancestral shares.
  4. The affix "Sahib" is often omitted owing to ignorance, not disrespect.
  5. As an instance in the present day I may relate the following circumstances: 
    Nicholson, when Deputy Commissioner, hung a murderer, and had the body buried in a corner of what is now my bungalow compound. The dead man's friends, presumably after Nicholson had left Bannu, built a tomb over the grave and lit diwahs over it every Thursday evening; in short made the man a martyr, and the grave a place of pilgrimage. For many years the tomb was left undisturbed though in the line of the servants' houses. At last a late owner of the bungalow himself dismantled the tomb and built over it. Such was the position when I bought the bungalow. Some time after I happened to go into the hut erected over the grave, and there I found the tomb partially restored, and a number of diwahs round it. The servant occupant said he had seen two snakes in the hut, and supposing them to be the guardians of the grave, had renewed its superstructure, and that the people were in the habit of coming and salaming at it.

Pashtuns and their Resemblance to Arabs

By:Azim Afridi

Different hypotheses have been suggested about the origin of the Pakhtoons. Khawaja Niamatullah describes them as descendants of Jews, connecting them with the lost ten tribes of Israel. This theory of the Semitic origin of the Pakhtoons has been supported by some Pakhtoon writers, including Hafiz Rahmat Khan, Afzal Khan Khattak and Qazi Attaullah Khan. A number of orientalists like H W Bellew, Sir William Jones and Major Raverty have also subscribed to this view on the basis of Pakhtoon physiognomy, and the striking resemblance of facial features between Pakhtoons and Jews. They believe that the prevalence of biblical names, certain customs and superstitions, especially smearing of the door post and walls of the house with blood of sacrificial animals, further substantiates this theory. But these presumptions do not hold good in view of the fact that resemblance in features and certain characteristics do not provide a scientific criterion for the ethnology of a race or a section of people. This can equally be said about the Kashmiris and certain other tribes who can hardly be distinguished from Pakhtoons in physique, color and complexion. Similarly a scrutiny of the social institutions of the Arabs of the middle Ages and present day Pakhtoons would lead one to believe that Pakhtoons are not different from them in their social organization.

Syed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kaka Khel in his well written book "PUKHTANA" and Sir Olaf Caroe in his book "The Pathans" place little reliance on Niamatullah's theory of the Semitic origin of the Pakhtoons and say that his account of the Pakhtoons suffers from historical inaccuracies. To disprove the assertion that the Pakhtoon tribes had embraced Islam en-bloc after the return of Qais Abdul Rashid from Medina, the accounts of Al-Beruni and Al-Utbi, the contemporary historians of Mahmood of Ghazna, establish "that four centuries later than the time of Qais the Province of Kabul had not been Islamized and this was achieved under the Ghaznavides. The Hindu Shahiya Kingdom of Jaipal extended almost to Kabul, Mahmood had to fight against infidel Afghans of the Suleiman Mountains". Even Prithvi Raj had a cavalry of Afghans in the battle of Tarian against Mohammad Ghauri. Other writers, after a careful examination of the physical anthropology of the Pakhtoons say that difference in features of the various Pakhtoons point to the fact that they must have "mingled with races who passed through their territory to conquer Hindustan".

Khawaja Niamatullah's theory has further been put to a serious test by prominent linguists who maintain that Pashto bears no resemblance to Hebrew or other Aramaic languages and the Pakhtoons' language, Pashto, belongs to the family of the Eastern group of Iranian languages. Mr. Ahmad Ali Kohzad and some other Afghan historians, lending support to the Aryan origin of the Pakhtoons, say that the Pakhat of the Rig Veda are the Pakhtoons of today. It is a fact that the North West Frontier of Pakistan has, perhaps been involved with more foreign invasions in the course of history than any other country of Asia. Each horde seems to have left its mark on the Pakhtoons who absorbed the traits of invading forces, "predominantly of Turks, Iranians and Mongols".

According to Khawaja Niamatullah the Pakhtoons embraced Islam in the first quarter of the 7th century when the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) sent his emissaries in all directions to invite the people to the fold of Islam. One such messenger is stated to have been sent to Qais Abdur Rashid, who is claimed to be the ancestor of the Pakhtoons, through Khalid bin Walid. In response to Khalid's invitation, Qais hurried to the Holy land and as a result of the sublime teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) embraced Islam in Medina. After his return to Ghore, his whole tribe followed him in the Muslim faith. But due to weak evidence, missing links and wide gaps this theory has aroused suspicion in the minds of scholars.

If the origin of a race can be determined on the basis of customs and traditions then Pakhtoon would be closer to Arabs. The study of Arabian and Pakhtoon society presents a remarkable resemblance particularly in their tribal organization and social usages. Both possess the same virtues and characteristics. To both hospitality is one of the finest virtues, retribution a sacred duty and bravery an essential pre-requisite for an honorable life. Love of independence, courage, endurance, hospitality and revenge were the supreme virtues of pre-Islamic Arabs. These very attributes also form the basis of the Pakhtoon code of honor and anyone who repudiates them is looked down by the society. A Pakhtoon is nearer to an Arab in his tribal organization. Like an Arab tent, every Pashtoons house represents a family; an encampment of Arab tents forms a hay and a cluster of a few houses constitute a village in tribal areas. Members of one hay form a clan in Arabia and a Khel (which is an Arabic word meaning association or company) is the basis of the Pashtoon´s tribal organization. A number of kindred clans grouped together make a qabila in Arabia and a tribe in the Pakhtoon borderland. Even the Pashto script resembles the Arabic script in essence. The Arabs held in great esteem four moral virtues, viz Ziyafah or hospitality hamasah or fortitude, muruah or manliness and courage and ird or honor.

The Pathans are brave, courageous, hospitable and generous and these attributes are considered as pillars of the Pakhtoon code of honor or Pashtoonwali. The Pathans like the Arabs also believe in fire and sword for all their adversaries. This was the reason that they fought tooth and nail against the non-Muslim rulers of the sub-continent whether Sikhs or Feringi as the Britishers were called.

The position of a tribal Malik who plays an important role in tribal politics is similar to that of an Arabian Sheikh. The qualifications of a tribal Malik, such as seniority in age, qualities of head and heart and character as courage, wisdom and sagacity etc. are not different from an Arab Sheikh. Like a Sheikh, a tribal Malik follows the consensus of opinion. He is required to consult the heads of the families or village council while making any decision with regard to future relations with a village or tribe. Darun Nadwa was the center of activity of the pre-Islamic Arabs and the Pakhtoons' Hujra is also not different from it in its functions. All matters relating to war, peace, future relations with neighboring tribes and day to day problems used to be discussed in Darun Nadwa. Similarly, all tribal affairs connected with the tribe are discussed in the Hujra.

Hospitality is one of the sublime features of the Pakhtoons and pre-Islamic Arabs were also renowned for their hospitality and for affording asylum to strangers. They would share the last crumb of their bread with a guest and protect him from all harm so long as he was under their roof. Similarly, Pakhtoons regard hospitality as a "sacred duty and safety of the guest as inviolable". It is a serious violation of their established norms to hurt a man who enters their village as a guest. In the pre-independence days they provided asylum to all and sundry, including the proclaimed offenders wanted by the British Government in cases of a criminal nature in the settled districts. Similarly the Arabs the right of asylum considered sacred and was rigidly respected regardless of the crime of the refugee.

The spirit of revenge of the Pakhtoons is not different from that of the Arabs. Blood according to the law of the desert called for blood and no chastisement could satisfy an Arab other than wreaking vengeance on his enemy. Similarly, the hills of the Pakhtoon highlanders vibrate with echoes of retribution till the insult is avenged. As a matter of fact, the society of both the Arabs and the Pakhtoons is inspired by a strong feeling of muruwwa, virility or a quality to defend one's honor (ird). There are several anecdotes of revenge resulting in long blood feuds for generations. The Basus war between Banu Bakr and Banu Taghlib in Arabia lasted for about 40 years whereas tribal disputes between Gar and Samil factions of the Pakhtoons continued for decades. Pakhtoons like Arabs are conscious of their racial superiority. An Arab would boast of being a Qureish and a Pakhtoon would assert his superiority by saying, Am I not a Pakhtoon"?

The customs regarding giving protection to weaker neighbors is also common between Arabs and Pakhtoons. A weaker tribe in Arabia would seek the protection of a powerful tribe by means of Khuwah and a weaker Pakhtoon tribe would ensure its security by offering "Lokhay" to its strong neighboring tribe. The custom of "Lokhay Warkawal" is still prevalent among Afridi and Orakzai tribes of Tirah. A similarity can also be found in their customs relating to birth, marriage and death etc. Certain superstitions are also common between the Arabs and the Pakhtoons. Both believe in all kinds of invisible beings, wear amulets as a safeguard against the evil eye and believe in sooth sayers and fortune tellers.

 

 

 

Pashtuns Continue to Research their Roots

Ahmed Rashid

Publishing Date: Monday, August 31 2009

Peshawar University has produced three path breaking books on the Pukhtuns. At a time when the government-army run think tanks in Islamabad have become little more than propaganda machines and unable to produce independent and credible scholarship acceptable at an international level and Pakistan s Universities are suffering from virtual collapse with the departure of dozens of top scholars and teachers to foreign universities, the lack of government funding and the total lack of interest in higher education shown by successive rulers and in particularly the establishment this new effort by Peshawar University is all the more remarkable.

The new books are:

  • Some Major Pukhtoon Tribes along the Pak-Afghan border, by Iftikhar Hussain.
  • Mujahideen Movement in Malakand and Mohmand Agencies (1900-1940), by Jehanzeb Khalil.
  • The Durand Line and its Geo-strategic Importance, by Dr Azmat Hayat.

These books have been published in the past few months by the Russia-Central Asia Area Study Centre of Peshawar University under its Director Dr.Aznmat Hayat Khan with collaborative help from the Hanns-Seidel Foundation and its  head Dr Hein Kiessling. They have been meticulously edited and given extensive forwards by the scion of the former Afghan Royal Family and retired Pakistan army officer, Colonel Yahya Effendi. Extensive maps, appendices, tables and in some cases poems and tribal trees add to the readers knowledge and interest and make the books important reference points. Moreover the period they define the Pukhtun tribal wars against the British are immensely significant in giving experts and ordinary readers a greater in-depth understanding of the Afghan Jehad against the Soviet invasion, the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, the origins of the Pukhtun nationalist movement in the early years of Pakistan s history and the Islamic and nationalist movements currently underway in the NWFP. Says Effendi, The Pakhtun, a strange medley of virtues and prolifigacy, still emerges from the pages of history, as an attractive and even endearing character whether a king, or a retainer, a saint or a marauder, he has always stood a head higher than his adversaries.

Iftikhar Hussain gives a detailed read out of the major Pukhtun tribes Afridis, Shinwaris, Mohmands, Wazirs and non-Pukhtun tribes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. His important chapter dealing with Pukthunwali the tribal code of the Pakhtuns has immense relevance today and it is perhaps the most succinct and comprehensive account published. But what one misses from the author is how this code evolved during the past few centuries and how meaningful and relevant Pukthunwali is today, as society is rapidly modernized. The fact that the Taliban today give as their main reason for not handing over Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden to the Americans, their Pukhtun code of hospitality demonstrates how relevant this code today is, but is that the case with all the Pakhtun tribes on the Pakistani side of the border and how does this code function today in major cities like Peshawar. Moreover how should the legal system evolve in the NWFP when it is beset with so many complications such as the British penal code, Islamic law and tribal law.

Jehanzeb Khalil draws a remarkable picture of the Frontier s resistance to British rule between 1900-1940 which he sets in an Islamic-Jehad setting. Yahya Effendi in his Forward gives the reader an overview of the evolution of these Islamic movements, something which Khalil also needed to do so to explain how jehad, anti-colonialism and the spirit of resistance had historically evolved in Pakhtun society for example why was this resistance not present amongst other Muslim nationalities in British India why only the Pakhtuns. But Khalil does give a detailed picture of how these movements evolved In the NWFP influenced by Syed Ahmad Bareliv and the influence of the Deoband madrassas in British India.

Pukhtun resistance arose first against the Sikhs and then against the British. Khalil s descriptions of these movements in Malakand, Mohmand and Bajaur are extremely significant, particularly as they continue to persist today with periodic movements for the imposition of shariah in these areas and the influence of Taliban Islam.

There is fascinating detail of how effectively the Mujheddin were able to maintain a military camp in the tribal belt for something like 40 years despite the machinations of the tribal chiefs, the Afghan kings and the British. The author gives remarkable details of the audacious plan by some tribal militants who were in contact with Turkey, Iran, and Russia to invade India in 1915 and forment a jehad by Indian Muslims which would throw out the British. The plan was leaked and the British took stringent measures, sending troops, arresting dozens of leaders and their supporters and cracking down hard on the tribal belt. The fact remains that the Islamic zeal, motives and aims of the early 19th century Pakhtun Islamic rebels resemble today s neo-Taliban movements in the NWFP to a remarkable extent. History is repeating itself in the Frontier and Afghanistan and Khalil does an enormous service in making the reader understand that. Little of this is known to the vast majority of Pakistanis, it is not part of our traditional history and none of this is taught in our schools which it should be.

The Durand Line by Dr. Azmat Hayat will remain a classic simply because it is the best and most authoritative work on the formation of Pakistan s western frontier which has been a bone of contention for the past century. Hayat traces the history of the region which necessitated the formal partition of the expanding empires of Tasarist Russia and British India and the creation of Afghanistan as a buffer between the two empires. Afghan King Abdur Rehman under whose tenure Afghanistan s northern and western borders were drawn for the first time, remained extremely wary of both Russia and England. Thus even as he encouraged both empires to settle the borders of his country thereby ensuring that they would recognize the independent status of Afghanistan, at the same time Abdur Rehman astutely refused offers by both sides to built railway lines in Afghanistan, fearing that such a move would only facilitate invasions by one side or the other. Ironicly Abdur Rehman s fears were justified nearly a century when the Soviets used the road system they had help build in northern Afghanistan to invade Afghanistan in 1979. The author then discusses the current position on the Durand line from the Pakistan and Afghan positions and discusses the genesis of the Pukhtunistan question which bedeviled Afghan-Pakistan relations for more than 50 years.

Yet all the books suffer from lapses which could dramaticly improve the quality of future publications by the Area Centre. They are all heavily dependent on British sources and there have been few attempts to interview the descendents of the 19th century Pakhtun mullahs, chiefs and maliks involved in these conflicts to try and produce a parallel oral history of what legends, stories and facts have come down the generations which either collaborate or dispute the official British sources. The battle sites, villages, routes of travel and militant camps where major events occoured, are not visited by the scholars to give us a sense of greater immediacy, colour and depth which would give the reader a much greater sense of what has changed and what has not changed and add to the immediacy of the historical research. If these scholars had taken the trouble to travel the roads that these great lashkars traveled, before they attacked British army pickets and posts, we would have an even more vivid history.

Given the lack of written material by the Pakhtuns of the time and that most of the participants of these epic struggles are no longer alive, an oral history of their descendents conducted by these scholars would be of huge interest and give irrefutable linkages with the past. Here I am thinking of the remarkable work of such writers as Studs Terkel whose works such as Division Street America and Working provide an array of American working lives just through the simple medium of the interview. Given the lack of local written material, meaningful scholarship today in Pakistan has to be more like journalism so as to give it greater immediacy, poignancy and depth to readers who want to learn more about the present by connecting it to the past.

Unfortunately none of these books have indexes so essential if they are to become standard works of reference and maps, although plentiful need to have been especially drawn for each book so that they could better explain the terrain, the battle sites and the routes traveled by the lashkar. The book on the Durand Line needs fresh maps to show how each marker on the Line was put down and where. All the authors also needed to provide a more general historical overview of the period they cover in such detail what was happening in the rest of British India when such momentous events were taking place on the Frontier, how did these events fit in with the overall colonial history in the Sub-continent and how did these tribal movements fit in with the struggle for independence by the Muslim League and the Congress Party. All these weaknesses probably relate to the lack of funding available to the Area Centre, rather than the lack of attention by the scholars themselves. Moreover they are somewhat mitigated by the fascinating overviews written by Effendi in his Forwards to all these books.

Despite these faults, there is little doubt that these books could herald the start of something new in the intellectual desert that higher education and scholarship has become in Pakistan. Peshawar University has done a remarkable job which other Area Centres in the country s universities should learn from and emulate - that exploring the historical roots of Pakistan s nationalities brings much greater understanding of the country s present political, social and ethnic predicament.

Pathans and Hindu Rajputs

By: Khaled Ahmad

Both Pathans and Rajputs are warlike people. Their bravery and sense of honour are legendary. But are they also the same people? At least one person thought so.

A British doctor Henry Walter Bellew (1834-1892) thought in 1864 that most Pakhtun tribal names were actually Rajput names which had undergone changes over time. This actually gave rise to the theory that Hindus had occupied the region called Afghanistan before the 'foreigners' took it over.

As civil surgeon in Peshawar Bellew perfected his knowledge of the local languages. He was chief political officer in Kabul during the Second Afghan War. When he retired as India's surgeon-general he was already an authority on oriental languages.

In a nutshell, Bellew's thesis is that all Afghan tribal names can be traced to Greek and Rajput names, which posits the further possibility of a great Greek mixing with the ancient border tribes of India. Some of this survives in Punjab's Jhang district today where local inhabitants are conscious of homophonous similarities between their names and the great Greek tribes.

Bellew looks at the zai and khel suffixes indicating Pakhtun bloodlines. He thinks that zai is from Persian zaadan (to give birth) which is the same as Sanskrit jan; and khel is clearly Sanskrit kul (family). The Hindu name Kuldip means lamp of the family. The Pakhtun use zai and khel interchangeably.

Bellew starts with the mythology of the origin of the Afghans - perhaps the most detailed story given anywhere. Then he goes to the great Greek historian Herodotus when he discusses the Greek-Bactrian tribes North of Afghanistan.

The Lydoi (Greek 'y' is actually 'u') are the Lodis, Maionoi are the Miyanis, Mysoi are the Afghan tribes taking Musa as prefix, Thynoi and Bithynoi are Tanis and Bitanis, the Karoi are Karo, Ionoi are Yunus, Doroi are Dor, and Aioloi are Ali.

It should be noted that wherever possible the Afghans will try to convert their pagan names to Muslim ones, as Isapzais have become Yusufzais. This also inclines them to trace themselves to Jewish roots. Bellew gives us the other dimension: all these Greek-sounding names are also Rajput, meaning that Greek intermixing was with the Rajput races when they lived in the region now occupied by the Afghans.

Bellew thinks prefix Suleman is derived from Rajput Solan which is today visible in Solanki. Daud, as it appears in Daudzai and Daudputra among Muslims, is actually Rajput Dadi or Dadika. Utmankhel or Utmanzai (to which the family of Wali Khan belongs) are mentioned by Herodotus as a Greek tribe Utoi. Utmanzais have sub-tribes like Baddo (Rajput Yaddo, the tribe of Krishna), Ballo is Rajput Bhalla khatri, Bura is Bora (Vohra) mercantile Rajput, a name taken by Bohras, the Ismailis of Gujrat, Mandal is the Jat tribe Mada, its version Mandanr, live along Jadun or Gadun tribes (of Hazara which is Sanskrit Abhisara), which names are variant of the Jadu Rajput tribe. These are Yadavas of India.

Gaduns established Gajni which is today Ghazni. The Afghan Batanis are ancient Bhattis, the elite of the Rajputs serving at the court as ministers. Mahmand actually means 'the great Mand'. They are in Peshawar but their Rajput relatives are now found near Bombay. Pliny calls them Mandriani of Afghanistan; they are the Wends of Austria. A branch of them called the Bai-zai are located in Kohat which was an old Greek city.

The Suri Pakhtun were people brought from Syria by the son of Seleukus who ruled that part of Alexander's eastern empire. The Afridis are mentioned by Herodotus as Aparytai brought to their present abode by Ghaznavi, but they came from the Afghan province of Maimana.

Similarly, the Orakzai are mentioned by Arrian as Arasakoi, and their rivals Bangash came originally from Ghazni. The Bangash are also called Bangak which relates to Bangat Chohan Rajputs. Their neighbours the Turis are the same as Tiwari Rajputs of India. Thus the story of Pakhtun tribes goes on.

Abdalis and Ahmad Shah Baba

ABDALI, ancient name of a large tribe, or more particularly of a group of Afghan tribes, better known by the name of Dorrani since the reign of Ahmad Shah Dorrani (or Ahmad Shah Abdali: 1747-72). This tribal confederation groups the Pashtun clans of the west, who are to be distinguished from the Ghilzi (sing. Ghilzay), comprising those of the east. The eponymous ancestor of the Abdali is said to be Abdal, son of Tarin, son of Kharshbun. Tradition claims that Abdal bore this surname (laqab) because he had been in the service of one of the abdal, who represent the fifth degree in the hierarchy of Sufi saints. It is not possible to ascertain if this is only popular etymology or reflects historical reality.

The Abdali are divided into two branches: (a) The Zirak, who, especially in the region of Qandahar, include the clans of the Popalzai, the Alikozai, the Barakzai, and the Achakzai. The last king of Afghanistan (1933-73). Mohammad Zaher Shah, was a Mohammadzai of the clan of the Barakzai. The Mohammadzai had reigned since 1826, just as the Sadozai, an offspring of the Popalzai, had reigned from 1747 to 1818. This illustrates their long political power. (b) The Panjpao, which include the Nurzai, the Alizai and the Eshagzai or Sakzai, reside for the most part in the west of the country (Helmand, Farah, Sistan and Herat).

Ahmad Shah Abdali

One of the Most Prominent Abdali Personality is Ahmad Shah Abdali. He was the founder of the Durrani monarchy, rose from the mere character of a partisan, to a distinguished command in the service of the Persian conqueror; Nadir Shah. Of the family of the Saddozis, and chief of the tribe of Ahdali, the most illustrious family of the Afghans, he was, in his youth, imprisoned in a fortress, with his elder brother Zulfikar Khan, by Husain Khan, governor of Kandahar for the Ghalzis, which powerful tribe of Afghans, after overrunning the whole of Persia, had, a few years previously, trodden the throne of the sufis in the dust, and conquered that mighty empire.

Ahmad Shah and his brother, whose tribe were at feud with the Ghalzis, owed their freedom to Nadir Shah who in the year A.D. 1736-37, laid siege to Kandahar, which he captured. The brothers, with a powerful body of their clansmen, followed the fortunes of the conqueror; and greatly distinguished themselves in the war with the Turks; and were rewarded with the lands now held by the Durrani tribe in the vicinity of Kandahar.

On the day subsequent to the murder of Nadir Shah, (the particulars of which, as belonging to Persian history, need not be here detailed, although one among the causes of it has been attributed to his attachment to the Afghan troops in his service) a battle ensued between the Persians on the one side, and the Afghans and Uzbaks on the other; but the event does not appear to have decided any thing. But after this affair; Ahmad Shah saw that no time was to be lost in looking to the safety of himself and clansmen, and he accordingly fought his way through the greater part of Khura-san with a small force of between 2000 and 3000 horsemen, and repaired, by rapid marches, to Kandahar, which had now become the head-quarters of the Abdali tribe, and chief city of south-western Afghanistan. Here he intercepted an immense treasure, which had been sent from India for the use of Nadir Shah, which Ahmad appropriated, after compelling the Durranis, who had first siezed upon it, to give it up.

In October of the same year, Ahmad, then but twenty-three years old, assumed the title of Shah or King of Afghanistan, and was crowned at Kandahar; with great pomp, the different chiefs of the various Afghan tribes, with but few exceptions, and the Kazal-bash, Baluchis, and llazarahs, assisting; thus laying the foundation of the Durrani monarchy. And although the warlike and indepciident people, who now became his subjects, had never been accustomed to a sovereign's yoke, save in being compelled to pay tribute to a foreign ruler; yet such were his energy and capacity for government, that he was successful in gaining the affection of his own tribe; and with the exception of the Ghalzis, ever a most turbulent and unruly sept, he succeeded in instilling among the other Afghan tribes a spirit of attachment to their native monarch; and also in others, not Afghans, but dwelling in Afghanistan. With the Balüch and Hazarah tribes, his neighbours, he formed an offensive and defensive alliance.

Having first brought the refractory Ghalzis into subjection, Ahmad Shah began his conquests; and such was the uninterrupted tide of his success, that by the summer of 1751 he had conquered the whole of the countries, extending as far west as Nishapur in Persian Khursan. In 1752 he conquered Kashmir, and obtained from the Mughal Emperor of Hindustan, a cession of the whole of the tract of country as far east as Sirhind, thus laying the founda-tion of a kingdom, which soon became formidable to surrounding nations.

Ahmad Shah had now leisure to turn his attention to internal affairs, and to the settlement of Afghanistan and the newly-acquired provinces. He thus passed the next four years in tranquillity, and appears to have had time to devote himself to literature. He used to hold, at stated periods, what is termed a Majlis-i-Eeulama, or Assembly of the Learned, the early part of which was generally devoted to divinity and civil law-for Ahmad Shah himself was a Molawi and concluded with conversations on science and poetry. He wrote a Collection of Odes in Pushto his own native tongue, tinged, as usual, with the mysticisms of the sufis, and from that work the following specimens have been taken. The work is scarce, particularly in eastern Afghanistan. He was also the author of several poems in the Persian language.

In the year 1756 Ahmad Shah had again to buckle on the sword, and advance into the Panjab, which the Mughals about this time attempted to recover; but he quickly regained all that had been lost; drove them out of the Panjab; and advanced straight upon Dilhi, which he entered after but a faint opposition. His troops having become sickly, from passing the whole of the hot season in India, warned Ahmad Shah to return, which he did soon after, having compelled the Mughal Emperor to bestow the Panjab and Sindh upon his son Timur; who had already been married to a Mugbal princess. Ahmad Shah passed the next winter at Kandahar; but was obliged to set out soon after, for the purpose of quelling disturbances in Persia and Turkistan.

During the next year; matters had gone on badly in India; and Prince Timur was unable to stem the tide of Maharata conquest. which had now rolled upon the Panjab. The Maharatas had taken Sirhind, and were advancing from the west, which put Prince Timur under the necessity of retiring across the Indus with his troops. The Maharatas, being now unopposed, pushed on as far as the Hydaspes or Jhilum, and also detached a force to take possession of Multan.

These events happened in the summer of 1758; and Ahmad Shah was preparing to march into India, when he was detained by the rebellion of the Baluchis and although this matter was subsequently settled by negociation, it was not until the winter of 1759 that he could cross the Indus and advance towards Hindustan, the Maharatas retreating before him towards Dilhi, with the intention of covering that city. After totally defeating them at Budli, Ahmad Shah again captured Dilhi. He afterwards pursued his conquests in the Do-ab; but subsequently encamped at a place near Anup-ahahr, where, being joined by the Wazir of Hindustan, with the few available troops of the Mughal Emperor; he prepared for passing the monsoon, or rainy season, and for the final struggle with the Maharatas, upon which the fate of India rested.

The strength of Ahmad Shah's army consisted of 41,800 horse, his own subjects, on whom he chiefly relied; 28,000 Rohilahs- Afghans, who were descended from those tribes who had emigrated from Afghanistan at different periods, and settled in India and about 10,000 Hindustani troops, under their own chiefs. He had also 700 zamburaks, or camel swivels, small pieces carrying balls of about a pound weight, and a few pieces of artillery.

The Maharata army, under Wiswas Rao, and Saeddasheo Rao-better known as the Bhow-consisted of about 70,000 horse, 15,000 infantry, trained after the European fashion, and 200 pieces of artillery, besides numberless shutturnalls, or zamburaks.

At length, on the 7th of January 1761, after facing each other for some months, the Maharatas, who had been blockaded in their own intrenched camp at Panipatt, a few miles from Dilhi, were, from the extremities to which they were put, for want of food and forage, under the necessity of attacking the Durrani army. The details of this great and important battle need not be enlarged on here: suffice it to say, that Ahmad Shah was completely successful. The Maharatas were entirely defeated and put to flight; and Wiwas Rao, the heir-apparent of the Maharata empire, and almost the whole of the army, perished in the flight or pursuit.

The crowning victory at Panipatt, which was fatal to the power of the Maharataa, laid Hindustan at the feet of Ahmad Shah; but he, seeing the difficulty of retaining so remote a dominion, adhered to the wise plan he had, from the first, carved out, and contented himself with that portion of India that had formerly been ceded to him, bestowing the rest on such native chiefs as had aided him in the struggle.

In the spring of 1761, Ahmad Shah, returned to Kabul; and from that period, up to the spring of 1773, was actively employed against foreign and domestic foes; but at that time his health, which had been long declining, continued to get worse, and pre-vented his engaging in any foreign expeditions. His complaint was a cancer in the face, which had afflicted him first in 1764, and at last occasioned his death. He died at Murghah, in Afghanistan, in the beginning of June 1773, in the fiftieth year of his age.

The countries under his dominion extended, at the time of his death, from the west of Khurasan, to Sirhind on the Jumna, and from the Oxus to the Indian Ocean, all either secured by treaty, or in actual possession.

The character of Ahmad Shah has been so admirably depicted by Mountstuart Elphinstone, that I shall not hesitate to give it here in full.

"The character of Ahmad Shah appears to have been admirably suited to the situation in which he was placed. His enterprise and decision enabled him to profit by the confusion that followed the death of Nadir, and the prudence and moderation, which he acquired from his dealings with his own nation, were no less necessary to govern a warlike and independent people, than the bold and commanding turn of his own genius.

His military courage and activity are spoken of with admiration, both by his own subjects, and the nations with whom he was engaged, either in wars or alliances. He seems to have been naturally disposed to mildness and clemency; and though it is impossible to acquire sovereign power; and perhaps, in Asia, to maintain it, without crimes; yet the memory of no Eastern Prince is stained with fewer acts of cruelty and injustice.

"In his personal character he seems to have been cheerful, affable, and good-natured. He maintained considerable dignity on state occasions, but at other times his manners were plain and familiar; and with the Durranis he kept up the same equal and popular demeanour which was usual with their Khans or Chiefs before they assumed the title of King. He treated Moollahs and holy men with great respect, both from policy and inclination. He was himself a divine and an author, and was always ambitious of the character of a saint.

"His policy towards the different parts of his doniinions was to rely principally on conciliation with the Afghans and BalUchIs with this difference between the nations, that he applied himself to the whole people in the first case, and only to the chief in the other. His possessions in Turkistan he kept under by force; but left the Tartar chiefs of the country unremoved, and used them with moderation. The Indian provinces were kept by force alone; and in Khurasan he trusted to the attachment of some chiefs, took hostages from others, and was ready to carry his arms against any who disturbed his plans.

The handsome tomb of Ahmad Shah stands near the palace at Kandahar. It is held in great estimation by the Durranis, and is respected as a sanctuary, no one venturing to touch one who has taken refuge there. It is not uncommon for persons of even the highest rank, to give up the world, and spend their lives at the monarch's tomb; and certainly, if ever an Asiatic King deserved the gratitude of his country, it was Ahmad Shah, the "Pearl of the Durranis."

Ahmad Shah was the grandfather of the unfortunate Shah-Shujase-ul-Mulk, whom the British re-seated on the throne of the Durranis in 1839, which affair terminated so unfortunately for all concerned. (Source: KhyberOrg).

- Tribes
بېرته شاته