History of Pashtuns

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Pashtun,

Pashtun, ethnolinguistic group residing primarily in the region that lies between the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan and the northern stretch of the Indus River in Pakistan. The Pashtun constitute the largest ethnic group of the population of Afghanistan and bore the exclusive name of Afghan before that name came to denote any native of the present land area of Afghanistan.

The Pashtun are united primarily by a common language, Pashto. Other commonalities include Sunni Islam and a common social code (Pashtunwali) that governs both ethical behaviour and custom. The origins of the Pashtun are debated, including among the Pashtun themselves. One Pashtun tradition asserts that they are descended from Afghana, grandson of King Saul of Israel. Several Pashtun tribes are known to have moved from Afghanistan to Pakistan between the 13th and 16th centuries, and many Pashtun moved to northern Afghanistan after the formation of the modern Afghan state in the late 19th century.

Most Pashtun are sedentary farmers, combining cultivation with animal husbandry. Some are migratory herders and caravaners. Many Pashtun serve in the military. Smaller numbers hold political posts.

Kinship is the basis of Pashtun society. Each tribe, consisting of kinsmen who trace descent in the male bloodline from a common tribal ancestor, is divided into clans, subclans, and patriarchal families. Tribal genealogies establish rights of succession and inheritance and the right to use tribal lands and to speak in tribal council (jirga). Disputes over property, women, and personal injury often result in blood feuds between families and whole clans; these may be inherited unless settled by the intervention of clan chiefs or by tribal council.

There were estimated to be about 11 million Pashtun in Afghanistan and 25 million in Pakistan in the early 21st century. They comprise about 60 tribes of varying size and importance, each of which occupies a particular territory. In Afghanistan, where the Pashtun are the predominant ethnic group, the main tribes—or, more accurately, federations of tribes—are the Durrānī south of Kabul and the Ghilzay east of Kabul.

In Pakistan the Pashtun predominate north of Quetta between the Sulaiman Range and the Indus River. In the hill areas the main tribes are, from south to north, the Kākaṛ, Shērāni, and Ustarāna south of the Gumal River; the Maḥsūd, Darwēsh Khēl, Wazīrī, and Biṭanī between the Gumal River and Thal; the Tūrī, Bangash, Ōrakzay, Afrīdī, and Shinwārī from Thal to the Khyber Pass; and the Mahmand, Utmān Khēl, Tarklānī, and Yūsufzay north and northeast of the Khyber Pass.

The settled areas include lowland tribes subject to direct administration by the provincial government. The main tribes there are, from south to north, the Banūchī and Khaṭak, from the Kurram River to Nowshera, and the Khalīl and Mandāṇ in the Vale of Peshawar. The cities of Kandahār, Jalālābād, and Lashkar Gāh in Afghanistan and Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan are important centres of Pashtun culture.

 

[ghazi52]

Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral, Eastern Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Languages spoken: Pashto, Urdu, Persian Language, MORE

Canada: 31,700 (2021)
Iran: 169,000 (2022)
Pakistan: 40,097,131 (2023)
Tajikistan: 32,400 (2017)
United Arab Emirates: 338,315 (2008)
United Kingdom: 100,000 (2009)

 

[ghazi52]

Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral, Eastern Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. They historically were also referred to as Afghans until the 1970s, after the term's meaning had become a demonym for members of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan.

The group's native language is Pashto, an Iranian language in the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Additionally, Dari serves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan, while those in Pakistan and India speak Hindi-Urdu and other regional languages as their second language.

There are an estimated 350–400 Pashtun tribes and clans with a variety of origin theories. The total population of the Pashtun people worldwide is estimated to be around 49 million, although this figure is disputed due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. They are the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan and one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, constituting around 18.24 percent of the total Pakistani population and around 35-42 percent of the total Afghan population. In India, significant and historical communities of the Pashtun diaspora exist in the northern region of Rohilkhand as well as in major Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

 

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Ancient historical references: Pashtun

A tribe called Pakthās, one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna, or "Battle of the Ten Kings", are mentioned in the seventh mandala of the Rigveda, a text of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dated between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE:

Together came the Pakthas (पक्थास), the Bhalanas, the Alinas, the Sivas, the Visanins. Yet to the Trtsus came the Ārya's Comrade, through love of spoil and heroes' war, to lead them.

— Rigveda, Book 7, Hymn 18, Verse 7
Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans) in 430 BCE in the Histories:

Other Indians dwell near the town of Caspatyrus[Κασπατύρῳ] and the Pactyic [Πακτυϊκῇ] country, north of the rest of India; these live like the Bactrians; they are of all Indians the most warlike, and it is they who are sent for the gold; for in these parts all is desolate because of the sand.

— Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 102, Section 1
These Pactyans lived on the eastern frontier of the Achaemenid Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE, present-day Afghanistan.[88] Herodotus also mentions a tribe of known as Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται). Thomas Holdich has linked them with the Afridi tribe:[90][91][92]

The Sattagydae, Gandarii, Dadicae, and Aparytae (Ἀπαρύται) paid together a hundred and seventy talents; this was the seventh province

— Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 91, Section 4
Joseph Marquart made the connection of the Pashtuns with names such as the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) that were cited by Ptolemy 150 CE:

"The northern regions of the country are inhabited by the Bolitai, the western regions by the Aristophyloi below whom live the Parsioi (Πάρσιοι). The southern regions are inhabited by the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), the eastern regions by the Ambautai. The towns and villages lying in the country of the Paropanisadai are these: Parsiana Zarzaua/Barzaura Artoarta Baborana Kapisa niphanda"

— Ptolemy, 150 CE, 6.18.3-4
Strabo, the Greek geographer, in the Geographica (written between 43 BC to 23 AD) makes mention of the Scythian tribe Pasiani (Πασιανοί), which has also been identified with Pashtuns given that Pashto is an Eastern-Iranian language, much like the Scythian languages:

"Most of the Scythians...each separate tribe has its peculiar name. All, or the greatest part of them, are nomades. The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Iaxartes (Syr Darya)"

— Strabo, The Geography, Book XI, Chapter 8, Section 2
This is considered a different rendering of Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι). Johnny Cheung, reflecting on Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) and Strabo's Pasiani (Πασιανοί) states: "Both forms show slight phonetic substitutions, viz. of υ for ι, and the loss of r in Pasianoi is due to perseveration from the preceding Asianoi. They are therefore the most likely candidates as the (linguistic) ancestors of modern day Pashtuns."

Pashtuns - Wikipedia

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[ghazi52]

The ethnogenesis of the Pashtun ethnic group is unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Pakthas (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, who may be their early ancestors, and old Iranian tribes that spread throughout the eastern Iranian plateau. However, there are many conflicting theories amongst historians and the Pashtuns themselves.

Mohan Lal stated in 1846 that "the origin of the Afghans is so obscure, that no one, even among the oldest and most clever of the tribe, can give satisfactory information on this point. " Others have suggested that a single origin of the Pashtuns is unlikely but rather they are a tribal confederation.

"Looking for the origin of Pashtuns and the Afghans is something like exploring the source of the Amazon. Is there one specific beginning? And are the Pashtuns originally identical with the Afghans? Although the Pashtuns nowadays constitute a clear ethnic group with their own language and culture, there is no evidence whatsoever that all modern Pashtuns share the same ethnic origin. In fact it is highly unlikely."

— Vogelsang, 2002

 

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There are an estimated 350–400 Pashtun tribes and clans with a variety of origin theories. The total population of the Pashtun people worldwide is estimated to be around 49 million, although this figure is disputed due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. They are the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan and one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, constituting around 18.24 percent of the total Pakistani population and around 35-42 percent of the total Afghan population. In India, significant and historical communities of the Pashtun diaspora exist in the northern region of Rohilkhand as well as in major Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

Geographic distribution

Pashtun-inhabited areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan (including the southern borders of the former Soviet Union, the northeastern borders of Iran, and the northwestern borders of India disputed with Pakistan), in the early 1980s.

Pashtuns are found all over Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially between south of the Indus River, the Hindu Kush or around the Sulaiman Mountains. Big cities with a Pashtuns-majority include Jalalabad, Kandahar, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Khost, Kohat, Lashkar Gah, Mardan, Mingora, Peshawar, Quetta, among others. Pashtuns also live in Abbottabad, Farah, Ghazni, Herat, Islamabad, Kabul, Karachi, Kunduz, Lahore, Mazar-i-Sharif, Multan, Rawalpindi, and several other cities.

The city of Karachi in Pakistan is home to the world's largest urban community of Pashtuns, larger than Kabul and Peshawar.[53]

Further information:
Pashtuns of Kashmir, Pathans of Punjab, Pathans of Sindh, Pathans of Rajasthan, Pathans of Gujarat, Pathans of Uttar Pradesh, and Pathans of Madhya Pradesh
Pashtuns in India are often commonly referred to as Pathans (the Hindustani word for Pashtun) both by themselves and other ethnic groups of the subcontinent. Some Indians claim descent from Pashtun soldiers who settled in India by marrying local women during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent. Many Pathans chose to live in the Republic of India after the partition of India and Khan Mohammad Atif, a professor at the University of Lucknow, estimates that "The population of Pathans in India is twice their population in Afghanistan".

Historically, Pashtuns have settled in various cities of India before and during the British Raj in colonial India. These include Bombay (now called Mumbai), Farrukhabad, Delhi, Calcutta, Saharanpur, Rohilkhand, Jaipur and Bangalore. The settlers are descended from both Pashtuns of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan (British India before 1947). In some regions in India, they are sometimes referred to as Kabuliwala.

In India significant Pashtun diaspora communities exist. While speakers of Pashto in the country only number 21,677 as of 2011, estimates of the ethnic or ancestral Pashtun population in India range from 3,200,000 to 11,482,000 to as high as double their population in Afghanistan (approximately 30 million).

The Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh is named after the Rohilla community of Pashtun ancestry. They also live in the states of Maharashtra in central India and West Bengal in eastern India that each have a population of over a million with Pashtun ancestry;[66] both Bombay and Calcutta were primary locations of Pashtun migrants from Afghanistan during the colonial era. There are also populations over 100,000 each in the cities of Jaipur in Rajasthan and Bangalore in Karnataka.[66] Bombay (now called Mumbai) and Calcutta both have a Pashtun population of over 1 million, whilst Jaipur and Bangalore have an estimate of around 100,000. The Pashtuns in Bangalore include the khan siblings Feroz, Sanjay and Akbar Khan, whose father settled in Bangalore from Ghazni.

During the 19th century, when the British were accepting peasants from British India as indentured servants to work in the Caribbean, South Africa and other places, Rohillas who had lost their empire and were unemployed and restless, were sent to places as far as Trinidad, Surinam, Guyana, and Fiji, to work with other Indians on the sugarcane fields and perform manual labour.

Many of these immigrants stayed there and formed unique communities of their own. Some of them assimilated with the other South Asian Muslim nationalities to form a common Indian Muslim community in tandem with the larger Indian community, losing their distinctive heritage. Some Pashtuns travelled as far as Australia during the same era.

Pashtuns - Wikipedia

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Middle historical references: Afghan

In the Middle Ages until the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century, the Pashtuns were often referred to as "Afghans". The etymological view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from Sanskrit Aśvakan, or the Assakenoi of Arrian, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush. Aśvakan literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (from aśva or aspa, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse"). This view was propounded by scholars like Christian Lassen,[105] J. W. McCrindle, M. V. de Saint Martin, and É. Reclus,

Bactrian document in the Greek script from the 4th century mentioning the word Afghan (αβγανανο): "To Ormuzd Bunukan from Bredag Watanan, the chief of the Afghans"
The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE, In the 4th century the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to a particular people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents found in Northern Afghanistan.

"To Ormuzd Bunukan ,from Bredag Watanan ... greetings and homage from ... ) , the ( sotang ( ? ) of Parpaz ( under ) [ the glorious ) yabghu of Hephthal , the chief of the Afghans , ' the judge of Tukharistan and Gharchistan . Moreover , ' a letter [ has come hither ] from you , so I have heard how [ you have ] written ' ' to me concerning ] my health . I arrived in good health , ( and ) ( afterwards ( ? ) ' ' I heard that a message ] was sent thither to you ( saying ) thus : ... look after the farming but the order was given to you thus. You should hand over the grain and then request it from the citizens store: I will not order, so.....I Myself order And I in Respect of winter sends men thither to you then look after the farming, To Ormuzd Bunukan, Greetings"

— the Bactrian documents, 4th century
"because [you] (pl.), the clan of the Afghans, said thus to me:...And you should not have denied? the men of Rob[117] [that] the Afghans took (away) the horses"

— the Bactrian documents, 4th century, Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90-91
"[To ...]-bid the Afghan... Moreover, they are in [War]nu(?) because of the Afghans, so [you should] impose a penalty on Nat Kharagan ... ...lord of Warnu with ... ... ...the Afghan... ... "

— the Bactrian documents, 4th century, Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90-91
The name Afghan is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagāṇa" [अवगाण][118] by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita.

"It would be unfavourable to the people of Chola, the Afghans (Avagāṇa), the white Huns and the Chinese."

— Varāha Mihira, 6th century CE, chapt. 11, verse 61
The word Afghan also appeared in the 982 Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where a reference is made to a village, Saul, which was probably located near Gardez, Afghanistan.

"Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans".

The same book also speaks of a king in Ninhar (Nangarhar), who had Muslim, Afghan and Hindu wives. In the 11th century, Afghans are mentioned in Al-Biruni's Tarikh-ul Hind ("History of the Indus"), which describes groups of rebellious Afghans in the tribal lands west of the Indus River in what is today Pakistan.

Al-Utbi, the Ghaznavid chronicler, in his Tarikh-i Yamini recorded that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modern Ghilji) enlisted in the army of Sabuktigin after Jayapala was defeated. Al-Utbi further stated that Afghans and Ghiljis made a part of Mahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition to Tocharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by Abulfazl Beyhaqi. It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in the Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215). By the beginning of the Khilji dynasty in 1290, Afghans have been well known in northern India.

Ibn Battuta, when visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty, also wrote about the Afghans.
"We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by Afghans. They hold mountains and defiles and possess considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen. Their principal mountain is called Kuh Sulayman. It is told that the prophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it."

— Ibn Battuta, 1333
Ferishta, a 16th-century Muslim historian writing about the history of Muslim rule in the subcontinent, stated:

He [Khalid bin Abdullah son of Khalid bin Walid] retired, therefore, with his family, and a number of Arab retainers, into the Sulaiman Mountains, situated between Multan and Peshawar, where he took up his residence, and gave his daughter in marriage to one of the Afghan chiefs, who had become a proselyte to Mahomedism. From this marriage many children were born, among whom were two sons famous in history.

The one Lodhi, the other Sur; who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. I have read in the Mutla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author, and which I procured at Burhanpur, a town of Khandesh in the Deccan, that the Afghans are Copts of the race of the Pharaohs; and that when the prophet Moses got the better of that infidel who was overwhelmed in the Red Sea, many of the Copts became converts to the Jewish faith; but others, stubborn and self-willed, refusing to embrace the true faith, leaving their country, came to India, and eventually settled in the Sulimany mountains, where they bore the name of Afghans.

Pashtuns - Wikipedia

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[RescueRanger]

Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe is widely credited at conducting the largest and most detailed survey of the peoples of Afghanistan and the then NWFP (KPK), most of his detailed study and research are well presented in his book titled "The Pathans".

A PDF version of this book is available for reading online:

https://ia801609.us.archive.org/29/items/ThePathansByOlafCaroe/The-Pathans-By-Olaf-Caroe-ISBN10-%200710306822.pdf

 

[ghazi52]

A Place in Gorveik, North Waziristan where the charismatic Haji Mirzali Khan or the Faqir of Ipi used to reside while fighting the British Indian Empire.

He was the armed leader who forced the colonial authorities to bring their 40,000 soldiers to Waziristan out of total 80,000 British soldiers in India. However, they failed to subdue or buy his independent spirit of freedom and continued his struggle started in 1936 til 1947 when the British divided their Indian Empire into India and Pakistan.

The Lashkars and followers of Haji sahib rendered hundreds of sacred lives for the cause of freedom where the British used to heavily bomb the scattered villages of Waziristan in the late 1930s killing innocent women and children including the fighters of Faqir of Ipi, destroying and demolishing houses and arresting dozens of tribal leaders.

The tribes of Madda Khel Wazir were particularly bombed several times in 1937-38 and their tribal chiefs were compelled to surrender to the mighty and powerful political authorities. The Haji sahib and his followers were compelled to live in these caves for minimizing destruction of the common people as a result of the aerial bombardment of the villages. Columns of British security forces were dispatched every now and then from Miranshah and Razmak headquarters in order to capture, kill or buy the Faqir but they did not succeed.

Owing to the large number of British forces in Waziristan along with heavy weapons and airforce, the Haji sahib was unable to confront the imperialists on the ground in Waziristan, the Haji sahib used to send groups of fighters in the settled districts of Bannu and D.I. Khan for attacking British installations and were supported by the rural local population of these areas.

It should be noted that the Tanis, Zadran, khostwal, Mangal and other Pashtun tribes living on Afghan side of the Durand Line were joining his Lashkars on regular basis against the British.

Unfortunately, very few of us today know about his struggle for the cause of freedom. One may agree or not with his armed resistance but the sacrifices of hundreds of people for resisting imperialism despite meagre resources should not be forgotten.

 

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Mahsud Tribesmen, Waziristan, 1919 (c).

The Mahsuds are Phustun tribesmen who inhabited Waziristan. They were probably the most formidable fighters on the frontier. Highly mobile, able to live off the most meagre rations, and fine shots, they were perfectly adapted to their mountainous homeland.

Fiercely independent, they had honed their fighting skills by years of raiding the settled areas to the east, along the Indus, and by attacking the trading caravans that travelled to and from Afghanistan.

In 1919 their fighting strength was estimated at over 11,000 warriors. Only the most experienced and well-trained British and Indian units could match the Mahsud in frontier fighting.

The Waziristan Revolt of 1919–1920 was sparked by the Afghan invasion of British India in 1919. Some of the tribesmen were veterans of the British-organised local militias that were irregular elements of the Indian Army, they were armed with modern Lee-Enfield rifles and used these against the British and Indian forces sent into Waziristan.

Only the most experienced and well-trained British and Indian units could match the Mahsud in frontier fighting.
© National Army Museum

 

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Ajab Khan Afridi Portrait.

Within Pakistan, Ajab Khan is perhaps the best-known hero of these stories from the NWFP and at the time the events occurred, they made newspapers in both the United States and England.

The first notice in the London Times was a small article of April 16, 1923, head-lined, "Another Frontier Outrage: One Lady Killed and One Kidnapped," with the information that Mollie Ellis, the daughter of Major Ellis, was kidnapped and her mother killed in a bungalow adjoining that of the Commanding General of the Station of Kohat.

A few days later (datelined April 18 from Simla, then the summer capital of the British Raj), the event came to the attention of the New York Times with the headline, "Captive English Girl is Seen with Savages big, rawboned, devil-may-care fellows of great strength and hardihood, many of whom devote their whole existence to hunting, fighting, and brigandage."

On April 23, the New York Times headline was, "English Girl Saved from Afghan Captors" and the subhead, "Woman Physician rescues Mollie Ellis Whom Tribesmen had kidnapped"; the tribesmen were referred to as "semi-savages." By April 27, Mollie was said to be in Peshawar, telling of her sufferings when her only protection from the severe cold of the hills was "a coat belonging to a brutal Afridi, named Shahazada (sic) the man who killed her mother."

That ended notices in the New York Times, but the London Times, which had been giving more attention during those two weeks to the wedding of the Duke of York than to events in an outpost of the British empire, printed occasional updates of the case over the following months as the process of attempting to catch the kidnapper, still unnamed, continued. Nowhere did the New York Times indicate that there might be any motivation for this action.

The London Times (April 24) said "the crime was the result of a vow by the ringleader to avenge the humiliation inflicted on him when some police rifles were recovered from the Bosti Khel"; it appeared that "the women taunted him to such an extent as to make his life unendurable, and in conformity with a Pathan custom, he swore with the Koran in his hand before his mother, who had been prominent in reviling him, that he would perform such a deed as had never been heard of before."

The stealing of guns and British efforts to retrieve them were, however, an on-going series of events during this period; thus although newspaper reports do not mention any violation of women's purdah in Ajab Khan's village, it is not unreasonable to assume that in fact this British search party was particularly insensitive to Pathan customs
................................

Afridi Tribesmen "Adam Khel" Armed With Jezails Near Kohat Pass, Circa 1870.

Armed Tribesmen Posed At Side Of Road, With Hills Beyond. Possibly Photographed By Baker & Burke During Lord Mayo's (Fourth Viceroy Of India) Visit To The North-West Frontier. The Pass Is The Home Territory Of The Pashtun Afridi Tribe, Who Were Regarded By The British Authorities As A Strongly Independent And “Warlike” Tribe. The Afridi Men Shown Here Are Observing The Photographer, Who Might Have Been John Burke.
.............
Same place in 2021

 

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In 1823 Runjeet Singh demanded tribute from the Peshawar Sirdar Yar Mohammed who responded by sending some horses to the Sikh. Azeem Khan, Yar’s older brother disproved and moved down to Peshawar in January 1823. On 13th March Sikh forces crossed the Indus and the next day arrived at Akora Khattak. The Sikhs now advanced to Nowshera to clash with a Pakhtun tribal force of 4,000 men under Sadiq Khan Khattak. “The battle commenced with a furious charge led by Pholla Singh Akalee, a Sikh desperado, who was in the habit of rushing forward, with some followers of like zeal, at the commencement of action” The Pakhtuns were ready to send the Sikhs to the devil, and Pakhtun swords made the Sikhs sing with pain and the Sikh force faced defeat at Muslim hands since many fell to the ghazis.

Ranjeet Singh was forced to call for reinforcements and the Pakhtuns resisted firmly upon two hillocks with defensive sangers atop them. The Sikh cavalry surrounded the Pakhtuns with a view to killing any who retreated. Runjeet’s rifle regiment and Gurkhas moved forward to wipe out the Pakhtuns. Twice the enemy advanced and tried to defeat the Pakhtuns but they met only the bitterness of the pain from the Pakhtun sword “twice were they repulsed by the determined body” The fight continued unabated but the best of Runjeet’s men not being capable or strong enough to defeat the Pakthuns. The darkness of night descended which provided the Pakhtuns the cover to cut their way to freedom through the occupying Sikh force and made their way to the safety of their mountains.


The Pakhtuns at Nowshera had only been about 4,000 ordinary men from villages who came down from their villages to the plains to stop the Sikh invaders. Men who came to ensure that their families would not fall prey to the jackals who beset their lands. The numbers of the Sikh soldiers was nearly six fold that of the Pakhtuns at 24,000 trained soldiers. Yet these Pakthun men though they were not from disciplined units of an army, held back the cream of Runjeet forces. Runjeet was frustrated as he threw the best of all he had at these plucky defenders. For one whole day Runjeet sweated as he watched his carefully trained soldiers turn into vulture meat.

Over one thousand Sikhs would not live to boast about the supposed victory at Nowshera. Four of Runjeet’s high ranking officers were led to their doom amongst whom was the foolish Phoola Singh Akali, Ghurba Singh and Kurum Singh Chahul and Bulbahadar Singh Gurkhali. Gurkhali was a brave commander who had defended Nepal against the British. The Pakhtuns smashed the hopes of this Kurki wielding mercenary who would not live to rue the day he entered the land of the Pakhtuns. Runjeet’s force of 24,000 could not quell a small band of Pakhtun Muslims who drowned out the howls of “Wahi Guru” with “Allahu Akbar- Allah is the greatest”.

Azeem Khan Barakzai had watched the battle with his Durrani cavalry and could have turned the tables on Runjeet if he had advanced to assist the Pakhtun force, but instead he retreated. Azeem had been fooled by a rumour spread by the Sikhs that his harem was about to be captured. The cause of war was forgotten and Azeem turned tail leaving the Pakhtuns to fight bravely as lesser men made their way back to Kabul.

Two months later the burden of shame would be too much for Azeem Khan who would be no more. Azeem’s son Habibullah would be deprived of ruling Kabul by his dear uncle Dost Mohammed Khan. With the death in 1823 of Azeem Khan, the Kingdom of Kabul came to an end with the emergence of city states run by the Barakzai brothers at Kandahar and Peshawar with Dost Mohammed holding Ghazni and Kabul. The Kingdom of Kabul or the Durrani Empire no longer existed as lesser mortals held the power in the land of Afghans.

On 17 March 1823, the one eyed dajjal, Runjeet Singh an unwelcome intruder advanced into Peshawar, heralding destruction and death, symbolising ineptitude of the Barakzai Durrani ruling clan. How many brave Muslims were tortured and died on that day as the Khalsa celebrated their victory with bloodshed and fire. The beautiful Mughal era Bala Hissar was destroyed, amongst many other treasures of Peshawar which are no more. The gardens with beautiful cypress trees of the Shah Bagh were cut down for firewood and the fruit bushes and mulberry trees are no more. Peshawar a civilised city of beautiful Mughal mosques and gardens nurtured by artistic hands was scarred by this experience of uncouth barbarians swooping upon her.

Courtesy - Farrukh Husain

The Round March From Topi To Jahangira In The Month Of March, 1824.

In the Month of March 1824, only a year the Battle of Nowshera (or Battle of Pir Sabak) in the month of March 1823, the Mandanr Yusufzais and other sections on both banks of the River Indus above Attock rose insurrection under the leadership of Said Akbar Shah, their Pirzada. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh had forced marches from Lahore Darbar to his frontier, with the objects of rooting out the Said's Headquarters at Sitana.

Ranjeet failed. The Indus at that point was too deep and rapid for an army to cross, and he had to content himself with a second demonstration of his power to force a passage, by swimming his cavalry across near the Pihur ferry in a very gallant operation under his French Commander, General Jean-François Allard. Thence he proceeded on a Round March through Topi, Kotha, Kalabat, Marghuz, Thand Koie, Zaida, Kunda, Lahor, Thor Dher, returning to Attock by way of Jehangira.

His display of power was scarcely rewarded by Yar Muhammad Barakzai Durrani's renewed protestations of allegiance from Peshawar - since back in the Month of March 1823 Ranjeet had accepted Yar Muhammad's tender of submission at Peshawar.

Two Relevant Images in the Chronological Order of their mentioning in the Text above - as follows:

1. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.
2. General Jean-François Allard.

Ranjit Singh the only general who marched from east to western border that is Afghanistan. Otherwise all armies from central Asia and Afghanistan marched towards east by capturing India

 

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Jirgah of Mahsuds near Kaniguram, Waziristan, Photograph by Randolph Bezant Holmes (1888-1973), 1920 (c).

The Mahsuds are Pashtun tribesmen who inhabited Waziristan. They were probably the most formidable fighters on the frontier. Highly mobile, able to live off the most meagre rations, and fine shots, they were perfectly adapted to their mountainous homeland. Fiercely independent, they had honed their fighting skills by years of raiding the settled areas to the east, along the Indus, and by attacking the trading caravans that travelled to and from Afghanistan. In 1919 their fighting strength was estimated at over 11,000 warriors. Only the most experienced and well-trained British and Indian units could match the Mahsud in frontier fighting.

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Malik Mehr-Dil Mahsud, who rebuffed Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Khan Sahib in 1947, was an anti-British man in his early life. In 1919 he raised a lashkar and fought against British. But later he became pro-British. He was made "Khan Sahib" by the British government in 1928.

 

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The Battle Of Jamrud "Final Battle", 1837.

The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Sikhs under Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the Afghans under Emir Dost Muhammad Khan.

Since the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh had turned the wave of invasions on Afghanistan. The Afghans had been losing their long held territories to Sikhs over the preceding years due to internal conflicts, and had seen their once mighty empire shrink with the loss of the Punjab region, Multan, Kashmir, Derajat, Hazara and Peshawar.

Towards the end of 1836, Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa attacked and captured the small, though very strategic, fortified Misha Khel Khyberi village of Jamrud, situated on the south-side of a range of mountains at the mouth of the Khyber pass. With the conquest of Jamrud, the frontier of the Sikh Empire now bordered the frontier of Afghanistan. In 1837, The Sikh army was in Lahore for the wedding of Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Emir of Afghanistan, Dost Muhammad Khan, accompanied by five of his sons, rushed with his army to drive the Sikhs out of Peshawar. The Sikh general Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa was killed in the battle.

Painting Credit - Jason Askew
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Bayazid Ansari (Pir e Roshan - 1525–85) invented Pushto script & wrote first book in Pashto language, Khair ul Bayan, beginning Pashto literature. Also initiated Roshania movement.

Fought against Akbar's Din e Ialhi & Mughals, who bribeb Akhund Darwaze to call him Pir e Tareek.

 

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Sketch Of Mullah Powanda, 19th Century.

An unbowed cleric, Mullah Powanda is remembered by the people of Waziristan for his unwavering opposition to the British Raj.

Mullah Powanda, an unbowed Islamists resisted with might against the colonial power till his last breath. He waged a long armed struggle against the British when they started founding military settlements in Tribal Areas in the second half of the 19th Century.

His real name is believed to have been Muhyeddin. However, he was widely known as Mullah Powanda (the one who lives a nomadic life). Born in 1863 in a poor Mehsud "Shabikhel Mahsud". family of South Waziristan, Powanda was a traditional cleric in Waziristan.

He became a ‘wanted’ warrior to the British government when his two associates killed a Bannu jail warden in 1886-87. The government accused him of having masterminded the attack and issued warrants for his arrest.

Powanda fled to Lower Dir and stayed with his teacher Mullah Hamzullah. Upon his return to Waziristan, he launched a guerrilla war from across the length and breadth of the Tribal Areas against the colonial troops. In early 1893, the British lost at least seven soldiers and a PWD overseer, Mr Kelly, in attacks carried out by five tribal men belonging to the Mehsud tribe in Ghoyelari, Gomal Zam valley and Fort Sandeman (now Zhob).

In this connection, the government arrested dozens of innocent people from the Mehsud clan and seized their livestock and large quantities of seeds. Moreover, tribal elders (Maliks) were urged to call a jirga to decide the fate of the perpetrators as soon as possible. The jirga called by the Malaks sentenced two murderers to seven years and three to two years in prison.

Mullah Powanda tried to forcibly free the convicts while they were being taken to Peshawar but failed. He later assembled the people of the area and lay siege to the homes of the tribal elders who had facilitated the British. Some of the elders were killed. The remaining had to leave Waziristan. In those days, Powanda came into prominence and acquired utmost popularity in the region.

Major Bross, who was appointed commissioner for Waziristan-Afghanistan boundaries, was also tasked with establishing a military camp in Wana.

In October 1894, Mullah Powanda wrote a letter to Major Bross warning him to give up the plan to set up a camp in Wana or else prepare to face the wrath of the mujahideen. Bross received this letter while travelling from Dera Ismail Khan to Tank. Instead of giving a formal reply he insulted Powanda. This aggravated the situation.

On November 3, 1894, the colonial forces suffered major losses when around 2,000 tribesmen led by Mullah Powanda attacked a camp at Wana in the early hours. Layeq Shah Darpakhel claims in his book Waziristan, “about 23 key colonial officers including Lieutenant Mekaly, Lieutenant Anjele and hundreds of soldiers were injured in this pre-dawn attack.

The warriors also took away 150 horses, Rs 3,000 in cash and 137 guns. Powanda then shifted his base to Shakai, the village of his teacher Mullah Hamzullah Wazir, where he continued his activities. In the aftermath of the attack, the government called a grand jirga of the Malaks of Mehsud clan and demanded that The jirga must deport Mullah Powanda from Waziristan.

The jirga should hand over three influential people, identified as Jagarh, Pashkai and Shaheer to the government. The jirga should accept responsibility for ensuring the recovery of the stolen horses, camels, mules and guns taken in the November 3 attack on Wana camp.” Participants of the jirga were warned to meet these demands by December 1.

In October 1895, the British occupied the valley of Tochi. Kesan was appointed its first political agent. The new agent was killed by some youngsters of the Dawar clan while visiting the shrine of Haji Sarmast in Hasukhel in March 1896. The Mullah now began collecting donations to escalate his jihadi activities.

Mullah Powanda vehemently opposed the historical accord on the Durand Line signed in November 1893 between British India and Amir Abdur Rehman Khan of Afghanistan. To provoke Amir Abdur Rehman Khan against the British, Powanda scheduled a mammoth tribal delegation comprising about 4,000 delegates, including women and children, to visit Kabul.

On August 8, 1896, the delegation left for Kabul via Barmal. Upon their arrival in Kabul, they stayed in Bala Hisar in tents under strict security provided by the Afghan government.

Their representatives, led by Mullah Powanda, called on the king. During this key meeting, Mullah Powanda told the Amir, “if you are interested in waging war against the British, we will back you “. The Amir replied, “I have friendly relations with the British, but you call them infidels and want to wage jihad against them. I believe, next you will oppose me for having ties with the British. I do not trust the clerics’ advice“.

Mullah Powanda reportedly answered, “Allah Almighty has blessed you with the kingship of Muslims. How can we start an unjustified war against you?” The Amir said, “I had invited you, but you would not come. Now that you need help in fighting the Raj, you have come visiting me”. The Amir then asked the delegation to stay for a few days while he considered their suggestions.

During his seven-week stay in Kabul, Mullah Pownada was unable convince Amir Abdur Rehman Khan. The delegation returned to Waziristan on September 28.

In February 1895, the British government began taking dozens of Malaks loyal to them into confidence to create a line in Waziristan.

There is no denying that Waziristan has not only been an abode of freedom fighters like Powanda, the Mad Mullah, Haji Sahib Tarangzai and Faqir of Epi, but the land has also produced a large number of British loyalists.

During his long campaign, Mullah Powanda wrote many letters to the British, including Mr Grant, the political agent of Wana, the lieutenant governor of the Punjab and Ghulam Mohammad (the police assistant superintendent in Wana), requesting them to stop their anti-Muslim activities. He also warned them of repercussions of their actions.

Mullah Powanda gave a tough time to the British in his three decades of resistance in Yaghistan or Tribal Areas. Many British writers have acknowledged his courage and commitment. Evelyn Howel writes in his book how Powanda’s charismatic personality influenced every British officer who met him.

Howel writes, “although he was an illiterate and poor Pashtun, he secured a remarkable position in the history of NWFP. If he had been born in this era he would have been considered one of the most dynamic leaders of the region.” Sir Olaf Cairo accounts in his book The Pathans, “if Mehsuds were as talented as Yousafzais, they would have established such a state in the leadership of Mullah Powanda as the state of Swat”. In military reports on Waziristan, he has been called the prince of Waziristan and the self-styled king of the Tribal Areas.

Mullah Powanda breathed his last on November 2, 1913, at the age of 50. Foul play was suspected. Some believed that he had been poisoned by his son, Sahib Din, at the behest of the British government. In exchange, he was alleged to have received a hefty amount in Kabuli rupees and a bungalow in the Punjab.

Later, it was found that he had died of natural causes. A few days prior to his passing, Powanda had written a note that is now engraved on his tombstone, “you must maintain your pride and stance and not allow the colonialists to rule over your soil. You should refrain from internal and tribal rivalries because discord can lead to British dominance”. Mullah Powanda was survived by four wives and seven sons. He had nominated his son, Sahib, his successor.
References Given Below.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/.../900907-an-unbowed-cleric

The writer is a professor at Degree College Zhob and a columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].