The humiliating defeat of Hari Singh Nalwa at the hands of Mashwani and Saidkhani Pashtuns

The following account of Hari Singh Nalwa’s humiliating defeat at the hands of the Mashwanis and Said Khanis is drawn from two primary sources: (1) an eyewitness account, "Tawarikh-i-Hazara," written by Lala Mehtab Singh in 1846. Extracts from this work were translated into Urdu by Sher Bahadur Khan Panni for his book, "Tarikh-i-Hazara" (pp. 56-59). It is important to note that Mehtab Singh was serving under Hari Singh Nalwa in 1824. (2) The Hazara District Gazetteer, published in 1907, on page 128.

Charles Masson, who traveled through Pakhtunkhwa in the 1830s, wrote that his contemporary, Hari Singh Nalwa, underestimated his Pashtun opponents. Masson noted that Nalwa had frequently faced critical situations even before the disastrous Battle of Jamrud in 1837, where he met his demise and bit the dust. While history has not fully documented all of Nalwa's perilous encounters with the ragtag Pashtun lashkars, one particularly significant defeat in 1824, in the present-day Haripur district, has not been overlooked. The entire 8,000-strong Khalsa Army was vanquished by a small Pashtun force, a stunning upset that even reached the ears of British East India Company officials.

Hari Singh Nalwa had a reputation for being an anti-Muslim bigot and he unnecessarily oppressed and terrorized the unwarlike Muslims of the Kashmir Valley during his brief governorship. Ranjit Singh recognized Nalwa's lack of administrative talent, removed him from governing Kashmir, and decided to utilize him as a formidable force against the warlike and turbulent tribes of Hazara. In 1822, Hari Singh Nalwa became the governor of Hazara and faced the insurrection of a small Pashtun tribe, the Mashwanis, in the same year. His first endeavor to reduce the Srikot hills (located in present-day Haripur district) in 1822 resulted in failure. In 1824 AD, he made another attempt to clear the Gandghar hills of insurgents and conquer the Srikot village of the Mashwanis. He set out from Haripur town with an 8,000-strong army equipped with artillery. At Nara, which stands at the mouth of a path leading up to Srikot, the Sikh army halted and encamped in the empty houses of the village. The Mashwani and Saidkhani Pashtun tribesmen reached Nara, took positions on the hill, and began firing upon the Sikh encampment from above. Sikh officers were reluctant to charge recklessly uphill against the entrenched Pashtun tribesmen and advised Hari Singh to retreat and reassess the situation. This hesitation infuriated Hari Singh, who perceived it as cowardice.

In the evening, Mashwanis and Saidkhanis descended from the hill and attacked the Sikh encampment with jezails, swords, and stones. The Sikh army was unprepared for the daring attack, and disorder ensued. When Hari Singh and Mahan Singh (after whom Mansehra district is named), along with others, emerged from their room, they were assaulted by Pashtun tribesmen with swords and stones. They killed Kishan Singh, Mahan Singh's brother. A Pashtun hurled a stone at Hari Singh Nalwa, striking him unconscious. He rolled into the ravine below and lay there for a long time, undiscovered. Upon regaining consciousness, he managed to return to Kishangarh fort (located within Haripur town). The Sikhs suffered losses of more than 500 men and abandoned a large quantity of arms and camp equipment.

News of the disaster spread throughout Hazara, and rumors circulated that Hari Singh was dead. However, he recovered from his wounds at Kishangarh Fort after several weeks of rest. Eager to dispel the rumors of his demise, he launched a surprise dawn attack on the village of Bagra, about eight miles from Haripur town. The armed Pashtun men there were caught unawares and put to the sword by Hari Singh.

When Ranjit Singh learned of Hari Singh Nalwa's humiliating defeat at Nara, he swiftly marched to Hazara with a large army to rectify the situation caused by his general's failure. He razed the village of Srikot and constructed a fort there, garrisoning it with 500 soldiers. He also conducted a raid across the Indus River. Subsequently, he returned to Lahore. Later, the Mashwanis rose up and laid siege to Srikot Fort. Still reeling from the psychological trauma of his defeat at Nara, Hari Singh was hesitant to engage the Mashwanis. To bolster Nalwa's courage, Ranjit Singh dispatched General Jean-Baptiste Ventura to assist him. The Mashwanis were defeated. Hari Singh Nalwa executed three Mashwani headmen and expelled the Mashwani tribe from Srikot village to prevent the recurrence of the insurgency. The Mashwanis were forced to live in exile on the other side of the Indus River until 1830 when they were allowed to return to Srikot.

A white pillar erected at later date by Major Abbot commemorates the scene of the victory of Mahswanis and Saidkhanis over Hari Singh Nalwa. Contrary to the fanciful accounts of some modern Sikh historians, the Mashwanis and Saidkhanis were not as numerous as ants or locusts. One such writer fantasizes a ten-to-one Pashtun-to-Sikh ratio in that battle, equating to approximately 80,000 Pashtuns against 8,000 Sikh soldiers. However, the 1901 census records only 3,992 Mashwanis in Srikot and 2,564 Utmanzis (of which Saidkhani is a sub-tribe) in Hazara District. It is evident that a small, ragtag force of a few hundred Pashtuns managed to defeat the well-equipped and numerically superior Sikh army of 8,000 regular, European-trained soldiers.

Portrait of Hari Singh Nalwah Bahadur Jang, followed in Persian by: 'He has a turban on his head, tied a black shawl around his waist with a hanging dagger and with a soldier standing behind him prepared for action'. Made in circa 1850. Source

Maharaja Ranjit Singh inspecting horses with General Hari Singh Nalwa, Amritsar or Lahore, Punjab, c 1830-32, Toor Collection

Portrait of Hari Singh Nalwa, made by Hasan al-Din in 1845 (c) in Lahore.

History of Bannuchis

It will be convenient to adopt the simple style of narration in which the people themselves relate their story, and which would bear almost literal translation into idiomatic Pashto. Now when the abomination of idolatry had ceased in the land, it remained desolate for two hundred years, until, in the reign of Shahab-u-d Ghori, it was peopled by a race of true believers of the tribes of Mangal and Hani. They lived in peace for many generations, until they forsook the laws of the Lord and his prophets, and withheld tithes from their Pir Sheikh Muhammad. Then the holy Pir, seeing that their ways were evil, was vexed in his heart, and called his son, and said, " Go thou to the hill called Shawal, and say to the sons of Shah Farid,  Come, and ye shall inherit the land ; ' " and the young man rose up, and went and said, "Come, for my father calleth you." Then the children of Shah Farid, who was also called Shitak, were glad, for they were sore pressed at the hands of men of the tribe Wazir, and they girded up their loins, and with their wives and little ones came down from the mountains, and camped at the mouth of the pass called Tochi. Then their elders assembled together, and said, " Let us send three pigeons to the Mangals and Hanis, as a sign of what we shall do unto them." Then they took three pigeons, and the first they left entire, and the second they plucked of its wing-feathers alone ; but on the third they left not a feather, and moreover they cut off its head and feet; and they sent a messenger with them, who said to the elders of the Mangals and Hanis, "The Lord is wroth with you, for you have treated his Pir scornfully, and he has delivered you into our hands ; if ye rise and flee, even as this pigeon ye shall be safe ; if ye remain, ye shall be maimed even as this one ; and if ye resist, ye shall be destroyed even as this one.Then the Mangals and Hanis feared exceedingly, and it happened unto them as unto the pigeons. When the children of Khatak also had been expelled, the Bannudzais divided the land amongst themselves by lot.

Now Bannu was the wife of Shitak, whence his descendants were called Bannudzais, and she had two sons. Kiwi, which was the father of Miri and Sami, and Surani. The share of the sons of Miri fell to the south, of the sons of Sami in the middle, and of the sons of Surani to the north and west. Now the name of the land was Daud, for there was much water ; but the Bannudzais dug drains and sowed corn and Said, "Let us call this place Bannu, after our mother, for it is fruitful, even as she was." And they did so.

Then there was peace in the land for four hundred years, and the people waxed great and multiplied, and obeyed the commands of their priests. In those days holy men, hearing there was plenty in Bannu, came there from the west and the south � a vast multitude; but there was room for them all.
After many generations Bannu passed from the hands of the Kings of Delhi, and became a part of the kingdom of Kabul ; but when the power of the king waxed faint, the leaders of the Bannudzais raised their heads, and each said in his heart, " There is no ruler in the land, lo, I shall make myself chief! " And the people were perplexed, saying in their hearts, " Whom shall we follow ? " So they divided themselves into two parties, the " black " and the " white," and there was war in the land for many years. Then the Wazirs saw there was strife and discord in Bannu, that the land was good, so they stretched their hands forth for the prey. There was sore trouble in those days, but the cup of bitterness was not yet full, for a race of infidels came from the east and harassed the land even for twenty years.

Excerpt from Bannu Or Our Afghan Frontier by S. S. THORBURN

When Kakar Pashtuns wiped out the entire Baloch army of Mir Naseer Khan of Kalat

In the 18th century, a chieftain of the Kakar Pashtuns managed to annihilate the entire Baloch army of Mir Naseer Khan of Kalat in about 1867. This catastrophic defeat of the Baloch army occurred in the Dozakh Tangi of present-day Ziarat district, Balochistan. The scale of this Baloch defeat bears striking resemblance to the catastrophic losses suffered by Mughal armies in the Pakhtunkhwa hills during the 16th and 17th centuries. Ahmad Shah Durrani bestowed the territory of Shal (Quetta) as a jagir upon Naseer Khan, the Khan of Kalat, a vassal state within the Durrani Empire. Shortly thereafter, Naseer Khan found himself embroiled in conflict with the Kakar Pashtuns, who were raiding his territory. The incident shook the Balochs so much that they were said to be hesitant to confront them again.

Mountstuart Elphinstone writes in 1810 (c):

"This warlike chief (Tahmas Khan) principally obtained his distinction by the success of a war with the Beloches, who had long been exasperated by the border incursions, which had long been subsisted between them and the Caukers (Kakars), to attack that tribe in a manner which gave the expedition the appearance of a national war. Six thousand Beloches were assembled at Shawl (Quetta) by the orders of Nuseer Khaun, the prince of Beloches; and the Caukers, alarmed at this serious invasion, retired with their flocks to Dozukh, a stony plain, elevated on the highest part of the mountains west of Zawura, a difficult of ascent in all places, and on most sides surrounded by inaccessible precipices. The Beloches, aware of the strength of this place on the side of the Shawl, proceeded up the valley of Hunna, crossed the ridge of 68 longitude, passed through Zawura, and advanced up a narrow valley, which afforded the only practicable route to Dozukh. Tahmas Khan allowed them to advance till they reached the last steep ascent, when they were surrounded, attacked and cut off almost to a man, with Fauzeb Khan, their commander. "

Muhammad Hayat Khan, the author of Hayat-i-Afghani (completed in 1867), writes: -

Of all their external foes (of Kakars), the Baloch is the much ancient and hated. Though for a long time past they had no hostile collision of any importance, they are divided by the remembrance of mutual injuries, and are ever on the lookout against each other. About 100 years since a famous engagement took place in which Tamas Khan (a Panizai Kakar) led his clan to signal victory. The occasion happened; thus, Nasir Khan, a Wali of Baluchistan, angered by the raid of a Kakar, marched into Shal (Quetta) at the head of 6,000 men with intent to crush his troublesome neighbors. A force like this was not rashly withstood, and the Kakar clan (the Santiya) retreated in a body to Dozakh or Dozhak , a stony tableland lying west of Zori valley high up among impassable mountains, and the only access to which is a steep pass. The Baloch, finding no means of approach from Shal, came from the side of the Hanna valley, and after climbing a high hill, reached the mouth of a narrow precipitous defile from whose summit they could easily pour down upon the entrapped Kakar. The wary Santiya leader Tamas Khan allowed the enemy to reach the last steep, and as they were struggling up this, already within sight of success, suddenly burst upon them with impetuous onslaught, drove them down headlong and destroyed them almost to a man. Since then, the Baloch have shown disposition to keep aloof from the Kakar.

References

1- 'Account of the Kingdom of Caubul', pp.453-454.
2-  Afghanistan and its inhabitants", pages-150, English translation of Hayat-i-Afghani by Muhammad Hayat Khan, published in 1865.

A Kakar Pashtun (on left) and a Brahui (on right), 1840 (c). Painting by James Atkinson.

Pashtun tribesmen put up a fight against the invading British forces in the Khojak Pass, Balochistan

Marwat uprising against the Sikh (1847)

In 1842 Raja Sher Singh, the adopted son of Ranjit Singh, deputed Malik Fateh Khan Tiwana for collection of the revenue of the Marwat area. The Nazarites sought favour with the new rulers and supported Tiwana. Malik Fateh Khan was a brave, highly intelligent and singularly energetic man. Under a promise to make perpetual settlement of the revenue of the Marwats at the low rate of one sixth of the produce in kind, he convinced the chiefs to give their consent to the building a fort in the heart of their country at Lakki, on the left bank of the river Gambila. The Marwats' Khan was replaced by Diwan Daulat Rai, who interpreted the loan as a regularly established tax and added six thousand rupees to it; these 'tappas' now had to pay fourteen thousand rupees year in addition to one sixth of the produce for which they had originally bargained. The imposition was rendered all the more arduous by the method of assessment and collection. he made it a poll tax and the locals, in derision, called it the 'Pataka' or turban tx, the most honoured portion of the Pashtun's dress. Every male who was of age was liable to this tax and consequently, it fell heaviest on the large families.[1]

Musa Khel of Marwat, lies towards Bannu and the Waziri hills, and consequently never submitted to regular payments; so that the authorities were obliged to make incursions into it, and harry the people till they came to terms. When Sir Edwards passed through Marwat to Bannu, he found the smouldering embers of more than one village of this tappeh, which had been burnt by Dewan Dowlat Rai's orders, for refusing to pay the revenue. In the end they used to compound for all demands, but never would allow either their crops to be measured, or their polls to be counted.

In addition to the hated 'Patka' and the land taxes of one sixth, the avaricious Diwan Daulat Rai impose on newly conquered Afghans, all the vexations custom dues of the Sikh system in Punjab. In the the beginning of 1847, the rage of the Marwats at the 'Patka Tax' rose to such a pitch that they rebelled. The Dre-Plari 'Khan' sounded a 'nakarah' (battle drum) at mid-night in his village. The well-known signal was taken up and echoed in the town of Lakki and the Sikh fort was besieged. The news of the rising spread like wild-fire in the neighboring Pashtun tribes; the Wazirs and Khattaks rushed to the scene of the expected action and soon the Marwat 'Lashkar' numbered over twelve thousand men. [2]

The fort was commanded at that time by a very brave Pashtun, Niazam Khan Khudakka; he first burnt the town of lakki to ashes to deprive the besiegers of shelter and then defended the fort with his garrison for seventeen days, until his master, the Diwan, arrived from Dera Isamel Khan with guns and reinforcements and raised the siege. The Marwats efforts ended in failure. Diwan daulat Rai was replaced by Cortland when Edwardess reported to Khalsa Darbar about Diwan daulat Rai's malpractices.

Mina Khel and Sikander Khel clans of Marwats distinguished themselves in 1848 when major Taylor besieged the Sikh garrison in the, now dismantled lakki fort.

Role of Marwats in Anglo-Sikh wars

During the Anglo-sikh war of 1848, both Begu Khel and Esak Khel clans of Marwats sent their men to Multan to assist the British in the siege of Multan. Achu khel division gave full support to the British in the battle of Gujrat that destroyed the Sikh army. While Hakim Khel (Mina Khel) and Sikander Khel clans distinguished themselves in 1848 when Major Taylor besieged the Sikh garrison in the Lakki fort. The band of Midad Khel Marwats also accompanied Sir Edwards in 1848, during the Multan campaign. [3]



References 

1-Sher Muhammad Khan Mahmand, The Marwats,  p-17
2- Edwardes, " A year in the Punjab", Vol-I, p-136
3- History of the Pathans (Vol. III) by Haroon Rasheed

Gaju Khan Yousafzai (ګجو خان)

Gaju Khan (ګجو خان) was a powerful Pashtun chieftain who headed the Yousafzai and the vassal tribes in mid-16 century and controlled large swathes of what is now Northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Henry George Raverty states that if there was one Pashtun chief who from the extent of his territory, the number of his troops and extent of his power, was entitled to be called a king up to that period, it was Khan Gaju. At the height of his power, he was acknowledged from Nangarhar and Kunar in the west to the Margallah hills (in the Islamabad capital of Pakistan) and Gakkhar territory in the east, and from upper Swat in the north to Kohat in the south. The ruler of Pakhli (a Qarlugh Turk) and Sultan Adam (the chief of Gakkhars) in Punjab acknowledged the superiority of Gaju Khan and paid allegiance to him. He was able to bring into field over 140,000 men. 

 

Gaju Khan was a Saddozai Mandanr by tribe and son of a malik (chieftain) named Qara. The former was a man of fighting age in circa 1525 AD when Yousafzais battled with Dilazaks at Katlang. Following the rout of the Dilazaks in that battle, Gaju Khan led his men in the pursuit of the fleeing Dilazaks as far as river Indus. Seeing Gaju Khan, the chief of Dilazaks implored him to keep back his men, that the Dilazak females might be sent across the river, otherwise they would all throw themselves into it and perish rather than be made captives. Taking pity on the Dilazaks, Gaju Khan cried out to his clansmen, "Give over, kinsmen, let them alone! don not harm them, for, after all they are Pashtuns like ourselves." The Dilazak chief was thus able to get across river safely with his family. Not long after the daughter of that Dilazak chief became the bride of Gaju Khan. She was his favorite wife, and her son, Ibrahim Khan, was Gaju Khan's heir.

At some point in 1530s, Gaju Khan went to Hindustan and served under the banners of Sher Shah Sur. When Malik Ahmad died, the jirgah of Khashi tribes chose Gaju Khan as his successor. The latter surpassed his predecessor and Yousufzais gained more power and prosperity in his time. Around 1550 AD, Gaju Khan formed a great confederation of Khashi tribes and defeated the Ghoria Khels at Shaikh Tapur. In 1553 Gaju Khan besieged Sikander Khan Uzbek, the Mughal Qiladar of the fort of Peshawar. Gaju Khan had neither artillery nor firearms. His lashkar consequently, could achieve nothing against the Peshawar fort, and he lifted the siege. Next, he crossed the river Indus and raided Pindi-gheb. In another campaign he again crossed the river Indus and fully conquered Chahch Hazara and Karlugh Hazara. Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din (the ruler of Pakhli) and Sultan Adam Gakkhar sent tributes to him as token of submission.

 

Brig. (r) Haroon Rashid writes: "The times were favourable to him (Gaju Khan), for it was not many years after his succession to the chieftainship that Akbar was able to pay attention to the state of affairs in this territory and by that time Khan Khaju had passed away and the confederated tribes and territory, which his talent had wielded into one, again fell under the independent rule of their respective chiefs, or under the sovereignty of Emperor Akbar". 

From 'Dictionary of Words and Things' by Larive and Fleury, 1895.

References

1-  Tawarikh Hafiz Rahmat Khani
2- "Notes on Afghanistan and parts of Baluchistan" by H.G.Raverty
3- "History of the Pathans by Haroon Rashid
4- Makhzan-i-Afghani" by Naimatullah,
5- "The Pathans"by Olaf Careo.
6-  Yousafzay" by Allah Bakhsh Yusfi, "
7- Hayat-i-Afghani by Muhammad Hayat Khan

Sikandar Shah Suri

Ahmad Khan, nephew of the late Sher Shah, whose sister was married to Mahmud Adil Shah having procured the aid of Haibat Khan and other chiefs, who had been created nobles by the late Salim Shah, assumed the title of Sikandar Shah, and marching with 10 or 12 thousand horse towards Agra, encamped at Kurra, within twenty miles of that city. Ibrahim Khan opposed him with 70,000 horse, but nevertheless was defeated. He then, abandoning his capital, retreated to Sambhal, while Sikandar Khan took possession both of Delhi and Agra.

A last flicker of hope had been roused among the Afghans, when Sikandar, having ascended the throne at Agra, held a magnificent festival, and calling together all his chiefs,
spoke to this effect :

" I esteem myself as one of you : having thus far acted for the commonweal, I claim no superiority. Bahlol raised the tribe of Lodi to glory and reputation ; Sher Shah rendered the tribe of Sur illustrious ; and now Humayun the Mughal, heir to his father's conquests, is watching an opportunity to destroy us all, and re-establish his government.
If, therefore, you are sincere, and will set aside private iaction and animosities, we may still retain our kingdom ; but if you think me incapable of rule, let an abler head and a stonger arm be elected from among you, that I also may swear allegiance to him : I promise most faithfully to support him, and will endeavour to maintain the kingdom in the hands of the Afgans, who have retained it by their valour for so many years." The Afghan chiefs, after this appeal, answered with one accord : " We unanimously acknowledge you, the nephew of our Emperor Sher Shah, our lawful sovereign. 1 ' Calling then for the Koran, all swore both to observe allegiance to Sikandar, and to maintain unanimity among themselves.'

But, in a few days, Ferishta tells us, 'the chiefs began to dispute about governments, honours, and places, and the flames of discord were rekindled, and blazed fiercer than
ever, so that every one reproached his neighbour with the perfidy of which each was equally guilty

Mashwani tribe of Pashtuns

A group of Mashwanis, taken amid the ruins of Sirikot fort (Haripur), c.1907.

Mashwanis are said to be descendants of Sayyid Muhammad-i-Gisu Daraz by a Kakar woman. According to Makhzan-i-Afghani they were originally Sayyids but being brought up in the tribe of their mother, they were called Afghans. The author of Makhzan-i-Afghani (circa 1610) says that they and other descendants of Gisu Daraz are numbered among Pashtuns and they never style themselves Sayyids. They unanimously declared, "“It would be highly improper and unreasonable, if we should style ourselves Sayyids, after having left their order, and joined the nation of the Afghans; so that among them are our affinity and relations, as well as our commerce. Our ancestors also have declared, whoever of our descendants shall assume the title of Sayyid, is not descended from us.” [B.Dorn's translation, p-56]

Mashwani had nine sons, Tukuz, Lodin, Matakati, Suleiman, Roghani, Kazbuli, Ghareb, Kharbari, and Diaz.

According to Khulasat-ul-Ansab of Hafiz Rahmat Khan (1708–1774) ;

"Mashwani was born of the Kaker lady, and is a nephew of Kaker: his descendants, named Mashwanis, reside in Masharahrud, between Shorawak and Baluchistan. Lodin belongs also to the Mashwanis; and the Mandozais reckon themselves, likewise, to be sprung from Mashwani; but some assert, that they are not descended from Mashwani, but from an adopted son of his." [B.Dorn's translation]

Shaikh Isa Mashwani

The first Pashtun poet, the historicity of whose person and work, we cannot reasonably doubt, is Shaikh Isa Mashwani. He was contemporary of Sher Shah Sur. Shaikh Isa seems to have settled in India. Naimatullah Haravi in his 'Makhzan-i-Afghani', mentions Shaikh Isa among the Afghan saints, and attributes to him the authorship of a "Risalah" (book or treatise) written on the unity of the divine being in three languages i.e Pashto, Persian and Hindavi viz Hindi or Hindustani, and produces a few specimens of his verses in these languages.

It was reported to Sher Shah that Shaikh Isa was addicted to wine and did not deserve to be treated as a pious man. Sher Shah got angry and deputed a spy to investigate the fact. Fortunately, the Shaikh succeeded in impressing the state spy by his saintliness and the latter in his turn changed his royal master's adverse opinion about the saint.

See also:  When Hari Singh Nalwa suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Mashwanis and Saidkhanis

Bangash tribe

Bangash was originally name of an extensive territory, and not of a specific tribe. The region of Bangash stretched from River Indus to Spin-Ghar. The present-day districts of Kohat and Hangu constituted the Lower Bangash while Kurram district along with the adjoining territory of Zazai tribe, constituted the Upper Bangash. The Lower and Upper Bangash were collectively referred to as 'Bangashast'. It includes some of the major passes, namely Khost, Kurram, Aryob, Paiwar, Shalozan, Ziran and Karman. The Pashtun tribes of the Bangash region are referred to as 'Afghans of Bangash' or 'Aqwam-i-Bangash' (tribes of Bangash) in Mughal sources. They, with very few exceptions, are Karlanris. With time, 'the tribes of Bangash' (Aqwam-i-Bangash) nomenclature morphed into 'the tribe of Bangash' (Qaum-i-Bangash). Only three among several tribes of the Bangashast, became the Bangash tribe. They are Baizai, Malik Miri and Kaghzai.

The former inhabitants of Bangash region

According to Akhund Darweza, 
 

History of the Bangash tribe

Bangash is the name given to a number of Pashtun tribes, formerly estimated to amount to some 100,000 families, as well as to the tract of mountainous country which they held. This tract was once divided into Bala (Upper) and Pain (Lower) Bangash and was thence called the Bangashat (in the plural) or the two Bangash. The first historical mention of the Bangashat occurs in Babar's Tuzuk, but the two tracts had long been under the control of the Turk and Mughal rulers of the Ghazniwi empire as the most practicable routes from Ghazni and Kabul into India lay through them. At a period when the Khataks and Orakzais are barely referred to, we find constant mention of the Afghans of Bangash. Roughly speaking, Upper Bangash included Kurram and Lower Bangash the country round Kohat, but it is difficult to define accurately the shifting boundaries of the tuman as it was called by the Mughal. According to the Ain-i- Akbari this tuman formed part of the sarkar and subah (province) of Kabul.

The Afghan tribes of Bangash were of Karani (Karlarni) origin . The Baizai, descendants of Bai, and the Malik-Miris or Miranzais, sprung from Malik Mir, were the parent tribes of the Afghans of Bangash, and to these were affiliated the Kaghzi, descended from Kakhai or Kaghai, daughter of Malik Mir, by a husband of an unknown tribe. The Malik-Miris, as Malik Mir's descendants in the male line, held the chieftainship, but it subsequently passed to the Baizais. The latter has several brandies, the Mardo, Azu, Lodi and Shahu Khels. The Miranzai khels are the Hassanzai, with the Badah, Khakhai, and Umar khels. A third branch the Shamilzai, apparently identical with the Kaghzi, produced the Landi, Hassan Khel, Musa Khel and Isa Khel.

Like the other Karlarni tribes,  the Afghans of Bangash were disciples of the Pir-i-Roshan, and their attachment to that heresy brought about their ruin, the Mughal government organizing constant expeditions against them. After the Khataks had moved towards the north-east from the Shawal range (in Waziristan), the Baizai, Malik-Miris and Kaghzis then settled in the Upper Bangash, invaded the Lower (Kohat) and, in alliance with the Khataks, drove the Orakzai who then held the Lower Bangash westwards into Tirah. This movement continued till the reign of Akbar.

The history of the Bangash tribes and the part they took in the Mughal operations against the Roshanias are obscure. Probably they were divided among themselves. But those of them who had remained in Kurram appear to have adhered to the Roshania doctrines.

After Aurangzeb's accession in 1659, we find Sher Muhammad Khan, of Kohat, chief of the Malik-Miris, in revolt against the Mughals. He was captured, but subsequently released and became an adherent of the Mughals. Khushhal Khan the Khatak gives a spirited account of his little wars with Sher Muhammad Khan which ended in his own defeat and the final establishment of the Bangash in their present seats.

Source: Glossary Of The Tribes And Castes Of The Punjab And North-west Frontier ...

A Bangash, 1827-1843. By Imam Bakhsh Lahori, Illustrations des Mémoires du général Claude-Auguste Court, Lahore. Source

Group of Buland Khels (Bangashs), 1907 (c). Postcard by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque

The single-domed Qila-i-Kuna Mosque, built by Sher Shah in 1541 is an excellent example of a pre-Mughal design, and an early example of the extensive use of the pointed arch in the region as seen in its five doorways with the 'true' horseshoe-shaped arches. It was designed as a Jami Mosque, or Friday mosque for the Sultan and his courtiers.

Currency reforms of Sher Shah Sur

The coins and currency reforms of Sher Shah Sur are one of his most outstanding achievements. The very nomenclature of his coins as 'Ashrafis', 'Rupaiya' (Rupee) and Paisa and the principle according to which they were cast, remained the basis of the Mughal currency, the British and even today currency of India and Pakistan (as well as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia and Mauritius) can trace its lineage to Sher Shah's currency reform. These coins and currency reforms of Sher Shah Sur proved very useful and did away with a great deal of inconvenience which was experienced by the general public and particularly by the trading community. These reforms have elicited high praise from modern numismatists.

Sher Shah abandoned mixed metal coinage which existed before his reign. 


Rupiya or Rupee

Rupiya or Rupee currency was first introduced by Sher Shah Sur and and numismatists confirm that they have not found any reference to the Rupee as a specific coin before Sher Shah. Mughal historian of Akbar, Abu Fazal also confirm this in Ain-e-Akbari, he writes:  "Rupaiya first appeared in Sher Khan's time" (Ain-i-Akbari, Persian text, p- 18)

Sher Shah's Rupiya in silver is still the currency of India , Pakistan ,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. It replaced the earlier 'tanka'. He minted a coin in silver of 180  grains in 1542. When the coin was given to him, he looked at it and exclaimed “Rupaiya”, meaning ' beautiful form', 'wrought silver' emphasizing the change from the alloyed or 'black' tanka . Sher Shah Suri also introduce gold "Mohar" which along with silver "Rupiya," was continued throughout the Mughal regime. Sher Shah's Rupee was the means of trade far beyond his empire because it was a carefully minted coin weighing 179 gram of very pure silver. It was retained by the English East India Company up to 1835. V.A. Smith rightly observes: “it is the basis of the existing British currency” (up to 1947).


Paisa 

In the context of issuing copper coin for the lower exchange values , credit goes to Sher Shah Sur, who for the first time in the Indian history, circulated it successfully on large scale throughout his mamlikat. Henceforth, as Ahmad Yadgar informs us (Tarikh-i-Shahi, p-227), Sher Khan Sur's copper became the basis of the sale and purchases of the people of the world. This cooper coin was then known as paisa. Abu Fazal , while referring to Akbar's dam, writes that "formerly they called it paisa" (Ain-i-Akbari, Persian text, p- 18)


Mohur 

The Mohur coin was first introduced by Sher Shah Suri  and was then a gold coin weighing 169 grains (=10.95 grams). It was last minted in British India in 1918, but some princely states continued to issue the coins until their accession to India after 1947

Sher Shah's Silver rupee

Sher Shah's Copper paisa

Sher Shah's Gold Mohur

 Imperial Gazetteer of India remarks; 

"Sher Shah is entitled to the honour of establishing the reformed system of currency which lasted throughout the Mughal period, was maintained by the East India Company down to 1835, and is the basis of the existing British currency. He finally abolished the inconvenient billon coinage of mixed metal, and struck well-executed pieces in gold, silver, and copper, to a fixed standard of both weight and fineness. His silver rupees, which weigh 180 grains, and contain 175 grains of pure silver, being thus practically equal in value to the modern rupee, often have the king's name in Nagari characters in addition to the usual Arabic inscriptions." (V. A. Smith, Imperial Gazetteer of India, ii, pp. 145-6.)

Sher Shah’s name and title and place of mint were invariably inscribed on the coins in Arabic characters. Some of his coins bore his name in Devanagari script and some had the names of first four Khalifas in addition. Gold coins of pure metal of various weights, such as 166.4 grains, 167 grains and 168.5 grains, were executed. The ratio of exchange between the dam and the rupee was 64 to 1. The ratios between the various gold coins and the silver ones were fixed on a permanent basis.

Anglo–Khajjak battle 1841

"Balochan-i-Marri bar koh minazand, wa mardumi Khajjak dar maidani goi shujaat mi rubayand" Translated from Persian in English language the- proverb will read as follows - "Marri Baloch are proud of their mountains whereas Khajjaks are proud of their bravery in the plain area.

In 1839, Misri Khan Barozai, the head of the Panni tribe, tendered his services to Shah Shuja and was taken into British service with a number of his followers, who were styled incorrectly the " Baloch Levy." In March 1841, Mr. Ross Bell, the Political Agent in Upper Sind, deputed one of his assistants with a detachment of troops, under the command of Colonel Wilson of the Bombay Cavalry, to collect the arrears of revenue due from the Khajjaks of Sibi on behalf of Shah Shuja. The detachment was accompanied by Misri Khan, and on the Khajjaks refusing to comply with the demands, attacked the town, but were repulsed with heavy loss, losing fifty- three men killed and wounded and four officers including Colonel Wilson. Reinforcements from Bhag were sent up under General Brooks, but before they could arrive the Khajjaks abandoned their town,the defenses of which were
then demolished. The power of the Khajjaks was thus weakened, and shortly afterwards the
Marris acquired a footing in the Sibi District. They dispossessed the Pannis of Badra and Quat-Mandai and over-ran Sangan. Thus for the Pashtuns of Balochistan, the Anglo-Khajjak battle of 1841 was a turning point for the ascendancy of the Balochs over the Pashtuns and the beginning of the Marri Baloch encroachment in Sibi district.


The Khajaks of Sibi speak Pashtu which has a mixture of Sindi words





Pen-and-ink drawing of Sibi at the end of the Bolan Pass by George Boyd (1800-1850) dated between 1821 and 1844

Afghans of the Frontier Passes: A Study in the Historical Geography of Sibi and Dhader in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan, Volume 2
History of the Pathans: The Ghurghushti, Beitani and Matti tribes of Pathans
Sibi district; text. Compiled by A. McConaghey"

Afghan-Persian wars

Afghan-Persian War of 1726-1738

By the end of the Afghan rebellion of 1707–26, the Afghans had control of about half of Persia and had forced the abdication of the Safavid (Persian) shah Hussein (1675?–1726) in favor of the Ghilzai Afghan Ashraf (d. 1730). The uncrowned Safavid shah, Tahmasp II (d. 1739), relied on the advice of his general Nadir Khan, later called Nadir Shah (1688–1747), who engaged in war against the rebellious Afghans. Developing a disciplined army by degrees, Nadir conquered areas near Afghan-held Herat, wisely avoiding open battles until his troops were ready. Capturing Mazandrin from the Ghilzai Afghans in 1728, he closed routes to Tehran. His troops, ready in 1729, advanced on Herat, defeated the Abdali Afghans in four battles, and made them his chief ally against their rivals, the Ghilzai. The false shah, Ashraf, and his troops were defeated by Nadir’s forces at Mihmandust in 1729, thanks mainly to the Abdalis, who helped defeat Ashraf again at Murchalkur near Isfahan in 1729. Ashraf then fled to Shiraz; Nadir captured Isfahan, had Tahmasp crowned shah, received the voluntary surrender of the Ghilzai in Kirman, rested his troops, and then marched toward Shiraz. After suffering another defeat at the Battle of Zarghan (1730), Ashraf fled toward the Afghan city of Kandahar, only to be murdered by its ruler, a cousin. Rebellion at Herat occupied Nadir through 1731 and 1732. Tahmasp was deposed by Nadir in 1732 and succeeded by Tahmasp’s infant son, whom Nadir later (1736) deposed to become shah. Meanwhile, Nadir moved more than 100,000 Abdalis and related Afshars to Meshed to safeguard Khorasan, pursued his war with the Ottoman Empire, and stabilized Persia. In 1737, he moved against Kandahar, at that time the best fortified city in the world, with 80,000 soldiers, mostly Abdali cavalry. From a newly built city. Nadirabad, he directed the long siege of Kandahar, which fell by deceit in 1738. Non-Ghilzais were moved into Nadirabad. Kandahar was partly razed with great difficulty; its walls, often 30 feet thick, stand as ruins today. The Ghilzais were exchanged for Khorasan Abdalis, and Nadir rested two months before beginning his Persian invasion of Mughal India.


Afghan-Persian War of 1798

The Persian shah, Fath Ali (1766–1834), was induced by the British to pressure Afghan king Zaman (d. 1801?) not to march on British India. Zaman, one of 22 powerful Barakzai brothers (a ruling dynasty in Afghanistan), had planned an armed attack on Delhi and Kashmir. His forces invaded Indian territory, but while Zaman was there, Fath Ali encouraged Zaman’s older brother, Muhammad (fl. 1798–1816), to seize the Afghan throne. Aided by Persians, Muhammad seized the city of Kandahar and then the Afghan capital of Kabul. Zaman returned from India and was captured, blinded, and imprisoned. Muhammad was the new king.


Afghan-Persian War of 1816

Persian troops of Fath Ali Shah (1766–1834) marched to Ghorian, a Persian fortress on the frontier, in preparation for an invasion of Afghanistan to take Herat, a city claimed by the Persians. The Persian invaders were bought off by Herat’s Afghan governor, who promised a large payment of
coins stamped with the name of Fath Ali. The vizier (high Muslim official) at the court of King Muhammad (fl. 1798–1816) of Afghanistan ordered the governor to be seized and deported. Immediately Persian troops approached Herat on orders from Fath Ali, who was angered by the vizier’s seizure of the governor. To halt the Persian advance, Muhammad blinded the vizier (demanded by Fath Ali), whose relatives avenged him by seizing the throne from Muhammad.


Afghan-Persian War of 1836-1838

Under Russian influence, Muhammad Shah (1810–48), king of Persia, prepared to invade Afghanistan, marshaling his troops in Khorasan before marching into Afghan territory toward the city of Herat. The Persians began a siege of Herat on November 23, 1837, but the Afghans, aided by the British who opposed the Russians for control of the area, held them for 10 months and forced the .Persians to withdraw on September 28, 1838. Afghan ruler Dost Muhammad (1793–1863) now sought to launch a second Islamic holy war against Peshawar, an eastern border district occupied by the Sikhs, a Hindu sect (his first war there failed because of internal Afghan dissension), but the British opposed him. Dost Muhammad then accepted Russians in his court.


Afghan-Persian War of 1855-1857

The 1855 Treaty of Peshawar officially established peace and friendship between the British and Afghans, ending 12 years of hostility. That same year the Persians invaded Afghanistan to capture Herat , and the Afghans called for and received British aid to fight the invaders (see ANGLO-PERSIAN WAR OF 1856–57). In 1857, the Persians withdrew, leaving Dost Muhammad (1793–1863) to unite Afghanistan, then under many independent local rulers, under his kingship.


Source: "Dictionary of Wars", By George C. Kohn, pp.402-404

Defeat of Sikh army and death of Hari Singh Nalwa in battle of Jamrud

Battle of Jamrud (1837)

Hari Singh Nalwa

In October 1823, Hari Singh Nalwa attacked Muhammad Khan Tarin and was defeated. In his second attempt, on Sirikot, the Said Khanis and Mashwanis intercepted him at Nara and routed his force. He himself had a narrow escape.
History of the Pathans - Volume 1 - Page 105

Sketch of Ibrahim Lodhi

The Death of Khan Jahan Lodi

The Death of Khan Jahan Lodi (3 February ,1631)

The Afghan Pir Khan Lodi, entitled Khan Jahan, rose to power under Jahangir and became one of his most esteemed amirs. In 1625 he was made governor of the Mughal territories in the Deccan. However, he endangered his position and reputation when he let himself be bribed by the Sultan of Ahmadnagar, the Nizam Shah or Nizamulmulk, to cede part of the regions entrusted to his governorship. Khan Jahan fell completely out of favor with Shah-Jahan when he failed to support his succession to the throne. Despite the fact that Khan Jahan suppressed the first rebellion of Jujhar Singh Bundela in 1629, at the beginning of Shah-Jahan's reign, he was recalled from his post as governor of Malwa to Agra. Seeing no way to avert his downfall, Khan Jahan fled the court on 15 October 1629 and joined by several other defectors, made his way through Bundela territory to the court of the Nizam Shah at Daulatabad. Khan Jahan's defection put Shah-Jahan's rule to its first great test because 'nearly all the tribes of Afghans from the bank of the rivers Nilab and Indus to the confines of Kabul and the surrounding countries' were prepared to acknowledge the rebellious Afghan as their leader. The Mughals were, however, able to suppress this uprising at Peshawar and to deal successfully with the Nizamshahis in the Deccan campaign which Shah-Jahan supervised personally from Burhanpur. When the Mughal forces closed in on Daulatabad, Khan Jahan and his followers became distrustful of their ally, the Nizam Shah, and set off towards the north, 'hoping to achieve something in the Punjab with the assistance of the Afghans.' They were hotly pursued by a detachment of Mughal troops. When the Afghans passed through Bundelkhand, Bikramajit, the eldest son of Jujhar Singh Bundela who had previously assisted Khan Jahan in his flight from Agra, wanted to atone for it and attacked the Afghans. Khan Jahan's companion Darya Khan Daudzai was killed and his head sent to court, for which Bikramajit received the title Jagraj ('Lord of the World'). Khan Jahan managed to escape but his flight finally came to an end at Sahenda (Sihanda), north of Kalinjar, where his Mughal pursuers advanced towards him on 3 February 1631. The Afghan fought valiantly but was killed in action, many of his men perishing with him. The heads of Khan Jahan and of his son Aziz Khan were sent to the court at Burhanpur, where Shah-Jahan had them mounted on the gate of the palace as a warning. The court poet Abu Talib Kalim composed appropriate verses to commemorate the event, and Khan Jahan's captors, Abdullah Khan Firozjang and Sayyid Muzaffar Khan Barha, were suitably rewarded; Khan Jahan's title went to the latter. Mahesh Soni depicts the moment when the royal mace-bearers sever the head of Khan Jahan from his bound body. It appears as if the renegade loses his life at this moment, though in reality he had been cut to pieces earlier in the engagement with the Mughals. The heads of his son and followers are lying on the ground; two more heads of slain Afghans are held by Mughal officers among those who watch the main scene. The leaders of the Mughal force, Abdullah Khan and Sayyid Muzaffar Khan, have dismounted their richly armored horses to preside over the action.

The Rajput whose head is emphasized below the dismounted horseman on the right is Madho Singh Hada, younger son of the Rajput Rao Ratan Hada of Bundi. (It was a spear thrust from Madho Singh that killed Khan Jahan Lodi.) Abdullah Khan Firoz]ang, the other horseman, became famous for this act of beheading, and a series of portraits showing him holding the head of Khan Jahan Lodi are known.

Mughal officer Abdullah Khan Firoz Jang with the head of Khan Jahan Lodi , ca. 1631 (made)

Portrait of Khan Jahan Lodi, circa 1670.

Portrait of Khan Jahan Afghan (Lodi). c.1610-15 (made).Victoria and Albert Museum

Ghazi Dilasa Khan of Bannu (born 1777 A.D.)

Bannuchis resisted stoutly any intruders, Mughals, Durranis or the Wazirs. Ghulam Muhammad who visited Bannu in 1782, wrote of them:-

"The horses and swords of Bannu are remarkably good; and the people are exceedingly brave and bold. They are Shitaks, the descendants of Sharaf-ud-Din, alias Shitak, son of Karlarnaey".

In 1822 Ranjit Singh began his plan to include Bannu in the Sikh empire. Ranjit Singh overran the Marwats and made occasional incursions on the fortified villages of the Bannuchis. In 1823, the Sikhs crossed the Indus, marched through Isa Khel and Marwat without opposition and and pushed on to the outskirts of Bannu. After a short stay, they returned without establishing a garrison. From 1823 to 1845, about nine times the Sikh army invaded Bannu. The Khalsa force commander used to come with a large Sikh army, which never entered the valleys without fear. It generally succeeded in squeezing out of them considerable revenue, yet never quitted it without having suffered severe loss at the hands of some stout rebels.

In June 1838, Shah Shuja Saddozai (grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali) entered into a tripartite agreement with Ranjit Singh and the British government. Under article I of this agreement, Shah Shuja ceded Trans-Indus region (including Bannu) to the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh lost no time in attempting to occupy this new territory. Ranjit Singh demanded one lac rupees as tribute from the Bannuchis. Elsewhere in the region he had met with little opposition; but in the Bannu valley he was forced, after several efforts, to fall back with the expedient of his predecessors and to content himself with the periodical despatch of a force to devastate the country and carried off whatever booty could be secured.

Malik Dilasa Khan was born in 1777 AD in the house of Khattak Khan. Alam Khan and Ghazi Khan were his grandfather and great-grandfather respectively. Malik Daud Shah, the ancestor of Malik Dilasa Khan, was third in lineal descent from Suranaey son of Shitak.  Dilasa Khan belonged to village Daud Shah. It is his indefatigable struggle against the Sikhs that brought Malik Dilasa Khan to the limelight and in the history of Shitaks his name is mentioned with great respect and reverence. In 1847, prior to the battle of Khyber that was fought between Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul and Sikhs, a friend of Dost Muhammad Khan mentioned the name of Dilasa Khan to the latter and asked him to send for him as he was the fiercest enemy of the Sikhs and would be of great help to the Durranis.

Malik Dilasa Khan fought a number of battles against the Sikhs in and around Bannu however, his contemporaries mentioned only two battles in some details. In 1826 the Sikhs led by Kanwar Karak Singh, visited Bannu for the second time for revenue collection. Malik Dilasa Khan refused to make the payment and raised a call for jihad. A few Maliks joined him. A fierce battle was fought near village Gul Hasan Amandi wherein Malik Dilasa Khan was defeated. He took refuse with Dawars in the Tochi valley.

Then we hear about him when the Sikhs visited Bannu for the fourth time in 1834 under the command of Tara Singh. He camped in the village of Akra. Malik Dilasa Khan made arrangement for jihad and fortified his village. Tara Singh tried to catch Malik Dilasa Khan unprepared. He attacked him at dawn and bombarded Mamash Khel, the village of Malik Dilasa Khan of Daud Shah Tappa, with artillery guns and made a breach in the mud fort wall. Malik Dilasa Khan, before the Sikhs could make use of the breach, cordoned it off with barbed wire and bushes. At night he sallied out and repulsed the Sikhs' attacks and inflicted upon them a loss of over three hundred men. A ballad celebrating his victory, recorded by Septimus Smet Thorburn in his book in 1876, runs as under:-

The 'Ghazi Dilasa' taunts them as 'Kafirs' and replies:
"Countries are of no use to me:
If I am martyred, God will give me paradise.
All the world is fleeting, as we are born from earth."
The Sikh force came and pitched against Dilasa.
Day and night, oh friends! they fought without ceasing.
It was a great earthquake. Boys and girls were kept awake.
Thanks be to God that Dilasa came out with honour.
He fought with the infidels; he became a Ghazi.
All the people praise him; from sins he has been cleansed.
The Houris of paradise have made him their own - it is a truth from the book.
He put the Sikhs to flight. Where will they flee religionless?

Soon after Khalsa army under Kunwar Nao Nihal Singh and Raja Surjeet Singh reached Bannu. They besieged Malik Dilasa Khan's fort. Most of the Bannuchi Maliks abandoned Malik Dilasa Khan. The Sikhs massacred a nearby village where a cow had been slaughtered. They cut the hands of all those who survived the killing and burnt the village. They extracted about eighteen thousand rupees from Malik Asad Hasan Khel who had to sell his entire household to meet the demand.

Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes, who came in very intimate contact with the Shitaks as a tribe and seem most of their mid-nineteenth century Maliks and Khans, did not treat them favorably except Dilasa Khan. Edwardes had heard a lot about him from the Sikhs who had suffered at the hands of Dilasa Khan and from the commoners who supported the latter. Once he asked Malik Mir Alam Khan of Ahmadi Tappa as to who Dilasa Khan was? the latter replied and Edwardes quotes.

"Dilasa Khan is a sentry"

He further writes,

"Though, the Sikhs are afraid of Dilasa Khan"

For the Shitaks, Edwardes and Sikhs, both were evil; the only difference was the Shitaks considered the latter the bigger evil. Later, Dilasa Khan ultimately chose the lesser evil and met Edwardes who kept him in his camp as a guest. On day, Shamsher Singh, to irritate him sent his men to Dilasa Khan's Tappa and that very night Dilasa Khan who was about seventy years old, made his escape good to Dawar valley and never returned to his country.

Sources:

1- "History of the Pathans", by Haroon Rahsid, Vol-5
2- "Notes on Afghanistan and part of Baluchistan", by H.G.Raverty
3- "Bannu or our Afghan frontier", by S.S.Thorburn
4- "A year in the Punjab" by H.B. Edwardes

Cavalryman from Bannu, c.1830-40 AD. The portrait is from album of paintings held in the British Library.

Zarkuns of Kohlu and Loralai

The lineage of Zarkuns is obscure , however, all the evidence leads to their Pashtun origin. The clan is divided into three sub clans, namely , Ghunji , Pirozi, and Sharawani [1]. Zarkuns are offshoots of original Panni stock[2]. According to the District Gazetteers, Zarkuns have features that more closely resemble the Marri than any egalitarian Pashtun ideal type.

According to Dr. O. T. Duke in his reports of 1883, " the Zarkuns, who are stated to have originally belonged to the Musakhel tribe, occupied some 300 years ago (in 1580s), Kohlu, Mamand Khan Kot, Gamboli and the neighboring hills under their Sardar Firoz Khan. They had continuous fights with their neighboring tribes. The Hasnis, who were expelled from Philawar by the Marris about 100 years ago tried unsuccessfully to take Kohlu from the Zarkuns. In January 1876 the Masori Bugtis attacked and looted some Zarkuns who pursued the party and killed 14 of them. A few months afterwards another body of Bugtis, which came to revenge the death of their comrades, was attacked by the Zarkuns, and its leader Haidar Khan was killed with 28 others. The Marris fomented the strife and gave passage through their country to a force, consisting of nearly all the Bugtis led by their chiefs, the Zarkuns were outnumbered, the Kohlu valley was sacked, 70 Zarkuns and 27 Bugtis were killed. Their settlements were burnt. The Zarkuns then deserted the Kohlu. The Marris invited them to return to Kohlu and the Marri Chief Ghazan offered them an offensive and defensive alliance against the Bugtis. The Zarkuns returned to Kohlu and Ghazan Khan Marri died soon afterwards. Marris had previously acquired Gamboli and Mamand from the Zarkuns,  had first at first hired lands from them in these valleys , and then, when they felt themselves strong, had declined to pay any rent to Zarkuns. Finally they excluded the Zarkuns altogether, though this exclusion was not affected without severe fighting.

In July 1878 the Zarkuns, few and weak, yielded to the Marris, who took three-fourths of the valley themselves and left a fourth to the Zarkuns. Mehrulla Khan, the Marri Sardar, took over Gulu Gozu as his panjuk (chief's share)." The Zarkuns numbered about 200 fighting men in 1883 and their arms consisted of 100 matchlocks, 15 pistols, and in addition each man was armed with with a sword and shield. They are divided into 10 sections ;

1- Firozi
2- Shirinis
3- Muhammad Khels (live with Lunis)
4- Brahim Khels
5- Chirma
6- Zeras
7- Malikzais
8- Jamalzais
9- Brahimzais
10- Kidarzais (live with Lunis)

Owing to the continued encroachments of the Marris,  on their request , the Zarkuns headed by Jalak Khan brother of Dada Khan (Chief of the Zarkuns), were taken under British protection in 1891 and in 1892 a Sub-Tahsil was established in the valley. The chief occupation of the Zarkuns is agriculture.[3]

The families of Dada Khan Sharwani and Samad Khan Ghunji are the influential families of their respective sub clans. Dada Khan had been the head of Zarkuns of Sibi. His elder son , Haidran Khan who, in 1918, was followed by his younger brother , Dilshad Khan, succeeded him. He was born about 1889 and had been a popular chief of his clan.[4]

In 1901 Zarkuns in the Loralai district numbered 1107. The Zarkuns in Duki Tehsil are known as the Karkani (to distinguish them from their brethren in Kohlu) and they are chiefly found in Warezai, Hosri, Palos, Khalil china and Sinao. A few families have also acquired land in Duki and Habib Kila.[5]


 



 Notes and References:

1. The 1901 Census Report , Vol-VI, Chapter III, (page 94) suggests that the name of sub clan Sharawan indicates that the nucleus of this sub-clan consists of Pathans of Saraban Divsison. The name Saraban has been corrupted into 'Sharawan', however , there is no concrete proof of it.

2. Census of India, 1921 - Volume 4 - Page 96)

3. A Historical and Descriptive Report on the Districts of Thal-Chotiali and Harnai, with the Adjacent Country Inhabited by Baloch and Pathan Tribes, p-151

4. Haroon Rashid, "History of Pathans", Vol.III, p-113

5. Loralai Gazetteer, p-88