Sherani tribe

The Sherani Tribe of Pashtuns

The Sherani tribe of Pashtuns inhabits the mountainous region of Koh-i-Suleiman, which, according to traditional accounts, is regarded as the birthplace of the Pashtun people. They trace their lineage back to Sheranaey, the eldest son of Sharkhabun, who was himself the grandson of the legendary Qais Abdur Rashid.

Although the Sheranis are Sarbani Pashtuns, they have often been associated with the Ghurghusht, and a centuries-old anecdote recorded in the early 17th-century work Makhzan-i-Afghani provides a background for this association. It is said that while Sheranaey was still a child, his mother died, and his father remarried. From this second marriage, four sons were born: Tarin, Miana, Barech, and Urmar. Although Sheranaey was the eldest son of Sharkhabun, his father nevertheless nominated Tarin as his heir. Angered by this decision, Sheranaey turned to his maternal grandfather, Kakar, and requested to live with his family, which Kakar accepted. Sheranaey thereafter dissociated himself from the Sarbanis, declared himself a Ghurghushti, and vowed never to identify as a Sarbani again. Kakar later married him to his own granddaughter.

The Sheranis are bounded on the south by the lands of the Miana (Zmari), to the north by the Wazirs across the Gomal Pass, to the west by the Mando Khels in the Zhob Valley, and to the northwest by the Sulaiman Khel Ghilzais. Immediately south of them are the Haripals.

Geographically, the Sheranis are divided into two main sections: the Largha Division (Lower Sheranis), who inhabit the areas east of Takht-i-Suleiman, and the Bargha Division (Upper Sheranis), who occupy the tract west of the range. According to local tradition, about four hundred years ago there was a long, drawn-out war between the Sheranis and the Beitainis. During this time, the leader of the Sheranis found a Quresh orphan boy whose miraculous help enabled the Sheranis to defeat the Beitains. The boy was named Dare Khan. He was married to a Sherani woman, and the elders of the Sheranis decided to send a group of their tribesmen under his leadership to settle in the Bargha lands, which had been lying waste out of fear of the Waziris and Beitainis. This group successfully occupied the Bargha lands, giving rise to the Bargha Division of the Sheranis.

In late 19th century, Robert Sandeman, a colonial adminstrator, exploited the geoghraphical division of the Sherani tribe by placing the two divisions into two different administrative divisions. He also succeeded in sowing seeds of discord between them by enrollinh men from the Bargha section in the levy service. 

Sherani tribesmen, 1868. From Watson and Kaye's collection

Sherani tribesmen, 1915. Photo by Ronald Sinclair.

Sherani Pashtun, c.1910. From Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection.

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