Medieval Afghanistan extended up to Sukkur of Sindh

By Khan Barmazid

Medieval Afghanistan extended up to Sukkur of Sindh, formerly known as Bhakkar.....


1- Alberuni , famous scholar and the courtier of Mahmud Ghaznavi, writes in his book 'Tarikh al-Hind' ; "In the mountains to the west of. India there live various tribes of the Afghans which extend up to the neighbourhood of the valley of the Sindh (Indus)"


2- Tarikh Nama-i-Herat of Saif Harwi, written in 1322 AD, records that Malik Shamsuddin Kurt (ruler of Herat and vassal of Mongols), decided to attack Bhakkar fort of Afghanistan in 1258 AD.The two sides fought for 12 days in which both sides suffered heavy losses. The defenders of Bakkar fort surrendered to Malik Shamsuddin on 13th day after an agreement . The source locates the fort of Bhakkar in the river and mentions it be infested by men-eating crocodiles. It is earliest source which mentions the region by name of Afghanistan.


3- Afghanistan name is mentioned at many places in the book "Rozat-ul-Jinat" written in 1486 AD by Zamchi Asafzari. At one place it says "Malik Shamsuddin laid siege to the Bhakkar fort of Afghanistan..... [6]


4-  The Nahar tribe of Afghans, is mentioned in Tarikh-i-nama-Herat. They were in possession of large tracts, including that of Sindh ;

    "They (Nahars) once held all the hill country from near Nigaha or Sakhi sarwar pass to the south comprising the Southern parts of the Koh-i-Siyah or Suleiman range, where it trends to the west and is much mixed up with lower ranges of Koh-i-Surkh or red range. On their west and north they had Kansi Khitrans and the Mianas respectively. To the south they had the plains of Kachhi (Bolan) and Indus valley and in their east they had the tracts of Panjnad of Multan district and the hill tracts now in possession of Bozdar, Kasrani, Khosah, Leghari, Lashari, Bugti, and Mazari Balochs. At the height of their prosperity , the Nahars spread east and south into plains of Indus valley, and they are said to have once held the tracts around Harrand, Siwi, Sitpur and Kindko (Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West , Vol-1, p-139)

5- In 16th century Bhakkar was one of the 'Sarkar' (division of subah or province) of Mughal empire and Roh (medieval Afghanistan) extended up to Siwi, one of the dependency of Bhakkar.The Tabqat-i-Akbari of Khwaja Nizam-uddin Ahmad, written in 1593, delineates the boundaries of Roh  as ;

     "Roh is the description of the mountain which in length stretches from the neighborhood of Bajaur to Siwi , a townlet of Bhakkar and its width is from Hasan Abdal to Kabul. Qandahar is situated within the area of this range." 

References:

1-  Alberunis India by Sachau, Edward C., Ed.

2- Tarikh-Nama-i-Herat, Urdu translation by Professor Sultan Altaf Ali

3- Rozat-ul-Jinat, Vol-1, p-120, as cited by Habibullah tegay

4-  Tabqat-i-Akbari, English transaltion