Khassadars of Waziristan

British Soldiers with Khassadars of North Waziristan, at Chitral , circa 1940 

Afghan soldiers

Jazailchis in the service of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul, 1857. By Peter Stark Lumsden.

Irregular Afghan soldiers, Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1879 (c). Source

Dourraunnee chieftains in full armour, 1840 (c). By James Rattray. Source

An oil on canvas of two Afghan blue soldiers on the North west Frontier, 1879, one horseman with henna beard, turban, spear and round shield with three bolts, on a white horse with woven saddle with red and blue tassles, the horse being led by a soldier with his back to the viewer, with a musket over his shoulder, set against a mountainous sunset with low clouds, signed and dated lower left W. Fane 1879. By General Walter Fane (1828-1885). 

An Afghan infantryman at the peace negotiations, August 1919. Source

Afghan soldiers on horseback ambushing at Khyber Pass, Second Anglo-Afghan War, illustration from the magazine The Graphic, volume XVIII, no 474, December 28, 1878.

                 Two followers of Sultan Muhammad Khan Barakzai, 1838. Painting by Emily Eden.

A picket of Afghan infantry at the boundary line between the British and Afghan territory on N.W Frontier, 1920s.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal Lahori and Afghanistan

Some local Pashtuns of Khost (Afghanistan) removing name of Allama Iqbal from a sign board (2017)

(Allama Iqbal was of Kashmiri descent and was born in Sialkot but in Iran and Afghanistan he is known as "Iqbal Lahori")


1- Iqbal's grave is covered by the most precious lapiz lazuli, found mostly in Afghanistan. These stones were gifted by the Government of Afghanistan. The value of these stones was equal to three hundred thousand Afghanis (currency of Afghanistan) at that time. The stone for the grave and also for the tomb-stone was sent from Afghanistan. Two stone-torches made of lapiz lazuli were also sent but were broken during the transportation. The contents inscribed on the tomb are as under :-

Its Luhani or Nuhani (لوحاڼي ) , not Lawani (لواڼي)

Nuhani or Luhani Pashtuns are erroneously referred to as "Lawani" in modern Pashto literature of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Abdul Hai Habibi and Abdul Shakoor Rashad (and many others who have followed them) have confused Nuhanis/Luhanis (a branch of Lodis) with Lawanis (a branch of Miyanas).

Khushal Khan Khattak calls them Luhani (لوحاني) in Swat-nama [1] :-

نور مې ځای په څوتره ، لوحاني دی
که څوک وي، نه ناکام د کرلاڼی دی


In the footnotes, Abdul Hai Habibi says that Nuhani or Luhani is Indianized form of Lawani (لواڼي) or Lawan (لوڼ). Abdul Hai Habibi is incorrect here. Nuhani is original. Makhzan-i-Afghani informs us that Luhanis are descendants of Nuh [2]. H.G.Raverty says that as in the case of some other Semetic words, the "n" in the Nuh is sometimes changed for "l", thus Luh and Luhani. According to Raverty, the last mode of writing is comparatively modern. [3]

Abdul Hai Habibi and other authors have confused Luhani with Lawani (a branch of Miyana tribe of Pashtuns) and Lawan (a branch of Panni tribe of Pashtuns). According to Makhzan-i-Afghani, Lawani was one of the 12 sons of Miyana [4]. While Lawan (لوڼ) was one of the sons of Panni. [5]

Dawlat Nuhani was 17th century Pashto poet and a follower of Bayazid Ansari. He has been erroneously referred to as Lawani by 20th century authors from Afghanistan (the error which is reproduced and repeated by authors from Pakistan) but he refers to himself as "Nuhani" (نوحاني) in his poetry. [6]

The earliest sources which mention Nuhani Pashtuns, are inscriptions of Lodi period. In an inscription dated to 1496 A.D, a Nuhani noble of Sikandar Lodi is mentioned. The mode of writing in that inscription is Nuhani (نوحاني), not Lawani [7]. Babur also refers to them as Nuhanis. [8]

Ameer Khan, a Lohani Chieftain', 1836. By Godfrey Thomas Vigne. Source

References

1- Swat-nama of Khushal Khan Khattak, edited and annotated by Abdul Hai Habibi, p-17
2- “History of the Afghans” by B.Dorn, p-50
3- “Notes on Afghanistan and part of Baluchistan”, by H.G.Raverty, p-486
4- “History of the Afghans” by B.Dorn, p-43
5- Tarikh Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i-Afghani, Persian text, p-635
6- “Da Daulat Lawani diwan”, edited by Abdul Shakoor Rashad, p-232
7- “Lodi and Sur inscriptions from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh”,by W.H.Siddiqui, p-27
8- “Babur-nama”, translated into English by A.S.Beveridge”, p-455

Zaman Shah Durrani (historical images)

Zaman Shah Durrani enthroned, his two princes attend left and right, circa 1795. A third young attendant waves a white silk fabric as symbol of royal authority.

Zaman Shah Durrani in Durbar, Lahore, surrounded by attendants, 1799. British Museum. Inscribed: 'Portrait of his highness king of king Zaman Shah Padishah Durrani, may God prolong his realm and reign. 1214'

Pata Khazana, a forgery

1- Georg Morgenstierne, a specialist of Indo-Iranian languages, and author of "An Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto", was doubtful of the authenticity of Pata Khazana. He noticed grave linguistic and historical problems in it. He shared his views about Pata Khazana in "Encyclopedia of Islam" as follow:

2- Muhammad Hotak, the compiler of Pata Khazana, writes, "I started to write the book on 16-Jamadi-al-Sani, 1141 H, and it was "Friday".

Qalandar Mohmand, a well-known Pashtun research scholar, literary critic and Pashto poet, pointed out that on 16-Jamadi-al-Sani, 1141 H, it was "Monday" not "Friday, so the book has been created by a forgerer.

The fact that on 16-Jamadi-al-Sani, 1141 H, it was Monday, can be verified on this website : https://www.islamicity.org

3- The 12th century poet "Khkaronday" of Pata Khazana, a courtier of Shahabuddin of Ghor, has used the word Attock in his poetry for the river Indus.

Qalandar Mohmand writes that there is no historical proof that river Indus has ever been referred to as Attock in 12th century.

It was Akbar who first coined the term Attock. He built and named the fort Attock Banaras to rhyme it with Katak Banaras (a fort on extreme east of his empire)

4- The facsimile of Pata Khazana has letter "ځ" which came into being after the creation of Pata Khazana. Qalandar Mohmand refers to Abdul Shakoor Rashad who wrote "The present shape of the letter "ځ" of Pashto Alphabets, has been created by Wazir Muhammad Gul Khan Momand ". It proves Pata Khazana to be a forged document. It also proves "Tazkirat-ul-awlia" of Sulieman Mako to be a forged document which also has "ځ" letter. ["The Rowshnites and Pashto Literature", by Yar Muhammad Maghmoom Khattak]

5- Tarikh-i-Farishta, a 17th century source, says that Multan was ruled by an Afghan "Shaikh Hamid Lodi" in the 10th century. The forgerer of Pata Khazana has utilized Tarikh-i-Farishta and has turned the nephew of Shaikh Hamid "Lodi" into a Pashto-speaker & Pashto poet.

It has been demonstrated by H.G.Raverty long ago that Lodi was miswriting, and Qasim Farihsta mistook Lawi (لوي) for Lodi (لودي). The 10th century writers Masudi, Istakhari and Iban-i-Hawkal all say that the rulers of Multan were Arabs, and they were descended from Usman bin Lawi bin Ghalib, an Arab of the tribe of Quresh.

Masudi visited Multan in 912-913 AD and informs us that it was ruled by Qureshi Arabs, descendants of Usman, bin Lawi, bin Ghalib.

Ibn-i-Hawkal completed his work in 977 AD, writes that Emir of Multan was a Qureshi :-

Hudud-i-Alam of 982 A.D, also informs us that Multan was ruled by a Qureshi :-

Al-Madqisi visited Multan in 985 A.D and reported that ruler of Multan acknowledged Fatimid rulers of Egypt as their Caliphs (i.e they were Qaramites).

6- Amir Kror Suri, son of Amir Pulad Suri, is an 8th century Pashto poet from Ghor according to Pata Khazana. As per the creator of Pata Khazana, Suri was the family name of the ruling dynasty of Ghor.

However, Suri was not the family name of the ruling clan of Ghor. The best authority on the lineage of rulers of Ghor, is Tabaqat-i-Nasiri written by al-Siraj Juzjani who spent his childhood in the harem of a Ghurid princess. He informs us that the ruling family of Ghor was called Shansabanian with reference to their paternal ancestor Shansab.

Tabakat-i-Nasiri does not refer to Amir Pulad as Suri. He is being referred to as Shansabani and Ghuri.

"Suri" was a Malik of Ghor in the 10th century. His son was Muhammad ibn Suri (Muhammad son of Suri), who was contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni [Tabaqat-i-Nasiri]

Al-Utbi, secretary of Mahmud Ghaznavi, mentions him as "Ibn-i-Suri" (son of Suri).

The only other person in the family tree of the Shansabanis who had the name of Suri besides Amir Suri, was Saif al-Din Suri. The ruling family is never referred to as Suri in Tabakat-i-Nasiri.

Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen is reading Pata Khazana