According to Ain-i-Akbari, Malik Bahram, the grandfather of Sultan Bahlul Lodi, belonged to the region/town of Bilot (marked in the map). Abul Fazal, (the author of Ain-i-Akbari) had most likely acquired this info from Tarikh-i-Ibrahim Shahi, the official history of Lodis, which is no longer extant.
Bilot is located in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is nowadays referred to as Bilot Sharif on account of tomb of Shah Isa Biloti (a medieval saint) there. Ruins of southern Kafirkot are located in the vicinity of Bilot.
Sultan Bahlul Lodi (بهلول لودي ) belonged to the Shahu Khel branch of the Prangi (پړانګي) tribe of Pashtuns. The progenitor of the tribe was named Prang (پړانګ) which means tiger in Pashto. Majority of the Prangis migrated to India in 15th century but Bilot is still populated by Bluch (بلڅ) which is a sub-tribe of Prangi.
The connection of Shahu Khel Lodis with Bilot is also attested by Makhzan-i-Afghani (written in circa 1612 AD).
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| Ustrani tribesmen, 1861. From Watson and Kaye's collection |
Snippets of the description given along with the photograph;
"The Oosteranees are Soonnee Mahomedans, and display no peculiarities to distinguish them from other frontier Mahomedan tribes and clans. They have, however, a high local reputation for valour, and, armed with sword and shield, are considered a match for double the number of any other frontier tribe. Although the sword and shield alone are preferred by them, a proportion of their number are armed with very long matchlocks, which carry a great distance, and are formidable weapons. Well skilled in the use of arms, and with their desperate bravery, the Oosteranees could furnish a powerful contingent in case of any frontier war. " …
"Their costume, well displayed in the Photograph, is a turban, tunic, and loose trousers of strong white cotton cloth; round then waists a scarf, usually blue or red, with ends of crimson silk, is used to bind on their powder horns and bullet bags, as well as to confine the leather sword belt, and holds a knife or dagger. The clan is composed, for the most part, of strong, tall, athletic men, not so fair in colour as many others of the mountaineers, but a ruddy brown. "
…."The territory of the Oosteranees lies south of that of the Sheoranees, on the border between the Dehra Ismael Khan and Dehra Ghazee Khan districts. They are not a numerous tribe, and cannot muster more than a thousand fighting men. Some portions of the tribe reside in the hills, other on the plains; the latter being British subjects. "["The People of India" by John Forbes Watson and John William Kaye]
1890's description of Ustaranis:
"They are descendants of Hammar, one of the sons of Ushtaryani , a Sayyid, who settled among and married into the Shirani section of Afghans. They were settled with the Shiranis to the south of the Takht-i-Sulaiman and till about a century ago were wholly pastoral and engaged in the carrying trade. But a quarrel with their neighbours, the Musa Khel, put a stop to their annual westward migration, and they were forced to take to agriculture. They still own a large tract of country, in which indeed most of them live, cultivating land immediately under the hills and pasturing their flocks beyond the border. Their territory only includes the eastern slopes of the Sulaimans, the crest of the range being held by the Musa Khel and Zmari. They are divided into two main clans, the Ahmadzai and Gagalzai, and these again into numerous septs. They are a fine, manly race, many of them in our army and police, and they are quiet and well behaved, cultivating largely with their own hands. A few of them are still carriers. They are much harassed by the independent Bozdar Balochs. They are all Sunnis." ["The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh", Vol.4, pp.166-167]
"The nomadic Ushturyani live entirely in the black-hair tents called kizhdi, which they pitch in small clusters —from two or three to a score or more—in the form of a camp, called kirl ; but the settled sections of the tribe live in small movable huts of mud-plastered wicker work made from the tamarisk, which they build in the form of a village called jhok , and kiri indifferently, both being terms of Indian origin, signifying "circle," or "cluster." The Ushturyani are reckoned at live thousand families, and about half the number is settled as agriculturists and cattle dealers; they are a free, brave, and manly people, rough in manners, and of predatory inclinations." [An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan By Henry Walter Bellew, 1891, page-127]
Sher Shah's father name was Hasan and they belonged to the Shera Khel sept of the Sur tribe [1]. Their tribe was located in the present-day Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Sher Shah’s grandfather, Ibrahim Khan, was a horse-dealer in his homeland. He migrated to India with his son Hasan during the early years of Sultan Bahlul’s reign and took up a career as a soldier. [2]
According to Abbas Sarwani, who a compiled a 16th century biography of Sher Shah Sur, Sher Shah's family originated from a village in Afghanistan (Pakhtunkhwa) which was known as Zhaghri in Afghani (Pashto) and Rohri in Multani (Seraiki) [3]. The Dera Ismail Khan district is a region where both Seraiki and Pashto are spoken in close proximity. K.R. Qanungo, author of a renowned book on Sher Shah, incorrectly identified Zhaghri, or Rohri, as Surgurgai near Ab-i Istadeh in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan, where Seraiki is not spoken [4]. Abbas Sarwani provides further information about the village's location, stating that Zhaghri, or Rohri, is situated on a ridge extending six or seven kuroh along the Gomal River, originating from the Sulaiman Mountains. [5]. According to the survey of Suleiman mountains published under the Direction of Brigadier E.O.Wheeler (Surveyor General of India) in 1941 [6], Rohri is a village, situated on an offshoot of the Suleiman mountains which is roughly 15 miles long, that is the six or seven kuroh of Abbas Sarwani. This branch of Suleiman mountains is known locally as "Mian Nur” ridge. The river Gomal runs close by Rohri village. According to Aminullah Khan Gandapur, village Rohri is located 11 miles northwest of Kulachi town in the Kulachi Tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan. [7]
In the mid-sixteenth century, the Sur tribe in Pakhtunkhwa was attacked and defeated by the neighboring Lohani tribes. It is likely that the fall of the Sur dynasty in India in 1555 encouraged the Lohanis to attack and displace the Surs. Many Surs were killed, and the survivors fled to India. Subsequently, Khan Zaman Katti Khel, the chief of the Lohanis, awarded the former lands of the Surs to the Gandapur tribe in the late sixteenth century. This was done with the intention of using the Gandapur's power against his Marwat enemies. Today, the village of Rohri is inhabited by the Gandapur tribe of Pashtuns. [8].
References
1- “Akbar nama”, English translation by H.Beveridge, p-326
2- Ibid.
3- “The History of India, as told by its own Historians”, Vol-4, p-308
4- “Sher Shah and his times”, K.R.Qanungo, p-05
5- “The History of India, as told by its own Historians”, Vol-4, p-308
6- "Transition of power from the early Mughals to Sher Shah Suri", by Hussain Khan, pp.80-81
7- "Tarikh-i-Sarzameen-i-Gomal", by Aminullah Khan Gandapur, p-39
8- "Afghanistan and Its Inhabitants: Translated from the HAYAT-I-AFGHANI of Muhammad Hayat Khan, p-286
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| Portrait of of Sher Shah Sur. Water colour painting. Date of Creation: 1900-1949 |
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| Rohri marked with red arrow in the map |
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Nowrung Khan , a Gandapur chieftain, circa 1867. |
"Naurang Khan is the leading man among the Brahimzai (Gandapurs), and in consideration of his services during the mutiny (1857's) , has received from the Government the title of Khan Bahadur."
"The title Khan Bahadur was conferred on Naurang Khan on 11th March 1859, as a personal distinction, for very distinguished services during the Multan rebellion and the Mutiny of 1857. Belongs to the Gandapur (Afghan) family of Kulachi in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the Punjab. He raised 50 horse and 100 foot for service in the Multan campaign, and was desperately wounded at that time. At the close of the campaign he joined the Police, retiring on a pension after three years; but continued to volunteer for service on the frontier, and his son, Muhammad Zaman Khan, was killed in this service. When the Mutiny broke out in 1857 he raised 600 men; and leaving 200 foot with the Deputy Commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan, he joined Sir Herbert Edwardes with the residue at Peshawar, and marched at the head of these followers into Hindustan. He was engaged in the actions against the rebels at Jhelum, Delhi, Najafgarh, and elsewhere; and on one occasion saved Lieutenant Lind's life by killing a Sepoy who was about to bayonet that officer when dismounted. For these services he received a jagir in perpetuity, and the title of Khan Bahadur. His son, Muhammad Zaman Khan, mentioned above, left a son named Bakhtiyar Khan. Another son, Mehardil Khan, has three sons—Faiz Muhammad Khan, born 1862; Sayyid Muhammad Khan, born 1864; Abdulla Khan, born 1866. A third son, Sarfaraz Khan, Risalddr, has two sons—Gulzar Khan and Kunidad Khan . A fourth son, Sikandar Khan, has a son named Samandar Khan.."
The Tehsil and town of Serai Naurang in the Lakki Marwat district is named after Naurang Khan Gandapur. In 1869 British granted him a perpetuity jagir of Rs.600, party in Dera Ismail Khan district and partly in the Marwat region (then part of Bannu district)
