History of the Utman Khel tribe (اتمان خیل)

Utman Khels are Karlanri Pashtuns whose territory lies between Swat and Bajaur. According to a local legend the Utman Khels are the descendants of Baba Utman, a follower of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. 

It is said that their original abode was in the mountains about Tank and Gomal from which they moved away in early 14th century AD and accompanied the Yousafzai by way of Kabul and Nangarhar to Peshawar. In the war between Yousafzai and Dilazak, the Utman Khel remained faithful to the former even though the latter were their Karlanri kinsmen. They contributed to the victory of Yousafzais over Dilazaks by effectively using shields of raw and tanned ox hides that protected them against the arrows of the enemy archers. They advanced boldly into the very lines of their enemies and routed the Dilazaks. 

The whole or part of Utman Khel tribe were found in Tirah in the times of Pir Roshan. Afzal Khan Khattak writes:

"It is stated that, in Pir Roshan's day, the Utman Khel tribe was in Tirah and that on enmity arising between them and the Afridis, they left Tirah and went and took up their quarters in Arang Barang of Bajaur".

 

References: (1) 'Hayat-i-Afghani' by Muhammad Hayat Khan (2) 'History of the Pathans' by Haroon Rashid;

Utman Khel tribesmen, 1890 (c). From "The tribes on our frontier" series of photos by Bourne & Shepherd.. Source.

The Utman Khel country, 1935. Caption: "The inhospital region where the Faquir of Alingar recruited the greater part of his force of nine hundred men which proved so difficult to quell. The Swat River runs through a deep gorge between these hills. Source: "The Sphere" magazine, 13th July 1935, 

1935: A stone shelter built by the Pashtuns of Utman Khel tribe of Malakand to protect themeselves from the British aeroplanes. From ''The Sphere'' magazine.

A Pashtun youth from Malakand, undated. On reverse Captioned “Dora C Kennedy Malakand NWFP India”. Above the framers label on reverse of frame is written “Pathan Youth”. Via Farrukh Husain

Mullagori tribe

Mullagori is a small Pashtun tribe which are found in the Mullagori tehsil of the Khyber district.

The author of Hayat-i-Afghani writes:

“The Mullagori clan, with its four sub-divisions of Pahar-Khel, Tar-Khel, Ahmad-Khel and Daulat-Khel, is held by some not to be of Afghan stock at all. Its ancestor, say these, was a stranger who attached himself to the Mohmand and partook their fortunes. Others relate that this ancestor was a Mohmand of the name of Mullah, who having once taken part with some of his fellows in a robbing enterprise, was afterwards observed by his companions to be standing apart with fixed look as if in meditation; upon which one of them remarked in Pashto ‘Mullagori’ i.e. ‘Mullah is looking or staring’ and the phrase clung to him and finally gave the name to his descendants. Whatever may be thought of this story, certain it is that the Mulla-gori live in the midst and in close community of interest with the hill Mohmand. The clan, numbering about 500 men, is chiefly settled in the Tahtara, where it apportions its time and energies between the conflicting claims of pillage and agriculture. The following are maliks: of the Pahar-Khel, Shengi Khan and Dad Gul; of the Tar-Khel, Khadri and Khairu Khan; of the Ahmad-Khel, Mir Alim, son of Sikandar; of the Daulat Khel, Asmatullah.”
[English translation by Henry Priestley, p.139]

William Merk, who prepared a report on Mohmands, had a theory that Mullagoris could be remnants of Dilazak Pashtuns. He writes that Mullagoris have tradition that their ancestors founded a great kingdom, the capital of which was somewhere near Pesh Bolak in Ningarhar (which was formerly inhabited by Dilazaks). ["The Mohmands" by W.R.H. Merk, p.85]

Mullagori tribesmen, 1890 (c). From "The tribes on our frontier" series of photos by Bourne & Shepherd. Source

Source

History of Bala Hissar (Peshawar)

Bala Hissar means high fort in Persian. There are several other forts which are also named Bala Hissar. It is unknown as to when the Bala Hissar of Peshawar was erected. Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang makes a reference to it in 7th century AD when he uses the term "Kung shing" in the description of Peshawar City and its environs which means the "walled portion of the town, in which the royal palace stood". So to say, there was a fort in Peshawar when Hiuen Tsang visited it in the seventh century.

Chronologically the next reference to the fort of Peshawar is found in the Baburnama. Babur put the fort of Peshawar in order, stored corn in it and converted it into a Mughal military outpost. Sometimes after the death of Babur, Dilazak Pashtuns in the Peshawar valley destroyed the Bala Hissar and in 1552 Humayun found it in ruins. The latter rebuilt it and put Sikandar Khan Uzbek in charge of the fort. Later on, Gaju Khan (the head the of the Khashi tribes of Pashtuns) laid siege of the Peshawar fort but he could not capture it.

Bala Hissar under Mughals 

During Akbar's reign, Sayyid Hamid Bukhari was in charge of Peshawar fort and was tasked with guarding the road to Kabul. He was pressed hard by the Roshanias under their leader Jalal al-din Ansari (son of Pir Roshan), popularly known as Jalala. In 1586 Jalala invested the fort of Peshawar. Sayyid Hamid Bukhari suffered a defeat and was killed, and the fort was damaged. The Mughals repaired the fort and continued their struggle against Jalala till his disappearance from the scene. In the period under review, by chance fire broke out in the fort and a thousand camel loads of merchandise was consumed. Faridun was then the commandant of the fort. This incident appears to have taken place after the Roshanias attack on the fort. In 1592, the Pashtuns again invested the fort of Bala Hissar but Zain Khan Koka was able to relieve the fortress. In 1630 the Roshanias struck again and laid siege to Peshawar but could not succeed.

The fort remained in the possession of the Mughal emperors with varying degree of control. With the arrival of Nadir Shah in Peshawar in 1737, the Moghul governor surrendered the valley to him. Nadir Shah crossed the River Indus and concluded a treaty with Emperor Muhammad Shah, according to which the territory west of the Indus was transferred to him. Peshawar thus passed into the hands of Nadir Shah and became a seat of the governors appointed by him. The Governor, it is recorded, held his court at Bala Hissar. In 1747 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdali made full use of the strategic position of the fort and brought the entire Peshawar valley under his complete control. When Ahmad Shah died, his son, Taimur Shah Durrani, succeeded to the throne and made Peshawar his winter capital. The royal residence was, therefore, shifted to Bala Hissar. Raverty records that Shah Zaman Durrani almost entirely rebuilt Bala Hissar, who added to it a Hall of Audience, Zenanah, and various other buildings.

Destruction of Bala Hissar by Sikhs 

The Sikhs captured Peshawar on 20th November 1818. Soon after the occupation of the city, one of the first things that Ranjit Singh did was to set the Bala Hissar on fire, most probably for the reason that it was the seat of the Afghan Kingdom. As regards the destruction wrought by the Sikhs, William Moorcraft, who came here in 1824, records, " in the immediate vicinity of the town (Peshawar) the Sikhs had inflicted more mischief than many years labour could remedy, by destroying gardens and orchards, and demolishing the wells and channels of irrigation. The Bala Hissar, which, at the time of the British embassy, was the occasional residence of the king, and in which their audience took place, was a heap of rubbish, and the only use made of it by the rulers of Peshawar was as a quarry from whence to procure materials for dwellings of their own erection". Thus, many magnificent works of Mughal architecture which once existed in the Bala Hissar were a part of the quarry.

The fort was rebuilt, according to Rai Bahadur Munshi Gopal Das, by Hari Singh after the battle of Nowshera, while Burnes notes that it was rebuilt in the time of Sardar Kurruck Singh. Raverty records, that the present fort was erected by Sher Singh, the son of Ranjit, on his father's orders, and in consequence, whatever remained of the old Bala Hissar was razed to the ground. It was built mostly of unburnt bricks, and was rather imposing in appearance, but of no great strength. The re-erection of the fort by the Sikhs appears to be military in nature as in order to control the Peshawar Valley, they raised fortifications at different places. Peshawar being the headquarters of the area, also needed a fortified place for the same purpose, and the site where formerly stood the Bala Hissar was suitable because of its strategic location. The fort, along with the valley of Peshawar passed into the hands of the British in 1848 AD. who completely renovated it, both internally as well as externally.

References 

1- Journal "Central Asia", 1982, pp.21-23 

2- Peshawar: Historic City of the Frontier, Ahmad Hasan Dani 

 3- The Guardians of the Frontier: The Frontier Corps, N.W.F.P., Mohammad Nawaz Khan 

4- 'Notes on Afghanistan and parts of Baluchistan' by H.G.Raverty 

5- 'Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab' by Moorcraft

Bala Hissar in 1836. Painting by G.T.Vigne.

Earliest photo of Bala Hissar, taken in circa 1858. By John Burke. Source

Bala Hissar, Peshawar, 1950

Dilazak Tribe

History of the Dilazak Tribe of the Pashtuns

Dilazak, more correctly Dalazak, is a tribe belonging to the Karlanri division of the Pashtuns. They once occupied a vast territory extending from Nangarhar to Hazara and from Bajaur to Peshawar, representing the dominant Pashtun element in what is now northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, before the arrival of the Khashi and Ghoria Khel Pashtun tribes in the region.

The tribe is now much diminished; they are scattered in Peshawar, with their major settlements in Haripur and Chach, where they have forgotten Pashto and now speak Hindko. According to their own tradition, as reported in Hayat-i-Afghani, they occupied the Peshawar Valley in the 11th century, where they found the inhabitants to be red-complexioned Kafirs (possibly Dardic people). The same account also claims that a large contingent of Dilazaks joined Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in his expedition against Somnath, under their chieftain Yahya Khan. H. G. Raverty, however, believed that they most likely moved into the Peshawar Valley in the early 13th century due to the onslaught of the Mongols.

In the 15th century, the Yusufzais sought help from the Dilazaks after being devastated by Mirza Ulug Beg. Generously, the Dilazaks offered the Doaba region, and also suggested Danish Kol, Ambahar, and Ashnaghar (Hashtnagar) if needed. Eventually, Yusufzais and Mandanrs took Doaba and later expanded into Bajaur and Hashtnagar, leading to conflicts with the Dilazaks.

Conflict escalated between the Dilazaks and Yusufzais, Gigyanis, and Mohammedzais. The Dilazaks, excellent archers, were eventually routed at the Battle of Katlang. Khan Kaju intervened to save the Dilazak chief and his family.

In 1519, the Dilazak chiefs allied with Babur against the Yusufzais. The fort at Peshawar, destroyed by the Dilazaks, was later rebuilt by Humayun. By the early 17th century, the Ghoria Khel Afghans displaced the Dilazaks, who were eventually moved near Lahore by orders of Mughal Emperor Jehangir.

By the 18th century, the Jadoons occupied areas previously held by Dilazaks. Dilazak individuals served in Mughal military campaigns across India, demonstrating notable archery and cavalry skills.

Military Careers in India

Purdil Khan Dilazak, nicknamed Chibi-Tani, governed Sarain in the Deccan. Many Dilazaks served in Mughal armies; Mirza Nathan describes them as excellent archers. Khan Jahan Lodi's army had 3,000 Dilazak cavalry in the 1615 campaign against Bijapur. Rashid Khan Ansari employed 500 Dilazaks among 4,500 Karlanri soldiers. Jamal Khan Dilazak served in naval campaigns against the Ahoms under Mir Jumla.

References

• "Afghanistan and its inhabitants" by Muhammad Hayat Khan, translated by Henry B. Priestley, 1874.
• Hugh R. James, Report on the Settlement of the Peshawar District, 1865, p.23–30.
• Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans", p.176–177.
• H.G. Raverty, "Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan", p.220, 517.
• Mirza Nathan, Baharistan-i-ghaibi, vol-1, p.550.
• Tuzk-i-Jehangiri, Vol.1, p.299, 308.
• Haroon Rashid, "History of the Pathans", Vol.II, p.432.
• Jagdis Nariyan Sarkar, "Life of Mir Jumla", p.253.

A village in the Khyber Pass, 1920 (c). Photo by R.B. Holmes.

Residents of Chach-Hazara, 1850 (c). Toor Collection.

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

Khalil Tribe

Ghoria Khel tribes

1- Khalil

2- Mohmand

3- Daudzai

4- Chamkani

5- Ziranis (extinct)

Khalil

Khalil was the eldest son of Ghoraey by his first wife . Khalil married Zarkhanda and by her had a so named Umar who was known as Shaikh Umar because of his religious nature. Umar had three sons, Yaqun, Yousaf and Shaikh Abbas. Its the progeny of Shaikh Abbas that has prospered and to some extent preserved the identity of Shaikh Umar.

Khalil, by his second wife, had another son named Bara who in turn had three sons namely, Barak, Talar and Ishaq. It is the offspring of Bara that has multiplied and gave birth to major clans of the tribe.

Early history

Khalils along with other Ghoria Khel tribes were initially settled in the neighborhood of Kandahar. Because of the scarcity of pastoral lands, they moved to the area west and south of Ghazni and settled on the banks of river Tarnak.

 

Tarnak river

Khalils continued their nomadic mode of life in pursuit of pastures.In 15th century the Mughals and Hazaras started harassing them and slowly and gradually drove them out to the neighborhood of Kabul and Nangarhar. From there, they  migrated to their final settlement, Peshawar valley.

At that time Khalil was a very powerful tribe and took active part in the struggle against Dilazaks.Babur in his Tuzk writes, "The most powerful of the Hazaras are the Masudis and the most powerful amongst the Afghans are the Mohmands and Khalils."

In 1517, a group of Khalils made inroads into Bajaur area. Subsequently Yousafzais gave them the Darra of Lashura as far as the Darra of Charmung and Nawagai for their sustenance. The brief account of the expulsion of the expulsion of the Khalils from Bajaur, wherein they never obtained a footing, is one of the blanks in their history. In 1550 AD, we find them supporting Prince Kamran against his brother Humayun. Kamran was defeated at Shutagram and while passing through the darrahs of Alinagar and Ali Shang, had taken shelter among the Khalils and Mohmands. The former , at this time, was a powerful tribe, indeed, the most powerful tribe among the Ghoria Khels. According to Raverty, Khalils had then not occupied their present seats in Peshawar district. However, from the perusal of the local history, it seems the Khalils were already in possession of their holdings in Peshawar area. It appears that in 1531 AD, on the death of Emperor Babur, Prince Humayun, the eldest and successor, confirmed his brother Mirza Kamran in his fief i.e Kabul province . The Dilazaks, then in the possession of the whole area east of Khyber pass, were loyal to Humayun. This fact was sufficient  to incite Mirza Kamran’s hostility towards them. The Khalils and Mohmands appealed to him (Mirza Kamran) and he agreed to help them militarily. This event , it is evident, would have taken place soon after Humayun’s accession, at a time when he was too much occupied in other far more momentous matters in Hind to be able to aid the Dilazaks by restraining Kamran. Had it not been for Kamran’s support, it is very probable that the Dilazaks would have successfully resisted the encroachments of the Ghoria Khels. After a severe fight, the Dilazaks were finally defeated.

In 1551, the Khalils and Mohmands , under Kamran’s orders, staged a fierce night attack on Humayun’s camp in Ningarhar. The tribesmen penetrated into the camp , killed Humayun’s other brother Hindal , slitting open his head from ear to ear, and were only beaten off by the steadiness of the Emperor himself who rushed from his tent and rallied his troops by taking up a position on horse back in the middle of the camp. The Afghan attack didn’t succeed and they were beaten off. After this engagement, Kamran found himself unable to continue longer with his Afghan friends west of Indus and took refuge with Islam Shah Suri at Lahore. Soon after this event, Humayun commenced operations against the Khalils and Mohmands, who had given shelter to Mirza Kamran

The real cause of their downfall was the hostility of the Khashi Afghans. Holding, as they did, all the country from Dakka to Attock, with the Khyber and Kharappa passes, they had become very rich, for the Peshawar district was very fruitful and as the royal road lay through it and all the trading caravans halted at Bagram (Peshawar), the Khalils levied tolls on them in return for escorts, and as their wealth increased so did their arrogance. The plunder of a Yusufzai caravan, the murders of the two sons of the Malik of the Abazai and of the Gagiani Malik, who was venerated as a saint, in a Khalil mosque, roused the Khashis and their allies to fury and under Khan Gaju they overthrew the Khalils at Shaikh Tapur in 1549 or 1550, according to Raverty..

The present Khalil tappa or tribal area consists of a tract 20 miles long by 10 broad along the foot of the Khyber hills from the Kabul river southward to the Mohmand tappa. It is 73 square miles in area.

The Khalil Arbabs

Acting as intermediaries for various governments and Khyber tribes, the Khalil ‘Arbabs’ played an important role during the Mughal period and afterwards. It is during Emperor Shah Jahan’s reign that they came into limelight. The Emperor appointed Muhammad Asal Khan of Ishakzai section of Mitta Khel clan the revenue collector of the Khalil tappa and called him ‘Arbab’ of the area. The title of Arbab though at variance with the traditional Pashtun titles such as ‘Khan’ or ‘Malik’ stuck to the Khalil notables who are still referred to as the ‘Arbabs’. . Arbab is the broken plural word of the Arabic and Persian word ‘Rab’ meaning a ‘lord’. However, the grey beards of the Mitha Khels say it comes from a word ‘ar’ meaning ‘lord of’ and word ‘bab’ meaning gate i.e, it alludes to Khyber. However , there is no such word as ‘ar’; meaning ;lord’ in Arabic, Persian or Pashto.

During the Mughal period, an ‘Arbab’ was expected to deal beside administrative measures , with the tribes of Khyber pass, Mullagoris, Shinwaris and Mohmands, collect revenue of the area and accompany the royal entourage while passing through the area and to provide the logistics for the royal forces operating in the area. He was also responsible for the distribution of ‘mawajib’ or the royal allowances amongst the Khyberi tribes. The ‘Arbab’ was handsomely rewarded in terms of money and ‘jagir’. Asal Khan Mitha Khel had received the title of ‘Arbab’ from Emperor Shah Jahan earlier than the Mohmands. He received Tahkal tappa as a jagir with sixty thousand rupes of annual revenue. His son Shaikh Abdul Rahman, who held practically independent control over the Khyber during the reign of Nadir Shah Afshar, followed him.

The location of the Ghoria Khels, particularly that of the Khalils at the mouth of the Khyber pass had always given them much importance no matter whatever dynasty bore sway in the area. Each of these tribes had aristocracy of its own. The Mitha Khel Khalils has the honour of being ‘Khan Khels’ or the aristocrats of the tribe. Their authoritative conduct and high living standards made them so distinct from the rest of the tribe that the Sikhs, and subsequently the British initially considered them to be a distinct tribe.


Book references:

1- History of the Pathans by Haroon Rashid, Vol-II, pp-514-525

2- 'The Pathans' by Olaf Careo, p-195

3- Notes on Afghanistan by Raverty, p-225