This blog by Barmazid features articles on the history of the Pashtun people as well as images of historical importance related to Pakhtunkhwa and its people
Sunday, 23 July 2023
Sunday, 27 November 2022
Pashtun soldiers of British-Indian army
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| Pashtun and Hazara soldiers of the British-Indian Army, 1898. From left to right: Khattak (Jamedar), Ghilzai (Havaldar), Mahsud (Sepoy), Hazara (Sepoy) and Kakar (Sepoy). |
Thursday, 16 June 2022
Daud Shah Khan (a Ghilzai Pashtun), Commander-in-Chief of Afghan army in 1870s.
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| Daud Shah Khan, late Commander in Chief of the Kabul Army, 1887 (c). Photo by Bourne & Shepherd. Source. |
Monday, 28 March 2022
A Suleiman Khel Ghilzai, 1929
Sunday, 13 February 2022
Tomb of Mir Wais Hotak, 1959
Thursday, 10 February 2022
Daulatzai tribe
| Sher Jan, son of the Malik of the Daulatzai, Afghanistan, 1931. Photo taken by Citroen Trans Asiatic |
Sunday, 12 September 2021
Friday, 10 September 2021
A chieftain and female of the Ghilji (غلجي) tribe from Kalat-e-Ghilji (قلات غلجي), 1840 (c)
A chieftain and female of the Ghiljee (غلجي) tribe from Kalat-e-Ghiljee (قلات غلجي), 1840 (c). Painting by James Atkinson.
Sunday, 5 April 2020
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Khalji Sultans of Delhi
The Khaljis were Turks by origin. The fact of their Turkish origin is supported by Seljuqnama, Tarikh-i-Guzida and other sources. According to the author of Seljuqnama, Turk, the son of Yafis, had eleven sons, one of whom was Khalj. Fakhr-i-Mudabbir (c.1229 AD) who made special inquiries about the genealogies and ethnic origins of tribes considers Khalj the eleventh tribe of the Turks. The anonymous author of Hudud al- Alam (c.982 AD), Ibn Hauqal (Kitabal-Masalik wa'l Mamalik, c.977 AD) and Istakhri (Masalik wa'l Mamalik, c.930 AD) refer to them as Turks. The fourteenth century Indo-Persian lexicon, Dastar ul Afazil , explains the meaning of Khalaj as the name of the wilayat of Turks in Afghanistan. But as they had resided in Afghanistan so long that they were no longer regarded as Turks. Their rise, therefore, was disliked by the Turks.
It appears that Khaljis in 13th century did not identify themselves as Afghans. The poet and court historian Amir Khusrao (1253 – 1325), mentions the bloody wars of Jalaluddin Khalj against his enemies including Afghans:
"... He (Chhajju ) must have heard how from Ghazna, Kirman (Kurram), and Barghand, I have extended my conquests as far as Darband; how I have issued orders for the shedding of the blood of my enemies, who have become like worms, when they hear the whizzing of my Kirmani blade; how, at ono time, from the heads of the Mongols, I have filled my cup with blood, and stuck their inverted skulls upon the top of my standards; how, at another time, my spears have wounded the Afghans, until the hills resounded with lamentations ; how, at another time, I made the blood flow in Janjuha, so that a boat might have glided within the hills of Jud. The Hindus themselves cannot conceive how full I have made hell. What did that ignorant thoughtless man imagine that he dared advance his foot into my territory?' ["Miftah-ul-Fatuh" as translated by Elliot]
As the poet was particular favourite of Sultan Jalaluddin and as his works were read in his presence, Amir Khusrao would not have made this hard remark against the Afghans, if the Sultan and his courtiers identified themselves as Afghans.
H.G.Raverty dismisses the connection of Khaljis with Ghilzai Afghans on the following grounds:
"The most absurd statements have been made with respect to the people named Khalj. the plural of which, according to the 'Arab mode of writing, is Akhlaj. It is also written, but rarely, Khalaj; but some few Muhammadan Indian authors write it Khilj and Khilji, and most European writers have followed them [Dow, however, makes " Chilligies" of them, although Firishtah writes the word خلج like other Muhammadan authors]; but, according to the fertile imaginations of Europeans, the Khalj— خلج —tribe and Ghalzi —غلزی —tribe are one people—in fact, some roundly assert that the Khalj are one and the same race as the Afghan tribe of Ghalzi, without there being a shadow of authority for such an assertion in any Muhammadan writer whatever. Because the Khalj happened, in the days of the Ghurian Sultans [and long prior], to have been located in that part of Khurasan now included in what in the present day is styled by the general name of Afghanistan—a comparatively modern designation—such writers, in their innocency, jumped at the conclusion that they were Afghans, and, more than that, that the Khalj and Ghalzi must be one and the same people. The name of the Afghan tribe is written Ghalzi, which is the plural form. Some Afghan tribes use the letter " j " in place of "z " in all words, and, as some pronounce the above name Ghalji, those who know nothing of the Khalj Turks and their antecedents, assume that they are Ghalzi Afghans, or rather that the latter are Khalj Turks.
The Khalj are a Turkish tribe, on account of whom will be found in all the histories of that race—the Shajirah-ul-Atrak, Jami'-ut-Tawarikh, Introduction to the Zafar Namah,; and a portion of them had settled in Garmsir long prior to the period under discussion, from whence they came into Hindustan and entered the service of Sultan Mu'izz-ud-Din."
Some of Ghilzai Pashtuns could be descendants of Khaljis
There is a possibility that some of the Ghilzai clans could be descendants of the Khalji Turks.
Najib Bakran's geography Jahan-nama, written (circa AD, 1200-1220) on the eve of the Mongol invasion, contains a particularly interesting paragraph on the changes which Khalj tribe was undergoing in Zabulistan: "The Khalaj are a tribe of Turks who from the Khallukh limits migrated to Zabulistan. Among the districts of Ghazni there is a steppe where they reside. Then, on account of the heat of the air, their complexion has changed and tended towards blackness; the tongue (zuban) too has undergone alterations and become a different language (lughat)." [7]
Nassar clan is disowned by Ghilzais. The Hotak Ghilzais believe that the Nassars had been their 'hamsayas' (denizen). The Tokhi division also affirms that the Nassars have been their hamsayas (denizens) which literally means 'under the same shadow'. As in case of Nassars, the Kharotis' origin is also shrouded in doubt. They were initially considered 'hamsayas' [8]. Both Nassars and Kharotis could be descendants of Khalji Turks.
References:
1- Elliot, "The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians", Vol-III, p-573
2- New Indian Antiquary Vol.2, p-521
3- According to Cambridge history of Islam , Volume 2, p-9).
4- "The Turks and their migration to Central Asia and India: analysis of the historical information on the Turks and Turkestan in early medieval Indo-Persian sources", I.H.Sadiqui
5- "History of the Khaljis" by K.S.Lal, p-15
6- "Tabakat-i-Nasiri", p-548
7- http://www.khyber.org/tribes/info/KhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml
8- "History of the Pathans, Vol-III, p-217, p-226
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| Imaginary portrait of Sultan Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji (seated on throne), c.1640. |
Saturday, 11 June 2016
Dresses of Afghanistan in early 19th century
Yousafzai
Elphinstone describe the dress of Yousafzais as,
"The ordinary dress of the men is a cotton tunic, made to fit the body down to the waist, and then loose and full down to below the knees; it is either dark-blue, or dyed grey with the bark of the pomegranate tree. They also wear a large, loose, white turban, a pair of cotton trowsers, and a pair of sandals; but their dress is not complete without a Loongee (blanket),. which hangs over the shoulder, and reaches below the middle, both before and behind. I t is sometimes used for a cloak, and sometimes for a girdle. They have always a better suit of clothes for Fridays and great occasions. The tunic is then made longer and fuller below, and is puckered up about the waist in numerous plaits.The rest of the holiday clothes are of coloured silk, except the turban"
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| A Yousafzai |
The accompanying illustration in Elphinstone’s book illustrates the clothing and weaponry of a Yusufzai from the beginning of the nineteenth century. His weaponry includes a long dagger and a curved sword, both tucked into a sash that is wound around the waist. The dagger has a straight back. It is no other than the famous Khyber knife. The sword has a hilt with a flat pommel, which is Indian in style (talwâr), very different from the (mainly Persian style) shamshir weapon carried by the (western) Durrani Pashtuns. Across his chest there is a strap that holds a long gun, and in his right hand he holds a lance. At his back he carries a shield.
Elphinstone has following remarks about the dress of Pashtuns of Daman; (Daulat Khels, Miya Khels, Gandapurs, Babars and Ustaranis)
"They have less of the look of Indians than the others, though their summer dress is nearly the same as that of India. Instead of the long wide shirt and cap of the Afghauns, they wear a close dress of white cotton, tied across the breast, and reaching a little below the knee; even in winter they wear turbans, but they are extremely large and loose, while those of the Indians are rolled close round their head, in a regular shape that has little grace or elegance. At that season, they also wear brown and grey woollen great coats, and posteens."
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| An Afghan of Daman |
Durrani shepherds
The illustration shows two elderly men, who both sport a beard and a moustache. The man to the left has his beard dyed, perhaps with henna; the other has a white beard. They both wear a low cap consisting, according to the author, of a lower rim made of black silk or satin and a crown made of gold brocade or of another, brightly coloured material. Their feet, Elphinstone continues, were sometimes protected by half boots of brown leather, which were laced or buttoned up to the calf. In the illustration, one of the men goes barefooted; the other actually seems to wear the boots described by the Scottish diplomat.
On their body, the two Durrani shepherds are said to wear a pair of loose trousers of dark coloured cotton, and a large shirt, with wide sleeves and reaching down to the knees. This garment, says the Scot, was called a Cameess. The shepherd illustrated to the left is showing his shirt. It has the traditional side opening that is still found on Afghan shirts, and it also shows one of the two slits at the bottom, again characteristic for traditional Afghan clothing.
One of the shepherds in the illustration, holding a branch that is used as a walking stick, wears a large, felt cloak with a cape. Elphinstone tells that the shepherd’s cloaks were made either of sheep skin, with the wool inside, or of soft, grey felt. It was thrown loosely over the shoulders and it had false sleeves hanging down the sides. The sheep skin coat described by Elphinstone is the pustin, still worn in many parts of Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan. . The cap of the Durrani shepherds remains somewhat enigmatic; if it was, as told by Elphinstone, a single-piece garment, rather than a skull cap with a turban wound tightly around the head.
Durrani villagers of standing
Elphinstone tells us that Durrani villagers of some standing, as well as urban people and well-to-do shepherds, used to wear more sophisticated garments than the simple, ‘authentic’ dress of the poor shepherds. He adds, as referred to earlier, that it resembled the clothing of the Persians. The dress of these more affluent Durranis, according to the ambassador, was very decorous and included an under shirt16, which was covered by a close fitting under tunic, called the ulkhaulik. The latter garment, he continues, had skirts reaching to below the middle of the calf, and crossing in front of the chest. This tunic, he says, was mostly made of chintz, and preferably that from Masulipatam, which was imported via Persia. It was fastened to the body with strings. During the winter months, the wealthy Durranis, according to Elphinstone, also wore wide, coloured trousers, made either of silk or cotton, and short stockings.
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| A Durrani villager with his arms |
On top of the under tunic (ulkhaulik), still according to the British diplomat, some of the middle-class Durranis wore an upper tunic, which was called a kubba. It was very similarly shaped to the ulkhaulik, and either made of coarse brown wool, or of a very strong, cotton cloth called kudduk. Sometimes of a bright colour, it was mostly dark, often bottle-green. The kubba, or cubba, the Scot continues, was tied across the chest, but the ties were concealed, and so were the silk buttons that were attached to one side of the opening in front with a line of silk loops on the other side. The sleeves, Elphinstone continues, were closed by a row of silver buttons and silver loops that ran up the inside arm. On top of the kubba, these more affluent Pashtuns wore a cloak, which in winter was made of sheep skin or felt.
The men wore, still following Elphinstone, so called Persian shoes, made of brown leather, which were round and broad at the toes and narrow at the heels. Inside, close to the heel, was a piece of wood covered with a thin plate of ivory with black, inlayed carvings. The Durrani villagers, Elphinstone tells, covered their head with a cap that was made of quilted silk or chintz and was sometimes 15 cm high. Elphinstone recounts that older men used to wear a so-called loongi, which was wound around their cap. He continues by saying that all villagers wore a loongi wound around their waist.
The depiction of a Durrani villager and townsman in Elphinstone’s book shows the garments described by the British explorer. The man has a beard and moustache and his head is covered by what looks like a woollen cap, but probably is meant to be a traditional skull cap. This would be the still ubiquitous kulâh (Persian/Dari; a common Pashto word is khwalej) worn by almost every Afghan, with or without a turban tied around it.
Ghilzai
The illustration of a Ghalji shows the peculiar way in which they used to wound their white turban around their head. The cap, which they used to wear according to the British envoy, is missing. The shirt he is wearing, with an opening in the centre. He is also wearing a cloak or blanket, which cannot be identified, but which seems to have a decorated hem. He goes bare-footed. Elphinstone tells that the man is a Khawtee, which is a name hitherto unknown from the borderlands, but perhaps the Scottish diplomat refers to the Ghalji tribe of the Kharotis
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| A Kharoti Ghilzai Pashtun in his summer dress, 1808 (c). Watercolour painting by a Delhi artist. Source |
Durrani gentlemen
According to the British explorer, the upper echelons of Durrani society used to wear Persian dress, including a cubba (qabâ) that was made of silk, satin, brocade, or a mixture of silk and cotton that was called gurmsoot. They also used to wear a sash around the waist and a piece of cloth that was wound around their cap (the turban). Their cloaks were made of broad cloth, often red, or of silk of various colours. The illustration in Elphinstone’s book shows a proud Durrani leader, his horse adorned with a saddle blanket.
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| A Durrani gentleman |
The Durrani leader, as depicted, has a beard and a moustache, and his head is covered by a cap and a turban. The cap seems to be rather high, elevating the turban in the Persian Zand-style of the eighteenth century. This cap may be very similar to the high cap worn by the Durrani villagers (up to 15 cm, according to Elphinstone). The Durrani gentleman is armed, on his left side, with a sabre (shamshir). The horseman is wearing a shirt of yellowish material, and over that a long robe (obviously the qabâ) with pointed sleeves, also of yellow material. The robe is lined with a reddish material. The robe with its pointed sleeves is very much in the Persian Safavid tradition (AD 1501-1722). The Pashtun gentleman also has a sash wound around his waist, and a long cloak thrown loosely across his shoulders, leaving the sleeves empty. Pointed boots with high heels cover his feet.
Tajik
The man from Kabul illustrated by Elphinstone is wearing a broad turban, a shirt, a pair of white baggy trousers, a long robe, a sash, and (Persian) slippers .The shirt is obviously very colourful, being decorated with a print of flowers. The coat that the man is wearing is a simple Persian-style qabâ left open in front. It misses the rectangular inset at the front and may thus be more ‘fashionable’ and comparable to contemporary Persian garments than the qabâ worn bythe higher class Durrani Pashtuns. The whole outfit, perhaps apart from the turban, is singularly Persian in character and very different from the Pashtun outfit of the poorer strata of Durrani society and that of the Ghalji and Yusufzais.
| A Tajik in the summer dress of Kabul |
Hazara
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| A Hazara |
The Hazara man, as depicted in Elphinstone’s book, has a decorative sash wound once around the waist and tucked in at the front. His headdress is remarkable, and resembles mostly that of a Chinese dignitary. Elsewhere, Elphinstone describes the Hazara headgear as a conical cap of skin, with the wool appearing like a fringe around the edge. The illustrated headgear is obviously very different and remains without parallels, but the cap described by Elphinstone is shown in many other illustrations, including photographs, from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Uzbek
Elphinstine tells that Uzbeks were wearing a shirt and cotton trousers, a coat or tunic called a chuppaun of silk or wool, tied with a girdle. On top they wore a gown that is made of wool, felt, or skin. He adds that some wore in winter a little cap of broad cloth, lined with fur, while others donned a calpauk, which is a pointed silken cap. Most Uzbeks, according to Elphinstone, wore a white turban wound around their calpauk. All Uzbeks wore boots; the rich had a special type called muhusee.
These they wore all the time, putting on another extra type of boots in winter and when travelling.The muhusee, according to the Scottish diplomat, was made of thin and light shagreen and had no heels or soles. The man wearing them also had to wear shoes when going out. Elphinstone tells that all Uzbek wore bandages around their legs instead of stockings. They all had a knife hanging down their girdle, and a flint and steel to make fire. The illustration of the Uzbek Khoja, a holy man, shows an Uzbek who, according to Elphinstone, lived near a town . His attire may therefore differ from that worn by an Uzbek from the countryside. He shows the white turban and the calpauk that the Scottish observer mentioned. He also wears the bandages around his legs. He is wearing shoes, and these may be the shoes that cover the boots that Elphinstone referred to. In modern times, Uzbek still wear boots with soft leather soles (called maksis, probably the muhusee of Elphinstone), over which they wear leather sole-covers or rubber overshoes when going outside. It is not clear from this illustration, but the Uzbeks (and Turkmen) in the north of the country tend to wear more close fitting trousers than the Pashtuns in the south; they obviously are still more geared towards their horse riding traditions.
There are some obvious parallels with Hazara clothing: the bandages around the legs, but also the fur lined cap recall Hazara outfits. The illustrated man has a thin moustache and a short beard. He is wearing what appears to be shirt underneath and a coat on top. The coat is fastened around the neck, and it has extra material put in (a gore) on both sides of the skirt.
Aimak
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| A Hindkee in the Winter dress of Peshawer |


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