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
Qasuri, an Afghan of Kasur (in Punjab), 1825. From "Tashrih al-aqvam" by James Skinner. Source: British Library. Source
Qasur is plural of Qasr (قصر) which means fortress or castle in Arabic. The place was named so because of the twelve forts built by Pashtuns settlers in 16th century, majority of whom belonged to the Khweshgi (also spelled as Kheshgi) tribe of Pashtuns. The twelve forts were named after the heads of the twelve clans of Kheshgis. Seven of the twelve forts were still standing in 1871 as reported by Alexander Cunningham.
Those Pashtun settlers had accompanied the army of Mughal king Babur in 1526 and had fought on his behalf against the army of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. As a reward for their services, Babur granted them the present territory of Kasur as jagir. It is said that Sher Shah Sur did not hold the Khweshgi Pashtuns of Qasur in favour, on account of them siding with the Mughals at Panipat. On the other hand, they were regarded with favor by Mughal emperors and many of them attained high ranks in the Mughal nobility.
The city of Qasur built and ruled by Pashtuns, was massive. William Barr saw the extensive ruins of Qasur (destroyed by Ranjit Singh) in 1839 and writes: "Kusoor, a large and ancient town, that in former days must have covered an extensive area, as its ruins are interminable".
A Khweshgi Afghan of Kasur and an Indian nursemaid from Arain caste, Punjab, 1810 (c).
The image of Ahmad Shah Durrani has been largely shaped and dominated by 20th-century Indian writings. Indian authors portrayed the Sikh misls as dauntless heroes and Ahmad Shah Abdali as a hideous villain. One historical event that they have distorted is a battle referred to as the "Vadda Ghallughara" by the Sikhs. The Indian editors of Wikipedia describe it as follows: "Vadda Ghalughara was the mass murder of unarmed Sikhs by the Afghan forces of the Durrani Empire."
Upon examining the original 18th-century sources, I found that the Sikh portrayal of the Vadda Ghallughara, repeated by their Indian countrymen, is nothing more than a falsification of the facts. What is claimed to have been a massacre or genocide of unarmed innocents was, in reality, a battle between two armies on a battlefield. The so-called "foreign invasion," as described by Indian and Sikh historians, was in fact a military expedition by Ahmad Shah Durrani to one of the provinces of his empire in 1762, undertaken to restore law and order disrupted by Sikh marauders.
The war of Panipat (1759–1761) and the growth of Sikh marauders
In March–April 1758, the Marathas expelled the Afghans from Punjab and appointed Adina Beg Khan—who had invited them against the Afghans—as their governor. The Khalsa Sikhs, as a result of their conflict with the Mughals, had turned into roving bands of marauders surviving on looting and pillaging. Adina Beg, commonly viewed as a Mughal but in fact a Punjabi Muslim from the Arain caste, developed relations with the Sikhs and allowed them to grow and prosper in the Jalandhar Doab, a territory assigned to him by his Mughal overlords. His aim was to undermine and erode Mughal authority in the region through the anarchy caused by the Sikh marauders.
Although raised in a Mughal household and in service to the Mughals, Adina Beg secretly worked against them. His schemes were disrupted when a much more powerful force—the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani—took over Punjab. Adina Beg continued to support the Sikh marauders to weaken Afghan rule. However, realizing that he and his Sikh allies were insufficient to dislodge the Afghans, he invited the Marathas to invade Punjab. The Marathas appointed him governor of Punjab. Having no further use for the Sikh marauders, he then resolved to exterminate them. The seventy-five lakh rupees he was required to collect from Punjab for his Maratha overlords could not be realized while the Sikh marauders, disruptors of peace and economy, remained active.
He therefore launched a massive operation against the Khalsa Sikhs, but within a few months he died of dysentery, and the Khalsa Sikhs remained active. In October 1759, Ahmad Shah Durrani re-took Punjab from the Marathas and engaged in war with them for the next fifteen months. The absence of both Afghans and Marathas from Punjab during this period gave the Sikhs a great opportunity to recover from their losses and gain further strength. Since Sikhs were strongly associated with loot and plunder, a large number of highway robbers, thieves, and other criminal elements of Punjab joined their ranks and adopted Sikhism merely for the sake of plunder. Thus, their numbers grew exponentially.
When Ahmad Shah Durrani won the Battle of Panipat and returned to Punjab, the Sikhs hid in the Shiwalik hills and the Malwa desert. Once Durrani returned to Afghanistan, the Sikhs emerged from their hiding places and resumed bloodshed and plunder in Punjab.
Sikh marauders besiege Jindiala
In January 1762, about eighty thousand Sikh warriors besieged the fortified town of Jandiala, located twelve miles east of Amritsar. The majority of the town’s population was Muslim, and cow meat was consumed by the townspeople—something that greatly infuriated the Sikhs. The chief of the fortified town was Guru Aqil Das, who belonged to the Niranjani sect. Since this sect advocated peace and friendship with Muslims, and permitted the slaughter of cows for food in Jindiala, the town incurred the wrath and enmity of the Khalsa Sikhs. Guru Aqil Das had pledged allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, and the Khalsa Sikhs regarded him as an enemy for these various reasons. According to the author of Tarikh-i-Husain Shahi, the number of Sikhs besieging Jandiala was around 80,000.
Ahmad Shah Durrani responds to Sikh disturbances
Ahmad Shah Durrani set out from Afghanistan after receiving news of the disturbances created by the Sikhs and the defeat of some of his officers at their hands in Punjab. Upon entering Punjab, he learned about the situation in Jandiala. Since the Muslim inhabitants were likely to be burnt alive by the Sikhs as punishment for cow slaughter if the town fell, Ahmad Shah Durrani hastened his march toward Jandiala. When the Sikhs received word of his arrival near Lahore, they lifted the siege of Jandiala and fled. By the time Ahmad Shah Durrani reached the town, the Sikhs had already abandoned it. From Jandiala, he dispatched his spies to gather intelligence about the destination and movements of the large Sikh force. He remained in Jandiala for three days.
Meanwhile, the fleeing Sikh marauders reached the vicinity of Malerkotla and began pillaging the surrounding villages. The author of Tahmas-nama, who was present in Sirhind at the time, records that the number of Sikhs and their supporters had swelled to 150,000 cavalry and infantry. When Zain Khan Mohmand, the governor of Sirhind, was informed that the Sikhs were engaged in plunder and bloodshed near Malerkotla, he set out from Sirhind with ten to fifteen thousand cavalry and infantry to confront them. Bhikhan Khan, the Nawab of Malerkotla (a Pashtun descendant), also joined Zain Khan. They encamped at Malerkotla, while the Sikhs established their camp at a distance of seven kos from them.
The Battle of Green Leaves (1762): Ahmad Shah Durrani vs Sikh Forces
Ahmad Shah Durrani was informed by his spies that the Sikh marauders who had fled from Jandiala had gathered at the village of Kup in Malerkotla, where they had besieged Zain Khan Mohmand, Bhikhan Khan, Murtaza Khan Barech, and other chieftains. The Sikhs had always avoided engaging in a pitched battle with Ahmad Shah Durrani and would turn tail at his approach. The Sikh army near Malerkotla was confident that Ahmad Shah would either return to Afghanistan from Jandiala or, if he advanced toward Sirhind, they would learn of his movements in time and escape, as they had done in the past. But this time, Ahmad Shah was determined not to let them get away. He resolved to launch a surprise attack.
In just 36 hours, he covered a distance of 240 kilometers and crossed two rivers, catching the Sikh army at Malerkotla completely off guard. Before the attack, Ahmad Shah sent messengers to Zain Khan, instructing him to launch an assault on the Sikhs the following morning and keep them engaged until his arrival. Furthermore, Zain Khan’s Punjabi soldiers were ordered to place green leaves or grass on their heads so that Ahmad Shah’s Uzbek soldiers could distinguish them from the Sikhs and avoid killing them by mistake. Because of this, the battle came to be known among Pashtuns as Da Shne Panray Jagra—“the Battle of the Green Leaf.”
Ahmad Shah’s sudden appearance on the battlefield struck fear into the hearts of the Sikhs, who immediately fled. Despite being exhausted from their forced march of 240 kilometers without rest, the Afghans pursued and attacked them relentlessly. The author of Tahmas-nama, an eyewitness to these events, records that the Sikhs were either attempting to escape or reciting the Kalima of Islam and begging for their lives. The Afghans pursued them as far as the fort of Barnala, killing about thirty thousand Sikh warriors. However, as evening fell and darkness spread, the Afghans did not advance beyond Barnala, allowing the majority of the Sikh force to escape with their lives.
"Vadda Ghallughara": Sikh army or civilians?
Sikhs refer to this battle as Vadda Ghallughara, meaning “the Great Massacre.” Modern Sikh writers have begun to claim that the thirty thousand Sikhs killed in this battle were mostly women, children, and unarmed elderly men. This claim, however, is false. None of the 18th- or early 19th-century sources mention the presence of Sikh women or children on the battlefield.
Tahmas Khan, the author of Tahmas-nama—who personally participated in the battle—records only the presence of Sikh cavalry and infantry. His account makes no mention of Sikh women or children.
Similarly, the author of Siyar al-Mutakhireen (written in 1780) describes only Sikh cavalry and infantry taking part in the battle. He writes:
"But as the territory of Lahor was known to be the spot where the Abdalies, first of all, landed in their expeditions towards Hindostan, the Syks thought proper to evacuate it entirely; and repairing to the country of Rohy, a district of very difficult access, they took possession of a very strong fort in it, and assembled there from all parts, to the number of two lacs of men, cavalry and infantry. But this did not deter the Abdali-king. Informed of their retreat, as well as of their But are numbers, he measured ninety cosses of ground in two days, and falling upon those free-booters the moment he was least expected, he drew smoke from their breasts". [Ghulam Hussain Khan, Siyar al-Mutakhireen, English trans. Haji Mutafa, Vol. 4, p. 3]
In 1787, James Browne translated a Persian manuscript written in 1784; that work also refers solely to the presence of a Sikh army on the battlefield. It states:
"The Durrany Shah sent thirty thousand horse under his conduct, who marching seventy crores (one hundred and forty miles) almost without (L) intermission, surprized the army of the Sicks, at a place called Barnala, and put great numbers to the sword55 ; the rest as usual, dispersed for atime; after which, the Shah proceeded to Sirhind." [James Browne, History of the Origin and Progress of the Sikhs, p. 38]
To support their claims, Sikh writers often cite Panth Prakash, a poetic work written in 1841 by the Sikh author Ratan Singh. However, Panth Prakash is filled with fictitious and exaggerated details and is not considered an authentic or reliable source for 18th-century events. Moreover, Panth Prakash itself clearly states that the Sikhs had left their families in Malwa before confronting Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1762. [Sr Guru Panth Prakash, English translation by Kulwant Singh, Vol. 2, p. 483]
The confusion arises from its reference to the Afghan attack on the Sikh baheer (بہیر)—a term meaning baggage-train. In military usage, the baggage-train contained weapons, equipment, provisions, loot, servants, and artisans, not families. Sikh writers have misinterpreted baheer as meaning “families,” which is a distortion of the text. As Panth Prakash itself states, Sikh families were left behind in Malwa.
It is important to remember that Sikh warfare against the Afghans in the 18th century was based on swift, hit-and-run tactics. Their women and children never accompanied them into areas that could turn into battlefields. The speed with which the Sikhs fled from Jandiala to Malerkotla also demonstrates that they were not encumbered by families. Moreover, the Sikhs knew that Afghans would not slaughter women and children but would enslave them, taking them to Afghanistan and Turkistan for sale. For this reason, Sikh families were always left in the Shiwalik Hills or Malwa desert when the warriors went out to fight.
If Sikh women and children had been present on the battlefield near Malerkotla, the Afghans would certainly have enslaved them, and contemporary historians of the 18th century would have recorded it—just as some, such as the author of Siyar al-Mutakhireen, documented the enslavement of Maratha women after the Battle of Panipat.
Vadda Ghallughara imagined by a modern Sikh artist
References
Sikh History from Persian Sources, edited by J.S. Grewal & Irfan Habib
The Siyar-ul-Mutakherin, history of the Mahomedan power in India
Fall of the Mughal Empire, Vol.2 by Jadunath Sarkar
Panth Prakash by Rattan Singh Bhangu
History of the Origin and Progress of the Sikhs by James Browne
Waqiat-i-Durrani (Urdu translation of Tarikh Hussain Shahi)
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was a contemporary of Bahlul Lodi, Sikandar Lodi and Ibrahim Lodi. It appears that some of the disciples of Guru Nanak were Pashtuns, as corroborated by the following anecdote recorded in "Tazkira-i Pir Hassu Teli" of Surat Singh (completed in 1647 AD). Guru Nanak was born and raised in the times when Punjab was dominated by Pashtuns.
"When he [Guru Nanak] died, leaving this for another abode, Hindus and Muslims gathered around the Baba's head.
The Hindus said that he was a Hindu, and thus he ought to be cremated. The assemblage of Muslims desired to make a grave for him.
Two bodies of his thereupon came to view: One they took and cremated; and the other was put in front for the [Muslim] funeral prayer.
[But] he left both his bodies and went across to the other side of River Ravi. There an Afghan disciple (murid) had the privilege of a sight of him.
He [Nanak] laid out before him a floorcloth containing a variety of eatables. The Afghan ate his fill from that laid-out meal.
The Afghan ate his fill from that laid-out meal. As is the convention of old, he [the Afghan] spoke and cried out about the ordeal of his journey, in soldierly talk that night.
When that traveller crossed over to this side of the river, he saw the grave and the flames of cremation. He asked, "Why are these people making all this noise"?
[Someone] replied: "Nanak has passed away from this world!". "The amazing thing is," [he was told,] "that after his death, there came to be two bodies. One is being buried and the other is being cremated".
[The Afghan] said that both [Muslims and Hindus] have done wrong: "I have seen him well settled on the other side of the river". "I have eaten food and fruits and have talked with him, and I have come to this side after taking leave from him.
All became astonished on hearing this and the report of his [Nanak's] moving himself to another place became well known.
["Sikh history from Persian sources", pp.88-89]
Mir Chakar Rind is often glorified as the “King of Baluchistan”, and some modern accounts bestow upon him the epithet "the great." However, a rigorous examination of history reveals a different picture. Far from a king, Chakar Rind appears to have been no more than a tribal chieftain, his stature inflated by legend and fiction. Even according to Baloch folklore, his power was limited to that of a tribal leader, as evidenced by his inability to defeat the Lashari tribe in a protracted thirty-year war. [1]
It is often claimed that Chakar Rind, at the head of forty thousand Rind Baloch warriors, joined forces with Mughal emperor Humayun to secure the Delhi throne for the latter. However, this claim not corroborated by any contemporary or near contemporary historical source [2]. Eyewitness accounts penned by Gulbadan Begum, Bayazid Bayat, and Jauhar Aftabchi, all of whom accompanied Humayun, make no mention of Chakar Rind. This conspicuous absence suggests that Chakar Rind was either of little consequence to Humayun's endeavors, or that he did not join the Mughal camp to begin with.
The claim that Mir Chakar Rind joined Humayun against Sur Afghans, is also not supported by the Baloch ballads recorded in 19th century by Longworth Dames and other British officials. In fact, Baloch ballads narrate tales of Chakar Rind and his sons waging war against Humayun Chughtai and his Mughal forces, and emerging victorious [3][4]. These legends are not corroborated by Mughal sources.
Who was the historical Chakar Rind? According to the Tabaqat-i-Akbari by Khawaja Nizamuddin Ahmad (compiled in 1593-94), Mir Chakar Rind arrived in Multan from the vicinity of Siwi (Sibi) with his two sons, Mir Allahdad and Mir Shahdad, in the early sixteenth century. Chakar Rind sought to enter the service of Sultan Mahmud Langah of Multan but was thwarted by Malik Sohrab Dodai, a favoured noble of the Langah Sultan. Subsequently, Chakar Rind departed from Multan and sought the protection of Jam Bayazid Sammah of Shortkot (in modern-day Jhang district, Punjab), a former wazir of the Langah Sultans who had pledged allegiance to Sultan Sikandar Lodi. Jam Bayazid granted him a jagir from the royal lands (of the Lodi sultan?), likely Satgarah. The relevant passage in the Tabaqat-i-Akbari reads as follows:
"About this time Mir Chakar Rind came to Multan from the direction of Siwi (Sibi) with his two sons Mir Allahdad and Mir Shahdad. Mir Shahdad was the first man who promulgated the Shia religion in Multan. As Malik Suhrab Dudai was held in great honour by the Langahs, Mir Chakar Rind could not remain there; and sought an asylum with Jam Bayazid. As he was the head of a clan, Jam Bayazid received him with much honour, and bestowed on him and his sons a part of the territory which was in the Khalsa or crown land." [5]
Thus, we learn that Mir Chakar Rind was merely a jagirdar serving Jam Bayazid during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Lodi. The author of the Tabaqat-i-Akbari characterizes him as a clan leader rather than a former king.
“When Sher Shah had laid siege to the fort of Raisin, he received a letter from Khawas Khan saying that he and Niazi had developed some differences between themselves. “The letter contained a request that Sher Shah should, therefore, summon one of the two. Having gone through the letters of Khawas , Sher Shah summoned Khawas Khan, Isa Khan Niazi and Habib khan. Then he conferred the country of Punjab on Haibat Khan Niazi and ordered him to rescue and rehabilitate Multan which had been usurped by the Balochs. He was also to chastise Fateh Khan Jat of Qabula, who had been, during the Mughal period, laying waste to the country up to Panipat. As soon as Haibat Khan received these orders, he summoned the representative of Chakar Rind – The hakim (حاکم) of Satgarah. The representative was told to go and inform Chakar Rind that Haibat khan Niazi was going to tour those areas. Chakar should be prepared to present his contingent for review. One who related the story that he had heard it from Wakil Fateh Khan Kanbo that when he went to Chakar Rind and disclosed to him what Haibat Khan Niazi has said, the former was thrown in panic, he had no time either to a reception or to put together the ‘lashkar’ as demanded. At this time Haibat Khan Niazi was merely two day’s distance away. Next morning the news came that Haibat Khan Niazi had already arrived. Hearing this, Chakar became nervous, although he did manage to get on his horse and to go out to receive the dignity.” [6]
The above passage from Tuhfa-i-Akbarshahi indicates that Chakar Rind was far from being an independent and powerful king of a vast realm. Instead, he was a subordinate of the Punjab governor, his estate limited to the pargana of Satgarh. There are no Mughal records of Mir Chakar Rind and his progeny pertaining to events after 1555 AD, suggesting that they were ignored by the Mughals due to their former affiliation with the Sur Afghans. He died at Satghara and is buried there.
References
1- "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal", Vol-49, Part 1, p-140 2- "Popular Poetry of the Baloches" (1907), by M.Longworth Dames, Vol-1, p-32 3- Ibid, p-33 4- "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" (1880), Vol-49, Part 1, p-142 5- Tabaqat-i-Akbari", translated into English by Brajendranath De, Volume III, pp.804-804. 6- "Afghans of the Frontier Passes: A Study in the Historical Geography of Sibi and Dhader in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan" (1992), by A.Aziz Luni, Vol-1, p-86
Kasur is the plural of Qasr (قصر), which means "fortress" or "castle" in Arabic. The place was named as such because of the twelve forts built by Pashtun settlers in the 16th century, the majority of whom belonged to the Khweshgi (also spelled Kheshgi) tribe. These twelve forts were named after the heads of the twelve Khweshgi clans.
The Khweshgi Pashtuns joined the army of the Mughal King Babur in Kabul and fought against the army of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi in 1526. As a reward for their services, Babur granted them the territory of Kasur as a jagir (land grant). They were held in high regard by the Mughal emperors, and many members of the tribe attained high ranks within the Mughal nobility.
When the Sikhs rose to power, they experienced great opposition from the Indo-Afghans of Kasur. However, the power and presence of the Afghans of Kasur were on the decline by the mid-18th century. Nonetheless, they supported Ahmad Shah Durrani in Punjab on every occasion. The chiefs of the Bhangi Misl of the Sikhs stormed the town of Kasur in 1763, and again in 1770, succeeding for a time in holding the entire principality. However, an Afghan chief named Nizamuddin, said to be a recent arrival from Kandahar, managed to wrest Kasur from the Sikhs in 1794 and resisted many subsequent attacks. In 1807, his brother and successor, Kutb-ud-din Khan, was forced to give way to Ranjit Singh and retired to his property at Mamdot, beyond the Sutlej. The town of Kasur was then incorporated into the Kingdom of Lahore. The already diminished Indo-Afghan element almost disappeared after the fall of Kasur to the Sikhs; nowadays, very few families in Kasur are of Pashtun descent.
The city of Kasur built and ruled by Pashtuns, was massive. William Barr saw the extensive ruins of Kasur (destroyed by Ranjit Singh) in 1839 and writes: "Kusoor, a large and ancient town, that in former days must have covered an extensive area, as its ruins are interminable".
Arzani Kheshgi
Mullah Arzani Kheshgi was a Pashtun Sufi poet of Roshniya movement and originally belonged to Kasur. He belonged to the Zerzai sub-tribe of Kheshgis. He was a profound scholar and a prominent figure in Pashto literature. He was a close associate and follower of Bayazid Ansari (Pir Roshan). Mullah Arzani returned to India to propagate Bayazid Ansari's mission there. After a long residence in Patna, he died there in 1623 and is buried there. His tomb is in the Sultanganj area of Patna city.
Nazar Bahadur Kheshgi
Nazar Bahadur Kheshgi was a noble of Mughal empire in the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. He reached the mansab of 4,000/4,000.
References: "Tarikh-i-Punjab aur Afaghana-i-Kasur ka kirdar" by Muhammad Ayub Khan (published in 1988). "Hayat-I-Afghani" by Muhammad Hayat Khan (published in 1865).
Ghulam Husain Khan, an Afghan, 1815, inhabitant of the Fort of Ali Jan Khan in Kasur (Punjab). From Fraser Album.
Pir Sabir Shah was a dervish and Ahmad Shah Abdali's spiritual pir. The Bayan-i-Waqai refers to Pir Sabir Shah as the son of a farrier from Lahore and describes Lahore as 'his country.' Meanwhile, the Siyar al-Mutakherin describes him as the grandson of a famous farrier from Kabul. It appears that his family was originally from Kabul and migrated to settle in Lahore. [1]
Sabir Shah abandoned Lahore in his youth and traveled to Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat. A few days before Nadir Shah's assassination, he predicted Ahmad Khan Abdali's rise to kingship. At a jirga of the Abdalis in Kandahar for the selection of their king, he put sheaves of wheat on the head of Ahmad Shah Durrani and proclaimed him "Badshah, Durr-i Dauran" (King, the Pearl of the Age), a title Ahmad Shah later changed to "Durr-i-Durran" (Pearl of Pearls). [2]
In 1748 Pir Sabir Shah visited his birthplace Lahore. The Tarikh-i-Sultani says that Sabir Shah repeated his old game of small tents in the bazars of Lahore and said that he was bringing the rule of Ahmad Shah Abdali to the country. Shah Nawaz Khan (Mughal governor of Lahore) could not bear to hear this, he ordered the dervish to be put to death. According to the contemporary Anand Ram Mukhlis, hot melted lead was poured down the throat of Sabir Shah. [3]
The tomb of Pir Sabir Shah is situated on a raised platform at the back of Badshahi mosque towards the Taksali Gate. [4]
Pir Sabir Shah placing a cluster of wheat on Ahmad Shah Abdali's turban, proclaiming him as a king. Painting by Ustad Abdul Ghafur Breshna, made in 1942. Source
Shrine of Sher Surkh where coronoation of Ahmad Shah Abdali took place. Source: "Ahmad Shah Baba Afghan" by Mir Ghulam Muhammad Ghobar
The cluster of wheat on the national flag of Afghanistan, is a reference to the cluster of wheat put in the turban of Ahmad Shah Abdali by Pir Sabir Shah Lahori.
References
1- "Bayan-i-Waqi" and "Siyar al-Mutakhireen". 2- "Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan" by Thomas H. Johnson, Ludwig W. Adamec 3- "Ahmad Shah Durrani by Ganda Singh 4- Ibid
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