History of the Pashtun people
pashtunhistory.com Ziarat of Mechan Nika (مچن نيکه) , Wana, South Waziristan. Shaikh Michan Niazi was a medieval Pashtun saint . His real name was Muhsin and he is generally said to have been 6th in descent from Khako, son of Niazi. He was given the title of Michan (meaning handmill in Pashto) when one day, … Read more
Initially Baitanis ot Batanis were settled on the western side of the Suleiman mountains. During the reign of Sikandar Lodi the tribe , en-mass, moved through Gomal pass to their present location, east of the Suleiman mountains. Most of the families went over to Hind and joined the Pashtun rulers and ‘jagirdars’ armies. The clans … Read more
A great number of the Pashtuns belonging to Panni tribe from present-day Baluchistan [1] migrated at an early period to India, where from time to time, they have made themselves conspicuous under various dynasties and rulers. Farid-ud-Din Ahmad furnishes more information on the Pannis in “Risalat-ul-Ansab Afghaniah”, wherein he writes; “This is the account of Ghurghushtis. Of … Read more
Muhammad Khan Niazi was a most respected noble of Emperor Akbar’s court. He had joined the royal service around 1589 A.D, when Emperor Akbar was busy fighting the Afghan rebels in Bengal. He accompanied Shehbaz Khan Kambo in operations and performed feats of gallantry and leadership in various actions. Soon, he earned the favour of the imperial … Read more
Daudzai are descended from Daud, son of Daulatyar, son of Ghoria, the progenitor of the Ghoria Khel. According to Makhzan-i-Afghani, Daud had three sons Mandakai, Mamur and Yousaf from whom originated three main sections of the tribe. While according to Khulasat-ul-Ansab, Daud had four sons namely Mahmud alias Mamu, Yousaf, Amni and Mandak. The descendants of … Read more
The following account of Hari Singh Nalwa’s humiliating defeat at the hands of the Mashwanis and Said Khanis is drawn from two primary sources: (1) an eyewitness account, “Tawarikh-i-Hazara,” written by Lala Mehtab Singh in 1846. Extracts from this work were translated into Urdu by Sher Bahadur Khan Panni for his book, “Tarikh-i-Hazara” (pp. 56-59). … Read more
It will be convenient to adopt the simple style of narration in which the people themselves relate their story, and which would bear almost literal translation into idiomatic Pashto. Now when the abomination of idolatry had ceased in the land, it remained desolate for two hundred years, until, in the reign of Shahab-u-d Ghori, it … Read more
In the 18th century, a chieftain of the Kakar Pashtuns managed to annihilate the entire Baloch army of Mir Naseer Khan of Kalat in about 1867. This catastrophic defeat of the Baloch army occurred in the Dozakh Tangi of present-day Ziarat district, Balochistan. The scale of this Baloch defeat bears striking resemblance to the catastrophic … Read more
In 1842 Raja Sher Singh, the adopted son of Ranjit Singh, deputed Malik Fateh Khan Tiwana for collection of the revenue of the Marwat area. The Nazarite faction of Marwat tribe sought favour with the new rulers and supported Tiwana. Under a promise to make perpetual settlement of the revenue of the Marwats at the … Read more