History of the Pashtun people
Pashto was spoken in Rampur region of Uttar Pradesh as late as 1815 AD. This was reported by Mountsuart Elphinstone in his book “the account of kingdom of Cabul” which was published in 1815. Elphinstone had visited Afghanistan in 1808 as ambassdor of British East India Company and met Shah Shuja Durrani in Peshawar. He … Read more
A group of blue-clad Pashtuns made a lasting impression on Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), so much so that he mandated his followers to wear blue attire in honor of those Pashtuns. According to Siyar-ul-Mutakherin, once when Guru Gobind Singh (the founder of Khalsa) was hunted down by Mughal troops, he found it difficult to cross … Read more
Amir Khan, the founder of the princely state of Tonk (Rajasthan, India) was descendant of Salarzai Bunerwals. In the reign of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (r.1719-1748), one Taleh Khan son of Kale Khan (طالع خان بن کالے خان) left his home in the Jowar village of Buner country (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)) and took service in Rohilkhand … Read more
Daud Khan was a slave of Shah Alam Badalzai. The latter was grandson of an Afghan saint Shaikh Shahab-ud-din Badalzai (Badalzai is sub-tribe of Barech) from the village Pushim of Shorawak district of Kandahar. Shaikh Shahab-ud-din Badalzai had left Shorawak and settled in the village of Toru Shahamatpur (Mardan). Sometime in the reign of Bahadur Shah … Read more
“Roh” is a corruption of the word “Koh,” meaning mountain. Some writers have claimed that “Roh” has Sanskrit roots, but the term denoting mountains is not found in Sanskrit. The Pashtuns themselves do not use the word “Roh” for mountain, but in medieval times, they seemed to have employed it for their country. The neighboring … Read more
Ghulam Qadir Rohilla was son of Zabita Khan and the grandson of the renowned Rohilla Chieftain Najib-ud-Dawla. His mother’s name was Masooma Begum. He was 14 years old in 1772 when Maratha-Mughal forces captured the fort of Pathagarh. After Najib had retired, his son Zabita Khan was the Regent in Delhi until Shah Alam’s return, … Read more