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 left a lasting impression on Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), to the extent that the latter made it compulsory for his followers to wear blue dress in homage to those Pashtuns. According to Siyar-ul-Mutakherin, once when Guru Gobind Singh (the founder of Khalsa) was hunted down by Mughal troops, he found … 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
Etymologically the word Roh is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit Rohitagiri ( ‘ Red Hill ‘ ). Panini , Sanskrit grammarian , who lived most probably in the fourth century B.C. , informs that Highlanders dwelt on the Rohitagiri. The word Rohitagiri assumed the terminology of Rohi with passage of time and was … 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