History of the Pashtun people
On 7 January 1915 a Khostwal lashkar (comprising of Zadrans, Tanis and Gurbaz) entered Waziristan to attack British posts in the Tochi valley (North Waziristan). They were attacking British posts in Waziristan because Britain had declared war against Ottoman caliphate on 5 November 1914. The British officer who got killed by the Khostwals at Spina … Read more
The above common photo is wrongly attributed to be Faqir of Ipi. According to Jahangir Khan Sikandari (a historian from Bannu who has written a book on Faqir of Ipi), the above photo is of Shami Pir. The photo of Faqir of Ipi which is verified as authentic by local historians of Waziristan, are the … Read more
Malik Mehr-Dil Mahsud ends the conference before Nehru has finished his speech by raising his arm at Nehru. Robin Hodson (the Political Agent of South Waziristan) intervenes. Photo published in Life Magazine, November 11, 1946. Malik Mehr Dil Khan Mal Khel Manzaey Mahsud of Karma had been a gallant raider of his time. In 1919 … Read more
Screenshot from “A concise history of Afghanistan” by Wahid Hamid Alikuzai, p-291 Its a local myth that Ahmad Shah Abdali conducted census of Wazir and Mahsud tribes. They were not part of his empire so number of their fighting men did not need to be estimated. Syed Ghulam Muhammad surveyed Waziristan during the reign of … Read more
The Ormur (Aor-marr اورمړ ) or War-mur, also known as Baraki (or Burki), is an ancient tribe of Afghans. The name Ormuṛ literally means “fire extinguished” in Pashto. ‘According to the genealogies, the Urmar Afghans are descended from Amar-ud-Din or Amar Din, son of Sharkabun, and are near kinsmen of the Duranis. Raverty cites the … Read more
Dawars are said to be descendants of Shitak. The original home of the Dawars appears to have been in Shawal, from whence they, in company with the Bannuchis, were driven to their present holdings by the Wazirs in the fourteenth century. These comprise the open valleys called Upper and Lower Dawar, which are surrounded on … Read more
Sketch of Mullah Powindah. Mullah Powindah’s real name was Mohiuddin and he belonged to the Shabi Khel section of the Mahsuds. He was a disciple Maulana Hamzullah Khan. He played an important role in the tribal area against the British. He was a contemporary of Haji Sahib of Turangzai who had resisted the British … Read more
An early notice of the Wazirs in an original Muslim source comes from the times of Timur Shah Durrani about the year 1780. The author of the surveys, Syed Ghulam Muhammad, describe the Wazirs in the following manner ; “The Waziri Afghans are a great and powerful tribe numbering nearly 100,000 families; and they dwell in … Read more
On 12th May 1948, the Mirza Ali Khan alias Faqir of Ipi published and issued an anti-Pakistan poster from his headquarters, at Gurweik. In the poster he claimed that “Pakistan was a creation of the British and Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a British agent”. He further declared that “he would start an operation against the … Read more
By H.G.Raverty (1895) The Waziri Afghans, Pushtanah, or Patans, belong to one of the four great divisions of the Afghan nation, the Karlarni. Aor-Mar, fifth son of Sharaf-ud-Din, otherwise Sharkabun, son of Sarahbarn, son of Kais i-Abd-ur-Rashid, the Patan, the progenitor of the Afghan race, had a son named Umar Din, corrupted into Amar, … Read more