The district and town of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is named after a 16th century Mughal fort

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The district and town of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is named after a 16th century Mughal fort built by Mughal general Zain Khan Koka (1) for the purpose of subduing Yousafzais. 

Mughal emperor Jahangir in his diary writes : 

“On the other side of the river Kama (2) there is a fort which Zain Khan Koka built at the time when he was appointed to subjugate the Yousafzai Afghans, and called Naushahr (New city). About 50,000 rupees were spent upon it. They say that Humayun used to hunt rhinoceros (3) in this region.”[  “The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri”, translated into English by Henry Beveridge, p-102].

Notes
 
1- “Koka” means foster brother in Turki language. Zain Khan was the son of Akbar’s wet-nurse and thus received the title Koka.
 
2.River Kama is river Kabul. Jahangir writes : “The Kama is a river that flows by the qasba of Jalalabad”.
 
3. Rhinoceros are now extinct in Nowshera. Also read this relevant blog-post
 
 

 

 
Portrait of Zain Khan Koka, late 16the century painting. Source

 

 

 

 

 

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1 thought on “The district and town of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is named after a 16th century Mughal fort”

  1. Very interesting! In present day Nowshera, there exists a village on the banks of River Kabul named ‘Misri Banda’. It is said to have been named after a certain ‘Misri Khan Yusufzai’

    Furthermore (in addition to the prior possible presence of Sikhs) there are vague indications that Mughuls built forts in the area to subdue the Yusufzais (as indicated in the article).

    Incidentally there is another village in the locality known as `Mughulki`

    However there appear to be no descendant traces remaining of either Yusufzai (or Moghuls) in the area today as it is inhabited by a mix of settlers migrated. (Afridis, Kakakhels among others)

    Reply

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