Afridi Tribe History

KHYBER

The Afridis (Pashto: اپريدی‎ Apriday, plur. اپريدي Afridi; Urdu: آفریدی‎) are a Pashtun tribe based in present-day Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most prominent in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, inhabiting about 1,000 square miles (3,000 km²) of rough hilly area in the eastern Spin Ghar range west of Peshawar, covering most of Khyber Agency, FR Peshawar and FR Kohat.[2] Their territory includes the Khyber Pass and Maidan in Tirah. Afridi migrants are also found in India, mostly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir.[3]

The Afridis are historically known for the strategic location they inhabit, and for belligerence against outside forces; battling the Mughal dynasty's armies throughout Mughal rule.[1] Their later clashes against British expeditions comprised the most savage fighting of the Anglo-Afghan Wars.[4] After independence, Afridi tribesmen also helped attack Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947.[5] Today, Afridis make use of their dominant social position in FATA and areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in arms, munitions, and other goods.[1]Contents [hide]
1 Etymology and origins
1.1 Theory of Afridi descent from Israelites
2 History
2.1 Resistance against the Mughals
2.2 Resistance against the British
3 Clans
4 Religion
5 Cuisine
6 List of notable Afridis
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Etymology and origins[edit]

The Afridis, classically called the Abaörteans (/ˌæbə.ɔrˈtiːənz/; Latin: Abaortae), have their original homeland in the Spin Ghar, a mountain range on both sides of the Durand line, located east of Kabul and west of Peshawar. The great Sanskrit grammarian and historian Pāṇini, who himself hailed from the nearby Shalatur, a village located near the confluence of the Kabul and Indus rivers, mentioned the names of tribes such as the Aprits (identified with the modern Afridis) and the Madhumants (identified with modern Mohmands) who inhabited the northwestern areas, in his Ashtadhyayi in the 5th century BC.[6]

The famous historian Herodotus mentions a region bordering on the banks of the Indus occupied by a people called the Pactyans who were divided into four tribes, one which were the Aparthea or Aparutai, likely to be the Aprit mentioned by Panini.[7] The Pactyans were overwhelmingly Hindus[citation needed]. They laid claim to an inaccessible upland area and forced passing invaders to pay toll tax[citation needed] for passage towards India through the Khyber Pass. Olaf Caroe and Aurel Stein are reported to have suggested that the Afridis may be the original inhabitants of the Gandhara area (which they still inhabit).

According to Pashtun folklore, the Afridi tribe traces its origin back to the eponymous ancestor of all Pashtuns, Qais Abdur Rashid, through his youngest son, Karlan. Thus, the Afridi tribe are one of the Karlani tribes, who had a formidable reputation as warriors.
Theory of Afridi descent from Israelites[edit]
See also: Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites, Ten Lost Tribes, and Bani Israel

The Afridis and other Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been alleged to be the descendants of the lost Jewish tribes such as the Efraim[citation needed]. However, DNA and other research towards validating such claims has been inconclusive.[8][9][10]
History[edit]
Resistance against the Mughals[edit]

Afridi fighters photographed by John Burke in 1878.

The Afridis were first mentioned in the memoirs of Mughal Emperor Babar, as a violent tribe in need of subduing.[11] The Afridis controlled the Khyber Pass, which has historically served as a corridor connecting the Indian subcontinent with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals, to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.[12] Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors Akbar and Jahangir both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, to little success.[13]

The Mughal effort to suppress the Afridis was greatly intensified under Aurangzeb. . Revolt was triggered when soldiers under the orders of the Mughal Governor Amir Khan allegedly attempted to molest women of the Safi tribe in modern day Kunar. The Safi tribe retaliated and killed the soldier. This attack provoked a reprisal, which triggered a general revolt of the most of tribes. The Mughol King Aurangzeb ordered the Safi tribal elders to hand over the killers. The Safi, Afridi, Mohmand, Shinwari and Khattak tribe came together to protect the Safi men accused of badal. Attempting to reassert his authority, Amir Khan in orders of Aurangzeb led a large Mughal Army to the Khyber Pass, where the army was surrounded by tribesmen and routed. Afghan sources claim that Aurangzeb suffered a humiliating defeat, with a reported loss of 40,000 Mughal soldiers and with only four men, including the Governor managing to escape. In a Battle he lost his Dear and Trustworthy friends Emal Khan Mohmand and Darya Khan Afridi.Khushal greatly praised the bravery and courage of Darya Khan Afridi and Aimal Khan Mohmad who had destroyed the entire Mughal army in Khyber in 1672. As he said about his these two close companions:"Aimal khan and Darya khan from death God preserve them, Never have they failed me at the time of need"
Resistance against the British[edit]

The Afridis once destroyed two large Mughal army of Emperor Aurangzeb: in 1672 in a surprise attack between Peshawar and Kabul, and in the winter of 1673 in an ambush in the mountain passes.[14] The emperor himself had to lead an army into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain passes, and even then another large army was "badly mauled" in Bajaur.[14][15] Allegedly, only five Mughals made it out of the battle alive

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Yusufzai Pashtun tribe History

The Yūsufzai (Pashto: يوسفزی‎ Yūsufzay, plur. يوسفزي Yūsufzī; Urdu/Persian: یوسف زئی‎), also called Yousafzai, Esapzay or Yūsufī, is one of the major Pashtun tribes. They are found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) of Pakistan, and in some eastern parts of Afghanistan. Some Yusufzai lineages are settled in India, most notably in Andhra Pradesh's capital of Hyderabad city, and in the Rohilkhand region, many of whom form a part of the larger Rohilla community.Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Settlements
3 References
4 External links

History[edit]

According to Akhund Darweza, the Yusufzai originated in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In their migration eastward, they arrived in the Kabul area when it was ruled by the Turkic governor Ulugh Beg, who had succeeded his father Shahrukh Mirza in 1446.[1]

When the Yusufzai spread into the area as far as Swat, their relationship with the local Dilazaks deteriorated and a long war ensued. After 20 years, under their leader Malik Ahmed Khan, the Yusufzai and allied clans were able to push the Dilazaks eastwards towards the Hazara mountains east of the Indus River, at the battle of Katlang.

The tribe is mentioned as "Isapzais" by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.[2] They are later mentioned by Babur in the 16th century. It is claimed that by the 1580s the Yusufzai numbered about 100,000 households. In general, they were uncooperative with the rule of Akbar who sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Raja Bir Bar to subdue them. In 1585 Raja Bir Bar was killed in fighting with the Yusufzai. It was not until about 1690 that they were fully brought within the realm of the Mughal Empire.[3]

In 1849, the Yusufzai established an Islamic state of Swat under the leadership of Akhund Abdul Ghaffur who appointed Sayyid Akbar Shah, a descendant of Pir Baba, as the first emir. After Akbar Shah's death in 1857, Akhund Ghaffur assumed control of the state himself.[4] The state lasted until the early 20th century under its religious leaders known as Akhunds of Swat, and later passed on to the last dynasty of Gujars, who ruled over the area now encompassing the present day Swat and Shangla till 1969.
Settlements[edit]

The Yusufzai are the predominant population in the districts of Swat, Buner, Shangla, Mardan, Malakand, Tor Ghar, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swabi in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They are also living in Battagram and the Maloga village of the Oghi Tehsil of Mansehra.

In Afghanistan, they inhabit parts of the Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. In Balochistan, there is also a Yusufzai clan of the Dehwar tribe in the Mastung District which speak Brahui, and Persian with some mixture of Brahui words.

Most Yusufzai speak the northern variant of Pashto (Pukhto) with the hard "kh" replacing the softer "sh" of the southern Pashto dialects.

Some Yusufzai lineages are settled in India, especially in Andhra Pradesh's capital Hyderabad city, in the Rohilkhand region of northwestern Uttar Pradesh, in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, in Gaya and the nearby Bihar, in Channapatna, Kadi, Ahmedabad, Baroda and the nearby Gujarat, in Maharashtra's Pune, Akola and Mumbai, and in Karnataka's Mysore and Bangalore. Many of the Yusufzai of Uttar Pradesh form a part of the larger Rohilla community.

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Histoery of Bannu

THE BREIF TIMELINE HISTORY OF BANNU

This is a brief of history of Bannu prepared and presented to BANNU.COM by Jahangir Khan Sikandri from the English version of his book ‘Tarikhe Aqwame Bannu’ (History of the Tribes of Bannu). The original text of his research work is contained in a huge volume of publication (four volumes) which contains the detailed timeline authentic history narrating all events that occurred on the soil of Bannu and the history and pedigree tables of all villages of Bannu (386 villages, 1800 families’ pedigree tables). Here, only a few important events have been narrated by him for the general knowledge of the reader. The website administrators are thankful to him for the provision of this brief. .

 Introduction 

The history of Bannu runs parallel to the history of Gandhara. Nothing is more clearly known about it in the Bronze Age and earlier. However, a recent archaeologists’ research on the fossils at different sites reveals that cavemen had lived here more than half a million years ago. Many writers have written a vague history which is neither authentic nor informative.

The Clans and Sub-clans of Bannuchis

There are 120 sub-clans of the Bannuchis (including the generations of Shittak). Total numbers of villages are 386 in Bannu which include the villages of Marwats and Wazirs as well. Bannuchis are descendant from one Shittak (or Shithak), a son of Karan who was the fifth son (probably an adopted one) of Kais bin Abdur Rashid. The generations of his (Karan) other sons are the Afridis, Mehmands, Khattkas, Masuds, Wazir, Bangash and Dilazaks etc. Shithak was born in the era of Mehmud of Ghazna and lived at Shawal. His seventh or eighth generations had forcibly occupied Bannu in 1285 AD; the story of whom has been given in the succeeding paragraphs.


Except Marwats and Wazirs, other families including the generations of the sons of Shithak that occupied Bannu, are called Bannuchi (Bannusi) irrespective of their race, religion and caste. The word Bannuchi does not apply to any particular tribe living in Bannu now, even not to the generations of Shithak. During the Ghorids, Temurids and Mughals period, this name only applied to the Kivis, Surranis, Zelum and Haved, the sons of Bano, the first wife of Shithak. Shithak was the son of Karran, in the fifth lineage from Qais bin Abdur Rashid. In other words, the term Bannuchi means 'A settled person from Bannu, except Marwats and Wazirs'. Bannuchis are divided into six categories;

Native Afghan Bannuchis

This name is used for the generations of the sons of Shithak i.e. Haved, Zelum, Surrani and Kivis. They are known so since they had originally possessed this land in 1285 AD. They are about 40 % of the total population of Bannuchis.

Colonized Afghan Bannuchis

This name applies to those Afghans who subsequently settled in Bannu with the Native Afghan Bannuchis. They are about 3 % of the total population in Bannu.

Native Saddat Bannuchis

This name applies only to the saddats of Sheikhan, the descendants from Sheikh Shah Mohammad Rohani who assisted the Native Afghan Bannuchis during their efforts to subdue the valley of Bannu , in 1285 AD. They are about 10 % of the total population of Bannuchis.

Colonized Saddat Bannuchis

This name applies to those saddat families who subsequently settled in Bannu with Native Afghan Bannuchis or Native Saddat Bannuchis. They are about 7 % of the total population of Bannuchis and scattered through in almost all the Bannuchis’ villages.

Khidmatgar Bannuchis

This name applies to those persons who settled in different villages of Bannu as tradesmen and farm-labourers. Major inflow of such persons had been from Punjab during the Durrani and Sikh periods. Some among them settled here during the British era too. They are about 36 % of the total population of Bannuchis, scattered through out in almost all the Bannuchis’ villages.

Ordinary OR Domiciled Bannuchis

This name applies to those people who are not from any of the above mentioned categories but they were settled in Bannu in different periods. For example, the third generation of the mahajirs from India are now called Domiciled Bannuchis. Non Muslims or non Pashtoons also fall in this category. They were initially settled in Bannu city during the British era and subsequently purchased some land in different villages too. They are about 4 % of the total population of Bannuchis.

AKRA.

The ruins of Akra are situated nine kilometres from Bannu city, in the area of Bharat village. These ruins are in the shape of earthen mounds, the largest being 250 feet high. On these mounds there are scattered broken clay vessels. The British took much interest to unveil the secrets of the mounds. In 1869, the British archaeologists bored a forty feet deep hole in the largest mound and examined the soil in the laboratory. Nonetheless, they could find nothing interesting except clay and some pieces of decayed human bones. The presence of human bones revealed that almost 1700- 2500 years ago, the inhabitants of this area used the largest mound as their burial ground. It was considered that the disposal of dead at this place had been on similar pattern as had been practised in Kafiristan where dead were placed on high grounds for vultures and other wild birds to eat the flesh away. The human bones were then collected by their relatives and placed in chambers, one above the other, followed by closing of the main entrance with a big stone. However, one fact has been doubtlessly established that here lived Parsees for a long period of time. The tests further revealed that Calcium Phosphate was a major constituent of the soil, due to the decayed human bones.
In 1878, a peasant from village Bharat uncovered a big stone, while he was ploughing in the field, next to the largest mound of Akra. The British Administration sent the stone to an archeologist of Saint Petersburg School to find the meanings of the words inscribed in Sanscrit language, on the stone. The stone was so much worn out that the said Professor could not decipher the words correctly. General Cunningham has mentioned that had the words been readable, it could have discovered one more link to the history of Bannu (See ‘The Archeology Survey Report of India ’ written by General Cunningham; pages 24 to 30 of chapter 14 of the report). Later on, the stone was placed in Lahore Museum .
In 1880, the British archaeologists manually dug the largest mound to a considerable depth and found some small earthen heads of Buddha that were properly heated in kilns to make non-abrasive. They also found a few other full figured images of Bhudha chiselled out from sandstones. Digging of the mounds continued till 1920, uncovering many gold and copper coins that belonged to the Greek-Bactrian kings namely Apollodotus, Menander, Phelozenus and Eukratides; coins of Vema Kadhphesus, Mayus, Azas, Haverki and Kanerki; Brehman Shahiya kings namely Samantha Deva and Sial Pathi; and the Muslim kings namely Sabuktagin, Mehmud of Ghaznavi and Altamish. These coins are now part of the national heritage and are kept at the Lahore , Peshawar and London museums.
The other discovered items include many pieces of sange sulemani of the Greek-Bactrian period; gold bangles used by the Sakas; rings of blue sapphire used by the Parthians and Sassanis; and beads of some valuable stones used by the Buddhists and the Muslims. These discoveries ascertain the history, from the Achaemenians period to the Ghaznavids period.
Hither to, it was a dilemma to find out how the name 'Akra' was attributed to these mounds. Some writers have mentioned that the old name of this area was Saatram. A cruel ruler of this land forcibly married his daughter, namely Setha, to a black slave. Setha cursed the people and the land. Consequently, rain of stones came upon the land and everything was destroyed. Other historians have mentioned another story about a cruel king who raped his daughter. The heaven could not tolerate this incident and there came upon them a rain of stones that destroyed everything. This is a story probably elaborated by the Hindus of Village Bharat. Nonetheless, the Muslims believe that at one occasion a rain of stones came on people of prophet Luth. See the Quran, ( Surat Hud: Ayat 74-82 and Surat Ankabut: Ayat 28-35).
Prophet Luth’s people were living in the plains of Sodom and Gomarrah in Pelestine, most probably located in the plain east of the Dead Sea (Bahr-e-Luth). These people had deeply involved themselves in sodomy and other evil’s deed. Prophet Abraham had sent his nephew (Prophet Luth) to them but they disobeyed him and went deeper and deeper into sin. Two angels in the shape of handsome young men came to Luth in the evening and became his guest by night. The inhabitants of Sodom in their lust for unnatural crime (sodomy) invaded Luth’s house but were repulsed. In the morning when it was still dark, the angels warned Luth to escape with his family and none to look back. Then Allah brought upon the two cities a shower of brimstone that destroyed all the inhabitants of the said cities (including the wife of Luth who looked back) and toppled the plain. The story has been narrated at many places in the Quran. But, it has been clearly elaborated in the above two Surats.
At another occasion, on the army of Ibrahah (the Governor of Yemen) who intended to invade Khana-e-Kaaba, and just before his attack on Makkah, flocks of Ababeel (small black birds) came and threw small stones on the soldiers and elephants of Abrahah. The Muslims do believe that no other incident of such nature occurred to any other tribe or nation. See the Quran, (Surat Al-Fil: Ayat 1-5); the story of the army of elephants.
This incident happened during the period of the birth year of Prophet Muhammad (sallellaho alaihey wa sallam). In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, it has been mentioned that Abrahah Al-Ashram, the Governor of Yemen, was a Christian who on behalf of the king of Ethopia built a house (church) in San’ah (the capital of Yemen ) and named it Al-Qulais. At that time, Yemen was a part of Ethopia. Abrahah wanted to call the Arabs to perform pilgrim there in San’ah instead of the Ka’bah, with the intention of diverting the trade and benefits from Makkah to Yemen . So far as the construction of Al-Qulais was concerned, there was no church of its like at that time. Then a man from the Quresh tribe of Makkah came there and was infuriated by it. So he relieved his nature (stool and urine) in it, soiled its walls and went away. This made Abrahah angry and he raised an army to invade Makkah and demolish Ka’bah. He had in that army thirteen elephants and amongst them was a very big elephant called Mehmud (Mamooth). In the event of marching on Makkah, some camels of Abdul Muttalib bin Hashim, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad (sallellaho alaihey wa sallam), were apprehended by the army of Abrahah. Subsequently, these were released after negotiation by Abdul Muttalib with the leading men of Abrahah when it was concluded by Abrahah that the fate of Ka’bah would be decided by him at all costs that in no way had anything to do with the retention of the camels by his army. Abdul Muttalib replied to Abrahah that Ka’bah is the house of Allah and that not the Quresh but Allah protects it. Abrahah finally marched on towards Ka’bah and reached the valley of Muhassir near Makkah where it was suddenly overtaken by flocks of birds (ababeels), flocks after flocks, air-raiding that army with small stones slightly bigger than a lentil seed and perished the soldiers and elephants with a total destruction, including Abrahah who died of injuries in his flesh due to hits by the said stones, while retreating.
Another story of Akra runs to the effect that a survivor from stones-rain was a dog who headed towards the west. It was pelted with stones in its efforts to escape. However, it was successful in escaping the wrath of the God; but as a consequence, a line of mounds was formed extending towards west. However, it is just a story told by some layman and not any scholar and seems to have been evolved to explain an unfathomable fact by the local people. In April 1848, When Lt Edwardes visited Akra on his way to the Marwat area, he asked the peasantry of Village Bharat," who lived there on those mounds". The gathering replied, "Kafirs lived there".

Being deeply involved for fifteen years in research work on the history of Bannu, I (the author) did not believe in the stories that had no logical basis. The following pages would reveal to the reader the actual history pertaining to these mysterious mounds;
During the period of King Kaykaus of the Kayani dynasty, Bano, the sister of Rustam (the jehan pehlawan) got the area as a dowry and expanded the built-up area with further construction. The area got its name from her, i.e. Azer Bano and is still known with a slight deformation of the word as ‘Bana’. The subsequent construction on this site may be attributed to the Achaemenians who called it Thathagush; it being one of 128 provinces of Cyrus the Great (a ruler of Persia - Iran ). Attacks and counterattacks on this high ground, shows its importance as compared to the surrounding areas. Phillip, a general of Alexander the Great, burnt the fort located on the highest mound after an armed resistance from the locals. A proper walled fort or a check-post type fort was constructed by Greek Bactarian ruler namely Eukratides who named it 'the Fort of Eukra'. This name over a period of time changed into Akra and exists to this day. The area of the largest mound, during the Achaemenian period, was spread up to many acres. The first cutting of this high ground, after the Ghaznavids, was carried out by the local inhabitants on its northeast and south sides since its soil contained calcium phosphate, a rich constituent for growing of crops, more effective than the household urea. The side towards Lehra River got washed away as a natural phenomenon due to seasonal floods in the river. It was converted into irrigable fields during the Sikh and Durrani periods. Hence the vastness of the high ground, through a period of one thousand years, has now shrunk to an area of almost one acre only. The area to the west of Lehra River was also made irrigable by the inhabitants of Village Bharat during the Sikh period.
The ruins of Akra are situated nine kilometres from Bannu city, in the area of Bharat village. These ruins are in the shape of earthen mounds, the largest being 250 feet high. On these mounds there are scattered broken clay vessels. The British took much interest to unveil the secrets of the mounds. In 1869, the British archaeologists bored a forty feet deep hole in the largest mound and examined the soil in the laboratory. Nonetheless, they could find nothing interesting except clay and some pieces of decayed human bones. The presence of human bones revealed that almost 1700- 2500 years ago, the inhabitants of this area used the largest mound as their burial ground. It was considered that the disposal of dead at this place had been on similar pattern as had been practised in Kafiristan where dead were placed on high grounds for vultures and other wild birds to eat the flesh away. The human bones were then collected by their relatives and placed in chambers, one above the other, followed by closing of the main entrance with a big stone. However, one fact has been doubtlessly established that here lived Parsees for a long period of time. The tests further revealed that Calcium Phosphate was a major constituent of the soil, due to the decayed human bones.
In 1878, a peasant from village Bharat uncovered a big stone, while he was ploughing in the field, next to the largest mound of Akra. The British Administration sent the stone to an archeologist of Saint Petersburg School to find the meanings of the words inscribed in Sanscrit language, on the stone. The stone was so much worn out that the said Professor could not decipher the words correctly. General Cunningham has mentioned that had the words been readable, it could have discovered one more link to the history of Bannu (See ‘The Archeology Survey Report of India ’ written by General Cunningham; pages 24 to 30 of chapter 14 of the report). Later on, the stone was placed in Lahore Museum .
In 1880, the British archaeologists manually dug the largest mound to a considerable depth and found some small earthen heads of Buddha that were properly heated in kilns to make non-abrasive. They also found a few other full figured images of Bhudha chiselled out from sandstones. Digging of the mounds continued till 1920, uncovering many gold and copper coins that belonged to the Greek-Bactrian kings namely Apollodotus, Menander, Phelozenus and Eukratides; coins of Vema Kadhphesus, Mayus, Azas, Haverki and Kanerki; Brehman Shahiya kings namely Samantha Deva and Sial Pathi; and the Muslim kings namely Sabuktagin, Mehmud of Ghaznavi and Altamish. These coins are now part of the national heritage and are kept at the Lahore , Peshawar and London museums.
The ruins of Akra are situated nine kilometres from Bannu city, in the area of Bharat village. These ruins are in the shape of earthen mounds, the largest being 250 feet high. On these mounds there are scattered broken clay vessels. The British took much interest to unveil the secrets of the mounds. In 1869, the British archaeologists bored a forty feet deep hole in the largest mound and examined the soil in the laboratory. Nonetheless, they could find nothing interesting except clay and some pieces of decayed human bones. The presence of human bones revealed that almost 1700- 2500 years ago, the inhabitants of this area used the largest mound as their burial ground. It was considered that the disposal of dead at this place had been on similar pattern as had been practised in Kafiristan where dead were placed on high grounds for vultures and other wild birds to eat the flesh away. The human bones were then collected by their relatives and placed in chambers, one above the other, followed by closing of the main entrance with a big stone. However, one fact has been doubtlessly established that here lived Parsees for a long period of time. The tests further revealed that Calcium Phosphate was a major constituent of the soil, due to the decayed human bones.
In 1878, a peasant from village Bharat uncovered a big stone, while he was ploughing in the field, next to the largest mound of Akra. The British Administration sent the stone to an archeologist of Saint Petersburg School to find the meanings of the words inscribed in Sanscrit language, on the stone. The stone was so much worn out that the said Professor could not decipher the words correctly. General Cunningham has mentioned that had the words been readable, it could have discovered one more link to the history of Bannu (See ‘The Archeology Survey Report of India ’ written by General Cunningham; pages 24 to 30 of chapter 14 of the report). Later on, the stone was placed in Lahore Museum .
In 1880, the British archaeologists manually dug the largest mound to a considerable depth and found some small earthen heads of Buddha that were properly heated in kilns to make non-abrasive. They also found a few other full figured images of Bhudha chiselled out from sandstones. Digging of the mounds continued till 1920, uncovering many gold and copper coins that belonged to the Greek-Bactrian kings namely Apollodotus, Menander, Phelozenus and Eukratides; coins of Vema Kadhphesus, Mayus, Azas, Haverki and Kanerki; Brehman Shahiya kings namely Samantha Deva and Sial Pathi; and the Muslim kings namely Sabuktagin, Mehmud of Ghaznavi and Altamish. These coins are now part of the national heritage and are kept at the Lahore , Peshawar and London museums.
The Parthians, Pehlavis, Ephtalites, Sassanis and Kidarites Period

Although no significant events have been on record, the coins discovered from Akra reveal that Bannu went in the control of Mithradotus and remained under the Parthians till 88 BC when it was captured by Maves, a chief of the Saka tribe, after a fierce battle at Bannu. In 77 BC Maves died. His generals remained at daggers-drawn with each other that resulted in bloodshed among the Sakas. Finally, Azes-I succeeded in defeating all other chieftains in a fierce battle and was crowned as king in 57 BC, exercising control over Gandhara, some parts of the present Afghanistan , Balochistan, Punjab and Hind. His son Azelus succeeded him in about 40 BC; followed by his son Azes II whose coins have been discovered in abundance from the mounds of Akra.

In 5 BC, the Pehlvai and the Parthian tribes came in power in Sistan and Aracochia whose chief namely Gondophares defeated Azes-II in 24 AD and deprived him of his kingdom. However, it has not been ascertained whether Bannu was under the control of the Sakas during the last days of Azes-II or not. It is also presumed that Bannu might have gone into the hands of the chief of Ghazna who was from the Pehlvai tribe and was paying a regular tribute to the Parthian king namely Venos Parthy. The last king of this dynasty namely Pakorus was defeated by the Koshani chief namely Kajula Kadphises at Taxila in 65 AD. He was crowned as king. He was succeeded by his son Vema Kadphises in 78 AD whose coins have been found from the Akra dunes. From these events it gets confirmed that Bannu was also ruled by the aforesaid Koshani kings and their successor namely Kanishka who titled himself as `Shah-e-Gandhara`. After Kanishka, the other kings known in this series are Vasishka, Kanishka-II, Huvishka and Vasudeva. When Vasudeva died in 225 AD, his kingdom was disintegrated and then fully captured by Ardashir Sassani, an Iranian king. Bannu also went under the control of the Sassanian dynasty till 365 AD after which the said kingdom was assaulted by Kidara, the chief of the Kidarite dynasty who, in 368 AD, took over the control of Gandhara and the surroundings including Bannu (then locally called as Akra). The coins of Kidara and his two successors namely Pero and Behram have been found from the dunes of Akra during the British era. Between 427AD and 457 AD, the Kidarites had a few fierce battles with the Ephthalites (White Huns) and subsequently lost their territorial control on many parts of the kingdom including Bannu. The chief of the White Huns was Toramena who was succeeded by his son Mihiragula in 502 AD, with his capital at Sialkot .

The Shahiyas Period
With the death of Mahira Gola in 542 AD, the dynasty collapsed in 568 AD when the Sassanians attacked his kingdom. The area of Bannu eventually went under the control of the Sassanian dynasty till the end of the 6th century. Subsequently, it was taken over by the Turk Shahiya dynasty either through a battle with the Sassanian kings or otherwise due to the submission of the local inhabitants to the Turk Shahiya. The Turk Shahiyas were also later on known as the Kabul Shahiyas and their kings titled as Rutbil or Zunbil.

The Akra.
The Kayanis and Achaemenian Period

The first k

nown historical event at this land is attributed to the era of Kaykaus, the king of Persia , when Rustam of Iran, a great wrestler of that period, took over as the Governor of Zablistan. At that time, area up to Multan including was a part of Zablistan. Later on, Rustam rested the area of Bannu as a dowry upon his sister namely Bano who constructed a small fort and a small city in the present area of
Kakki Bharat. The fort was called Azar Bano (Azar means a 'city' in the old Persian language). During the Achaemenian period, the present territorial boundaries of Bannu, Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Dadikia (Kakars in Balochistan), Gandhara (Paktia to Attock including Kurram belt) and Aparithia (Afridis belt) remained as a part of the state of Thatagush during the era of `Cyrus the Great`, with its headquarters at Pashkalavati (now known as Charsada). After Darius, when Xerexes-I took over as the mighty king of the Achaemenian dynasty, he deputed Austees as governor of the said part. At that time, areas of present Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Waziristan were made as parts of a province known as Satagidaya, with its subsidiary military headquarters at Bannu. Maybe that the name ‘Satagidaya’ was a proxy name of Azar Bano or that Bannu was even then known by the same first name of ‘Bana’ since no authentic confirmation has been so far obtained in this regard. Herodotus, the first known Greek historian, has mentioned in his memoirs that the inhabitants of Satagidaya were Paktues (Pakhtoons?) and that they were Aryans cum Parsees, worshipping fire and sun. His memoirs, however, counter the present research on the Pakhtoons who are believed to have been of the Jewish origin (amongst the ten lost tribes of Israel ) living with the Aryans on bilateral relations when they were deported to Afghanistan from Babul. Leaving all the presumptions on this topic for the readers to speculate as many historians presume that Pakhtoons are ancient Aryaen ‘Alexander, The Great’ conquered the present territory of Afghanistan , he marched on with two columns towards Gandhara. A major column led by him entered through the Khyber Pass and a small flanking column led by his general namely Phillip marched from Jalalabad to Dursamand and then attacked the Azar Bano fort; burnt it and then razed it to the ground. Subsequently, the same General (Phillip) was appointed as a Satrap at Taxila, by Alexander the Great; to look after the territory conquered by him. Phillip ruled Bannu till 324 BC. Soon, he was killed by a few rebellions. He was succeeded by his son namely Eudamius, who had the blessings of ‘Alexander the Great’

The Mauryans Period
In 317 BC, Chandra Gupta of the Mauryan dynasty defeated Eudamius in a battle and took over Gandhara and Satagidya. The Mauryans ruled Bannu till 232 BC. Coins and other remains obtained by the Archeologists from Akra dunes in Kakki Bharat, Bannu, reveal that the inhabitants of Bannu were Buddhist during the Mauryan era.
In 232 BC, after Asoka’s death, A Greek general namely Eunedius took over the control of Gandhara, Aparithia, Satagidaya as well as present Ghazni, Qandahar and Kabul . Nevertheless, these areas were captured again by the Mauryan king namely Brohidat who reigned till 222 BC. The Greeks who had control of a few parts of Afghanistan are historically known as Greek Bactrians.

The Greek-Bactrians Period
In 185 BC, Greek Bactrian king Eutedium captured area from Bactria to the River Indus and established its capital at Bactria . In 180 BC, his son Demetrius took over as his successor who appointed Menandar as the governor of the area between River Kabul and River Indus. In 175 BC, another Greek-Bactrian general namely Eukratedius defeated Demetrius and captured the area between Bactria and Aracochia. Bannu was then under the control of Menandar who had appointed another Greek Bactrian general namely Appolodotus as the governor of Satagidaya and some parts of Gandhara up to Kabul . Later on, Bannu fell in the hands of Eukratedius when Menandar had a battle with Appolodotus as the later had shown inclination towards his rival king -- Eukratedius. To meet with any aggression by Menandar, Eukratedius erected a fort at the old site of the fort near present Kakki Bharat which was named after him as Eukra, later on known to the world as Akra and is still famous by the same name. This fort was manned by his son Heleucus who succeeded his father as king when Eukratedius died in 159 BC. After the coronation, Heleucus appointed Pheleuzenus as the mighty governor of Bannu (Satagidaya), Tal, Parachinar and Hangu areas, establishing his seat at Bannu.
In 152 BC, Heleucus was defeated and pushed towards Taxila by the Saka tribe after capturing Bactria . Upon this, Pheleuzenus declared his small kingdom as independent and neutral. In 135 BC, Le Syas, a successor to Heleucus, seized the said kingdom from Pheleuzenus and annexed to his kingdom, with his headquarters established at Taxila. He left fairly strong force at Akra to handle any expected aggression from Bactria .

Another story of Akra runs to the effect that a survivor from stones-rain was a dog who headed towards the

west. It w

as pelted with stones in its efforts to escape. However, it was successful in escaping the wrath of the God; but as a consequence, a line of mounds was formed extending towards west. However, it is just a story told by some layman and not any scholar and seems to have been evolved to explain an unfathomable fact by the local people. In April 1848, When Lt Edwardes visited Akra on his way to the Marwat area, he asked the peasantry of Village Bharat," who lived there on those mounds". The gathering replied, "

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Charsadda History

Charsadda Veiw on Google Earth

Charsadda (Pashto: چارسدہ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.[1] It is at an altitude of 276 metres (908 feet) and lies 29 kilometres from the provincial capital of Peshawar.[2] District Charsadda consists of two main geographical parts: Hashtnagar (Pushto: Ashnaghar) and Do Aaba (Pushto: Duava).Contents [hide]
1 Hashtnagar
2 Do Aaba
3 History
4 Crops
5 Scenery
6 Administration
7 References
8 External links

Hashtnagar[edit]

Hashtnaga is a corruption of the Sanskrit word 'Ashtanagara', meaning Eight Cities. Once cities are now villages named: Prrang, Charsadda, Rajjar, Utmanzai,Turangzai, Umarzai, Sherpao, Tangi. The city was once known as Push-kalavati, "The city of lotus flower". It remained the capital of ancient Gandhara from the 6th century B.C to 2nd century A.D. The city was captured in 324 B.C. after the siege of 30 days, by the troops of Alexander the Great and its formal surrender was received by Alexander himself. It has been established beyond doubt that this city was the metropolitan center of asiatic trade and meeting place of oriental and occidental cultures even as long ago as 500 to 1000 B.C. This city also enjoyed in being the center of pilgrims until the seventh century A.D.

Pushkalavati is first mentioned in the Hindu epic story, The Ramayana, when Bharata the brother of Ramchandra conquered Gandharvadesa (Gandhara) and found two cities, Taksha (Taxila), and Pushkala (Pushkalavati) named after his two sons.
Do Aaba[edit]

Do Aaba is also a Persian word, meaning two waters. A place surrounded by the waters of rivers from all four sides is known as Do Aaba. Do Aaba consists of Shabqadar and adjecent areas of Mohmand Agency.
History[edit]

The earliest archaeological deposits recovered at Charsadda are dated to ca. 1400 BCE, constituting a series of post holes in association with ceramic sherds and ash. Subsequent periods indicate that more permanent structures were built at Charsadda, including stone-lined pits. Between the 14th century BCE and the 6th century BCE, when an Achaemenid presence is represented at the site (see below), the inhabitants of Charsadda developed an iron-working industry and used ceramics that are typical for this period in the Vale of Peshawar, Swat and Dir.

The father of Sanskrit grammar, Panini was from this area and lived around 500−700 BCE.

The later history of Charsadda can be traced back to the 6th century BCE. It was the capital of Gandhara from the 6th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The ancient name of Charsadda was Pushkalavati, which means "Lotus City". It was the administrative centre of the Gandhara kingdom. Many invaders have ruled over this region during different times of history. These include the Persians, Alexander the Great's Greeks, the Mauryas, the Greco-Bactrians, the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians, the Kushans, the Huns, the Turks, the Guptas.

Charsadda is contiguous to the town of Prang; and these two places were identified by Alexander Cunningham with the ancient Pushkalāvati, capital of the region at the time of Alexander's invasion, and transliterated as Peukelaus or Peukelaotis by the Greek historians. Its chieftain (Astes), according to Arrian, was killed in defence of one of his strongholds after a prolonged siege by Hephaistion. Ptolemy fixes its site upon the eastern bank of the Suastene or Swat. In the seventh century CE Hiuen Tsiang visited the city, which he describes as being 100 li (16⅔ miles) north-east of Peshawar. A stupa, erected over the spot where Buddha made an alms-offering of his eyes, formed the great attraction for the Buddhist pilgrim and his co-religionists. The city, however, had even then been abandoned as a political capital in favour of Purushapura, Parashāwara, or Peshawar.[3]

It probably extended over a large area, and the entire neighbourhood is covered with vast ruins. Excavation was carried out in the neighbourhood of Charsadda for about two months in the spring of 1902-3. Some interesting finds of coins and pottery ornaments, including an engraved amethyst, were made, and the remains of the ancient Bala Hisar (Acropolis) were mapped.[3]

There are eight main villages, giving Hashtnagar its name, Prang, Rajjar, Utmanzai, Umarzai, Tangi, Sherpao, Turangzai and Charsadda Bazar.
Crops[edit]

The main crops of Charsadda are tobacco, sugarcane, sugarbeet, wheat and maize. Vegetables include potato, tomato, cabbage, brinjals, okra and spinach. Charsadda is especially famous for lotus roots, known as barsanday. Among orchards, peach, apricot, citrus, plum, strawberry and pears are famous.[citation needed]
Scenery[edit]

The land of Charsadda is very fertile and beautiful and is said to closely resemble Damascus due to its beauty. There are three rivers flowing in Charsadda: the River Jindi, the Kabul River and the Swat River; these are the main source of irrigation for Charsadda. The three rivers then merge and join the Indus River.[4] The area surrounded by River Swat and River Kabul is called Doaaba and has a great importance in the District. Dense Forest area is Charsadda and Nisatta. Sardaryab, Khyali, Jindi, Shalam and Naguman these five rivers meet in Nisatta area (locally called Khwlay) and become Kabul river.

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Ranjit Singh History

Ranjit Singh

The Sikh Empire was a major power in the Indian subcontinent, that arose under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who established the empire basing it around the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849 and was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous Sikh misls.[2][3] At its peak in the 19th century, the empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Bahawalpur in the south to Kashmir in the north.

The foundations of the Sikh Empire could be traced to as early as 1707, the year of Aurangzeb's death and the start of the downfall of the Mughal Empire. With the Mughals significantly weakened, the Sikh army, known as the Dal Khalsa, a rearrangement of the Khalsa inaugurated by Guru Gobind Singh, led expeditions against them and the Afghans in the west. This led to a growth of the army which split into different confederacies or semi-independent "misls". Each of these component armies, or misl (from a Persian word that means "similar"), controlled different areas and cities. However, in the period from 1762–1799, Sikh commanders of the misls appeared to be coming into their own as independent warlords.

The formal start of the Sikh empire began with the conquest of these "misls" by Ranjit Singh of Sukerchakia misl who snatched Lahore from another misl and slowly subjugagted other misls. He was crowned on 12 April 1801 (to coincide with Vaisakhi), creating a unified political state. Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, conducted the coronation.[4] Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single misl to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab. He began to modernise his army, using the latest training as well as weapons and artillery. After the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire was weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. Finally, by 1849 the state was dissolved after the defeat in the Anglo-Sikh wars.

The Sikh Empire was divided into four provinces: Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, and Kashmir from 1799-1849.Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Mughal rule of Punjab
1.2 Banda Singh Bahadur
1.3 Hari Singh Nalwa
2 Dal Khalsa
2.1 Sikh misls
2.1.1 Cis-Sutlej states
3 Formation
4 End of Sikh empire
5 Geography
6 Timeline
7 See also
8 References
9 Bibliography
10 Notes
11 External links

History[edit]

The Harmandir Sahib, known as the Golden Temple at Amritsar
Mughal rule of Punjab[edit]

The Sikh religion began at the time of the conquest of Northern India by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. His grandson, Akbar, supported religious freedom and after visiting the langar of Guru Amar Das got a favourable impression of Sikhism. As a result of his visit he donated land to the langar and the Sikh gurus enjoyed a positive relationship with the Mughals until his death in 1605.[5] His successor, Jahangir, however saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He arrested Guru Arjun Dev because of Sikh support for Khusrau Mirza[6] and ordered him to be put to death by torture. Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom led to the sixth Guru, Guru Har Gobind, declaring Sikh sovereignty in the creation of the Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend Amritsar.[7] Jahangir attempted to assert authority over the Sikhs by jailing Guru Har Gobind at Gwalior and released him after a number of years when he no longer felt threatened. The Sikh community did not have any further issues with the Mughal empire until the death of Jahangir in 1627. The son of Jahangir, Shah Jahan, took offense at Guru Har Gobind's "sovereignty" and after a series of assaults on Amritsar forced the Sikhs to retreat to the Sivalik Hills.[7]

The next guru Guru Har Rai maintained the guruship in these hills by defeating local attempts to seize Sikh land and taking a neutral role in the power struggle between two of the sons of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, for control of the Mughal Empire. The ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, moved the Sikh community to Anandpur and travelled extensively to visit and preach in defiance of Aurangzeb, who attempted to install Ram Rai as new guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur aided Kashmiri Pandits in avoiding conversion to Islam and was arrested by Aurangzeb. When offered a choice between conversion to Islam and death, he chose to die rather than compromise his principles and was executed.[8] Guru Gobind Singh assumed the guruship in 1675 and to avoid battles with Sivalik Hill rajas moved the guruship to Paunta. There he built a large fort to protect the city and garrisoned an army to protect it. The growing power of the Sikh community alarmed the Sivalik Hill rajas who attempted to attack the city but the Gobind Singh's forces routed them at the Battle of Bhangani. He moved on to Anandpur and established the Khalsa, a collective army of baptized Sikhs, on 30 March 1699. The establishment of the Khalsa united the Sikh community against various Mughal-backed claimants to the guruship.[9] In 1701, a combined army of the Sivalik Hill rajas and the Mughals under Wazir Khan attacked Anandpur. The Khalsa retreated but regrouped to defeat the Mughals at the Battle of Muktsar. In 1707, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation by Aurangzeb's successor Bahadur Shah I to meet. When he arrived at Nanded in 1708, he was attacked by two agents of Wazir Khan, then governor of Sirhind, one of whom died by the sword of Guru Gobind Singh, while the other assassin was murdered by a member of the Khalsa army. It was said that later the Guru had passed away due to the wounds inflicted during the fight.
Banda Singh Bahadur[edit]
Main article: Banda Singh Bahadur

Banda Bahadur (real name Laxman Das Bhardwaj), (1670–1716) was a Hindu ascetic sadhu who met Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded and adopted the Sikh religion . A short time before his death, Guru Gobind Singh ordered him to reconquer Punjab region and gave him a letter that commanded all Sikhs to join him. After two years of gaining supporters, Banda Bahadur initiated an agrarian uprising by breaking up the large estates of Zamindar families and distributing the land to the poor peasants who farmed the land.[10] Banda Bahadur started his rebellion with the defeat of Mughal armies at Samana and Sadhaura and the rebellion culminated in the defeat of Sirhind. During the rebellion, Banda Bahadur made a point of destroying the cities in which Mughals had been cruel to the supporters of Guru Gobind Singh. He executed Wazir Khan in revenge for the deaths of Guru Gobind Singh's sons and Pir Budhu Shah after the Sikh victory at Sirhind.[11] He ruled the territory between the Sutlej river and the Yamuna river, established a capital in the Himalayas at Lohgarh and struck coinage in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh.[10] In 1716, his army was defeated by the Mughals after he attempted to defend his fort at Gurdas Nangal. He was captured along with 700 of his men and sent to Delhi, where he was tortured and executed after refusing to convert to Islam. His son was also executed and his sons's body parts were forced down Banda Bahadur's throat.
Hari Singh Nalwa[edit]
Main article: Hari Singh Nalwa

Hari Singh Nalwa was Commander-in-chief of the army of the Sikh empire. He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Multan, Kashmir, Attock and Peshawar. Nalwa led the Sikh army in freeing Shah Shuja from Kashmir and secured the Koh-i-Nor diamond for Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He served as governor of Kashmir and Hazara and established a mint on behalf of the Sikh empire to facilitate revenue collection. His frontier policy of holding the Khyber Pass was later used by the British Raj. Nalwa was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh empire to the Indus River. At the time of his death, the western boundary of the Sikh Empire was Khyber pass. His death at the Battle of Jamrud was a significant loss to the Sikh empire.
Dal Khalsa[edit]

Sultan ul Quam Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
Main article: Dal Khalsa (Sikh Empire)
Sikh misls[edit]
Main article: Misl

The period from 1716 to 1799 was a highly turbulent time politically and militarily in the Punjab region. This was caused by the overall decline of the Mughal empire[12] that left a power-vacuum in the region that was eventually filled by the Sikhs in the late 18th century, after defeating several invasions by the Afghan rulers of the Durrani Empire, and occasionally fighting off hostile Punjabi Muslims siding with other Muslim forces. Sikh warlords eventually formed their own independent Sikh administrative regions (misls), which were united in large part by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Cis-Sutlej states[edit]

The Cis-Sutlej states were a group of states in Punjab region lying between the Sutlej River on the north, the Himalayas on the east, the Yamuna River and Delhi district on the south, and Sirsa District on the west. These states were submitted to the Scindhia dynasty of the Maratha Empire, with various Sikh and Hindu rulers paying tribute to the Marathas. This stopped following the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803-1805, after which the Marathas lost control of the territory to the British East India Company. The Cis-Sutlej states included Kaithal, Patiala, Jind, Thanesar, Maler Kotla, and Faridkot. They were not part of the Sikh Empire and there was a ban on warfare between the British and the Sikhs within them.[13]
Formation[edit]

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Contemporary painting of Maharaja Ranjit Singh with both eyes instead of one

Ranjit Singh holding court in 1838.

Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore.

The Sikhs had strong collaboration in defence against foreign incursions such as those initiated by Nader Shah and Ahmad Shah Durrani of Persia. The city of Amritsar was attacked numerous times. Yet the time is remembered by Sikh historians as the "Heroic Century". This is mainly to describe the rise of Sikhs to political power against large odds. The circumstances were the hostile religious environment against Sikhs with a large Sikh population compared to other religious and political groups.

The formal start of the Sikh Empire began with the merger of these "Misls" by the time of coronation of Ranjit Singh in 1801, creating a unified political state. All the Misl leaders, who were affiliated with the army, were nobility with usually long and prestigious family histories in Sikhs' history.[2][14] The main geographical footprint of the empire was the Punjab region to Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north, to Sindh in the south, and Tibet in the east. The religious demography of the Sikh Empire was Muslim (70%), Sikh (17%), Hindu (13%).[15] Gujranwala served as his capital from 1799. In 1802, he shifted his capital to Lahore.[16]
End of Sikh empire[edit]

After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the empire was severely weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. This opportunity was used by the British East India Company to launch the Anglo-Sikh Wars.

The Battle of Ferozeshah in 1845 marked many turning points, the British encountered the Punjab Army, opening with a gun-duel in which the Sikhs "had the better of the British artillery". As the British made advances, Europeans in their army were especially targeted, as the Sikhs believed if the army "became demoralised, the backbone of the enemy's position would be broken".[17] The fighting continued throughout the night. The British position "grew graver as the night wore on", and "suffered terrible casualties with every single member of the Governor General's staff either killed or wounded".[18] Nevertheless, the British army took and held Ferozeshah. British General Sir James Hope Grant recorded: "Truly the night was one of gloom and forbidding and perhaps never in the annals of warfare has a British Army on such a large scale been nearer to a defeat which would have involved annihilation"[18]

The reasons for the withdrawal of the Sikhs from Ferozeshah are contentious. Some, especially Sikh fundamentalists, believe that it was treachery of the non-Sikh high command of their own army which led to them marching away from a British force in a precarious and battered state. Others believe that a tactical withdrawal was the best policy.[19]

The Sikh empire was finally dissolved after a series of wars with the British at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab, which were granted statehood. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was formed in Lahore as a direct representative of the British Crown.Preceded by
Sikh Misls Sikh Empire
1799–1849 Succeeded by
British

Geography[edit]

Sikh Empire at its peak

The Punjab region was a region straddling India and the Afghan Durrani Empire. The following modern-day political divisions made up the historical Sikh Empire:
Punjab region till Multan in south
Punjab, Pakistan
Parts of Punjab, India
Parts of Himachal Pradesh, India
Jammu, India
Kashmir, conquered in 1818, India/Pakistan/China[20][21]
Gilgit, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. (Occupied from 1842–1846)[22]
Khyber Pass, Afghanistan/Pakistan[23]
Peshawar, Pakistan[24] (taken in 1818, retaken in 1834)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan (documented from Hazara (taken in 1818, again in 1836) to Bannu)[25]

Jamrud, Khyber Agency, Pakistan. District was the westernmost limit of the Sikh Empire. The westward expansion was stopped in the Battle of Jamrud, in which the Afghans managed to kill the prominent Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa in an offensive, though the Sikhs successfully held their position at their Jamrud fort.

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Qilla Bala Hisar History

Qilla Bala Hisar

Bala Hissar (Pashto/Urdu/Persian: قلعه بالا حصار‎) is one of the most historic places of Peshawar. The word Bala Hissar is from Dari Persian, meaning, “elevated or high fort”. The name was given by the Pashtun King Timur Shah Durrani (1773–1793), who used the fort as the winter capital of the Afghan Durrani Empire, with the summer capital being in Kabul. The Sikh empire who conquered Peshawar in the early 19th century named it Samir Garh in 1834 but the name did not become popular.

The Fort has been the headquarters of the Frontier Corps since 1949.[1]Contents [hide]
1 Design
2 History
3 Sumergarh
4 References
5 External links

Design[edit]

The fort stands on a high mound in the northwestern corner of Peshawar City. Not long ago, the fort used to be conspicuously away from the old city of Peshawar, but now the construction of new buildings has covered space between the old city and the fort. However, the fort's position on a high mound gives a commanding and panoramic view of Peshawar and the entire Peshawar valley. On a clear day, one can see the mountains encircling Peshawar valley and beyond. The area covered by the inner wall of the fort is about 10 acres (40,000 m2) and the outer wall is about 15 acres (61,000 m2). The height of the fort is about 90 feet (27 m) above ground level.
History[edit]

Renowned historian Dr A.H. Dani in his book Peshawar-Historic City of Frontier writes that when Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller, visited Peshawar in 630 AD, he spoke of a "royal residence".

He says that Chinese word "Kung Shing" used for its significance and is explained as fortified or walled portion of the town in which the royal palace stood.

Hiuen Tsang then makes a separate mention of the city, which was not fortified. This shows that the royal residence formed the nucleus of a Citadel, which must have been further protected by a moat.

Dr Dani further says that a channel of old Bara River surrounded by a high spot, which includes the Bala Hissar and Inder Shahr. The higher area could have been the citadel, which is the present Bala Hissar.

Peshawar has always been a strategic city and its capturing and ruling over it was of great importance for the invaders and kings.

"In the 11th century AD, the Hindu ruler, Raja Jaipal of the Hindushahi dynasty was defeated in the vicinity of Peshawar and Mehmud Ghaznavi garrisoned the fort with his army," says Dr Taj Ali. The British officers who visited Peshawar in the 19th century mentioned that the fort used to be a royal residence of Afghan rulers, he added.

The Bala Hissar has seen its construction and destruction by conquerors, warriors, invaders and kings on several occasions. After the overthrow of emperor Humayun by the Afghan King Sher Shah Suri, the Afghans destroyed the fort.

When Hamyun was staying in it he decided to rebuild it before proceeding to Kabul. He wanted to use the fort for his conquest of India at a later stage. As his officers did not want to stay back, Hamayun himself supervised the rebuilding of the fort, which was soon completed.

"The Afghan rulers named it "Bala Hissar" a Persian name meaning high fort while the Sikhs renamed and rebuilt it calling their fort "Sumergarh" in 1834 but the name did not become popular, says Dr Taj.

The fort was constructed on a mound with commanding view of the surrounding area including Shalimar gardens presently known as Jinnah Park towards its north. This gave more prominence and grandeur to the fort, he said.
Sumergarh[edit]

In the early nineteenth century, Peshawar was the summer capital of the Kingdom of Kabul and the Bala Hissar the residence of Afghan kings. The Sikhs fought and defeated the Kabul Barakzais in the Battle of Nowshera in early 1823. On conclusion of this battle, fought on the right bank river Indus, the Sikhs chased the retreating Afghans past Peshawar through the Khyber Pass.

The Sikhs followed this by the destruction of the Afghan Royal court and the Bala Hissar fort. In December 1823, the British spy Moorcroft found the fort "a heap of rubbish, and the only use made of it by the rulers of Peshawar was as a quarry from whence to procure materials for dwellings of their own erection".[2]

Archival records show that soon after the occupation of Peshawar by the Sikhs in 1834, Hari Singh Nalwa commenced the reconstruction of the fort.[3] The Sikhs called their fort 'Sumair Ghar' (after 'Sumer' another name for Mount Kailash). The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev, had visited Mount Sumer in the course of his travels. Hari Singh Nalwa installed a plaque over the gate of the fort that read:

"This Sumair Garh was built in the city of Peshawar by the exalted Maharaja Ranjit Singh Bahadur in Raja Bikramjit Sambat 1891 with the blessing of Almighty God".[4]

Ranjit Singh was greatly pleased when he visited the newly constructed fort for the first time on 16 May 1835.

The British reconstructed the outer walls of the Bala Hissar after the annexation of the Kingdom of the Sikhs in 1849. This Sikh fort continues to dominate the city of Peshawar in the twenty-first century.

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History of Peshawar

Historical peshawar

The history of Peshawar, a region of modern-day Pakistan, covers thousands of years. The region was dominated by various tribal groups of Indo-Iranian origin and a variety of other groups, possibly of Elamo-Dravidian origin, maybe prior to invasion of Aryan tribes and their settlement. The region had links to the Harappan civilization of the Indus river valley and to ancient Afghanistan (before it was called Afghanistan or even Aryana), especially the Kabul valley. The border known as the Durand Line was fixed by the British in 1893 and divided ethnic Pakhtun territories into two parts. As a result, many Pakhtuns have agitated for a re-unification of Afghanistan or Pakhtunistan. The resulting "Pakhtunistan" issue has often adversely impacted relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the issue has largely become dormant since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the arrival and settlement of nearly 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan.Contents [hide]
1 Ancient history
2 Arrival of Islam
3 Maratha era
4 Sikh era
5 Post-independence history
6 References

Ancient history[edit]

It has been argued that an ancient city named Pushkalwati, founded by Bharata's son Pushkal, from the Indian epic Ramayana, may have existed in this general area during early Indo-Iranian times before their invasion past the Indus into South Asia.[1] The city that would become Peshawar, called Purushapura, was actually founded by the Kushans, a Central Asian tribe of Tocharian origin, over 2,000 years ago. Prior to this period the region was affiliated with Gandhara and was annexed first by the Persian Achaemenid Empire and then the Hellenic empire of Alexander the Great. The city passed into the rule of Alexander's successor, Seleucus I Nicator who ceded it to Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire. Buddhism was introduced into the region at this time and claimed the majority of Peshawar's inhabitants before the coming of Islam.

The area that Peshawar occupies was then seized by the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides I (c. 170 - c. 159 BCE), and was controlled by a series of Greco-Bactrian kings. It was later held for some time by several Parthian kings, another group of Iranian invaders from Central Asia, the most famous of whom, Gondophares, was still ruling c. 46 CE, and was briefly followed by two or three of his descendants before they were displaced by the first of the "Great Kushans", Kujula Kadphises, around the middle of the 1st century.

Peshawar formed the eastern capital of the empire of Gandhara under the Kushan emperor Kanishka I who reigned from at least 127 CE and, perhaps, for a few years prior to this. Peshawar also became a great centre of Buddhist learning.

Kanishka built what was probably the tallest building in the world at the time, a giant stupa, to house the Buddha's relics, just outside the Ganj Gate of the old city of Peshawar.

Kanishka's stupa was said to be an imposing structure as one travelled down from the mountains of Afghanistan onto the Gandharan plains. The earliest account of the famous building is by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk, Faxian, who visited it in 400 and described it as being over 40 chang in height (probably about 120 m. or 394 ft.) and adorned "with all precious substances". "Of all the stûpas and temples seen by the travellers, none can compare with this for beauty of form and strength." It was destroyed by lightning and repaired several times. It was still in existence at the time of Xuanzang's visit in 634.

From the ruined base of this giant stupa there existed a jewelled casket containing relics of the Buddha, and an inscription identifying Kanishka as the donor, and was excavated from a chamber under the very centre of the stupa's base, by a team under Dr. D. B. Spooner in 1909. The stupa was roughly cruciform in shape with a diameter of 286 ft (87 m.) and heavily decorated around the sides with stucco scenes. The relics contained in the famous Kanishka casket, said to be those of the Buddha, were removed to Mandalay, Burma for safekeeping.

Sometime in the 1st millennium BCE (or perhaps much earlier), the group that now dominates Peshawar began to arrive from the Suleiman mountains to the south and southwest, the Pakhtuns. It is debatable as to whether or not the Pakhtuns existed in the region even earlier as evidence is difficult to attain. Some writers such as Sir Olaf Caroe write that a group that may have been the Pakhtuns existed in the area and were called the Paktye by Herodotus and the Greeks, which would place the Pakhtuns in the area of Peshawar much earlier along with other Indo-Iranian tribes. Regardless, over the centuries the Pakhtuns would come to dominate the region and Peshawar has emerged as an important center of Pakhtun culture along with Kandahar and Kabul as well as Quetta in more recent times. Muslim Arab and Turkic arrived and annexed the region before the beginning of the 2nd millennium. The Pakhtuns began to convert to Islam following early annexation by Arab empire from Khurasan (in what is today western Afghanistan and northeastern Iran).
Arrival of Islam[edit]

Peshawar د اسلام راتګ was taken by Turkic Muslims in 988 and was incorporated into the larger Pakhtun domains by the 16th century. The founder of the Mughul dynasty that would conquer South Asia, Babur who hailed from what is today Uzbekistan, came to Peshawar and found a city called Begram and rebuilt the fort there, in 1530. His grandson, Akbar, formally named the city Peshawar which means "The Place at the Frontier" in Persian and expanded the bazaars and fortifications. The Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to Islamic Sultanate in South Asia and many settled in the Peshawar region. Earlier it had been known as the "City of Flowers" and the "City of Grain". In the days of the Kushan King it was called the "Lotus Land".

The Pakhtun conqueror Sher Shah Suri, turned Peshawar's renaissance into a boom when he ran his Delhi-to-Kabul Shahi Road, now called the Grand Trunk Road, through the Khyber Pass and Peshawar. Thus the Mughals turned Peshawar into a "City of Flowers" by planting trees and laying out gardens similar to those found to the west in Persia. The Mughals and Safavids of Iran would often contest the region as well. Khushal Khan Khattak, the Pakhtun/Afghan warrior poet, was born near Peshawar and his life was intimately tied to the city. He was also an implacable foe of the Mughal rulers, especially Aurangzeb. Khattak apparently was an early Pakhtun nationalist, who agitated for an independent Afghanistan including Peshawar. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under Persian control during the reign of Nadir Shah by the 18th century.

Peshawar would also join, (following a loya jirga) as a Pakhtun region, the Afghan/Pakhtun empire of Ahmad Shah Durrani by 1is successors.
Maratha era[edit]

Peshawar came under Maratha control after defeat of Afghan forces by Marathas on 8 May 1758 in the Battle of Peshawar. The city remained under Maratha control till year 1759 in which Abdali forces reconquered the fort.
Sikh era[edit]

The Sikhs invaded and conquered Peshawar in 1834 after wresting it from Afghanistan. The city was under Sikh control following the death of Ranjit Singh, before which Hari Singh Nalwa completely controlled the area. The British influenced and then ultimately ruled the region from 1849 to 1947, when it became part of the new nation of Pakistan.


Being e between Afghanistan, the South Asia, and Central Asia as well as the

Middle East. Its famed markets such as the Qisa Khwani bazaar (market of story tellers) are emblematic of this mixture of cultures.

Peshawar would emerge as a centre of Pakhtun intellectuals and culture. Some Pakhtuns still adhere to



Pakhtunistan movement that sought either to merge western Pakistan with Afghanistan or to form a greater Pakhtun state to be known as Pukhtoonkwa and this movement gained some support before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Nearly 2 million ethnic Afghan Pakhtuns refugees have permanently settled in Pakistan.
Post-independence history[edit]

After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979 Peshawar served as a political centre for anti-Soviet Mujahideen, and was surrounded by huge camps of Afghan refugees. Many of the refugees remained there through the civil war which broke out after the Soviets were defeated in 1989, the rule of the Taliban, and the invasion by allied forces in late 2001. Peshawar would replace Kabul and Qandahar as the centre of Pakhtun cultural development during this tumultuous period. Additionally, Peshawar managed to assimilate many of the Pakhtun Afghan refugees with relative ease, while many other Afghan refugees remained in camps awaiting a possible return to Afghanistan.

Peshawar continues to be a city that links Pakistan to Afghanistan and has emerged as an important regional city in Pakistan and remains a focal point for Pakhtun culture.
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Gazi Aman Ullah Khan

Gazi Aman Ullah Khan

Amanullah Khan (Pashto, Persian, Urdu, Arabic: أمان الله خان ) (June 1, 1892 – April 25, 1960) was the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, first as Emir and after 1926 as Malik (King).[2] He led Afghanistan to independence over its foreign affairs from the United Kingdom, and his rule was marked by dramatic political and social change. He was the first Afghan ruler who attempted to modernize Afghanistan on western designs. However, he did not succeed in this because of a popular uprising by Habibullah Kalakani and his followers. On 14 January 1929, Amanullah abdicated and fled to then neighboring British India while Afghanistan fell into a civil war. From British India he went to Europe where he died in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1960.Contents [hide]
1 Early years
2 Reforms
3 Revolt and abdication
4 Death
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Early years[edit]

Amānullāh Khān was born on June 1, 1892, in Paghman near Kabul, Afghanistan. He was the third son of the Amir Habibullah Khan. Amanullah was already installed as the governor of Kabul and was in control of the army and the treasury, and gained the allegiance of most of the tribal leaders.

Russia had recently undergone its Communist revolution, leading to strained relations between the country and the United Kingdom. Amanullah Khan recognized the opportunity to use the situation to gain Afghanistan's independence over its foreign affairs. He led a surprise attack against the British in India on May 3, 1919, beginning the third Anglo-Afghan war. After initial successes, the war quickly became a stalemate as the United Kingdom was still dealing with the costs of World War I. An armistice was reached towards end of 1919, and Afghanistan was completely free of British influence.
Reforms[edit]

Amanullah enjoyed quite a bit of early popularity within Afghanistan and he used his influence to modernize the country. Amanullah created new cosmopolitan schools for both boys and girls in the region and overturned centuries-old traditions such a strict dress codes for women. He increased trade with Europe and Asia. He also advanced a modernist constitution that incorporated equal rights and individual freedoms with the guidance of his father-in-law and Foreign Minister Mahmud Tarzi. His wife, Queen Soraya Tarzi played a huge role in regard to his policy towards women. This rapid modernization created a backlash and a reactionary uprising known as the Khost rebellion was suppressed in 1924. He also met with many Bahá'ís in India and Europe where he brought back books that are still to be found in the Kabul Library. This association later served as one of the accusations when he was overthrown.

At the time, Afghanistan's foreign policy was primarily concerned with the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Each attempted to gain the favor of Afghanistan and foil attempts by the other power to gain influence in the region. This effect was inconsistent, but generally favorable for Afghanistan; Amanullah was even able to establish a limited Afghan Air Force consisting of donated Soviet planes.
Revolt and abdication[edit]

Amānullāh Khān with first Turkish President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, (1928).

After Amānullāh travelled to Europe in late 1927, opposition to his rule increased. An uprising in Jalalabad culminated in a march to the capital, and much of the army deserted rather than resist. In early 1929, Amanullah abdicated and went into temporary exile in then British India. His brother Inayatullah Khan became the next king of Afghanistan for a few days until Habibullah Kalakani took over.

However, Kalakani's nine months rule was soon replaced by Nadir Khan on October 13, 1929. Amanullah Khan attempted to return to Afghanistan, but he had little support from the people. From British India, the ex-king traveled to Europe and settled in Italy, and later in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Nadir Khan made sure



his return to Afghanistan

was impossible by engaging in a propaganda war. Nadir K



Death[edit]

Mausoleum of Amanullah Khan in Jalalabad

Amanullah Khan died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1960. His body was brought to Afghanistan and buried in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Very few of his many reforms were continued once he was no longer in power.

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