Muhammadzai (Hashtnagar)

This article is about the Hashtnagar tribe in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For the Durrani tribe, see Mohammadzai.
Location Hashtnagar, Charsadda District
Language Pashto
Religion Islam

The Muhammadzai (also Mohammadzai, Mohammedzai, Mohmandzai, Mamanzai, etc.)[1] are a Sarbani Pashtun tribe. There should not be confused with the Muhammadzai of the Barakzai Durrani, who were for many years the ruling family of Afghanistan. This group of Muhammadzai is located in (Charsadda) modern day Pakistan, has an altogether different Pashtun lineage, son of Zamand (Jamand) third son of Kharshbun.

Origins

According to Pashtun genealogy, the Muhammadzai are descended from Qais Abdur Rashid through his son Sarbani, and his son Kharshbun. The Afghan Muhammadzai (Barakzai) are descendants of Sharkhbun and Kharshbun is his brother. Kharshbun had three sons, Kand , Zamand , Kasi. Muhammad, was Zamand (Jamand) son so they Popular with the Muhammadzai tribe (see chart below).[2][3]

Location and Organization

The Muhamamdzai are found primarily in Hashtnagar, an area in today's Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan that borders the Swat River's left bank. They were originally said to have resided zhob region, but moved to Charsadda region and were given the Hashtnagar by the Yusufzai.[4] Their geography is integral to the tribe's internal organization, because the branches of the tribe and the villages they each inhabit share the same names. The following breakdown comes from an 1878 report on what was then part of the Peshawar District:[5] Tangi (Barazai and Nasratzai), Sherpao, Umarzai, Turangzai, Utmanzai, DargaiRajjar, Kot TarnabDargai these all tribes living in Charsadda, and Prang. Rose's tribal glossary adds that "with them are settled a few descendants of Muhammad's brothers, from one of whom, Kheshgi, one of their principal villages is named."[6] Their irrigated, rice-bearing lands along the Swat River are known as the lowlands or sholgira, while the high lands are referred to as the maira.[7]

Politics

Two of the most famous Muhammadzai tribesmen were the Pashtun leaders Dr Khan Sahib and his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his grandson Asfandyar Wali Khan. They are originally from Utmanzai, where their father was a well-to-do landlord and village khan.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ Murray, James Wolfe. "A Dictionary of the Pathan Tribes on the North-West Frontier of India. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent, Government Printing, India, 1899. 157.
  2. ↑ Caroe, Olaf. The Pathans, 550 B.C. - A.D. 1957. London: Macmillan & Co LTD, 1965. 12-13.
  3. ↑ Rose, H. A. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Volume 3. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1990. 251.
  4. ↑ Elphinstone, Mountstuart. An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, and its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; and J. Murray, 1815. 333.
  5. ↑ Hastings, E. G. G., Report of the Regular Settlement of the Peshawar District of the Punjab. Lahore: Central Jail Press, 1878. 103-108.
  6. ↑ Rose H. A. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Volume 3. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1990. 132.
  7. ↑ Imperial gazetteer of India, Provincial Series, Volume 20, North-West Frontier Province. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1908. 162.
  8. ↑ Schofield, Victoria. Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia. London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2003. 218.
  9. ↑ Easwaran, Eknath. Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, a Man to Match his Mountains. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1999. 29-30.
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