Pathans of Punjab
Regions with significant populations
 Pakistan (Punjab, Hazara)
 India (Punjab; specifically Malerkotla, historically also Ludhiana and Jalandhar)
[1][2]
Languages
Punjabi • Hindko • Pashto • Saraiki • Urdu
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Pashtuns • Pathans of Sindh • Rohilla • Pathans of Gujarat • Pathans of Rajasthan • Pathans of Uttar Pradesh • Pathans of Bihar

The Pathans of Punjab (Punjabi, Urdu: پنجابی پٹھان; Pashto: پنجابي پښتانه), also called Punjabi Pathans[3] or Punjabi Pashtuns, are descendants of Pashtun settlers,[4][5] an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, in the Punjab region of Pakistan[6] and India.[2] They were originally from the Pashtunistan region of Afghanistan and Pakistan bordering the Punjab region. Most of these Pashtun communities are scattered throughout the Punjab and have over time assimilated and integrated into the Punjabi society and culture.

These non-frontier Pathans are usually known by the town or locality in which they are settled, e.g. Lahori Pathans.[6]

History and origin

Pathun recruits in the First World War as part of British Indian Army

Colonies of Pathans (Pashtun people) arriving in Punjab are accounted for by Sir Densil Ibbetson in the following manner:

During the Khilji, Lodi and Suri dynasties many Pathans migrated to Punjab especially during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Khalji, Bahlol Lodhi and Sher Shah Suri. These naturally belonged to the Ghilzai section from which those kings sprang.[7]

— Sir Denzil Ibbetson

The oral tradition of Pathans has that they are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great who invaded the area in 327–323 BC. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests a Greek influence before this invasion. A phylogenetic study investigated the possible genetic relation of Pathans with Greeks and found evidence of a limited contributions of Greek genes in the Pathan population.[8]

Main divisions

Malerkotla Pathans

In the Indian Punjabi city of Malerkotla, sixty-five percent of the total population is Muslim and out of this population, twenty percent are Punjabi Pathans.[2]

These Pathans trace their ancestry to Shaikh Sadruddin, a pious man of the Sherwani/Sarwani tribe of the Darband area of what is now the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.[2] Behlol Lodhi (1451–1517), the Afghan king who had most of the western parts of India under his control, desired to rule Delhi and on his way, he was caught in a sand drift.[2] While there was nothing visible in the darkness, the King spotted a dim light of a lamp still burning in the wind. It was the hut of Shaikh Sadruddin and when the king found out, he came to the hut to show his respect and asked the holy man to pray for him to bear a son and have victory.[2] During 1451 and 1452, the king married off his daughter Taj Murassa to Shaikh Sadruddin after being enthroned in Delhi, and also gave him the area of Malerkotla.[2] The descendants of Shaikh Sadruddin branched into two groups. One started ruling the state and were given the title of Nawab.[2] The other branch lived around the Shrine of Shaikh Sadruddin, controlling its revenue.[2]

One notable thing about the Punjabi Pathans of Malerkotla is the fact the women strictly observe pardah, albeit they are no longer required to wear the burqa.[2] In regards to language, Pashto was their primary language until 1903. Afterwards, the Malerkotla Pathans began to speak Punjabi and Hindustani.[2] In the city, there are twenty-nine shrines to saints from Afghanistan, whom the Malerkotla Pathans revere.[2] Although the level of education is low among the community, many of these Pathans serve in the civil service, particularly in the Indian Police Service.[2] Others maintain businesses, rent property, and rear horses.[2] Because the level of religiosity amongst Malerkotla Pathans is high, many families sent their children to madrasahs where Qur'anic education is compulsory. For higher education, many children study in schools in Patiala or Ludhiana.[2]

Multani Pathans

The descendants of Zamand very early migrated in large numbers to Multan, to which province they furnished rulers, till the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, when a number of the Abdali tribe under the leadership of Shah Husain were driven from Kandahar by tribal feuds, took refuge in Multan, and being early supplemented by other of their kinsmen who were expelled by Mir Wais, the great Ghilzai chief, conquered Multan and founded the tribe well known in the Punjab as Multani Pathans.

Their main clans were the Alizai, Badozai, Bamzai and Saddozai, all clans of the Durrani tribe. Other tribal communities include the Safi (Pashtun tribe), Babar, Khakwani, Tareen.[9] In Muzaffargarh District, the Pathans of the district are related to the Multani Pathans. They settled in Muzaffargarh in the 18th century, as small groups of Multani Pathan expended their control from the city of Multan. There distribution is as follows; the Alizai Durrani are found at Lalpur, and the Popalzai are found in Docharkha, while the Babars are based in Khangarh and Tareen in Kuhawar are other important tribes.[10]

Notable Punjabis of Pashtun heritage

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shah, Mehtab Ali (1997-12-31). The Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Ethnic Impacts on Diplomacy, 1971-94. ISBN 9781860641695.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Study of the Pathan Communities in four States of India". Khyber. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2007-06-07. The capital of the state is also called Maler Kotla and it is situated at a distance of 28 miles to the South of Ludhiana and 36 miles from Patiala. It has a population of 100,000 and the total area of the state is 164 square miles. It comprises 213 villages and has rich fertile land plain broken by sand drifts here and there. The Muslims are 65% of the population and 20% of them are of Pathan origin.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ "Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India". www.khyber.org. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved 2023-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ↑ "Pashtuns". Minority Rights Group. 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  5. ↑ Minahan, James B. Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ISBN 9781598846607.
  6. 1 2 Punjabi Musalmans; by J. M. Wikely, pages 133-134
  7. ↑ Punjab Castes; by Denzil Ibbetson
  8. ↑ Sadaf Firasat (2007) Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan, European Journal of Human Genetics (2007) 15, 121–126. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201726
  9. ↑ Imperial Rule in the Punjab 1818-1881 by J Royal Rosebury page 73
  10. ↑ A Gazetteer of Muzaffargarh District Part A 1929 p. 76
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