Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Afghanistan, Pakistan | |
Languages | |
Pashto, Urdu, Dari | |
Religion | |
Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Pashtun tribes, other Iranian peoples |
Miani (Pashto : Mianrhi) is a Pushtun nomadic tribe that mainly inhabit the Gomal plains of Pakistan in the Tank District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was formerly North-West Frontier Province.
Historically Mianis have been migratory Powindah Tribes migrating between the Derajat Pakistan and Afghanistan though historical Gomal Pass. Many of them settled in the Gomal plains by 1850. There are also Miani people within the Dera Ismail Khan District of Pakistan who are related to the Mianis settled in the Gomal plains.
Though initially a nomadic tribe, Mianis settled in the Gomal plains by or before 1850.[ citation needed ] The estimated population of nomadic Miani tribe was about 800 in the 1870s. They were a semi-independent group that lived along the Tank border, except for the hot season, when they moved into the hills. They were living among a small tribe, the Ghorezais (or Ghwarazai), of whom there were about 350 people. The larger tribe in the area was the Wazir, of whom there were a couple thousand people. [1]
An important technique that the British used to manage the frontier was to make certain tribes responsible for monitoring who had passes to travel on particular routes into the hills. They called this “pass responsibility”. [2] The Bhitannis first accepted pass responsibility on the Tank frontier. [3] Then, pass responsibility for the Girni, Murtuza and Manjhi posts was assigned to the Miani and Ghurezai tribes in 1876. [4] That year, they also accepted responsibility for monitoring passage into the Gomal Valley, as did a portion of the Ghwarazai that lived away from the other clan members of the Kakar tribe of Baluchistan. [3]
In 1879, when Tank was raided by the Mehsuds and an uprising took place, wherein the tribes believed that the British control over the area is weakening, Mianis along with Suleman Khels and Kharotis looted a number of villages around Tank. [5] The same fact has been narrated by Evelyn Berkelen Howell, that in January 1879, Tank was raided by the Mahsud. [6] Both Miani and Ghwarazai took part in the looting and plundering of Tank in the resulting disorder." [3]
Though a portion of Miani Tribe live in Baluchistan especially in the Shirani District, sizable population of the Miani people live in Sharigh Tehsil of Harnai District in Balochistan. [7]
Waziristan is a mountainous region covering the North Waziristan and South Waziristan districts of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Waziristan covers around 11,585 square kilometres (4,500 sq mi) and is mainly populated by the Wazir Pashtun tribe, who speak the Waziri dialect of the Pashto language.
Dera Ismail Khan District, often abbreviated as D.I. Khan is a district in the Dera Ismail Khan division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The capital of the district is the town of Dera Ismail Khan. The district has an area of 9,334 km2 (3,604 sq mi) and a population of 1,627,132 as of the 2017 Census.
North Waziristan District is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering 4,707 square kilometres (1,817 sq mi). The capital city of North Waziristan is Miranshah.
Lodi is a Pashtun tribe from the Ghilji group of Pashtuns. In mythical genealogy, they have also been considered as being part of the Bettani tribal confederacy. The Lodi tribe consists of many sub-tribes, most of whom are now settled in the Tank, Frontier Region Tank, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of modern-day Pakistan. These tribes were nomadic for most of their existence and migrated to their present-day locations by crossing the Gomal Pass throughout different times in history.
The North-West Frontier was a region of the British Indian Empire. It remains the western frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the modern Pakistani frontier regions of North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan from neighbouring Afghanistan in the west. The borderline between is officially known as the Durand Line and divides Pashtun inhabitants of these provinces from Pashtuns in eastern Afghanistan.
Sir Robert Groves Sandeman, KCSI (1835–1892) was a British Indian Army officer and colonial administrator. He was known for his activities in Balochistan, where he introduced a system of "tribal pacification" that endured until the partition of India in 1947.
Gomal Pass is a mountain pass on the Durand Line border between Afghanistan and the southeastern portion of South Waziristan in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It takes its name from the Gomal River and is midway between the legendary Khyber Pass and the Bolan Pass. It connects Ghazni in Afghanistan with Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan. Gomal Pass, for a long time, has been a trading route for nomadic Powindahs.
Abdullah Mehsud was a Pashtun militant commander who killed himself with a hand grenade after security forces raided his dwelling in Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan. He belonged to the Mahsud tribe.
Akhūnd Abdul Ghaffūr was a prominent religious saint and founder of the State of Swat. The city of Saidu Sharif, that serves as the administrative capital of Swat District, is named after him. His descendants ruled over Swat between 1876 and 1969 with the title of Wāli of Swāt.
The history of Balochistan refers to the history of the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Vague allusions to the region were found in Greek historical records of around 650 BCE. Prehistoric Balochistan dates to the Paleolithic.
The Storyani, also called Ustrani or Ustarana, are a Pashtun tribe of Sayyid origin inhabiting the Frontier Region in the outer hills opposite the extreme south of Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. They have occupied the eastern slope of Suleiman Mountains. To their north lies Gomal River, which separates South Waziristan Agency from this region. To their south west across Baluchistan border is Zhob and Dukki, to the east towards Daman plains with the Gandapurs of Kulachi, to the west with Musa Khel and Zmaryani while Qaisrani on the south.
Zhob, formerly known as Appozai, is a city and district headquarters of the Zhob District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of the Zhob river. It lies 337 kilometres away from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
The Gomal is a 400-kilometre-long (250 mi) river in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It rises in northern Afghanistan's Paktika Province. It joins the Indus River 20 miles south of Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
South Waziristan District was a district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan District on 13 April 2022. It covers around 11,585 km2 (4,473 mi2). Waziristan is located in the southwest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is situated between two rivers, the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. The region was an independent tribal territory from 1893, separated from both Afghanistan the British-ruled empire in the subcontinent. Raiding the tribal areas was a constant problem for the British, requiring frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. Troops of the British Raj coined a name for this region "Hell's Door Knocker" in recognition of the fearsome reputation of the local fighters and inhospitable terrain. The district headquarter of the South Waziristan district is Wanna. South Waziristan is divided into three administrative subdivisions of Ladha, Sarwakai, and Wanna. These three subdivisions are further divided into eight Tehsils: Ladha, Makin, Sararogha, Sarwakai, Tiarza, Wanna, Barmal, and Toi Khula.
The Mahsud or Maseed is a Karlani Pashtun tribe inhabiting mostly the South Waziristan Agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Tank District is a district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Mulla Powinda or Mullah Powindah, born Mohiuddin Maseed (1863–1913), was a religious leader and a freedom fighter from the Pashtun tribe of the Shabi khel Mahsuds, based in Waziristan. He was from Marobi Shabikhel, a village in the present-day Makin Subdivision of South Waziristan, Pakistan. He led a long-standing guerrilla insurgency against the British colonial forces in the late 19th century. And came to prominence by getting the two elders of the Jirga, who were responsible for handing over two Mahsuds wanted by the British authorities for killing a British officer of the Works department. to the Political Agent in 1893.
Balochistan is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.
The Waziristan campaign was a road construction effort and military campaign conducted from 21 December 1921 to 31 March 1924 by British and Indian forces in Waziristan. These operations were part of the new Forward Policy, which sought to reduce and eventually eliminate tribal uprisings and tribal raids into settled districts by stationing regular troops inside Waziristan, which would then be capable of swiftly responding to Waziri rebellions. The rebel tribes attempted to harass the British troops, but were unsuccessful in stopping the British road construction efforts. Hugh Beattie provided a detailed account of the conflict in chapter 7 of Empire and Tribe in the Afghan Frontier Region: Custom, Conflict and British Strategy in Waziristan until 1947.
The Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South) (Urdu: فرنٹیئر کور خیبر پختونخواہ (جنوبی), reporting name: FCKP(S)), is a group of paramilitary regiments of Pakistan, operating in the southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to overseeing the country's borders with Afghanistan and assisting with maintaining law and order. It is one of four Frontier Corps with the others being: FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) stationed in the north of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and FC Balochistan (North) and FC Balochistan (South) stationed in Balochistan province.