Pathans of Uttar Pradesh

Last updated

Pathans of Uttar Pradesh
RP-F-2001-7-1122C-11.jpg
Regions with significant populations
India (Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand),
Languages
Hindi (Kannauji, Braj, Awadhi) • UrduBhojpuriEnglish
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Urdu-speaking people, Pashtun

The Pathans are an Urdu-speaking community of Pashtun descent in the Uttar Pradesh state in India [1] who form one of the largest Muslim communities in the state. [2] They are also known as Khans which is a commonly used surname amongst them; although not all those who use the surname are Pathans, for example the Khanzada community of eastern Uttar Pradesh are also commonly known as Khan. The phrase Pathan Khanzada is used to describe Muslim Rajput groups, found mainly in Gorakhpur, who have been absorbed into the Pathan community. There are communities of partial Pashtun ancestry in the Rohilkhand region and in parts of the Doab and Awadh regions, such as the agrarian Rohilla community.[ citation needed ]

Contents

History

The Pathan are divided into sixteen groupings, who generally take their name from the ancestral Pashtun tribes. These include the Bangash, Afridi, Dustukhel, Tanoli, Luni (Miani), Jadoon, Bakarzai, Barech, Daudzai, Dilazak, Durrani, Ghorghushti, Toia Mehsud Khel, Ghori, Khalil, Lodi, Mohmand, Mohammadzai, Orakzai, Rohilla, Sherwani, Suri, Sultani and Yousafzai, all of which are well known Pashtun tribes. A further differentiation exists based on an identity known as the qabila or biradari, based on territorial subgroupings and community ties. [3]

Pathans in Western Uttar Pradesh

The Pathans of the Barah-Basti villages of Bulandshahr produced a large number of volunteers who joined the British Irregular Cavalry, many of whom rebelled during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 under Abdul Latif Khan of Khanpur and Walidad Khan of Malagarh. [4] [ full citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusufzai</span> Ethnic Pashtun tribe

The Yusufzai or Yousafzai, also referred to as the Esapzai, or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to which they migrated from Kabul during the 16th century, but they are also present in smaller numbers in parts of Afghanistan, including Kunar, Kabul, Kandahar and Farah. Outside of these countries, they can be found in Ghoriwala District Bannu, Balochistan Sibi (Akazai), Chagai (Hassanzai) and Rohilkandh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohilkhand</span> Region in Uttar Pradesh, India

Rohilkhand is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. The region was called Madhyadesh and Panchala in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangash</span>

The Bangash, Bungish, Bangaš or Bangakh are a tribe of Pashtuns, inhabiting their traditional homeland, historically known as Bangash district, which stretches from Kohat to Tall in Hangu and Spīn Ghar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They also live as a smaller population in Ismail Khel, Bannu while also in Gardez, Paktia, Afghanistan. The Bangash are also settled in large numbers in Uttar Pradesh, India, especially in the city of Farrukhabad, which was founded in 1714 by Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amir Khan (Nawab of Tonk)</span> Pashtun general, ruler of the Princely State of Tonk in India from 1798–1834

Nawab Muhammad Amir Khan (1769–1834) was a military general in the service of Yashwantrao Holkar of the Maratha Empire and later became the first ruler of the princely state of Tonk. Amir Khan was a Hindustani Pathan and a North Indian Muslim. Born and bred in Sambhal, Amir Khan was the son of a Zamindar in Uttar Pradesh, Hayat Khan, while his grandfather Taleh Khan was a Pashtun of the Yusufzai tribe in modern-day Pakistan who had migrated to and acquired land in Rohilkhand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohilla</span> Pashtun-descended ethnic group of Uttar Pradesh, India

Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bareilly district</span> District of Uttar Pradesh in India

The Bareilly district belongs to the state Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Its capital is Bareilly city and it is divided in six administrative division or tehsils: Aonla, Baheri, Bareilly city, Faridpur, Mirganj, and Nawabganj. The Bareilly district is a part of the Bareilly Division and occupies an area of 4120 km2 with a population of 4,448,359 people according to the census of 2011.

The Pathans of Punjab, also called Punjabi Pathans or Punjabi Pashtuns, are descendants of Pashtun settlers, an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. 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.

The demographics of Uttar Pradesh is a complex topic, which is undergoing dynamic change. Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state, and the largest subdivision in the world. It has a population of about 199,812,341 as per the 2011 census. If it were a separate country, Uttar Pradesh would be the world's fifth most populous nation, next only to China, India, the United States of America and Indonesia. Uttar Pradesh has a population more than that of Pakistan. There is an average population density of 828 persons per km² i.e. 2,146 per sq mi. The capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow, and Prayagraj serves as the state’s judicial capital. Hindus and Muslims both consider the state as a holy place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darzi</span> Muslim community, found in North India and Pakistan

Tailoring is a profession which is done by the people of different religions and communities of the world for their livelihood or as business in modern times. Talking about the old times, the tailoring business can be seen among the communities. In the Indian tradition, it was customary to wrap it over the body rather than wearing it. Nowadays wrap clothes tradition is limited. Most of the people prefer to wear stitched clothes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathans of Gujarat</span> Indian people of Pashtun origin

GujaratiPathans are a group of Pashtuns, an Eastern Iranian people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are settled in the region of Gujarat in western India. They now form a distinct community of Gujarati and Urdu/Hindi speaking Muslims. They mainly speak Urdu/Hindi with many Pashto loanwords, but most of them have been Indianized so some may have Gujarati as their first language as well, few elders in the community still speak Pashto. Common tribes include Babi or Babai, Niazi, Khan, Bangash, Durrani, and Yousafzai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Uttar Pradesh</span>

Islam in Uttar Pradesh is the second largest religion in the state with 38,483,967 adherents in 2011, forming 19.26% of the total population. Muslims of Uttar Pradesh have also been referred to as Hindustani Musalman. They do not form a unified ethnic community, but are differentiated by sectarian and Baradari divisions, as well as by language and geography. Nevertheless, the community shares some unifying cultural factors. Uttar Pradesh has more Muslims than any Muslim-majority country in the world except Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran and Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Uttar Pradesh</span> Region in northern India

Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns that are distinct from other parts of Uttar Pradesh, and more closely resemble those of Haryana and Rajasthan states. Western Uttar Pradesh has experienced rapid economic growth, in a fashion similar to Haryana and Punjab, due to the successes of the Green Revolution. A significant part of western Uttar Pradesh is a part of National Capital Region of India. The largest city of the region is Ghaziabad, while the second-largest city, Agra, is a major tourist destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Bareilly</span>

According to the epic Mahābhārata, Bareilly region (Panchala) is said to be the birthplace of Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali' by Kṛṣṇā. When Yudhishthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the Mahābhārata, Draupadi becomes his queen. The folklore says that Gautama Buddha had once visited the ancient fortress city of Ahicchattra in Bareilly. The Jain Tirthankara Parshva is said to have attained Kaivalya at Ahichhatra.

Dildarnagar Kamsar or Kamsaar, is a Pargana or a region of 32 places around Karamnasa river in Ghazipur district, and Kaimur District of Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, India. Of whom main mouzas being 19. It is a large settlement of pathans mostly Khanzada Pathans and Afghan Pathans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathans of Madhya Pradesh</span>

The Pathans of Madhya Pradesh are an Urdu-speaking Pashtun community settled in the present-day Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as well as a small minority of internal migrants and their descendants in neighbouring Chhattisgarh state, which was partitioned in 2000.

Ghori, are a Pashtun subtribe of the larger Ghoryakhel tribe. Their descendants are known as Ghori pathans within the Indian subcontinent. They originate from Ghor Province of present-day central Afghanistan, whom came to Indian peninsula during the successive Muslim invasions of the 11th and 12th centuries AD, forming a part of the Afghan armies of Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammed Ghori. Gradually over the centuries they settled in leading cities of subcontinent. With their martial background, like other pathans, they were in great demand as soldiers and mercenaries for different principalities. The city of Meerut, in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has been said to be the earliest settlement of the Pashtuns in North India, and the Ghauris have been settled there for at least eight hundred years. Other Pathan tribes in the district include the Kakar, Bangash, Tareen and Afridi. In Lahore, a historic cultural center of wider Punjab region, Ghauris settled within the confines of Mochi Gate, which itself is marred form of Urdu word “Morchi” meaning “Trench Soldier” different streets (Mohallahs) still bear their old names like Mohalla Teer-garan, Mohalla Kaman-garan etc. Even today we find bazaars on the same names. This is further supported by remnants of graves as old as six hundred years in Miani Sahib’s Graveyard, the oldest graveyard in the city. Some instances of migration from India to various areas of Pakistan at the time of partition of 1947 have also been observed.

Pathans in India are citizens or residents of the Indian Republic who are of ethnic Pashtun ancestry. "Pathan" is the local Hindi-Urdu term for an individual who belongs to the Pashtun ethnic group, or descends from it. The term additionally finds mention among Western sources, mainly in the colonial-era literature of British India. Historically, the term "Afghan" was also synonymous with the Pathans. The Pathans originate from the Eastern Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan regions, ethnolinguistically known as Pashtunistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urdu-speaking people</span>

Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India, the Muhajir people of Pakistan, Muslims in the Terai of Nepal, and the Biharis and Dhakaiyas of Old Dhaka in Bangladesh. The historical centres of Urdu speakers include Delhi and Lucknow, as well as the Deccan, and in the modern era, Karachi. Another defunct variety of the language was historically spoken in Lahore for centuries before the name "Urdu" first began to appear. However, little is known about this defunct Lahori variety as it has not been spoken for centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bade Purush Dargah</span>

Dargah Bade Purush Baba Dikauli Sharif or Bade Purush Dargah is a Dargah (shrine) located at Dikauli village in Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh, near Bahraich. It is the dargah of Hazrat Ameer Nasrullah or Nasrullah Shah or Hazrat Saiyyad Nasrullah Gaazi or Mir Nasrullah, who is famously known as Bade Purush or Bade Purukh and Budhwa Baba. Bade Purush is revered by both the Muslims and Hindus.

References

  1. Amir Hasan, Anthropological Survey of India, Baqr Raza Rizvi, J. C. Das, K. S. Singh (27 February 2019). People of India: The Communities: Nai-Yadav. Bio-Anthropological Indormation. Glossary. Select Bibliography. Maps. Index. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN   9788173041143.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Shaji, U. S. (2010). Religions of IndiaA Multidimentional Study. Cyber Tech Publications. p. 36. ISBN   9788178845340. A well known Indian Muslim community is Pathan
  3. Amir Hasan (2005). People of India: The Communities: Nai-Yadav. Bio-Anthropological Indormation. Glossary. Select Bibliography. Maps. Index. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1139. ISBN   9788173041143.
  4. Bengal, Past & Present:Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society · Volume 86. Calcutta Historical Society. 1967. p. 47.