HSITORY OF ORAKZAI,POPALZAI,ROHILLA TRIBES
Orakzai
Orakzai is a Pashtun tribe settled in Pakistan.it consists of eighteen subsects.Most of the members are situated in the northwestern frontier of pakistan. The Orakzai are a Pathan tribe on the Kohat border of the NorthWest Frontier Province of India. The Orakzais inhabit the mountains to the north-west of Kohat district, bounded on the N. and E. by the Afridis, on the S. by the Miranzai valley and on the W. by the Zaimukht country and the Safed Koh mountains. Their name means "lost tribes," and their origin is buried in obscurity; though they resemble the Afghans in language, features and many of their customs, they are rejected by them as brethren. One branch, the Ali Khel, has been traced to Swat, whence they were expelled by the other inhabitants and it is not improbable that the whole tribe consists of refugee clans of the surrounding races. They are very wiry-looking mountaineers, they are fine men and brave fighters just as their neighbours the Afridis. They cultivate a good deal of the Khanki and Kurmana valleys in the winter, but in the hot months retire to the heights of Tirah, of which they occupy the southern half called the Mastura valley. They have been estimated at 28,000 fighting men, but this estimate must be largely exaggerated, as the country could not possibly support the consequent population of over 100,000. They have been the object of various British military expeditions, notably in 1855, 1868, 1869, 1891, and the Tirah campaign of 1897.
Orakzai is a Pashtun tribe settled in Pakistan.it consists of eighteen subsects.Most of the members are situated in the northwestern frontier of pakistan. The Orakzai are a Pathan tribe on the Kohat border of the NorthWest Frontier Province of India. The Orakzais inhabit the mountains to the north-west of Kohat district, bounded on the N. and E. by the Afridis, on the S. by the Miranzai valley and on the W. by the Zaimukht country and the Safed Koh mountains. Their name means "lost tribes," and their origin is buried in obscurity; though they resemble the Afghans in language, features and many of their customs, they are rejected by them as brethren. One branch, the Ali Khel, has been traced to Swat, whence they were expelled by the other inhabitants and it is not improbable that the whole tribe consists of refugee clans of the surrounding races. They are very wiry-looking mountaineers, they are fine men and brave fighters just as their neighbours the Afridis. They cultivate a good deal of the Khanki and Kurmana valleys in the winter, but in the hot months retire to the heights of Tirah, of which they occupy the southern half called the Mastura valley. They have been estimated at 28,000 fighting men, but this estimate must be largely exaggerated, as the country could not possibly support the consequent population of over 100,000. They have been the object of various British military expeditions, notably in 1855, 1868, 1869, 1891, and the Tirah campaign of 1897.
Popalzai
or Popalzay is the name of the Pashtun clan that is part of the larger Durrani tribe from which the first king of Afghanistan Ahmad Shah Durrani originated. The current President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is also a Popalzai.
Rohilla
For the eponymous steamship, see Rohilla (steamship)
Rohillas (Urdu: روہِلا, Hindi: रोहिला) are Muslim highlanders (Roh means mountains and Rohilla literally means mountaineer) of Pashtun origin. Roh corresponded to the mountainous region stretching from Swat and Bajaur in north to Sibi and Bhakkar in south and Hasan Abdal in east to the Kabul and Kandahar in west. The Rohillas currently reside in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Origin
Most Rohillas belonged to Yousafzai tribe of Pathans, mainly of Mandanr sub-section. The term Rohilla was used for all Pathans, except for the Bangashes who settled in the Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs . They were awarded the Katehr region in northern India by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658-1707) to suppress Rajput uprisings. However most of them settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region gained fame as Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state. Other important cities were Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, and others. This region is nowadays located in modern Uttar Pradesh state of India.
Rohillas were distinguished from local peoples by their fair complextion, tall stature, muscular physique and by their separate language and culture. They spoke Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language over time. Nowadays most of them are living in the region between Rampur and Bareilly and speak the Urdu language.
Some Rohillas are descendants of Hindu Rajputs who ruled Rohilkhand from 1702-1720. Bareilly was the capital (1707-20) of the Hindu Rohilla kingdom. The region is named for the Rohilla tribe, and was known as Madhyadesh in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Dr. K. C. Sen has written a book on the history of Rohilla Rajputs. The book is available for view and download at: http://rajputrohilla.googlepages.com.
History
The founders of the Pathan state of Rohilkhand were Daud Khan and his adopted son Ali Mohammed Khan. Daud Khan arrived in 1705 in India along with a band of his tribe. He was succeeded in 1721 by Ali Mohammed Khan, who became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central governament. Safdar Jang, the Nawab[1] of Oudh, warned Mughal emperor Mohammed Shah[2] of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to sent an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor of Sirhind. In 1748, he returned to Rohilkhand and recovered his lost possessions. Later that year Ali Mohammed Ali Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, the most important being Hafiz Rahmat Khan and Dundi Khan.
Following the Battle of Panipat in 1761
In the third battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ul-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali[3] against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to combined forces. He also convinced the Nawab Shuja-ul-Daula of Oudh to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Maratha's were defeated and as a consequence Rohilla increased in power.
Rohilkhand was invaded by the Marathas to retaliate against Rohillas paticipation in the Panipat War against Marathas. The Marathas entered the jagir (land) of late Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was now held by his son Zabita Khan. Zabita Khan gave tough resistancs but was defeated and forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. The principal remaining Rohilla Sardar was Hafiz Rahmat Khan and through him an agreement was formed with Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula by which they had to pay 4 million rupees in return to their military help in defeating Marathas. However, after the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. The Wazir (minister) then decided to annex the country of Rohilkhand but he was unable to fight the Rohillas alone. Therefore he sought assistance from Warren Hastings of the British East India Company (the company had been trading in India since 1600), promising 4 million rupees in return for their military aid.
The joined forces of British and Oudh invaded Rohilkhand. Rohillas fought fiercely but when their leader Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed, they faced defeat in April 1774. the whole Rohilkhand was plundered and hundreds of thousands of Rohillas flee to jungles across Ganges to save their lives. Later Rohilla began a guerilla war against British occupation. In response, the Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered by the British and were subsequently scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later charges of destroying a nation (ethnic cleansing or genocide) were brought against Hastings by Edmund Burke and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Later, the British transferred Rohilkhand to the British Empire in 1774. The Rohillas took an active part in War of Independence in 1857 against British imperial forces (referred to as the Mutiny by the British historians, or the War of Independence). The revolt was bitterly suppressed, and in its wake the British dramatically reorganized the government of South Asia, bringing an end to the British East India Company's regime and leading to almost a century of direct rule of the South Asia by Britain under the British Raj.
Other Rohilla Notables
Nawab Amir Khan of Tonk
Nawab Faizullah Khan
General Bakht Khan
Mohammed Ali Jauhar
Maulana Shaukat Ali
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan
or Popalzay is the name of the Pashtun clan that is part of the larger Durrani tribe from which the first king of Afghanistan Ahmad Shah Durrani originated. The current President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is also a Popalzai.
Rohilla
For the eponymous steamship, see Rohilla (steamship)
Rohillas (Urdu: روہِلا, Hindi: रोहिला) are Muslim highlanders (Roh means mountains and Rohilla literally means mountaineer) of Pashtun origin. Roh corresponded to the mountainous region stretching from Swat and Bajaur in north to Sibi and Bhakkar in south and Hasan Abdal in east to the Kabul and Kandahar in west. The Rohillas currently reside in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Origin
Most Rohillas belonged to Yousafzai tribe of Pathans, mainly of Mandanr sub-section. The term Rohilla was used for all Pathans, except for the Bangashes who settled in the Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs . They were awarded the Katehr region in northern India by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658-1707) to suppress Rajput uprisings. However most of them settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region gained fame as Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state. Other important cities were Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, and others. This region is nowadays located in modern Uttar Pradesh state of India.
Rohillas were distinguished from local peoples by their fair complextion, tall stature, muscular physique and by their separate language and culture. They spoke Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language over time. Nowadays most of them are living in the region between Rampur and Bareilly and speak the Urdu language.
Some Rohillas are descendants of Hindu Rajputs who ruled Rohilkhand from 1702-1720. Bareilly was the capital (1707-20) of the Hindu Rohilla kingdom. The region is named for the Rohilla tribe, and was known as Madhyadesh in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Dr. K. C. Sen has written a book on the history of Rohilla Rajputs. The book is available for view and download at: http://rajputrohilla.googlepages.com.
History
The founders of the Pathan state of Rohilkhand were Daud Khan and his adopted son Ali Mohammed Khan. Daud Khan arrived in 1705 in India along with a band of his tribe. He was succeeded in 1721 by Ali Mohammed Khan, who became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central governament. Safdar Jang, the Nawab[1] of Oudh, warned Mughal emperor Mohammed Shah[2] of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to sent an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor of Sirhind. In 1748, he returned to Rohilkhand and recovered his lost possessions. Later that year Ali Mohammed Ali Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, the most important being Hafiz Rahmat Khan and Dundi Khan.
Following the Battle of Panipat in 1761
In the third battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ul-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali[3] against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to combined forces. He also convinced the Nawab Shuja-ul-Daula of Oudh to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Maratha's were defeated and as a consequence Rohilla increased in power.
Rohilkhand was invaded by the Marathas to retaliate against Rohillas paticipation in the Panipat War against Marathas. The Marathas entered the jagir (land) of late Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was now held by his son Zabita Khan. Zabita Khan gave tough resistancs but was defeated and forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. The principal remaining Rohilla Sardar was Hafiz Rahmat Khan and through him an agreement was formed with Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula by which they had to pay 4 million rupees in return to their military help in defeating Marathas. However, after the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. The Wazir (minister) then decided to annex the country of Rohilkhand but he was unable to fight the Rohillas alone. Therefore he sought assistance from Warren Hastings of the British East India Company (the company had been trading in India since 1600), promising 4 million rupees in return for their military aid.
The joined forces of British and Oudh invaded Rohilkhand. Rohillas fought fiercely but when their leader Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed, they faced defeat in April 1774. the whole Rohilkhand was plundered and hundreds of thousands of Rohillas flee to jungles across Ganges to save their lives. Later Rohilla began a guerilla war against British occupation. In response, the Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered by the British and were subsequently scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later charges of destroying a nation (ethnic cleansing or genocide) were brought against Hastings by Edmund Burke and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Later, the British transferred Rohilkhand to the British Empire in 1774. The Rohillas took an active part in War of Independence in 1857 against British imperial forces (referred to as the Mutiny by the British historians, or the War of Independence). The revolt was bitterly suppressed, and in its wake the British dramatically reorganized the government of South Asia, bringing an end to the British East India Company's regime and leading to almost a century of direct rule of the South Asia by Britain under the British Raj.
Other Rohilla Notables
Nawab Amir Khan of Tonk
Nawab Faizullah Khan
General Bakht Khan
Mohammed Ali Jauhar
Maulana Shaukat Ali
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan
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