The Khatak
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Khatak
The history of the Khatak tribe has been sketched above. They are descended from Luqnian suruamed Khatak, son of Burhau, son of Kakai.^ Luqman had two sons Turmau and Bulaq. The doscendants of the latter are still known as the Bulaqi section ; while Tarai, son of Turnian, rose to such distinction that the whole section, including two main clans, the Tari proper and the Tarkai, is culled by his name. They have absorbed several small tribes of doubtful origin, the Mugiaki andSanuui- belonging to the Bnlaq, while the Jalozai, Dangarzai, and uria Khel belong to the Tari section. The most important clans of the Tari section are the Anokhel to which the chief's family belongs, and which includes the septs of the upper and lower Mohmandi who hold the right hank of tlae Indus below Attak, and the Mir
' Kakai was sou of Karldn, founder of the Karlanri division of the Afghans.
2 Dr. Bellew interprets those names as meaning respectively Mongol and Chinese.
3 The Mohmandi of the Khwarra valley of the Kohat District are quite distinct from the Mohmand of Peshawar. Khel who hold the Chanutra valley in the centre of the Teri tract. Among the Bulaqi the most important clan is the Saghri, with its practically independent Bangi Khel sept. These hold the right bank of the Indus above Kalabagh, while the Sagliri, with the Habar family of the Bangi Khel, also occupy the cis-Indus possessions of the tribe. Most of the Khatak in Yusufzai are also Bulaq. The Kaka Khel section of the Khatak are descended from the famous saint Shekh Ralu'm Kar, and are consequently venerated by all northern Pathans.
The Khatak are a fine manly race, and differ from all other Ratluins in features, general appearance, and many of their customs. They are the northernmost of all the Pathans settled on our frontier who speak the soft or western dialect of Rashlo. Thty are of a warlike nature and have been for centuries at feud with all their neighbours and with one another. They are active, industrious, and a most favourable specimen of Pathan,and are good cultivators, though their country is stony and unfertile. They are also great carriers and traders, and especially hold all the salt trade with Swat and Hnucr in their hands. They are all Sunnis. The Mai-wat, the licreditavy enemy of the Khatakj says : Friendship is good with any one but a Khatak : may the devil take a Khatak and A Khatak is a hen. If you seize him slowly he sits down; and if suddenly he clucks. Another proverb runs thus : Though the Khatak is a good horseman, yet he is a man of but one charge.
The Bangash The early history of the Bangash has been narrated above. Since they settled down in their Kohat possessions no event of importance has marked their history. They claim descent from Khalrd ibn Walid, Mahomet's apostle to the Afghans of Ghor, ' and himself of the original stock from which they sprang ; but they are Pathans as regards character, cus toms, crimes, and vices.Their ancestor had two sons Gar and Samil, who, on account of the bitter enmity that existed between them, were nicknamed Bunkasli or root destroyers. These sons have given their names to the two great political factions into which not only the Bangash themselves, but their Afridi, Orakzai, Khatak, Turi, Zaimusht, and other neighbours of the Karlanri branch are divided, though the division has of late lost most of its importance.The Gari are divided into Miranzai and Baizai clans. The Baizai hold the valley of Koliat proper; the Miranzai he to the west of them in the valley to which they have given their name ; while the Samilzai occupy the northern portion of Kohat and hold Shalozan at the foot of the Orakzai hills, where they are independent, or live in Paiwar and Kurram under the protection of the Turi. The Bangash Nawabs of Furrukhabad belong to this tribe.
Border tribes— The tribes on the Kohat border, beginning from the south, are the Darvcsh Khel Wazrri, the Zaimudit, the Orakzai, and the Afridi. The Waziri have already been described in section 405. The Zaimusht are a tribe of Spin Tarin Afghans who inhabit the hills between the Kurram and the Orakzai border on the north-west frontier of Kohat. They belong to the Samil faction. The early hist jry of the Orakzai has been given in section 406. With them are associated the Alikhel, Mrshti, the Shekhan, and some of the Malla Khel, all of whom are now classed as Orakzai of the Hamsayah clan, though, as the name imphes, distinct by descent. The Orakzai hold the lower south-eastern spurs of the Safed Koh and the greater part of Trrah. They are divided into five great clans, the Allezai, Massozai, Daulatzai, Ismailzai, and Lashkarzai, of which the Daulatzai and Massozai are the most numerous. The Muhammad Khel is the largest sept of the Daulatzai, and, alone of the Orakzai, belongs to the Shiah sect. They are a tine manly tribe, but exceedingly turbulent. They are divided between the Samil and Gar factions. There are a considerable number of Orakzai tenants scattered about the Kohat District. The present rulers of Bhopal belong to this tribe. The Afridi will be described among the border tribes of Peshawar.
