Swati

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For the language spoken in Swaziland, see Swati language.

The Swati (also Swatey in Pashto) is a Pashtun tribe. The majority of the Swati tribe reside in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and are the predominant population in the districts of Mansehra and Batagram. They speak the northern variant of "Pukhtu" with the hard "kh" replacing the softer "sh" of southern Pashtun tribes. The Swatis are usually characterized by their Pashto language, adherence to Pashtunwali, some times they call it "Swatiwali" also, (a pre-Islamic indigenous religious code of honor and culture). All of the Swatis are Sunni muslim. They are also settled in other places such as Upper Dir and Sama Swat, etc., other notable Pashtun tribes which live around them in the adjoining Districts of Abbotabad and Haripur, are Tanolis, Jadoons, Tareens and Mashwanis.

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[edit] History

The Swati moved from Swat to fight the Sikhs in Sikh-ruled areas of present-day Pakistan. According to some authorities, when the king of Kabul, Mirza Ulugh Beg assassinated six hundred Yousafzai tribal chiefs, the remaining tribesmen along with their families had been compelled to leave their homeland, they took refuge in Swat and Bajour, which were under the Kingdom of Swati/Jahangiri sultans, Yousafzais had received warm welcome from their Pashtun brothers, but due to conspiracies of Mughals, the tribes fought an intense guerilla war against each other for more than two decades, culminating in the withdrawal of the Swatis from their lands, and had to migrate to east into the land of Hazara Division, where Swatis predominated with their sir name swati, reflecting their link to the region. King Babur himself took part in conquering their strongholds (the fort of Gabar in Bajour), match locks had also been introduced for the first time against the Jahangiri king of Bajour, Mir Haider Ali. Last of the Swati sultan of Swat was Mir Uwais Jahangiri. According to Yousafzai authorities, their tribal chief's sister had been married to Sultan Uwais Jahangiri, who had killed by the Sultan, which provoked Yousafzais to start battle against Swatis.

Swatis have ruled Jalalabad, Swat, Malakand, Dir and other regions up to Jehlum for more than 300 years. They also ruled Kashmir from 1339 to 1561. First ever muslim ruler of Kashmir was Shah Mir Baba a Swati, by whom Islam became the major religion of Kashmir. They took Pakhli (Hazara Division) from the Turks in 1703 under the leadership of Syed Jalal Baba. Turks ruled Hazara for more than two and half centuries and their rule came to an end when Syed Jala Baba invited Swatis to attack Pakhli. He was the son-in-law of the last Turk ruler of Hazara. The last Turk ruler of Pakhli Sarkar (the name of Sarkar(Government) of Turks in Hazara) was sultan Mehmud Khurd.

Sa'adat Khan Swati was the first ruler of Pakhli (1762-1780), during the reign of Durranis, a notable man, his verdicts had been accepted regarding any issues even of Tanolis and Jadoons. One of his ruler sons, Najeebullah Khan Swati, was martyred in the War of Mangal against the Sikhs.

Batagram was a tribal area until 1958, when the people of that district themselves wished to be a part of Pakistan. It was in 1956, when a Jirga took place in the valley of Tikri and decided to join Pakistan.

[edit] Theories of Origin

About the origin of the Swatis the historians hold different views but almost half of the Swatis relate their lineage to Qais Abdur Rashid the remote ancestor of the Pashtuns. During the rule of Mohammad of Ghor they came to Swat, from Afghanistan, where they defeated the Hindus and established their rule. Sir Denzil Ibbetson is of the opinion that the original Swatis were a race of Indian origin who once ruled the whole country into the hills of Swat and Buner.

The late Pashto poet and philosopher Abdul Ghani Khan shares that opinion. He considers the Pashtuns a mixture of various races that came through their territories from Central Asia. Suddum (mardan), Khyber (Peshawar) and Elum (Swat) have place names resembling those of the Bani Isra'il, and Mir Afzal Khan Jadoon asserted that the features and habits of the Pashtuns resemble those of the Jews. Apart from the clans of Karlanr and Mati, Swati, Tanolis and Jadoons have similar dwellings and clothes resembling those of Jews of the past.

The name Swat cannot be found in ancient history. Early peoples called the area by various other names. For example, some 3,000 years ago, it was called Udhyana ("Garden"). In the writings of Chinese travelers, the name Soto is mentioned (the name which comes closest to Swat), while in Greek accounts the name Asoconoi is given. Mahmud of Ghazni called it Qerat.

Others believe the name is of Arabic origin. Some authorities say the word Swat is derived from Aswad ("black") because the hills and mountains of the area are covered with thick forests, which appear black.

Still another account relates that when Mahmood of Ghazni conquered the land, he wanted to settle some of his people to keep control of it, so he settled two tribes, the Swati and Dalazak, in the territory. As the Swati tribe was larger, the area took its name from that tribe.

According to some authors, the Swatis are descended from Bitan of Ghilzai, one of the sons of Pashtun, a mythical and whimsical ancestor of the Pashtun people. Another account claims they originated in the Ranizai section of the Yousafzai.

Other historians say Swatis were brave Assakenois and a related section Aspasios as Yousafzais, who had fought great wars against Alexander the Great in 326-27 BC.

[edit] Demographics

Swati is among few of the largest land-owning tribes of Pashtuns in the Northwest Frontier Province. The population is widely spread from Mansehra, Balakot, Shinkiari, Baffa, Kaghan, Thakot and Batagram further, all the way to eastern slopes of the Black Mountain of Hazara and the mountains of Allai. Politically and economically, they have very strong hold in the region. Aproximatley three-quarters of the tribe speaks Pashto and rest speak Hindko and Dari as well.

[edit] Sub-Tribes and Khels

Some khels and subsections of the Swatis are Jahangiri, Khawaja Khel, Najabat Khel, Malkals, Allaiwals, Deshiwals, Tikriwals, Akhun Khel, Beror, Jadoor, Khan Khel, Kuchelai, Kumar, Mada Khel, Moosa Khel, Narors, Samkori, Surkhaili, Sana Khel, Sumla Khel, Mahabat Khel, Warozai, Khazani, Sherkhani, Sabdini, Khabardini, Barkhani, Ashtors, Darochis and Ghoris.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Pashtun apni nasal ke ainey mein by Syed Bahadur Shah Zafer Kaka Khel.
  • History of Hazara, by Sher Bahadur Khan Panni
  • Shahadat Gah-e-Balakot, by Piyam Shahjahanpuri.
  • Pashtun Tribes of the North West Frontier of India, a dictionary prepared by the General Staff Army Headquarters (Calcutta 1910)
  • Across the border or Pashtun and Biloch, by Edward E Oliver, M. (1890)
  • Twarikhe Hafiz Rehmat Khani
  • Tazkara by Khan Roshan Khan.
  • The memoirs of Kind Babur (Tuzk-e-Babri).
  • Hazara Gazetteer by D.H.Watson. 1883-84 and 1907.
  • Baharista-e-Shahi by an unknown Persian author (A.D 1614)
  • Maghza-e-Afghani by Niamatullah Hirvi (A.D. 1612)
  • A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of Panjab and NWFP, by E.D Magligan/H.A Rose (First published in 1911).
  • An article by Abdul Qayum Balala.
  • On Alexander's track to the Indus by Sir Aurel Stein, first pablished 1929.
  • Panjab Castes by Sir Denzel Ibbeston.
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