The Bomba , also spelled as Bambas, are a powerful tribe of Muzaffarabad District in Azad Kashmir Pakistan. They are also found in the Mansehra District of the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) of Pakistan.[1]
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The Bambas erroneously style themselves as 'Sultans', claiming origins from the Quraysh Arab tribe, and say the name Bomba is a corruption of Banu Hashim. In fact, according to most authoritative sources they are most probably converted 'hill Rajputs';[2] while there is also another theory which considers them to be of Kashmiri Brahman/Pundit origins, having earlier converted to Islam.[3] In the past Bombas ruled the Jhelum valley and had a close alliance with the Khakha Rajput tribe who also inhabited the same area. The success of this alliance, earned them a warlike and refractory reputation, as jointly they fought the early Mughal rule of Akbar and later resisted the Sikhs.
Sultan Khan Muzaffar Khan Bomba established the city of Muzaffarabad in present day Azad Kashmir. Sultan Sher Ahmed Khan Bomba was the last Bomba ruler, who was defeated by the Dogra ruler Maharaja Rambir Singh at Panzgam, Kupwara in current day Indian Kashmir during the later 19th century.
The Bomba are found in the Boi tract of the Mansehra District of the Hazara Division of the North West Frontier Province/Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They are represented by two main families, one of Boi and the other of Jabri Kahsh. The Boi family is an important one in this region.[4]