Gandapur

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The Gənḍapūr (Pashto: ګنډہ پور‎, Urdu: گنڈہ پور), also called Afghānpūr (Pashto: افغانپور‎), are a Pashtun tribe inhabiting the environs of Dera Ismail Khan, located in the southern region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, near the frontier with South Waziristan. The Gənḍapūrs reside principally in the small town of Kulachi on the bank of the Gomal River. Across the Durand line, a large part of the tribe lives in the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan, particularly in Sur Kelay.

They trace their origin to Afghanistan, and a large part of them settled in the Ḍera Ismāīl Khān area in the 17th century AD after a bloody feud with Lawuṇ tribe near Qamar Din Karez.

History

The Gənḍapūr, like many other nomadic Afghan groups in the region, regularly moved between Afghanistan and the Dāmān plains stretching from the Indus to the eastern slopes of the Sulaiman Mountains. They combined pastoral nomadism with the transportation and peddling of goods between Central Asia and South Asia. The pattern of these nomadic movements and the transformations of their society fluctuated with the rhythms of trade and the nature of their contacts with the surrounding political economies throughout their history. During the 17th century, most of the Gənḍapūr had settled in Ḍera Ismāīl Khān, with large numbers engaged in the trade between India and Khorasan, which intensified in the next two centuries.[1]

Origin legend

There are several contentious traditions about the origins of this tribe. It is, however, most commonly held that the original name of Gənḍapūr was Tairi Khan, who was a Pashtun/Pakhtun living in Afghanistan. He had four sons and one daughter. Their names are as follows:

  • Yāqūb Khān (His descendants are known as Yāqūb Zəi)
  • Ibrāhīm Khān (His descendants are known as Ibrāhīm Zəi)
  • Hussayn Khān (His descendants are known as Hussayn Zəi)
  • Imrān Khān (His descendants are known as Imrān Zəi)
  • Khubəi, the daughter of Gənḍapūr. Her descendants are known as Khubezəi.

The Khaḍəl Lawuṇ episode

Lavuṇ is a small Pashtun tribe residing in and around Qamardin Karez in the west of Zhob district in northwest Balochistan. Gənḍapūrs used to pass through their area while going from their place in Ghazni to Dera Ismail Khan in a usual annual cycle of nomadic life.

Khaḍəl Lawuṇ was chief of the Lavuṇ tribe in the 16th century AD. He chose a narrow pass in the way of nomadic tribes going to Dera Ismail Khan and the rest of Indus plain passing through his area and laid there. He demanded that girls from various tribes should come and lift him in their shawls. That was very humiliating demand and none of the tribe could accede to that. When the Gənḍapūrs arrived at the narrow pass, they found Khaḍəl Lawuṇ lying in the pass. When lengthy negotiations bore no fruit, some of the Gənḍapūr young men disguised themselves as girls wearing shawls of women and came to Khaḍəl. Apparently they had come to lift him in their shawls but they divided him into pieces.

The death of Khaḍəl Lawuṇ brought them in confrontation with the Lawuṇ tribe and their route from Ghazni to Dera Ismail Khan no longer remained safe. This led to the separation of the tribe into two parts. One part of the tribe settled in Damaan, Kulachi, Dera Ismail Khan and the other part remained in their original abode in Ghazni, Afghanistan. A distance of more than 450 kilometers between the two places and the enemy tribe inhabiting the route divided the tribe. Over a period of almost four centuries, the two parts of the Gənḍapūr tribe have lost any contact between them.

Gənḍapūr or Afghānpūr

When the great Afghan King and warrior Ahmad Shah Abdali gathered all the Pashtun tribes and conquered a large part of the area presently comprising Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gənḍapūrs were part of his army. As the tradition goes, soldiers speaking Persian used to pronounce the "d" in the word Gənḍapūr as soft "d" (Voiced dental stopIPA [d̪], like "th" in the English word "the") instead of the actual hard "d" or "ḍ" ( Voiced retroflex stop, IPA [ɖ], as in English word "Made"). With the soft "d", the word "Ganda" would become a Hindustani language word "Ganda" (meaning "not clean" or "untidy"). When Ahmad Shah Abdali came to know that fact, he bestowed upon Gənḍapūrs the title of "Afghānpūr". Gənḍapūrs were held in high esteem by Ahmad Shah Abdali.

Size of the tribe

Gənḍapūrs living in Pakistan do not form a very large tribe. They have occupied northern part of Tehsil Kulachi. The area occupied by Gənḍapūrs is roughly one-third of the area as occupied by the Marwat tribe. The population of Gənḍapūrs may range from 70,000 to 90,000. But their influence is relatively large.

The Gənḍapūrs living in Afghanistan may also range between 30,000 to 40,000, according to conservative estimates. They live in Ghazni district in Afghanistan, where they associate themselves with the Tarakəi tribe.

There is no interaction between Gənḍapūrs living in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Sub-tribes

The tribe is further divided into the following sub-tribes; it has not been possible to trace how these sub-tribes are interrelated. These are the sub-tribes existing in Kulachi, Dera Ismail Khan region at present. It is also possible that some of these sub-tribes may not be part of the original lineage of Gənḍapūr. They may have been living with Gənḍapūrs and may have merged with them over a period.

  1. Akteyār Khel
  2. Ali Zəi (not to be confused with the Alizəi of Dera Ismail Khan)
  3. Allah Dād Khel
  4. Bahādər Khel
  5. Badi khel
  6. Bara Khel
  7. Behlol Khel
  8. Bazīd Khel
  9. Dai Khel
  10. Hafiz Khel
  11. Hammaṛ (cousins of Gənḍapūr)
  12. Hamīd Khel
  13. Hussain Zai
  14. Ibrahim Zai
  15. Jāfər Zəi
  16. Kamāl Khel
  17. Khadar Khel
  18. Mariṛ (cousins of Gənḍapūr)
  19. Mūsā Zəi
  20. Nakundar Zəi
  21. Nathu Zəi
  22. Nasar Khel
  23. Nur Ahmad Khel
  24. Shakhi (Cousins of Gənḍapūr)
  25. Shekh
  26. Shehzād Khel
  27. Usmān Khel
  28. Yakhel (or Yahyā Khel)
  29. Yaqub Zai
  30. Zaṇi Khel
  31. Zuhaq zai
  32. Patī Khel

Allied Sub-tribe

  1. Ghurānī
  2. Maṛel
  3. Rānā Zəi
  4. Peshahwər

In Afghanistan, Gənḍapūrs are considered as cousins or a part of the large Tarakai tribe.

Gənḍapūr villages in Kulāchī

Gənḍapūrs reside in many villages other than the city of Kulachi. Important settlements or villages are as following;

  1. Abdullah Gəra
  2. Asləm Ābād
  3. Jahāngīr Ābād
  4. Aṭəl Sharif
  5. Dawlət
  6. Guldād Gəra
  7. Hathala
  8. Ibrāhīm Gəra
  9. Īsa Khān Gəra
  10. Jāna
  11. Jahān khānī
  12. Kanoṛī
  13. Kiṛi Maləng
  14. Kundo Kot (kot Zafar Bala Dasti)
  15. Luṇi
  16. Madda Gəra
  17. Maddi
  18. Mastān
  19. Pota
  20. Qaləndər (Daulatpur Gharbi)
  21. Roṛi
  22. Sultān Kot
  23. Təkwāṛa
  24. Wəli Kot
  25. Gəra Awdal
  26. Gəra Mirbāzī
  27. Gəra Muhabət
  28. Gəra Gurlangi
  29. Gəra Nawābi
  30. Kot Zafər (Fero Dasti)

Notable people

Sardar Innayat ULLAH Khan Gandapur

References

  1. ↑ Elphinstone, 373.

Further reading

The most important sources regarding the history of Gandapurs are as follows:

  • Tarikh-e-Pushtun (History of Pushtun) by Sher Muhammad Khan Ibrahim Zai Gandapur. Originally written in Persian with title "Khurshid e Jahan" (Sun of the World) for Begum of Bhopal
  • Tarikh-e-Ganadapur (History of the Gandapurs) by Qadir Dad Khan Gandapur
  • Tarikh-e-Sarzamin-e-Gomal (Urdu) (History of the Gomal Land) by Aminullah Khan Gnadapur, published by National Book Foundation, Islamabad, 2008
  • Gazetteer of District Dera Ismail Khan (1882–83)
  • "Musalman Races in Sind, Baluchistan and Afghanistan" (1904)

External links

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