Shinwari (Pashtun tribe)

^[1] The Shinwari (Pashto: شينواري‎) are an ethnic Pashtun tribe of eastern Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Among the greatest poets of the Pashto language in the 20th century was the late Ameer Hamza Shinwari, also known as "Hamza Baba". Barakatullah Salim shinwari is the champion of the Quran reciters and wins World Cup since 1981. Finally the international jury decided to give him a special permit. He is no longer only the champion, now he became the "CHAMPION of CHAMPIONS" The Shinwari tribe is settled in the eastern valleys of Nangarhar province, in Dih Bala, Achin, Rodat, Bati Kot, Kot, Chaprahar, Shinwar, Dor Baba and Nazian districts. A major portion of the tribe is between Landi Kotal (Pakistan) and Jalalabad (Afghanistan), as well as in Parwan province of Afghanistan where they are concentrated in Shinwari, Ghorband, and Jabalussaraj districts. These Shinwaris are mostly traders and businessmen. There is also a significant minority of the tribe settled in Kohat (Jangal Khel), Pakistan, a settlement 60 km south of Peshawar. There are about 2000 to 3000 shinwaris settled in village Ali zai, 15 km away from kohat, Pakistan. These settled shinwaris belong to Fiqa Jaffaria in Islam. In Afghanistan, the Shinwari are also located in Kunar province. Reporting from 2010 states that there are around 400,000 Shinwari in Afghanistan.^[2]

Location

The Shinwari tribe is settled in the eastern valleys of Nangarhar province, in Dih Bala, Achin, Rodat, Bati Kot, Kot, Chaprahar, Shinwar, Dor Baba and Nazian districts. A major portion of the tribe is between Landi Kotal (Pakistan) and Jalalabad (Afghanistan), as well as in Parwan province of Afghanistan where they are concentrated in Shinwari, Ghorband, and Jabalussaraj districts. These Shinwaris are mostly traders and businessmen. There is also a significant minority of the tribe settled in Kohat (Jangal Khel), Pakistan, a settlement 60 km south of Peshawar. There are about 2000 to 3000 shinwaris settled in village Ali zai, 15 km away from kohat, Pakistan. These settled shinwaris belong to Fiqa Jaffaria in Islam. In Afghanistan, the Shinwari are also located in Kunar province. Reporting from 2010 states that there are around 400,000 Shinwari in Afghanistan.^[2]

Taliban

The elders of the Shinwari tribe in Nangarhar signed a pact, uniting against the Taliban. They promised that anyone supporting the Taliban, would be punished with fines and expulsion. This pact, which per The Times "appears to be the first" incident of an entire tribe declaring war against the Taliban, has invited comparison with the Sunni Awakening of 2006, which tipped the balance of power in Iraq against the Sunni insurgency. The pact also had economic implications that America offered over in development funding. Further, reports suggested the Shinwari were against Taliban interference with their traditional smuggling routes across the Pakistani border.^[3]

History

British assessment (1885)

In 1885, a British author described the Shinwari ("Shanwari" in his text):

The Shanwari inhabit a portion of the Khaibar mountains, some of the eastern valleys of the Safed Koh, and are also found on the borders of Bajawar. They have five sections - Abdul Rahim, Manduzai, Sangu, Sipai, and Ali Sher. They have been continuously predatory since the British approached their borders. They are the most industrious carriers between Peshawur and the other marts on the way to Kabul, using mules and camels for carriage. They are brave, hospitable, stalwart and hardworking. They are well-educated people^[4]

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Role in 1929 Afghan Civil War

The Shinwari tribe were the first to openly rebel against king Amanullah Khan's imposition of various new laws, including the requirement to wear European dress, the rule that required them to send a quota of their daughters to Kabul for education and the impositions of taxes (they had never previously paid tax). The Shinwaris attacked Jalalabad, cutting off its water supply and closing the Kabul - Peshawar road. Amanullah responded by using his fledgling Air Force, including Russian refugee pilots, to bomb the Shinwaris. The use of foreign "infidels" to subjugate Muslims roused other tribes to revolt and the country descended into what would become the 1929 Afghan Civil War.

Shinwari-tribe

The Shinwaris are derived from the Kasi tribe, and are further distributed into sub-tribes:^[5]

Notable Shinwaris

• Amir Hamza Shinwari poet
• Rafiq Shinwari, singer
• Ghalib Hassan, leader in the anti-Taliban resistance under Abdul Haq.,^[6] appointed District Commander of Shinwar, Afghanistan by Hamid Karzai.,^[7] held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[7]
• Malalai Shinwari, member of the national legislature and advocate for the rights of women
• Farmeenullah Shinwari,Graduated from University of Pune,India and Working with USAID as Finance officer.
• Faisal Ahmad Shinwari, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan 2001-2006
• Samiullah Shinwari, Sportsman, member of the Afghanistan national cricket team.
• Usman Khan Shinwari, Pakistani cricketer

See also

• Shin of Hindukush
• Demographics of Pakistan

References

•  This article incorporates text from The cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: commercial, industrial and scientific, products of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, useful arts and manufactures, Volume 2, by Edward Balfour, a publication from 1885 now in the public domain in the United States.