Maliar

The Maliar/Malyar are a Pakhtun/Pashtun tribe found in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan's Northern Punjab (Potohar Plateau) and North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), especially in Peshawar. They are also found in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

History and origin

The tribe accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni during his ventures in the early 11th century AD, thus they (Maliars/Malyars) settled in India during this period.

They have a sizeable population in Afghanistan's Provinces of Paktia and Laghman, but they are also found in other parts of Afghanistan. They speak Pashto and Dari languages in Afghanistan. They speak Potohari in Pakistan's Northern Punjab, and they speak Pahari which is part of the Northwestern zone of Indo-Aryan languages in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. They are called Malyar/Malyarzai/Malyarzoi in Afghanistan.

Malyar means gardener in Pashto and hence, the Malyar/Malyarzai/Malyarzoi tribe's profession is gardening. They are almost 100% Sunni Muslims and observe Pakhtun/Pashtun customs in Afghanistan and KPK, while in Pakistan's Punjab and Azad Jammu & Kashmir they generally do not observe any Hindu customs.

Maliars/Malyars have been often confused with the Arain tribe. The Arain tribe is predominantly found in Pakistan's Central and Southern Punjab. The Arain are not Pakhtun/Pashtun like the Maliars/Malyars. The Arain are Indo-Aryan whilst the Maliar/Malyar are Indo-Iranian.

References

1. Shahid Khan-Malyarzoi, The Origin of the South Asian Malyar Tribe, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Origin-South-Asian-Malyar-Tribe-ebook/dp/B00MKCWJQO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452340081&sr=8-1&keywords=malyar
2. Shahid Khan-Malyarzoi, The Origin of the South Asian Malyar Tribe, http://www.amazon.com/Origin-South-Asian-Malyar-Tribe-ebook/dp/B00MKCWJQO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452680208&sr=8-2&keywords=malyar