Bangash

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The Bangash (Pashto: ‫)ﺑﻨ ﺶ‬, (Urdu:

‫ )ﺑﻨﮕﺶ‬are one of the largest and perhaps
the most powerful Karlani Pashtun tribe
of the border region of eastern
Afghanistan and North Western Pakistan.
They primarily inhabit the Kohat, Hangu,
Doaba, Thall, and districts of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, as well as portions of the
Kurram Agency and Orakzai Agency in
FATA.[1] A large number of Bangash are
also found in the northeastern section of
the Paktia and Paktika Province in
Afghanistan. Descendants of Bangash
are also found in the Uttar Pradesh state
of India, particularly in the city of
Farrukhabad which was founded by
Muhammad Khan Bangash in 1714.[2][3]

Etymology and origins

The name Bangash or Bankash is said to
be derived from Persian namely "bun",
meaning root, and "Kashtan",[4] meaning
'To tear apart'.Since the origin of the tribe
it was believed that during battle the
tribesmen of the Bangash would not rest
until they had ripped the enemy off of
their roots.Hence the Name 'Bangash' or
'Root Destroyer'.It is believed by the tribe
that they are the descendants of a man
named Esmail, whose 11th generation
ancestor happened to be Khalid ibn
Walid, the famed warrior and companion
of Muhammad.[5] According to Pashtun
folklore, the Bangash tribe traces its
origin back to the eponymous ancestor
of all Pashtuns, Qais Abdur Rashid,
through his youngest son, Karlan. Thus,
the Bangash tribe are one of the Karlani
tribes.

History
The Bangash originally lived between the
Gardez region of modern-day
Afghanistan and Kurram Valley of
present Pakistan, where they were still
living as of the Ghaznavids period (975 to
1187).[1] Later on, they came into conflict
with the Ghilzais, and were ousted from
their homeland eastwards across the
Paywar Pass to the upper Kurram
Basin(now in Pakistan), located on the
eastern slopes of the Spin Ghar range.
The Bangash allied with the Khattaks
who were also moving to the same area
and pushed the Orakzai of the area
southeastwards. In the 16th century, the
whole habitat of the Bangash was called
Bangash District and was ruled by the
Khan of Hangu (Mardu Khan(1540 A.D)
1st khan of the Hangu) who were the
chiefs of Bangash tribe. However, in the
18th century, the Bangash ceded most of
the upper Kurram Basin to the Turi tribe,
though the Bangash sill occupy some
villages there, in particular in the
Shalozan area near the Pakistan–
Afghanistan border.[1] This incorporation,
which is never clearly formulated in
terms of filiation or even of adoption,
may have originated in a military alliance
between the Bangaṧ and Ḵaṭak (q.v.) in
the 9th/15th century."[1]
Nawab Ali Mohammed Khan Bangash, first Nawab
of Rampur, ca 1730, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, Paris

The Mughal Emperor Babur mentioned a

population of approximately 5,600
Bangash located in the Kurram agency,
which was formerly divided into Bangash-
i-Bala and Bangash Payan, "Upper and
Lower Bangash", and lists Bangash as
one of the fourteen provinces then
dependent on Kabul. Babur wished to
conquer these provinces, but was unable
to conquer the territory bounded on the
north by the Spin Ghar down as far as
Bannu, where Bangash, Turis, and Wazirs
live, as is clear from his comments:
"Bangash is another tuman [of Kabul].
The area round about is full of highway
robbers such as the Khogyani, Khirilchi,
Turi and Landar. Since it is isolated they
do not pay the desired revenue. As
greater tasks such as the conquest of
Kandahar, Balkh, Badakhshan and
Hindustan occupied me, there has been
no opportunity to subjugate the
Bangash".[6] However, in 1505 Babur
raided and plundered the district of the
Bangash.[7]
They inhabited the Miranzai valley
(Hangu), the Kohat defile in the North-
West Frontier Province (1901–1955), and
the valley of Kurram river in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. The Kohat Gazetteer of
1883–84 records

"The Orakzai tribes are said to

have been converted by the
Tirah Syeds about the beginning
of the present century. The
Bangash of Samizai were
probably converted a little
earlier."[8]
The three main divisions of the Bangash
clan are the Miranzai, Baizais and
Samilzai.

Bangash in Afghanistan
The Bangash Tribe are Found in Primarily
In Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni and Khost
Provinces in Afghanistan. and From The
Majority Of The Population in Gardez and
Zurmat The Main Cities Of Paktia
Province.

The three main Bangash

lineages
 Main
Genealogical Political
  Bangash Religio
Descen Affiliation
Lineages
  Baizai Gar Gar Sunni
Gar +
Sunni
  Miranzai Gar Samel
Shia
Minority
Gar + Shia +
  Samelzai Samel Samel Sunni
Minority Minor

Clans
 Section of
Tribe Division Subdivision
subdivision
Alisher, Toy
Yousaf-Khe
Hassan-Za
Khel, Gulsh
Landi, Shin
Biland, Has
Mandar, Ta
Bangash Gaar Baizai Dang, Isa, M
Daulat,
Shamshed
Musa,
Darsamand
Kamal, Mys
Doda, Kati,
Makhizai e
 Mardu Khe
khel, Yousa
Hassan-Za
Alisher, Azi
    Miranzai
Badda, Isap
Khoja, Labi
Mandar, Sh
etc.
  Samil   Ali, Darbi, Y
Khel, Hass
Kalesar, Ka
Khadi, Kha
Khoti, Land
Mama, Ma
Mastori, M
Musa, Nas
Tana, Tazi,
 Ustarizai, A
Khadizai,
Darvikhal, K
Hangu, Tog
Sarai, Kahi,
Khel, Moha
khwaja etc

Baizai
The Baizai are a sub-tribe of the
Bangash. . The name "Baizai" originated
from that of a tribal chieftain of the
Bangash, Behzad Khan-son of Amirzai
chief Daulat Khan-a tribal chieftain and
feudal lord. Behzad Khan is said to have
been married to a daughter of Ahmad
Shah Durrani, the Amir of Afghanistan.
The Baizai Bangash inhabit most of rural
Kohat and parts of the city limits where
most government installations,
institutions and commercial centers have
been built on their lands. Originally the
Bazai Bangash (also known as Behzadi
being the direct descendedants of
Behzad Khan) established their village in
Kohat at the location of the present fort
constructed by the British to secure the
area. All Baizais are Sunni Muslims. They
are further divided into clans or khels.
Toya khel, Izzat Khel also known as Dolat
Khel are one of the khels.

Miranzai
The Miranzai occupy a vast territory in
Hangu known as the Miranzai
Valley.Hangu valley was controlled
mostly by Orakzai and to some extent by
khattaks before the Bangash came.
Bangash pushed the orakzai's towards
nearby mountains and the khattaks
towards the other side and took the
control of the valley, in much the same
fashion the Baizais of Kohat did so.
Miranzai Bangash include both Shias and
Sunnis. The Miranzai are the
descendants of Miran, one of the
grandchildren of Ismail, the progenitor of
the Bangash tribe.This valley was ruled
by the Khan of Hangu chiefs.The first
being 'Mardu Khel( The well known
families of Mardu khel are Saria Wal,
Malik and Naib khel), in the 16th
century.The Miranzai are renowned for
their bravey.They have constantly come
into conflict with various forces such as
neighboring tribes, the British Raj etc.On
one account during Darveza Niazi's
attack on Hangu, The Khan of Hangu was
pushed towards "Kasha" a place in the
Samana mountain range. The Miranzai
Bangash struck and took back control of
the valley. Darveza was killed in the battle
and the influence of the Khan was
restored. In the recent period of
Talibanization, Bangash of Miranzai
valley, especially of Hangu city have
given a very hard time to Taliban fighters.
In 2009 Taliban launched a huge attack
on Hangu city bringing their fighters from
Waziristan, Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram
agency and the battle continued for four
days. The Bangash succeeded in
protecting every inch of their land.

Language
The Bangash speak the northeastern or
"harder" variant of Pashto similar to that
of the Qandahari and Waziri but slightly
differing in some lexicographical and
phonetic features.[9]

Religion
All Bangash follow the religion of Islam.
The Bangash, along with the Orakzai and
the Turi (Pashtun tribe), are the only
Pashtun tribe with significant Shia
population. The Shias are concentrated
around upper Kurram Agency in FATA,
Hangu and few in numbers in Kohat KPK,
while the Sunnis are majority in kohat,
(Nusrat khel, Kagazai, Muhammad zai,
banda jat, Gumbat, Lachi, Togh etc)
mostly concentrated around Lower
Kurram Agency and Tall area of
Hangu.[10]

References
1. Balland, Daniel. Encyclopaedia Iranica.
BANGAṦ. Originally Published: December
15, 1988. "BANGAṦ - one of the least-
known Pashtun tribes in the Solaymān
range, Pakistan, and one of the few that
are not named after eponymous
ancestors."
2. Irvine, William (1878). A History of the
Bangash Nawabs of Farrukhabad: From
1713 to 1771 A.D. Calcutta: G.H. Rouse.
p. 246.
3. Srivastava, Ashirbadi (Jan 1, 1954). The
first two Nawabs of Awadh. Shiva Lal
Agarwala & Co. p. 137.
4. Wylly, Harold (1912). From the Black
Mountain to Waziristan: Being an Account
of the Border Countries and the More
Turbulent of the Tribes Controlled by the
North-west Frontier Province, and of Our
Military Relations with Them in the Past .
Macmillan. p. 15. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
5. Wylly, Harold (1912). From the Black
Mountain to Waziristan . Macmillan.
p. 15. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
6. "The Garden of the Eight Paradises",
Stephen Frederic Dale, pg. 304
7. Gommans, Jos J. L. (1995). The Rise of
the Indo-Afghan Empire . BRILL. p. 171.
ISBN 90-04-10109-8. Retrieved
2012-07-04.
8. Gazetteer of the Kohat District 1883–
84 published by Sang e meel publications
Pakistan page 69
9. The Encyclopaedia of Islam . Brill
Archive. 1950. p. 250. Retrieved 15 May
2015.
10. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of
the Punjab and North-West Frontier
Province (1 ed.). Atlantic Publishers &
Dist. Jan 1, 1997. p. 574.

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