Afridi


The Afrīdī are a Pashtun tribe present mostly in tribal areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
The Afridis are most dominant in the Spin Ghar range west of Peshawar in Tribal areas of modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, covering most of the Khyber Pass and Maidan in Tirah which is their Native Tribal Territory. They are the closest to Orakzai in their language, culture and geographic areas.

Etymology and origins

Etymology

, in his Histories, mentions an Indian tribe named Aparytai inhabiting the Achaemenid satrapy of Arachosia. Thomas Holdich and Olaf Caroe have linked them with the Afridi tribe:

Origins

The origin of the Afridis is uncertain. Among the Afridi six Ḵaybar clans are generally distinguished: the Kūkī Ḵēl, Kambar Ḵēl, Kamar Ḵēl, Malek-dīn Ḵēl, Sepāh, and Zakkā Ḵēl, in the Khyber pass region. In addition, there are two "assimilated clans" not recognized by the first six, the Akā Ḵēl, settled south of the Bārā river in contact with the Ōrakzī, and the Ādam Ḵēl, occupying a mountainous region between Peshawar and Kohat. This complex clan structure,  perhaps reflects the diversity of the origins of the different ethnic groups forming this great tribe.

History

Resistance against the Mughals

The Afridis and their allies Khalils were first mentioned in the memoirs of Mughal Emperor Babar as violent tribes in need of subduing. The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the Indian subcontinent with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.
Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors Akbar and Jahangir both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, with little success.
Under the leadership of Darya Khan Afridi, they engaged in protracted warfare against the Mughal army in the 1670s. The Afridis once destroyed two large Mughal armies of Emperor Aurangzeb: in 1672, in a surprise attack between Peshawar and Kabul, and in the winter of 1673, in an ambush in the mountain passes. The emperor sent his Rajput general Rai Tulsidas with reinforcements into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain. Allegedly, only five Mughal soldiers made it out of the battle alive and the rest of the Mughals were brutally slaughtered.

British Raj

During the First, Second, and Third Anglo-Afghan Wars, Afridis fought against the British; these skirmishes comprised some of the fiercest fighting of the Anglo-Afghan Wars. Ajab Khan Afridi was a well-known independence activist against the British Raj.
The British colonial administration regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "martial tribe" under the martial races theory. Different Afridi clans also cooperated with the British in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the British Indian Army.

First Kashmir War

Shortly after the Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan, Afridi tribesmen were among the ranks of the Pashtun militias that invaded the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947, sparking the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the ongoing Kashmir conflict. Today, Afridis make use of their dominant positions along the Durand Line in areas of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in armaments, munitions and goods. Beside commercial activities, the Afridis also occupy substantial representation among Pakistan Armed Forces and paramilitary forces such as Khyber Rifles.

Clans

The Afridi Tribe is subclassified into eight sub-tribes, which reflect the different ethnic groups which joined to make the Afrīdīs:
  • Kūkī Ḵēl
  • Ali Khel
  • Kambar Ḵēl
  • Zakkā/Zəḵā Ḵēl
  • Kamar/Kamraʾī Ḵēl
  • Malek-dīn Ḵēl
  • Sepāh
  • Akā Ḵēl
  • Ādam Ḵēl

    Religion

Afridis follow the Sunni sect of Islam. Their conversion to Islam is attributed to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni by Denzil Ibbetson and Haroon Rashid.

List of notable Afridis

In Sports

Malik Meer Ahmad Shah Kuki khel, Mania Khel Afridi,
Malik Haji Gulli Shah Kuki khel Mania Khel

Businessman

The Afridis of Farrukhabad & Malihabad are descendants of the Afridi Pashtun tribe of the Ali Khel branch, originally from the Khyber Pass region. The community is primarily settled in Farrukhabad and Malihabad, where they played significant military, political, and literary roles during the 18th and 19th centuries.

History

The first known ancestor to settle in India was Jahan Khan Afridi, who migrated from Khyber along with his tribe and settled in Farrukhabad. He served as Commander-in-Chief under Muhammad Khan Bangash, the *Bawan Hazari* of the Bangash principality.
Jahan Khan Afridi had eight sons, whose descendants remain in Farrukhabad. One of them, Muhammad Khan Afridi, became the Deputy and Prime Minister of the Farrukhabad State. The ruler Qaim Khan later entrusted the administration of the state to him and retired from governance to focus on religious devotion.
Jahan Khan’s cousin, Yar Beg Khan Afridi, was invited to India along with his five brothers. Initially, they settled in Farrukhabad, but due to political disputes, they later joined Safdar Jang of Awadh. These brothers became known across North India as the “Paanch Bhaiye”, each commanding his own military regiment.
Eventually, the family settled in Qawalhar, a locality of Malihabad, which was inhabited by the Amanzai Pathans. Some members later returned to Farrukhabad and the Khyber region, while others remained in Malihabad, where their descendants became prominent figures in culture, administration, and literature.