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The Yūsufzai, also called Yousafzai, is a tribe of Pashtun peoples. They are found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Neelum Valley and District Bagh of Azad Jammu and Kashmir of Pakistan, and in some eastern parts of Afghanistan.
History
The tribe are mentioned by Babur in the 16th century. They were a pastoral nomadic tribe and served Babur well in his campaign against Lodhis, Dilazaks and Jahangeeri Swati Sultans. Due to their successful intrigues against their masters mentioned above Babur even ordered that the daughter of Malik Shahmansur their elder at that time be included in his harem. It is claimed that by the 1580s the Yusufzai numbered about 100,000 households. In general, they were uncooperative with the rule of Akbar who in late 1585 sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Raja Bir Bar to subdue them. In February 1586 Raja Bir Bar was killed in fighting with the Yusufzais who were led by the general Gujju Khan. It was not until about 1690 that they were partially brought under the control of the Mughal Empire. In 1849, the Yousafzai established their own Yusafzai State of Swat under the leadership of Akhund Abdul Ghaffur who appointed Sayyid Akbar Shah, a descendant of Pir Baba, as the first emir. After Akbar Shah's death in 1857, Akhund Ghaffur assumed control of the state himself. The state lasted until 1969 under its religious leaders known as Akhunds of Swat, and encompassed the present-day Swat, Buner, Shangla and Kohistan.
Yusufzai tribe is one of the largest tribe of the Pashtun people . According to the Akhund Darweza and many traditions, the Yusufzai tribe trace their origins to the city of Kandahar, which is in present-day Eastern part of the country Afghanistan. In their migration westward, they arrived in which is now considered Kabul, also named Cabel, when it had been governed by the Turk general ruler Ulugh Beg, who had succeeded his father, whose name was Shahrukh Mirza in 1447. According to traditions, Mirza Ullagh Baig assasinates some of the important Yousafzai elders in the area of Kabul. In fear, almost all Yousafzais migrated eastwards to the city of Peshawar, which is in modern-day Pakistan, where they has been given asylum by many other Pashtun tribals
When the Yusufzai tribe migrated and spread into the area (now Northern Pakistan), as far eastwards as Swat, their relationship with the local Peshawari tribes had ruined and a long disputed had commenced. After a period of twenty years, under their tribal elder, Malik Ahmad Khan, the Yusufzai and other different allied clans, the Jadoon and Uthmankhale, were somehow able to force the local Eastern tribes even more eastwards towards the Hazara region mountains, in current-day Pakistan, this area was east of Indus/Sindh River, first Pashtun tribe in the area, in the battle of Kattlang.
The Yusufzai tribe is referred to as the "Isapzays" by Alexander of Macedonia in an account from 300 BC. They also were later referred by the Mughal empires Babur in the mid-sixteenth century. It is often said that by 1500, the Yusufzais has numbers of about 100,000 households or more. In general, they were really uncooperative during the rule of Emporer Akbar who sent the Mughal military under Generals Zain Khan Khoka and also General Raja Birbar to align them. In 1585, Raja Birbar was killed during in the war with tribe of the Yusufzai. It was not until really 1700, when that they were fully brought into the boundaries of the Mughal Empire. Pir Baba, was the first emir. After Akbar Shah's death in the nineteenth century, Akhund Ghaffor has taken control of the whole region by himself. The state had lasted until the early 20th century under its Islamic leaders who were known as the Akhunds of Swat, and they had then passed on to the last final dynasty of Gujar, who had rule over the area now composing the present day regions Swat, and the District of Buner, east on the side of the Indus. KohistanandShangla till 1969.
Settlements
The Yuosufzai are the predominant population in the Pakistani districts of Swat, Swabi, Buner, Shangla, Mardan, Malakand, Tor Ghar, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swabi in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan. They are also living in villages of Battagram and the village of Rasheeda, Maloga village of the Oghi Tehsil, of Mansehra, Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, they usually live in the parts of the Kunar, Nangarhar, and also Herat provinces. In Balochistan, Pakistan, there is even a Yusufzai sub-tribe of the Balochi Dewar tribe in the Distict of Mastung, which primarily speak Brahui, and a dialect of Dari with little mixtures of Brahui vocabulary
.
Most Yusufzai speak the Upper dilalect of Pashto, or Pakhto in this case, in which, the harsh kh shound replaces the softer sh sound that contrast of the many southern Pashto variants.The history of the Pashtunkhwa, shows that the some Kingdoms such as the Gandhara lasted from the 6th century to the 11th century. It has reached its maximum from the starting 1st century to ending on 5th century under the many Hindu-Buddhist, Turkic, Shahs. The Hindu Shahi is a term that is expressly used by famous historian and writer, Al-Biruni to reference to the ruling Hindu-Buddist dynasty that had taken over the rule from the Turkic dynasty and had ruled the Central Asian region during the period prior to Muslim conquests in the eighth and twelfth centuries. Later on, it had been conquered by famous Muslim ruler Mahmood al-Ghazni in years of mid-1000s, the name of the Gandhara region had disappeared.
The city of the Yusufzai, as Kandahar history indicates, the city was found in approximately 330 BC by Alexander of Macedonia, near the site of the ancient city of Mundigak, which was founded/established at around 3000 BC. Previously, the city had been the capital of a province of Arachosia and that which was previously ruled by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The main inhabitants of Arachosia were called the Pactyans, an ancient Iranian tribe. The city was named Alexandria, which was a popular and not unique name that was given to the cities that Alexander had found throughout his conquests around the world.
Most Yusufzai trace their history to the the city, Kandahar. The city has been a very prospect target for conquest by many empires because of its very strategic location in South Asia and Central Asia, it controls the main and only trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East, many parts of Central Asia and even the Arabian Gulf. Then later it became part of the Mauarids in their empire, ruled by Chandragupta Mawarya basically after the defeat of Alexander's army . The emperor Ashoka has been there with a evidence of lingual inscriptions in Greek language. Due to the staironaries of many empires, Yusufzais like many Afghans have a strong Greco-Persian lineage.
Richards, John F. (1993). The Mughal Empir. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–51.
