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Revision as of 14:19, 22 December 2006 by Realton (talk | contribs) (→Indian Yusufzais)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Yusufzai (also Yousafzai, Esapzey, or Yusufi) (Urdu: یوسف زئی, Hindi: युसुफ़्ज़ै युज़ी) are an Afghan Pashtun tribe, and one of, if not the largest of such tribes. The majority of the Yusufzai tribe reside in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, with some tribal Yususfzais nestled along the Afghan border. Yusufzais are the predominant population in the districts of Swat, Mardan, Malakand and Swabi. They speak the northern variant of "Pukhtu" with the hard "kh" replacing the softer "sh" of southern Pashtun tribes. Their manner of speaking Pashto is universally recognised as being the purest among all Pashtun tribes.
History
In their migration eastward, arrived at Kabul when Mirza Ulugh Beg was governor. He succeeded his father, Shah Rukh, who was a son of Timur (Taimur-e-Lang), in 1446 A.D. In the time of Babur, who first came to Kabul in 1504 A.D. the whole of the Peshawar district had already been colonized by different Afghan tribes; and, on his second visit, fourteen years later, he found the Yusufzais had spread well into Swat. The settlement of the Yusufzais in their present limits, on these data, must, therefore, have been and subsequent to the dates above-mentioned.
An account of the Yusufzai migration from Kandahar, their wanderings, and final settlement in their present limits, is their take over on the lands from the Dilazaks, whom, without much difficulty, they drove across the Indus to the Hazara mountains (now known as the Hazara District where lies the beautiful city of Abbottabad), after a single but desperate and decisive battle fought on the plains between the villages of Gadar and Langarkot.
Demographics
After settling themselves firmly in the plains, the Yusufzais pushed on into the hill country beyond and in a few years became the masters of Swat and Buner. Three sections of the tribe, the Hassanzai, Akazai and Chagharzai, inhabit the west slopes of the Black Mountain, and the Yusufzai country stretches thence to the Utman Khel territory. The Kamalzai Yusufzais inhabit Hoti of Mardan District.
Theories of Origin
The Yusufzais are said to be descended from one Mandai, who had two sons, Umar and Yusuf. Umar died, leaving one son, Mandan; from Mandan and Yusuf come the two primary divisions of the Yusufzais, which are split into numerous subdivisions, including the Isazai, Malizai, Akazai, Ranizai and Utmanzai. There also have been some theories that they are descended from the lost tribes of Bani Israel.
Sub-Tribes
Indian Yusufzais
During the Mughal rule, thousands of Yusufzais migrated to present day India with invading rulers such as Babar and the Lodhi Kings. Some of these families went on to become the ruling Nawab families, such as the Nawab of Rampur's clan who are Yousefzais. The Yousefzais of India settled permenantly in many parts of India, such as Bhopal,Rampur,Tonk and Baroda. After partition of India in 1947, many of them migrated to the urban areas of Punjab and Sindh.Their centuries of stay in India has changed their native language from Pashtu to pure Urdu.Now almost none of them can even understand the Pashtu language.They have played a very important role in the promotion of Urdu language.
See also
- Pashtun
- Religion: Pashtunwali
- Pashtun tribes
- Forward Castes
- Rohilla
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)
