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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.
The ancient home of Yousafzais and other Khashis was countryside of Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. After wanderings they settled down near Kandahar where they divided the territory by lots that was their custom from the remotest times. After some time, the Khashis made a cut in the Arghandab river and thus reduced the share of their neighbors the Tarins. This led to a conflict with Tarins in which Khashis were defeated and driven from their pastures and lands. They requested their kinsmen ; the Ghoria Khels for a piece of land who granted them a tract called 'Ghawara Margha' located on the bank of Tarnak river, between its source at the Mukur hills and its passage in the Kalat-i-Ghilzai. According to Akhund Darweza, it was owing to a serious inundation of their lands on the plains, caused by excessive unusual summer rains. The flood had completely washed away all the foliage from the face of the lands. The Ghoria Khels took back their lands from the Khashis who went over to Naushki near Ghazni. Owing to their numerical weakness and general poverty, they were unable to maintain themselves against their hostile neighbors. In the fourteenth century, they moved on, and after a period of wandering, settled in the hilly country near Kabul. It was during their wandering that the Utman Khels (Karlanris), who had been driven out from their holdings in Tank and Gomal, joined them. The Gigyans and Tarklanris (the sub-tribes of Khashi), and Muhammadzai joined them near Kabul hills. From the hills, they slowly and gradually encroached upon the lands in the plains , and settled down in the vicinity of Kabul city that was then ruled by Mirza Ulugh Beg, son of Abu Said. Abu Said was the most powerful of the Timurid princes in the middle of the fifteenth century, and Babur's grandfather. He is thus the the direct ancestor of the Mughal house of Dehli. In 1469 he conferred on his son, Ulugh Beg, the territories which Timur Lang had conquered towards Indus, namely Kabul, Ghazni, and their dependencies. These, with the capital at Kabul, Ulugh Beg was able to hold until his death in 1501.
The fertile pastures and green valleys , in due course of time, made the Khashi tribes prosperous and their numbers also increased. Malik Suleiman and his brothers, Painda from Gigyani tribe, Shibli and Hasan from the Musazai clan, became powerful chiefs. Malik Sulieman Shah son of Taj-ud-din was the chief of Yousafzai, the major tribe of the Khashis. He cultivated friendship with the minor Prince Ulugh Beg. He gave the Mirza his daughter in marriage. Elphinstone is of the view that the Yousafzai helped Ulugh Beg in gaining power. Gradually the wealth and strength turned Yousafzais head strong. Their youth started plundering the caravans through their settlements , attacked their neighbors and carried off their cattle. Tarikh-i-Hafiz-Rahmat-Khani gives the example of Mir Gat , an Ismaelzai Nurzai Yousafzai , who drank heavily and threatened the merchants of Kabul Bazaar, insisting on purchasing items beneath the market price. No one was able to restrain or stop him.
Richards, John F. (1993). The Mughal Empir. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–51.
