Aboriginal Races of Frontier prior to the Pashtun invasions

[Samandri]

Even Folklore, traditions and legends are singularly silent about the races who inhabited the Frontier prior to Pashtun invasions.

Thorburn records that the Marwat plain was sparsely inhabited by a race which has left us nothing but its name, Pothi , and this race appears to have been found in Marwat so late as three or four centuries ago when Niazis overran it from Tank.
(Bannu or our Afghan fronteir page 14)

In the Thal or steppe of Mianwali local tradition attributes the first possession of country to a half mythical race of gigantic men , called Belemas, whose mighty bones and great earthen vesselsare even now said to discovered beneath the sand hills.
(A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier ...By H.A. Rose, page 48)

According to tradition the Kohat valley before the Bangash invasion was occupied not by Orakzais, but by the tribes of the Gabris, Safis and Maujaris, who are not now to be traced. Whoever the original inhabitants may have been they now entirely disappeared.
(Gazetteer of the Kohat District, 1883-4 - Page 31)

Khands of the Peshawar valley, of whom very little is known, are supposed by some to be very early settlers. (A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier page 49)

Henry George Raverty notes that the Budli or Budni, who consisted of several tribes and held a large tract of country extending from Nangrahar to the Indus, were displaced by the Afghans when they first entered Bangash, the modern Kunam. Raverty adds that the Budlis were expeller from Nangrahar by Sultan Bahrain, 'ruler of Pich and Lamghan. Thence they flew eastwards, according to the Akhund Darveza, and there found others of their race. Raverty hazards a conjecture that the Awans, Khathars and Ghakkars were some of the Budli or Budni tribes who crossed the Indus into Sindh-Sagar Doab.
(Notes on Afghánistan and Part of Baluchistan by H.G.Raverty ... - Page 708)

The Tirahis are a Dardic people who were once Hindus and populated the whole mountain country of Tirah. Pir Roshan is said to have expelled the Tirahis from Tirah. Tirahi is a 'Dardic' dialect spoken in a few villages southeast of Jalalabad in Eastern Afghanistan.

Amongst the wild and almost inaccessible hills of the Dir, Swat, and Panjkora Kohistan are to be found remnants of the population which existed in Buddhist times. All these non-Pathan tribes, who have embraced Islam and dwell in these remote parts of the Hindu Kush, are called Kohistanis by the Pathans themselves
( The Problem of the North-West Frontier, 1890-1908 By C. Collin Davies page 39)
Aboriginal Races of Frontier prior to the Pashtun invasions | History of Pashtuns

 

[ShahidT]

original inhabitants were dardic people and hindkowans. before that (neolithic times) it was probably proto elamo-dravidian people of indus valley civilization.

 

[dil_dil]

Aborginals in NWFP and FATA? And that to only few hundred years ago. Another reason to not take these centuries old books seriously.

 

[DRaisinHerald]

I'm pretty sure there are no 'aboriginals' to that region. As P-e-M states, before the Pakhtuns it was basically the Hindkowans or some related ethnic group, but the more we go back the more the more we shift into the Indo-Aryan theme i.e. Gandhara, Buddhists and so forth.

 

[Samandri]

I am buying H.G.raverty's theory that Awans, Khathars and Ghakkars were displaced by invading pashtun tribes from Afghanistan-Pakhtunkhwa region.......note that the above mentioned tribes of potohar claim that they have migrated from Afghanistan

 

[Rafi]

I am buying H.G.raverty's theory that Awans, Khathars and Ghakkars were displaced by invading pashtun tribes from Afghanistan-Pakhtunkhwa region.......note that all the tribes of potohar claim that they have migrated from Afghanistan

Bullshit, alot of them have different origins, and the only ones claiming migration from A-Stan are Pakistani Punjabi Pashtuns,

 

[Samandri]

Bullshit, alot of them have different origins, and the only ones claiming migration from A-Stan are Pakistani Punjabi Pashtuns,

Both ghakkars and awans claim that they came with Mahmud ghaznavi forces to potohar from afghanistan.

 

[Rafi]

Both ghakkars and awans claim that they came with Mahmud ghaznavi forces to potohar from afghanistan.

Some do, others have different origin stories, like some Pashtun claim to be the lost tribes of Israel.

 

[dil_dil]

Majority of KPK pashtuns are local Karlani tribes assimilated in to pashtuns and Islam. With Durranis and Ghilzai being super tribes of Pashtuns from Afghanistan.

 

[Samandri]

Majority of KPK pashtuns are local Karlani tribes assimilated in to pashtuns and Islam. With Durranis and Ghilzai being super tribes of Pashtuns from Afghanistan.

There are only two Karnlari tribes in KPK, both have migrated from waziristan.
1- Bannuchis, who used to live in Tochi valley of Waziristan, they defeated Hanis and Mangals of Bannu in 13th century and settled there.
2- Khattaks, who migrated from shawal valley of waziristan and settled in Karak from where they spread to Kohat and Nowshera.

 

[dil_dil]

There are only two Karnlari tribes in KPK, both have migrated from waziristan.
1- Bannuchis, who used to live in Tochi valley of Waziristan, they defeated Hanis and Mangals of Bannu in 13th century and settled there.
2- Khattaks, who migrated from shawal valley of waziristan and settled in Karak from where they spread to Kohat and Nowshera.

What about Afridis and Mohmands who are mentioned 2500 years ago by Panini? They live in same place still, i doubt Panini confused them with others. FATA is homeland of Karlani tribes who assimilated in to pashtun culture/islam.

 

[Samandri]

What about Afridis and Mohmands who are mentioned 2500 years ago by Panini? They live in same place still, i doubt Panini confused them with others. FATA is homeland of Karlani tribes who assimilated in to pashtun culture/islam.

Afridis are indeed indigenous, no historian disagree with that. They might be originally dardic people like their neighbors tirahis who were expelled from Tirah in 16th century. Khattaks are also oldest inhabitants. History is silent on how or when they got "Afghanized" .
Unlike FATA, most of the tribes of KPK are "true" Afghan tribes who at some point were living in Koh Sulieman range, then migrated towards Ghor and Kabulistan, from where they entered into KPK in 15th and 16th century.

 

[dil_dil]

Afridis are indeed indigenous, no historian disagree with that. They might be originally dardic people like their neighbors tirahis who were expelled from Tirah in 16th century. Khattaks are also oldest inhabitants. History is silent on how or when they got "Afghanized" .
Unlike FATA, most of the tribes of KPK are "true" Afghan tribes who at some point were living in Koh Sulieman range, then migrated towards Ghor and Kabulistan, from where they entered into KPK in 15th and 16th century.

So its FATA were most of indigenous tribes live? Anyway its quite possible KPK tribes may have come from Balochistan and pushed back Hindkowans.

But Durranis and Ghilzai didnt came from Balochistan? Their origin lies in central asia.

 

[Samandri]

So its FATA were most of indigenous tribes live? Anyway its quite possible KPK tribes may have come from Balochistan and pushed back Hindkowans.

But Durranis and Ghilzai didnt came from Balochistan? Their origin lies in central asia.

Durranis migrated to Kandhar region from Koh suliaman range in 14th century , they are branch of tareens. There is possibility that abdalis, along with other Pashtun tribes of Koh Suleiman range might be remnants of hephthalites. The Kakar country was previously inhabited by Dadi tribe who was mentioned by Herodatus, they are nowadays largely absorbed by kakars.

Ghilzai themselves differ with khilji theory and bibi mato theory, they say that that they are actually ghar-zais, once inhabitants of Ghor, displaced eastward by mongol invasion. And that before ghor, they were inhabitants of Suleiman mountains.

 

[mughal arslan shah mirza]

So its FATA were most of indigenous tribes live? Anyway its quite possible KPK tribes may have come from Balochistan and pushed back Hindkowans.

But Durranis and Ghilzai didnt came from Balochistan? Their origin lies in central asia.

I think that both Durrani and Ghilzai are composed of mostly ethnic native stock of parts of South Afghanistan and west pak with some input from later-day migrations from central Asia. Both groups are the same genetically.
As for native inhabitants of Khyber, I thought it was mostly punjab-oid type people and not just hindkowans. I mean some of the core punjabi groups were pushed inward when Mahmud came .There are still punjab-oid groups living in DI khan etc.