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Khattak

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The Khattak (Template:Lang-ps ) is one of the large Pashtun tribe who speak the central dialect of the Pashto language. The mainly reside and inhabit the barren lands of Karak, Kohat, Nowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. They adhere strictly to Islam, and Pashtunwali, the Pashtun code of conduct.

"The Khattaks are of good physique and light in build. The majority of them are off fair complexion; grey and blue eyes are not uncommon. They wear their hair as do most Pashtuns inhabiting the hilly tracts, long and cut in a bob called by them "tsanrai". The hair when cut reaches just below the ears. A comb and small mirror is usually carried in the folds of their turbans and their hair is well oiled. They are comparatively poor as their country is mostly a welter of bare hills, and land for cultivation is only available in the narrow valleys. The bare, gaunt hills have a lot to do with the formation of their character. On account of their comparative poverty and to a greater extent their martial spirit, Khattaks seek service in the army and, as they are amenable to discipline make excellent soldiers. Their women folk; although not kept in purdah, live a secluded life, that is, men other than their own near relatives arc not permitted to approach or speak to them “Purdah” roughly means “behind the curtain”. The word “Purdah” means curtain. Any fancied approach to a woman, such as singing, going about bareheaded, or combing of the hair, by a stranger within the sight or hearing of women folk is strongly resented by the men and invariably leads to quarrels and not infrequently to death" ~ Sir Buster Goodwin [1]

The dress of both men and women is modest. The men wear baggy trousers gathered in at the ankles and a long loose shirt hanging down to the kness. Now that they are becoming more sophisticated the shirts arc tighter and shorter, but never higher than just above the knees, The dress of the women in the southern areas is mostly red in colour with a black head covering. Twelve to fifteen yards of cloth is required for their baggy trousers, Shirts which reach below the knees are pleated from just about the breast and the same quality and quantity of cloth is used as for the trousers

History

Khushal Khan Khattak

A warrior poet by the name of Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1690) was once the chief of this tribe, and his contributions to Pashto literature are considered as classic texts.[2] His life and times are one of the most chronicled and discussed subjects in Pashtun history, as he was active on the political, social and intellectual fora of his times. He was a most voluminous writer, and composed no less than three hundred and sixty literary works, both in the Pashto and Persian languages.[3]

His poetry revolves around concepts of Pakhtunwali; Honour, Justice, Bravery and Nationalism and his works have been translated into numerous languages, English and Urdu being the primary ones.[4]

Older references

According to Nimatullah's 1620 work History of The Afghans, the Khattaks are amongst the oldest of the Afghan tribes.[5]

The Sattagudai (Template:Lang-grc) were a people mentioned by Herodotus in connection to people under the influence of the Achaemenid Empire.[6]

Herodotus, Book 3, 91.[7] (In this and the two succeeding passages the historian is giving a list of the Achaemenian satrapies and their peoples.)

The Sattagudai and the Gandarioi and the Dadikai and the Aparutai, who were all reckoned together paid 170 talents.

Herodotus, without assigning a name to the satrapy, tells us that Darius' yth Satrapy was inhabited by four tribes, the Sattagudai, the Gandarioi, the Dadikai, and the Aparutai.[8][9]

The addition of the Aparutai/Aparidai correspondence helps to buttress the case for finding in Herodotus traces of names which carry through to the present day. Bellew has gone further and identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak tribe. "The Pathans 55O B.C.-A.D. 1957" printed St Martin's Press 1958 by MacMillan and Company Limited"[9]

Sattagudai

Numerous historians identify the Khattak with the Sattagudai.[7][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:[9]

"Let us now refer to the third passage cited, in which Herodotus, without assigning a name to the satrapy, tells us that Darius' yth

Satrapy was inhabited by four tribes, the Sattagudai, the Gandarioi, the Dadikai, and the Aparutai.

Bellew has gone further and identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak tribe, and the Dadikai with an obscure branch of Kakars whom he calls Dadi."

Khattaks and Shetaks

Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:[9]

"Neither Khataks nor Shitaks appear by name until the period of publication of genealogies under the Mughals, and the time of Akbar's dealings with the Khataks for the protection of the highway to Peshawar. Babur indeed in his memoirs mentions the Karranis (Karlanis) whom he encountered in 1505 around Bannu along with the Niazis and Isakhel. It is probable that this reference of his is to Khattaks or Shitaks, or both, for both are Karlani tribes, and the other Karlanis who live in that area, Wazirs and Bangash, Babur mentions by name when he comes to them."

It is thus clear that Babur & other Mughals in their descriptions identify Khattaks & Shetaks together without any differentiation.

In Pashtun history

Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:[9]

"Taken together, the Khataks and the Shitaks, who now have a common boundary close to Bannu, cover a stretch of territory as large as that held by any Afghan or Pathan tribe, whether Ghilzai, Yusufzai or Durrani. From the Khatak settlements around Lundkhwar, close to the Malakand Pass, to the Shitak villages in Upper Daur in the Tochi, the distance is over 200 miles. The wide extent of their present territory, their large population, and the association of both groups of tribes at one time or another with the rich oases of Bannu and the Tochi, suggest sufficiently their importance in this family of peoples."

Theory of Israelite descent

Main article: Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites

Khattak tribe has oral traditions and legendary history of descent from the Israelites.[16]

Khushal expresses that the Khattak reputation for fierceness and valor stems from the fact that Khattaks and Afghans have been nursed by the Lioness's (King Saul's wife) milk.[17][18]

One of the first progenitors of the modern tribe is Manal. Manal is considered to be a modification of Manas from the word Manasseh.[citation needed] In his book The Armies of India, A.C. Lovett declares the Khattaks to be a widely enlisted tribe, who also lay claim to the Pashtun Jewish descent.[19]

Theory of descent from the Greeks

After the creation of Pakistan, some Pakistani scholars, suggested a Greek descent for the Khattaks. However, from the Histories of Herodotus, Herodotus, Book 3, 91.,[7] it is clear that a tribe by the name of SattaGydae (or Sattagudai) were already settled in the area around current day Ghor in Afghanistan and paid as tribute coinage and materials to the Greeks when they subjugated these areas:

"The Sattagudai and the Gandarioi and the Dadikai and the Aparutai, who were all reckoned together paid 170 talents."

Later Bellew, Caroe and other historians both Pashtun and Western through their works identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak & Shitak tribes. "The Pathans 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957" printed St Martin's Press 1958 by MacMillan and Company Limited"[9]

Though all Afghan DNA[20] including Khattak DNA has minor contributions from haplogroups more common to the Greeks,[21] these are minor enough to rule out a direct lineage. Together with works from Herodotus and more recent historians, the theory of Khattak descent from the Greeks is unfounded.

Afridi and Khattak history

Sir Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans 550BC - 1957AD" :[9]

"The Afridis and Khataks lumped together as Karlanis, can be held to reflect a knowledge that they represented a more aboriginal stock, which only later absorbed the characteristics of the invaders. In other words, it is not surprising that in looking for a prototype in the oldest recorded history bearing on this region we hit on the ancestor of the Pakhtun."

Molding and amalgamation

Sir Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans 550BC - 1957AD" :[9]

"This is not to assert that the ethnic or linguistic stock can be traced through to tribes of similar names today. The case would be rather that these were sub-stratum agglomerations of people who, through contact with later-comers, modified their language and were assimilated to later cultures, but retained in the more inaccessible places sufficient of their older inspirations to boast their original names. The theory does at least give a starting-point to Pathan history & the stock belief in the Bani Israel."

Notables

Further information: List of Khattaks

See also

References

  1. ^ Goodwin, Buster (1969). Living with the Pathans (Khattaks) (2nd ed.). England: Unknown. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-0950082400.
  2. ^ Afghan Poetry: Selections from the poems of Khush Hal Khan Khattak., Biddulph, C.D., Saeed Book Bank, Peshawar, 1983 (reprint of 1890 ed.).
  3. ^ Raverty, H. G. (1860). A Grammar of the Pukhto, Pushto: or Language of the Afghans. London. ISBN 9788120602670.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ MacKenzie, D. N. (1965). Poems from the Diwan of Khushâl Khân Khattak. London: Allen & Unwin.
  5. ^ Deportation by the Assyrians, Makhzan-i Afghani, page 37: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3034/?ql=eng&i=gcu&view_type=gallery
  6. ^ James Romm; Herodotus (15 March 2014). Histories. Hackett Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-62466-115-0.
  7. ^ a b c The Histories of Herodotus, George Rawlinson, Translation 1858–1860.
  8. ^ "The Pathans 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957" printed St Martin's Press 1958 by MacMillan and Company Limited"
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Pathans 55O B.C.-A.D. 1957 By Sir Olaf Caroe"
  10. ^ Guardians of the Khaibar Pass: the social organisation and history of the Afridis of Pakistan David M. Hart Page 7.
  11. ^ The races of Afghanistan being a brief account of the principal nations, By Henry Walter Bellew - 2004 - 124 pages - Page 85.
  12. ^ An inquiry into the ethnography of Afghanistan: prepared and presented to the Ninth international congress of Orientalists, London, September, 1891 - The Oriental university institute, 1891 - 208 pages - pages 107,108,122.
  13. ^ A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province: Based on the census report for the Punjab, 1883 - Horace Arthur Rose, Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Sir Edward Maclagan - Printed by the superintendent, Government printing, Punjab, 1914 - Page 217.
  14. ^ Qabila: tribal profiles and tribe-state relations in Morocco and on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Frontier - By David M. Hart - - 2001 - 254 pages - Page 152.
  15. ^ Afghanistan of the Afghans - Bhavana Books & Prints, 2000 - 272 pages - Ikbal Ali Shah (Sirdar.) - Page 95.
  16. ^ Ferishta, History Of The Mohammedan Power. The Packard Humanities Institute Persian Texts in Translation, Book 1 Chapter 2 page 11, Part II page 54 and Part II page 130, (90)
  17. ^ Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, Volume 54, Issues 3-4, Page 30.
  18. ^ Perspective, Volume 4, Pakistan Publications., 1971.Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, Volume 54, Issues 3-4, Pakistan Historical Society, 2006 - Page 86.
  19. ^ The Armies of India, A. C. Lovett, Major, The Lancer International Inc., 19558 S. Harlem Avenue, Suit 1, Frankfort IL. 60423., 224 pages, Page 152.
  20. ^ Sengupta S, Zhivotovsky LA, King R, et al. (2006). "Polarity and temporality of high-resolution y-chromosome distributions in India identify both indigenous and exogenous expansions and reveal minor genetic influence of central asian pastoralists". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 78 (2): 202–21. doi:10.1086/499411. PMC 1380230. PMID 16400607.
  21. ^ Firasat S, Khaliq S, Mohyuddin A, et al. (2007). "Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan". Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 15 (1): 121–6. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201726. PMC 2588664. PMID 17047675.

Further reading

  • Pelevin, Mikhail (2019). "Khaťak". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
  • David M., Hart. Guardians of the Khaibar Pass, the social organisation and history of the Afridis of Pakistan. p. 7.
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