The Rohilla Pathans , or Rohilla Afghans, are a community of Muslim Hindustani-speaking Pashtuns historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, North India. They form the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and have given their name to the Rohilkhand region. Some members of the Rohilla migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi after the partition of India, forming a part of the larger Muhajir community of Sindh. The Rohilla Pathans can be found all over Uttar Pradesh, but are more concentrated in Farrukhabad, Malihabad and the Rohilkhand regions of Bareilly, Shahjahanpur and Rampur. Smaller scattered populations of the Rohilla of Afghan decent can be found in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, and the South American countries of Suriname and Guyana. Origin The Rohilla are descended from a number of Pashtun tribes that settled in the Rohilkhand region in the 17th and 18th Centuries. They belonged mainly to Yousafzai tribe of Pashtuns, particularly of the Mandanh sub-section, but other Pashtuns also became part of the community. Rohilla's Sardar like Daud Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, and the legendary Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech were from the renowned Afghan tribe the Barech, who were originally from the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. The term Rohilla is derived from the Pashtu Roh, meaning mountain, and literally means a mountain air, and was used by the Baluch and Jats of the Derajat region to refer to the Pashtun mountains tribes of Loralai, Zhob and Waziristan regions. In Uttar Pradesh, it was used for all Pashtuns, except for the Shia Bangash who settled in the Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs. The Rohilla Daud Khan was awarded the Katehr region in the then northern India by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658-1707) to suppress Rajput uprisings, which had afflicted this region. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various Pashtun tribes (Yusafzai, Ghori, Ghilzai, Barech, Marwat, Durrani, Tanoli, Tareen, Kakar, Afridi and Khattak) were hired by Mughals to provide soldiers to the Mughal armies and this was appreciated by Aurangzeb Alamgir, an additional force of 25,000 men was given respected positions in Mughal Army. However most of them settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,0000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region gained fame as Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state. Other important cities were Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, and others. According to 1901 census of India, the total Pathan population in Bareilly District was 40,779, out of a total population of 1,090,117. Their principal clans were the Yusafzais, Ghoris, Ghilzai, Barech, Marwat, Durrani, Tanoli, Tarin, Kakar, Khattak, Afridi and Baqarzai. This region is nowadays located in modern Uttar Pradesh state of India, and still home to a significant Rohilla population. Rohillas were distinguished by their separate language and culture. They spoke Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language over time and now converse in Hindustani. After the partition of India in 1947, some Rohillas moved to Karachi in Pakistan and as a result, a significant number of Urdu-speaking Muhajir in Sindh are of Pashtun heritage. History Early history The founders of the Pashtun state of Rohilkhand were Daud Khan and his adopted son Ali Mohammed Khan. Daud Khan arrived in 1705 in South Asia, along with a band of his tribe namely the Barech. He was succeeded in 1721 by Ali Mohammed Khan, who became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central governament. Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Oudh, warned the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to send an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor of Sirhind. In 1748, he returned to Rohilkhand and recovered his lost possessions. Later that year Ali Mohammed Ali Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, the most important being Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech, Najib-ud-Daula and Dundi Khan. Following the Battle of Panipat in 1761 Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RohillaPublic domain image sourced from http://wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patthargarh_fort_outside_Najibabad,_1814-15.jpg

• published: 18 Sep 2013
• views: 0