Afridi


The Afridi are a tribe of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in Khyber and Darra Adam Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and smaller parts of Nangarhar, Afghanistan.
Most Afridis speak a northern variety of Pashto known as Afridi Pashto.
The Afridis are historically known for the strategic location they inhabit and their belligerence against outside forces; battling the Mughal dynasty's armies throughout Mughal rule. The later clashes against British expeditions comprised the most savage fighting of the Anglo-Afghan Wars. Ajab Khan Afridi was a famous independence activist against the rule of the British Raj.
Afridi tribesmen fought against and with the British in Afghanistan during all three Anglo-Afghan wars. The British frequently classified the peoples that they conquered with fixed personality or "racial" traits and regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "warlike" peoples and one of the Martial Race. Different Afridi clans cooperated with the British forces in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the British Indian Army.
After the creation of Pakistan, Afridi tribesmen also helped attack Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947. Today, Afridis make use of their dominant social position in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in arms, munitionsgoods. Afridis speak the Afridi Pashto.
The Afridi fought against and with the British in Afghanistan during all three Anglo-Afghan wars. The British frequently classified the peoples that they conquered with fixed personality or "racial" traits and regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "warlike" peoples and one of the Martial Race. Different Afridi clans cooperated with the British forces in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the British Indian Army.

Etymology and origins

The Afridis, classically called the Abaörteans, have their original homeland in Tirah, Khyber Agency.

A tribe of ancient Pashtuns

mentions a tribe of the Pactyans as Aparytai. Scholars Grierson, Stein and Olaf Caroe equate these with modern Afridis on the basis of linguistic and geographic analysis.

Theory of Afridi descent from Israelites

The Afridis and other Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been alleged to be the descendants of the lost Jewish tribes such as the Efraim. However, DNA and other research towards validating such claims has been inconclusive. They also speak an Indo European language, not a Semitic language.

Clans

The Afridi Tribe is subclassified into eight sub tribes listed below.
All Afridi clans have their own areas in the Tirah Valley, and most of them extend down into the Khyber Pass over which they have always exercised the right of toll. The Malikdin Khel live in the centre of the Tirah and hold Bagh, the traditional meeting place of Afridi jirgas or assemblies. The Aka Khel are scattered in the hills south of Jamrud. All of this area is included in the Khyber Agency. The Adam Khel live in the hills between Peshawar and Kohat. Their preserve is the Kohat Pass in which several of the most important Afridi gun factories are located.

Religion

All Afridis follow Islam Sunni by sect. Their conversion to Islam is attributed to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni by Ibbetson and Haroon Rashid.

History

Resistance against the Mughals

The Afridis and their allies Khalils were first mentioned in the memoirs of Mughal Emperor Babar as violent tribes in need of subduing. The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the Indian subcontinent with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.
Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors Akbar and Jahangir both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, to little success.
The Afridis once destroyed two large Mughal armies of Emperor Aurangzeb: in 1672, in a surprise attack between Peshawar and Kabul, and in the winter of 1673, in an ambush in the mountain passes. The emperor sent his Rajpoot general Rai Tulsidas with reinforcements into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain.
Allegedly, only five Afridis made it out of the battle alive.

Cuisine

Meat is an important part of their diet, which they often eat in the form of kabab, lamb curry, chicken curry or goat curry. The hotels in Peshawar Namak Mandi Bazar represent the traditional food of Afridis, especially lamb karahi.

List of notable Afridis