Dilazak


The Dilazak is a Pashtun tribe, primarily living in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

History

The Dilazak originally dwelled in eastern Afghanistan in the Sulaiman Range. They were the first of the Pashtun tribes from the region to migrate north-eastwards. They descended to the valley of Peshawar through Khyber Pass during the time of Samanid Dynasty, between 750 and 850 CE. The Dilazak expelled or subdued other tribes of the area. By the time of Mehmood Ghaznavi, the Dilazak had reached the Indus River. They participated in the campaigns of Mehmood Ghaznavi in large numbers under their leader Malik Yahya Khan. In the 500 years that followed, they extended up to Hassan Abdal and towards the North up to Abbottabad. According to Aain-i-Akbari, the Dilazak were the only Pashtun tribe that possessed lands in Hazara Qaarlugh.
Around 1520, another Pashtun tribe, the Yousafzai, was expelled from Kabul by Mirza Ulugh Beg – October 27, 1449 ), a Timurid ruler and paternal uncle of the Mughal Emperor Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur. The Yusufzai migrated to Peshawar valley where they sought and received help from the Dilazak. Later, the relationships between the two tribes deteriorated and a long war ensued. 20 years later, at the battle of Katlang, the Yousafzai, the Utmankhel and other tribes pushed the Dilazak east of the Indus River under the leadership of Malik Ahmed Khan.

Dispersal by the Mughals

The Mughal had fluctuating relations with the Pashtun tribes in Afghanistan. The Dilazak were on the eastern side of the Indus River and thus vulnerable to the Mughal army. Around 1607, while on his way to Kabul, Mughal Emperor Salim Nuruddin Jahangir left his large army under the command of , and ordered him to wipe out the Dilazak and arrest the leaders of the Khhattar tribe. Zaffar Khan Koka complied with the orders and deported 100,000 families of the Dilazak to Lahore for further dispersal throughout India. Few families of the Dilazak escaped this exodus.

Return under Shahjahan

Most of the Dilazak returned during the reign of the Mughal King Shah ab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram alias Shah Jahan , and settled in parts of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province and Punjab Province of Pakistan in their old lands. One of them, Saleh Khan, settled with his family in Sara-e-Saleh and Tir, both in Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province in Pakistan.
Sub-Sections of the Dilazak include Anayatkhani, Lodhikhel, Nusratkhel, Shamshirkhani, Mirzakhel, and others.
The Dilazak are living in the following parts of the Indian Subcontinent:-
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Punjab
Sindh
East Bengal
West Bengal
Andhra Pradesh
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
The Dilazak also dwell in Germany, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.