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Bangash (Pashto: بنګښ, Urdu: بنگش) is the name of a Pashtun clan. The Bangash clan inhabit regions within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Kurram Agency, the Miranzai Valley (Hangu, Sarozai, Doaba, Darsamand Jandi and Tall city) bordering the Samana Range, Naryab, Tirah, Kohat and Peshawar within the Sarhad province. Some Bangash also inhabit the Rudain, Kaimganj and Farrukhabadregions in India, most notable of whom were the Nawabs of Farrukhabad who established their own Afghan colony.
The Bangash inhabit the Miranzai valley (Hangu), the Kohat defile in British territory (now North West Pakistan), and the valley of Kurram river in Afghanistan. They are said to be the descendants of a person named Ismail, who was surnamed Bankash or Bangash (meaning "root-destroyer"). The Samilzai Bangash, in particular, are noted for their bravery and could turn 3000 plus fighting men. The Bangash inhabited the Kurram valley for several hundred years. The emperor Babur (A.D. 1504), the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, mentions the names of the local Pashtun tribes in his biography. Babur describes a population of approximately 5600 Bangash located in Kuramm, which was formerly divided into Bangash-i-Bala and Bangash Payan, Upper and Lower Bangash, and lists Bangash as one of the fourteen provinces then dependent on Kabul. Babur wished to conquer these provinces, but was unable to conquer the territory bounded on the north by the Koh-i-Sufaid down as far as Bannu, where Bangash, Turis, Wazirs live, as is clear from his comments: "Bangash is another tuman [of Kabul]. The area round about is full of Afghan highway robbers such as the Khugiani, Khirilchi, Turi and Landar. Since it is isolated they do not pay the desired revenue. As greater tasks such as the conquest of Qandahar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Hindustan occupied me, there has been no opportunity to subjugate the Bangash".
The three main divisions of the clan are the Miranzai, Baizais and Samilzai. The Miranzai and the Baizai inhabit the main Kohat valley and the Samilzai inhabit the in the wild Kohat jungle district.
The Kohat Gazetteer of 1883-84 records
|“||'The Orakzai tribes are said to have been converted by the Tirah Syeds about the beginning of the present century. The Bangash of Samizai were probably converted a little earlier.|
The Bangash Tribe
|Main Bangash Lineages||Genealogical Descen||Political Affiliation||Religion|
|Miranzai||Gar||Gar + Samel Minority||Sunni + Shia|
|Samelzai||Samel||Gar + Samel Minority||Shia + Sunni Minority|
|Tribe||Division||Subdivision||Section of subdivision(Khel)|
|Bangash||Gaar||Baizai||Alisher, Gulshah, Landi, Shingi, Biland, Hasan, Mandar, Tapi, Dang, Isa, Mastu, Daulat, Shamshedi, Musa, Darsamand, Kamal, Mysaro, Doda, Kati, Shadi, Makhizai etc.|
|Miranzai||Aba, Alisher, Azi, Badda, Hasan, Isap, Khoja, Labi, Lodi, Mandar, Mardo, Aaji Khel Shahu etc.|
|Samil||Ali, Darbi, Kalesar, Kasi, Khadi, Khadir, Khoti, Landi, Mama, Mari, Mastori, Mozu, Musa, Naso, Pae, Tana, Tazi, Ustarizai,Kohat, Hangu etc.|
The Baizai are a sub-tribe of the Bangash tribe. Believed to be the first amongst the Bangash tribesmen, along with the Miranzai, to have come down from their traditional home in the Kurram Valley to oust the Orakzais from Kohat, with assistance from Khattak tribesmen in the surrounding areas, and settle in their stead. The name Baizai originated from that of a tribal chieftain of the Bangashes,Behzad Khan-son of Amirzai chief Daulat Khan-a tribal chieftain and feudal lord. Behzad Khan is said to have been married to a daughter of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Amir of the Pashtuns. Behzad Khan had an older brother Malak Mir who was the chieftain of the Amrizai Bangashes, which encompassed all the existing clans, until he passed. Today all the descendants of Dualat Khan are known as Baizai. The Baizai Bangashes inhabit most of rural Kohat and parts of the city limits where most government installations, institutions and commercial centers have been built on their lands. All Baizais are Sunni Muslims. They are further divided in to clans or khels. The local Hindko speaking population refer to them as Behzadi.
The Miranzai occupy a vast territory in Hangu known as the Miranzai Valley, where they with assistance from other Bangash and Khattak tribesmen encroached on lands controlled by the Orakzais, in much the same fashion the Baizais of Kohat did so. Miranzai Bangashes include both Shias and Sunnis. The Miranzai are the descendants of Miran, one of the grandchildren of Ismail, the progenitor of the Bangash tribe.
The Samilzai are almost entirely Shia. Unlike the other two main factions, the Samilzai distinction existed from the earliest days of the tribe but it was only until the period during which the rebellion by the Burki Pashtun warrior poet, Pir Roshan took place when the division with the main branches of the tribe became visible. Today the Samilzai inhabit parts of the Kohat Valley and Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, alongside the Turi.
The Bangash speak a harder variant of Pashto similar to that of the Yousafzais but slightly differing in some lexicographical and phonetic features. Some Bangash in Kohat area speak the Hindko language as their mother tongue.
The Bangash follow the religion of Islam. The Bangash are both Sunni and Shia Muslims. The Shias are concentrated around upper Kurram and Hangu, while the Sunnis are mostly concentrated around lower Kurram and Thall area of Hangu.The (Masluk)of Bangsh is (Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jammat) Means Deobandi .The Majority part of Bangash tribe is Sunni and Shia is an Minority part of Bangash .The People of Thall city are Totally Sunni (Deobandi ) .
- ^ Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India, Khyber.org (retrieved 30 January 2008)
- ^ Lt.-Col MacGreg. iii. p.65
- ^ "The Garden of the Eight Paradises", Stephen Frederic Dale, pg. 304
- ^ Gazetteer of the Kohat District 1883-84 published by Sang e meel publications Pakistan page 69
- ^ The Pathans, Government of India Press, New Delhi 1938
- ^ The Daily Times, March 30, 2006