Orakzai

Orakzai
اورکزۍ‎
Languages
	Pashto
Religion
	Islam (Majority Sunni, Minority Shia)
Related ethnic groups
	Afridi · Khattak · Mahsud · Wazir; and other Karlani Pashtun tribes

The Orakzai (Pashto: وركزۍ) are a Pashtun tribe native to the Orakzai Agency and parts of Kurram and Khyber Agencies in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Additionally, a sub-tribe of the Orakzai resides in Afghanistan's Maidan Wardak Province. The Orakzai people predominantly speak Pashto.

Location

The Orakzai belong to the Tirah valley located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Orakzais inhabit the mountains to the north-west and north-east of Kohat district, bounded on the north and east by the Afridis or Khyber Agency, on the south by the Bangash or Miranzai Valley and on the west by the Bangash country and the Safed Koh mountains.^[1]

History

Origins

The Orakzai tribes take their name, which literally means the lost son (Wrak Zoi), he was an exiled Prince of Iran named Sikandar Shah from the Qajar Dynasty with Oghuz Turkic Origin, he got lost and was adopted by karalan, and after many adventures he married and settled in Tirah.^[2] One branch, the Ali Khel, has been traced to Swat, whence they were expelled by the other inhabitants and it is not improbable that the whole tribe consists of refugee clans of the surrounding races.^[1] They cultivate a good deal of the Khanki and Kurmana valleys in the winter, but in the hot months retire to the heights of Tirah, of which they occupy the southern half called the Mastura Valley.^[1]

Mughal era

The Orakzais served in the Mughal army. The Bhopal State of India was established by Dost Muhammad Khan, an Orakzai commander in the Mughal army. His descendants, the Nawabs of Bhopal, were of Orakzai ancestry.^[3]

British era

The government of British India estimated that the tribe had 28,000 fighting men. They were the object of various British military expeditions, notably in 1855, 1868, 1869, 1891 and the Tirah campaign of 1897.^[1]

List of Notable Orakzai people

Dost Mohammad Khan, founder and King of Bhopal
Jalal Khan Orakzai, Afghan war hero who defended his town and from a force of 80,000 invaders
Ali Jan Orakzai, former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Munir Khan Orakzai, Parliamentary leader of FATA
Abdul Jalil Orakzai, War Hero of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965^[4]

External links

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Orakzai" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 144–145.
^ "Census of India, 1901, Volume 17, Part 1" by India Census Commissioner, Edward Albert Gait. Published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1902. Pg 149.
^ Shaharyar M. Khan (2000). The Begums of Bhopal: A History of the Princely State of Bhopal. I.B.Tauris. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-86064-528-0.
^ Voices of KP (Sept 2020) Heroes of 6 September 1965 War by Zarghona Khalil

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[EB1911-1] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Orakzai" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 144–145.

[2] "Census of India, 1901, Volume 17, Part 1" by India Census Commissioner, Edward Albert Gait. Published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1902. Pg 149.

[3] Shaharyar M. Khan (2000). The Begums of Bhopal: A History of the Princely State of Bhopal. I.B.Tauris. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-86064-528-0.

[4] Voices of KP (Sept 2020) Heroes of 6 September 1965 War by Zarghona Khalil

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