The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, with substantial numbers in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's

Federally Administered Tribal Areas , conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas , nation = Pakistan , subdivision = Autonomous territory , image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg , image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...

, inhabiting about 100p mi² (8000 km²) of rough hilly area in the Zarlash eastern Spin Ghar range west of

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, covering most of Khyber Agency, FR Peshawar and FR Kohat.Afridi demographics in FATA and FR Kohat
/ref> Their territory includes the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing p ...

and Maidan in

Tirah The Tirah also spelled Terah ( ps, تیراہ) also called the Tirah Valley (), is a mountainous tract located in the Khyber district, lying between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley in Pakistan. Society Lying close to the Pak-Afghan borde ...

. Afridi migrants are also found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, mostly in the states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and in the Kupwara district of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

.Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India
''Khyber.org'' (retrieved 30 January 2008) Historically, the Afridi have been known for the strategic location they inhabit in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

and their belligerence against foreign forces. Under the leadership of Darya Khan Afridi, they engaged in protracted warfare against the

Mughal army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

in the 1670s. During the First,

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

, and

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

s, Afridis fought against the British on the Afghan side; these skirmishes comprised some of the fiercest fighting of the

Anglo-Afghan War Anglo-Afghan War may refer to: * British-Afghan Wars ** First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842) ** Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) ** Siege of Malakand & Tirah Campaign (1897) ** Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) ** Operation Herrick ( War in A ...

Ajab Khan Afridi Ajab Khan Afridi ( ps}) was an Afghan guerrilla fighter from Darra Adam Khel belonging to the Afridi tribe of Pashtuns. Following a raid on his house by a British Indian Army (BIA) detachment in 1923, Afridi declared it a personal affront to his h ...

was a well-known

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

independence activist against

British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

. The British colonial administration frequently classified the peoples of Colonial Indian with fixed personality or "racial" traits and regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen "martial" under the martial races theory. Different Afridi clans also cooperated with the British in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the

Khyber Rifles The Khyber Rifles are a paramilitary regiment, forming part of the Pakistani Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North). The Rifles are tasked with defending the border with Afghanistan and assisting with law enforcement in the districts adjac ...

, an auxiliary force of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

. Shortly after the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

and

creation of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a List of historical separatist movements, political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslims, Muslim-majority a ...

, Afridi tribesmen were among the ranks of the Pashtun militias that invaded the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

in October 1947, sparking the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, or the First Kashmir War, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars that was fought between th ...

and the ongoing

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed ...

. Today, Afridis make use of their dominant positions along the

Durand Line The Durand Line ( ps, د ډیورنډ کرښه; ur, ), forms the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, a international land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to th ...

in areas of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in armaments, munitions and goods.

Etymology and origins

The Afridis, classically called the Abaörteans (; lat, Abaortae), have their original homeland in Tirah, Khyber Agency.

A tribe of ancient Pashtuns

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

mentions a tribe of Aryans as Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται). Scholars Grierson,

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Aust ...

and

Olaf Caroe Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe, (15 November 1892 – 23 November 1981) was an administrator in British India, working for the Indian Civil Service and the Indian Political Service. He served as the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India ...

equate these with modern Afridis on the basis of linguistic and geographic analysis.

Theory of Afridi descent from Israelites

The Afridis, Yusufzais and other

s of

and

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.

Clans

The Afridi Tribe is subclassified into eight sub-tribes listed below. *Kuki Khel *Qambar Khel *

Zakha Khel The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

*Kamar Khel *Malikdin Khel *

Aka Khel Aka Khel or Akakhel is an area of Landi Kotal Tehsil, Khyber Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan located in the Tirah Valley. Census Information As of 2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War ...

*Sepah * Adam Khel All Afridi clans have their own areas in the Tirah Valley, and most of them extend down into the

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 ''

jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethni ...

s'' 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

and

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

. Their preserve is the

Kohat Pass Kohat Pass ( ur, ) is a mountain pass in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, between the cities of Kohat and Peshawar. The pass traverses the Khigana Mountains, which stretch from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas towards Attock. ...

in which several of the most important Afridi gun factories are located.

Religion

All Afridis follow the Sunni sect of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. Their conversion to Islam is attributed to Sultan (Emperor)

Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At t ...

by Ibbetson and Haroon Rashid.

History

Resistance against the Mughals

The Afridis and their allies Khalils were first mentioned in the

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

of Mughal Emperor

Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian ''babr'' (Persian: ببر), meanin ...

as violent tribes in need of subduing. The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

with

and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.''History of Khyber Agency: Gateway to the Subcontinent''
, Office of the Political Agent, Khyber Agency Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

and

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, to little success. The Afridis once destroyed two large Mughal armies of Emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

: in 1672, in a surprise attack between

and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

, 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 (minced meat fried in oil), lamb shorba, chicken shorba, or goat shorba. The hotels in Peshawar Namak Mandi Bazar represent the traditional food of Afridis, especially lamb karahi.

List of notable Afridis

Shahid Afridi at the County Ground, Taunton, during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England - 20100902

(1866 – 8 January 1961), Pashtun independence activist against the British Raj *

Shahid Afridi Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi ( ur, شاہد افریدی‎, ps, شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1977), known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He is current ...

, Pakistani

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and former national captain * Zakir Husain Khan, third President of India, from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969 * Javed Afridi, owner of PSL team

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi ( ur, ; ps, پېښور زلمي; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise T20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

and owner of

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including refrigerators, air conditioners, washin ...

Pakistan *

Khatir Afridi Khatir Afridi ( ps, خاطر آفریدی ) (1929 – August 24, 1968) was a Pashto language poet from Pakistan. Life He was born in the Zakha Khel tribe in Saddu Khel village of Khyber agency. He was a gardener by profession in a nearby hig ...

, Pashto poet * Malik Mehrun Nisa Afridi, twice member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan (upp ...

from

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

* Riaz Afridi, former cricketer for the

Pakistan Cricket Team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...

* Shaheen Afridi, Pakistani cricketer *

Yasir Afridi Yasir Afridi (born 27 July 1988) is a Pakistani footballer who plays for Khan Research Laboratories and Pakistan national football team as a midfielder. He competed at the 2010 Asian Games on the Pakistan national football team. Khan has bee ...

, Pakistani footballer *

Sher Ali Afridi Sher Ali Afridi, also called Shere Ali, is known for killing Lord Mayo, the Viceroy of India, on 8 February 1872. He was a prisoner on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at the time, sentenced for murder. Early life Sher Ali worked for the coloni ...

, former policeman from

who assassinated

Lord Mayo Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a British statesman and prominent member of the British Conservative Party who ser ...

, the Viceroy of British India, in 1872 *

Umar Gul Umar Gul (Urdu: , ps, عمر گل) (born 15 October 1982 ) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who is the current bowling coach of Quetta Gladiators. He played all three formats of the game as a right arm fast medium bowler for ...

, of the Malak Din Khel; Pakistani International

* Shakeel Afridi, physician * Ayub Afridi, drug lord *

Ahmad Kamal Faridi Ahmad Kamal Faridi ( Urdu: احمد کمال فریدی) (Inspector Faridi, later Colonel Faridi, also known as Colonel Hardstone) is a fictional spy and crime-fighter, created by Ibn-e-Safi as the lead character of the Urdu spy novel series ...

(Colonel Fareedi, Colonel Faridi), internationally famous character of

Ibn-e-Safi Ibn-e-Safi (26 July 1928 – 26 July 1980) (also spelled as Ibne Safi) ( ur, ) was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad ( ur, ), a fiction writer, novelist and poet of Urdu from Pakistan. The word Ibn-e-Safi is an Persian expression which literal ...

, world renowned mystery writer/novelist of Pakistan.

showed in his two novels (out of 125 novels) of

Jasoosi Dunya Jasoosi Dunya (Urdu: جاسوسى دنيا) is a popular series of Urdu detective stories created by Ibne-Safi. Its first novel, ''Dilaer Mujrim'' (دلير مجرم) was published in March 1952. In the following 27 years, Ibn-e-Safi wrote 127 bo ...

(The Spy World) novel number 52 and novel number 117 that Colonel Fareedi belongs to Afridi tribe. * Malik Sher Muhammad Khan Afridi, Chief of

Sepah The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

. He along with the Maliks of Khyber Agency visited

Kolkatta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerci ...

on train from

along with Political Agent, Colonel

Robert Warburton Colonel Sir Robert Warburton (11 July 1842 – 22 April 1899) was an Anglo-Afghan soldier and administrator. Half-Afghan and proficient in Pashtu, he served for many years as British political officer in charge of the Khyber Pass, a region of s ...

. He also was a key figure in the relations between the Pathans especially the Afridis and the British Government during the 19th century, also mentioned in the book Eighteen Years in the Khyber."Review of Eighteen Years in the Khyber, 1879–1898 by Col. Sir Robert Warburton" Sher Muhammad Khan Afridi Sipah

*Malik Muhammad Akbar Afridi Sepah, 1946-1998, former Chieftain of the Bara of Khyber Agency, met

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

and former British Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

during their visits to

References

External links

Encyclopædia Iranica: AFRĪDĪ
{{Authority control Social groups of Pakistan Karlani Pashtun tribes Pashto-language surnames Pakistani names