Swatis (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

: سواتي) are a Pashtun tribe, mostly inhabiting the Hazara Division of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

province 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 ...

. They are mostly agricultural and are the biggest land owning tribe in the districts of

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Gojr ...

and Batagram (Feudal Tanawal excluded). Swatis are divided into four major tribal clans: Gabri (گبری), Mitravi (متراوی), Mumyaali (ممیالی) and Toar (ٹوڑ). Some of them speak Hindko in towns like

, Balakot, Naran, Kaghan and Garhi Habibullah while majority of them speak Pashto as a mother tongue. Their code of conduct and customs are similar to

Pashtunwali Pashtunwali or Pakhtunwali ( ps, پښتونولي) is the traditional lifestyle and is best described as a code of honor of the Pashtun people, by which they live. Scholars widely have interpreted it as being "the way of the Afghans" or "the code ...

, and are called Swatiwali. Swatis are sometimes referred to as Suwadis and Servatis. Most of them are orthodox Muslims, and have been Muslim since Ghaznavid times. They are staunch followers of the

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

school of Islamic jurisprudence. According to the 1911 Census Report, the tribe was counted as having 33,000 individuals in Hazara District alone, excluding the independent territory of

Battagram Battagram ( ur, , ps, ) is a city and Union Council of Battagram District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°41'N 73°1'E and has an altitude of 1038 metres (3408 feet). Climate With a mild and generally warm a ...

, then known as Hazara Agency."North-West Frontier Province"
''Census of India 1911'', Vol. 13

Subsections and their locations

Swatis have the following subsections, holding land share given against each (in British territory only prior to Independence of Pakistan): * Gabri in Upper

Pakhli Pakhli Sultanate was an ancient sarkar (district) of the Mughal Subah of Punjab, now part of Hazara, Pakistan. It roughly corresponds to the ancient Urasa, the Aρσa or Οΰaρσa which Ptolemy placed between the Bidaspes (Jhelum) and the Indu ...

# Khankhel (adoption) (2) Nimakai land collectively in areas of Garhi Habibullah,

and Bherkund.Nimakai is a

Pushto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official language ...

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

word derived from ''nim'' figuratively meaning ''share'' # Sarkheli (2) Nimakai land collectively in areas Baffa, Balakot and

Shinkiari Shinkiari ( ps, شینکیارۍ; Hindko/ Urdu: شنکیاری) is a Union Council of Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is a major tea city with many tea gardens. The police station was established before the ...

. # Mirs including (a) Dodaal (1) Nimakai collectively in areas

, Kaghan, Balakot and Bhogarmang (b) Panjghol (1) Nimakai collectively in areas

and Kaghan (c) Panjmiraal (1) Nimakai in area

.E G. Wace (1876
''Report of the land revenue settlement of the Hazara district of the Punjab''
# Deshraaes including (a) Jahangiri (1) Nimakai collectively in areas

and Bhogarmang (b) # Arghushaals (1) Nimakai collectively in areas Dhodial ,

, Garhi Habibillah , and Kaghan . # Iznaali/Mandravi (1) Nimakai in area Konsh. *Mitravi in Lower

#Ali Sheris (3) Nimakais collectively in the areas of Sherpur, Malakpur, Gidarpur, Tarihya. This tribe is further divided into (a) Khankhel Balasuri ''(unrelated to Khankhels of Garhi Habibullah)'' (b) Jalangiaal (c) Ranisiaal. # Beegaal (3) Nimakais in the area of Agror. This tribe is further subdivided into (a) Shamkori (b) Chojayee. *Mumyaali (6) Nimakais collectively in areas of Trangi Sabir Shah, Khaki,

Gulibagh Gulibagh literally mean in pushto language “the garden of flowers” is an administrative unit, known as Union council, of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. District Swat has 9 Tehsils i.e. Khwazakhela, Charbagh, Kaba ...

, Nakot and Tikri. This tribe is further divided into (a) Sharor (b) Rabati (c) Panjkora (d)

Shilmani The Shalmani or ''Shilmani'' ( ps, شلمانى) is a Pashtun tribe primarily concentrated in the Shalman Valley in Khyber Agency near Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. ''Shalmani'' is also known as ''Sulemani'' a variant of ''Shalmani'' ...

(e) Ashlor (f) Naror (g) Toor Malakaal (h) Deshaan. * Toar is the tribe that was located in then Independent Territory, now mostly under

district. Therefore, it was not surveyed in 1872. This area also included Allai which is a tehsil of Batagram District in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

References

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Subsections and their locations

References

Further reading