The Muhammadzai are a

Pashtun tribe The Pashtun tribes (), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...

residing in Charsadda, Pakistan.

Origins

This group has a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

lineage from the son of Zamand, the third son of Kharshbun. They originate from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. The Muhammadzai are descendants of Sharkhbun, the brother of Kharshbun; the latter had three sons, Kand, Zamand, and Kasi. Muhammad Ibn Zamand was Zamand's son, so they were popular with the tribe.

Location

The tribe is found primarily in Hashtnagar, an area in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, that borders the

Swat River The Swat River (, ) is a perennial river in the northern region of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the Kalam Valley before for ...

's left bank. They were originally said to have resided in

, but moved to the Charsadda region, then called Hashtnagar, as a result of a war against the Dilazak in which the Muhammadzai joined forces with

Yousafzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

and Gigyani and divided the lands between themselves. The Muhammadzai took control of Hashtnagar, the most fertile region, while the Gigyani took southern Bajaur and Doaba. because the branches of the tribe and the villages they each inhabited share the same names. The following breakdown comes from an 1878 report on what was then part of the Peshawar District: Hastings, E. G. G.,
Report of the Regular Settlement of the Peshawar District of the Punjab
'. Lahore: Central Jail Press, 1878. 103-108. Tangi ( Barazai and Nasratzai), Sherpao, Umarzai, Turangzai, Utmanzai, Dargai, all these tribes are living in Charsadda, and Prang. Rose's tribal glossary adds that "with them are settled a few descendants of Muhammad's brothers, from one of whom, Kheshgi, one of their principal villages is named." Their irrigated, rice-bearing lands along the Swat River are known as the lowlands or . In contrast, the high lands are referred to as the . One sub division of Muhammadzai Hashtnagar arrived in Ghwarband valley of district Shangla and settled there. Although mainly located in the Hashtnagar area of Charsadda, the Muhammadzai are also based in Akora Khattak and

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Politics and influence

The most famous Muhammadzai tribesmen were the Pashtun leaders Dr Khan Sahib and his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan, his son

Khan Abdul Wali Khan Khan Abdul Wali Khan (; ; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pashtuns, Pashtun Pakistani democratic socialist politician who served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar Kha ...

and his grandson Asfandyar Wali Khan. As well as the prominent Pashto poet Ghani Khan son of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Aimal Wali khan and Muhammad Shawal son of Arshad Ali. They are originally from Utmanzai, where their father was a well-to-do landlord and village khan. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao is another well known leader and a chairman of QWP.

Notable members

Notable tribesmen are; * The prominent

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

poet Ghani Khan, the son of Abdul Ghaffar Khan * Politician Aimal Wali KhanEaswaran, Eknath. ''Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, a Man to Match his Mountains''. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1999. pp. 29-30. * Haji Sahib of Turangzai, a Pashtun independence freedom fighter who fought in the 1897 Frontier Revolt against the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

References

{{Pashtun tribes Tribes of Afghanistan Pashtun tribes