Sudhans

Sudhan (also known as Sudhozai Pathan or Saddozai Pathan) are a tribe of the Poonch Division of Azad Kashmir, with their population primarily concentrated in the districts of Poonch and Sudhanoti, and smaller communities in the neighboring areas of Bagh and Kotli. According to oral traditions, the Sudhans allegedly originated from Pashtun regions of Afghanistan, and are regarded as the founding tribe of the Sudhanoti region, which bears their name. The Sudhan tribe is considered to be part of the larger heterogeneous Pahari community of Azad Kashmir.

History and origins

The tribe claims an Afghan ancestry. According to Syed Ali, Sudhans have a Pashtun descent and moved to the Poonch district of Kashmir region some centuries ago. Sudhans considered themselves to be ''Sudhozai'' Pathans (Pashtuns). Scholar Iffat Malik of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad writes:

About 40,000–60,000 Sudhans were recruited and served in the British Indian Army during the First and Second World Wars.

Alleged origins and history

According to books written throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, such as "The Pearl String of Saddozais" by Sabir Hussain Sabir, Jassi Khan belongs to the lineage of a different Sadullah Khan than the Malik Saddu Khan of the Saddozai branch of the Durrani Confederation. This Saddullah is said to have been born in 961 AD, and was the son of Atman, whom himself was a descendant of one Uthman. This gives way to an "Uthmanzai" branch of a different Saddozai tribe. The Saddozai are a lineage of the Popalzai clan of the Abdali tribe of the ethnic Pashtun. The lineage takes its name from its ancestor, Saddo Khan.

Sometime in the 1300s, Jassi Khan gathered an army of soldiers belonging to his clan, from in and around Ghazni, after he had been requested by the local Brahman tribes of present-day Sudhanoti to rescue them from a "tyrannous tribe", allegedly the "Bhagars" whom are said to have recently occupied those territories and ruled the local populace with cruelty.

Jassi, after routing the Bhagars from Sudhanoti, was granted the laqab (title) "Sudhan" from Sanskrit by the Brahmans, which is said to translate to "Very fair". Jassi later settled these territories with his troops and their families, accepting the title "Sudhan" and proceeding to rule the region of Sudhanoti until his death. His descendants continued Sudhan rule in Sudhanoti in one form or another until 1837, when after their rebellion against the Sikhs, they were stripped of all autonomy and subjugated to a direct foreign government, with the Sikhs completely annexing Poonch into the Sikh Empire and bringing it under the control of the Lahore government.

1819 - 1832 Resistance Against Sikh Conquest

In 1819, under the leadership of Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs had successfully routed the Saddozai Kingdom from Kashmir. Subsequently, the Sikh Empire came to rule the region of the Kashmir Valley, though they had previously already obtained control over Jammu.

The regions of Poonch and Muzaffarabad had not yet been conquered. In Muzaffarabad, the local Rajput clans of Khakha and Bambah led a resistance against Sikh conquest. A Sikh army was then dispatched from Srinagar and defeated them, declaring Sikh suzerainty over Muzaffarabad.

In Poonch, the Sudhans were at the head of resistance against the Sikhs. The Sudhans were led by a local chieftain Shams Khan, and the Sudhan ''sardars'' Sabz Ali and Malli Khan. They worked in collaboration with other Muslim tribes of Poonch to form an effective coalition against the Sikhs. The Sikhs were unable to launch a large-scale invasion of Poonch, as the resistance was staunch and they had problems elsewhere.

After Gulab Singh received the chakla of Jammu as a ''jagir'' (autonomous territory), he made renewed attempts at conquering Poonch, but the armies he raised were not large enough to defeat the Sudhan led resistance, and consequently he would face defeats before being forced to withdraw.

This continued for several years, until 1832, when Gulab Singh and his brother Dhian Singh made an appeal to Ranjit Singh, requesting him to put an end to the Sudhan-led resistance of Poonch. Ranjit Singh obliged, and marched with an army of 60,000 with a large assortment of hill-cannons.

Ranjit Singh's army was overwhelmingly superior in arms and number, with the deadly hill-cannons wreaking havoc upon the local territories. Consequently, Shams Khan and the other sardars made the decision to sue for peace. Ranjit Singh accepted their surrender, as the tribes acknowledged his suzerainty over Poonch. Shams Khan was taken as a hostage, to ensure the tribes would not rebel.

1837 Sudhan Revolt

Shams Khan (also known as Shams-Ud-Din Khan) was an influential zamindar of Poonch and headman of the Sudhans was the leader of the 1837 rebellion. After the prior successful conquest of Poonch, the local tribes of the region, including the Sudhans, had been pacified. From the Sudhans, Shams Khan was taken as a hostage and given to the care of Dhian Singh, who began to grow a liking for him.
Carmichael Smyth, G. (1847). "The Soodhun Revolt." In ''The History of the Reigning Family of Lahore'' (pp. 205–212)
Archive.org
English.

In the year 1836, he returned to Poonch and began to take charge once again. At around the same time, the Yusufzai began a revolt, distracting the Sikhs and the leader of the Dogras, Gulab Singh. Rumors of a Sikh defeat began to spread, which in turn began the rise of clashes throughout Poonch between the locals and Sikh garrisons. Gulab Singh gained intelligence that Shams Khan was behind this, and called for the arrest of him and his family. Shams eluded the chasing authorities.

After this, an all-out rebellion broke out. The local Muslim tribes too joined the Sudhans and began amassing their armies. Gulab Singh ordered his son Ottam Singh to suppress the revolt before it grew further in strength. Ottam Singh arrived with a Dogra force of five thousand troops, but was defeated by rebels commandeered by Shams and his lieutenants. The prince himself was able to escape with some remnants of the army, but now Poonch was laid bare to the rebels.

Assaults over local forts began, resulting in great success. The garrisons were caught off-guard and ill-prepared, and fell to the attacking rebel armies. Some soldiers of the garrisons, whom had previously treated the locals with cruelty were cut-up with their corpses fed to dogs.

Following the defeats, Gulab Singh quickly forced the Yusufzai into peace, and then marched to Kahuta, where he raised an army of eight thousand regular infantry and twelve thousand irregulars. Though Gulab had raised a sizeable and professional army, he chose not to engage the rebellion immediately to minimize the number of Dogra casualties. He focused on bribing local Sardars of the various tribes and the many enemies of Shams, promising lavish rewards or positions of power if they betrayed Shams and the Sudhan-led rebels. This either neutralized them as foes, or turned a small number to his side completely, resulting in them aiding Gulab with either information or later fighting against the rebels. Thus Gulab had successfully incited treachery within some ranks of the rebellion.

After this, Gulab made his way to Poonch through Jhelum, and after some initial victories against local tribes, he paved way towards the Sudhan heartland, aiming to defeat the Sudhans who were both the leaders of the rebellion and made up the majority of its forces. Major clashes occurred at Pallandri, Pallangi, Pachhiot, Paral, Panthal, Baral, Narian and Chokian, alongside smaller clashes in other areas. The deadliest battle occurred in the Sudhan stronghold of Mong, where the local Sudhans both dealt and received heavy casualties. Although the rebels temporarily pushed out occupying Dogra forces in some areas, with the aid of Sikh reinforcements, Gulab counterattacked and overwhelmed the rebels. Many Sudhan commanders and notables were captured, including two ''sardars'' (scions) Malli Khan and Sabz Ali Khan, whom alongside Shams were at the head of both the tribe and the rebellion. Thus the remaining rebels had also lost key leaders.

To spread terror throughout the ranks of the rebels, Gulab Singh devastated all captured territories, permitting total plunder and terror in great excess. He also set a reward of five rupees for the head of every insurgent and anyone that was connected to him, regardless of age or gender. The remaining rebels were outmatched both in number and arms. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the rebellion collapsed as the rebels raced to protect their own families. Though the majority of the local population managed to escape Gulab's forces by taking refuge in nearby hills, their homes were looted, fields destroyed and cattle seized. Those who could not escape were either massacred or enslaved.

Shams Khan had evaded arrest up to this point, but eventually had his hiding place exposed to the Dogras. He was beheaded, alongside his nephew Rajwali. As a result, any remnants of the rebellion ended as the main leader of the Sudhans and the rebels was now dead. The heads of Shams and his nephew were later put in two cages of iron at the very top of the Adha Dek pass. The captured ''sardars'' Sabz Ali Khan and Malli Khan were flayed alive, alongside other commanders and notable members of the Sudhans and other rebellious tribes. As all ring leaders were now either dead or captured, any remaining insurgents now in hiding, alongside no remaining resistance, the conflict was concluded and Gulab withdrew his forces.

Though the majority of the local populace of Poonch and the Sudhans had survived by taking refuge in the hills, they returned home to barren fields and ransacked homes, alongside the deaths or disappearances of many relatives, including non-combatants and those who had nothing to do with the rebellion. The cruelty shown by the Dogra forces was not forgotten, with British contemporaries being appalled at the treatment of the rebellious tribes and the people of Poonch as a whole by Gulab. In 1846, after the Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir was created and became a princely state of the British, Gulab Singh was forced to address the issue of his cruelty. He claimed that the actions of him and his forces were vengeance for the treatment the rebels imposed upon Dogra garrisons, and that he had only flayed alive three ring-leaders, though the locals claimed otherwise. To appease the British, he requested an advisor by whose counsel he would avoid further tyrannical action.

Role in the 1947 Poonch Revolt

The Sudhans played a monumental role in the rebellion against the Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. Spearheaded by Sardar Ibrahim Khan, they backed a movement supporting secession to Pakistan, which ultimately turned into an all-out revolt and later establishment of Azad Kashmir.

A large number of Sudhan tribals had participated in World War I and World War II through the British Indian Army. They had thus obtained expertise in war and some number of arms, which emboldened them to once again stand against the Dogra authorities, whom they had always been keen on expelling. The occurrence of the 1947 Jammu Massacres also served as motivation for the Muslims to revolt. Leveraging these advantages, Sardar Ibrahim Khan and his cause found much support from his tribe alongside other local Muslims living in what is now Azad Kashmir.

The Sudhans obtained further weaponry from the Pashtuns of FATA, prior to the breakout of rebellion. After rebellion was officially declared, a rebel force (dubbed the 'Azad Army'), made up of local militiamen and veterans from mainly the Sudhans, alongside a smaller number of Dhunds of Bagh, was raised in Poonch. Influential Sudhan figures, such as Khan Muhammad Khan, and Hussain Khan played key roles in raising the rebel forces. The local Dogra garrisons were overwhelmed and defeated, with a provisional government declared with its capital in the Sudhan stronghold of Pallandri, which was later followed by a capture of the majority of the Poonch district. Succeeding this, Pashtun ''lashkars'' arrived as reinforcements, all of which caused widespread collapse of Dogra authority in the Kingdom, which ultimately culminated in the creation of Azad Kashmir, Dogra Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir's secession to India and the subsequent Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948.

1955 Poonch Uprising

Sudhans played an immense role in the 1955 Poonch rebellion, who revolted against the appointment of Sher Ahmed Khan and dismissal of Sardar Ibrahim Khan. The violent anti government protestors demanded regional autonomy, especially in the administration and for budgets.

Baral Agreement

The Baral Agreement was an agreement between the Government of Pakistan and rebellious Sudhan tribes signed on 20 December 1956 following the 1955 uprising.

Politics and governance

Together with the Dhunds & Rajputs. It is the Sudhans who dominate the politics of Azad Kashmir in the present day, although the Gujjar community is estimated to be the largest among the population.

First Government of Azad Kashmir

On October 4 1947, Azad Kashmir's First Government was established in Sudhanoti. Sudhanoti is the home and centre of the Sudhans, with the tribe overwhelmingly dominating the population of the tehsil. By October 4 1947, the rebellion led by the Sudhans successfully captured their heartland from the Dogra regime. As there was no parliamentary house present in Sudhanoti from where the proclaimed government could be run, a temporary government structure was established and run from Moti Mahal in Rawalpindi.

By October 24, the rebel-founded government of Azad Kashmir prepared a 40-room parliamentary house at Sudhanoti's Chonjal Hill in Pallandri, to where the government was shifted. The government was transferred to Muzaffarabad on 1 August 1949. One of the main reasons for the transfer were the growing differences between the Sudhan tribals and the Government of Pakistan, with the Sudhans demanding greater autonomy. This would later culminate into the 1955 Poonch uprising.

Notable people

*Shams Khan (otherwise known as Shams-Ud-Din), tribal chieftain, local governor of Poonch, and rebel leader during the 1837 Sudhan Revolt.
* Malli Khan, ''sardar'' of the tribe and rebel leader during the 1837 Sudhan Revolt.
* Sabaz Ali Khan, ''sardar'' of the tribe and rebel leader during the 1837 Sudhan Revolt.
* Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, first and longest-serving President of Azad Kashmir.
*Sher Ahmed Khan, rebel leader during the First Kashmir War and former President of Azad Kashmir.
* Captain Hussain Khan, rebel leader during the First Kashmir War.
* Khan Muhammad Khan of Mong, rebel leader during the First Kashmir War.
* Khan Muhammad Khan, politician who served as the Chairman of the War Council during the 1947 Poonch Rebellion.
* Maqbool Hussain, recipient of Sitara-e-Jurat.
* Mohammad Rahim Khan, former military general, diplomat, and later civil servant.
* Aziz Khan, 11th Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC) of Pakistan Armed Forces
* Masood Khan, former President of Azad Kashmir and current Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
*Muhammad Anwar Khan, former military general, and later politician.
* Muhammad Hayat Khan, politician and former President of Azad Kashmir
* Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, politician and former President of Azad Kashmir
* Salman Irshad Khan, cricketer currently playing for Peshawar Zalmi.
*Sajjad Afghani, militant and Commander-in-Chief of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen

References

Further reading

*
* {{Cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWw8AAAAIAAJ , title=History of Jammu and Kashmir State: The making of the State , last=Kapur , first=Manohar Lal , publisher=Kashmir History Publications , year=1980 , pages=51

Social groups of Azad Kashmir
Pashtun tribes