Yaghistan (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: یاغستان; "The land of the rebellious and hostility") was a key

frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

region between

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 ...

and

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. This was an area where rebels lived, on either side of the

Durand Line The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China. The D ...

, roughly corresponding to the later tribal areas of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The term, in use since at least 1868, was also used in Afghanistan where Amir Abdur Rehman characterized eastern Pashtun population as "Unruly" and "Rebels".

History

Yāg͟histān was originally inhabited by Indo-Aryan Kōhistānī speakers. According to the ''

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

'': Initially, any frontier region outside the direct control of the British colonial government was known as Yaghistan, which at its widest extent, included

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

and Sarhad. Between 1844 and 1900, the term came to be used for the independent tribes of

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

, who were considered "impossible to be administered", as they were always outside the sphere of influence of either British Raj or the Emirate of Afghanistan. Yāghistān was the center of

Syed Ahmad Barelvi Syed Ahmad Barelvi, also known as Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, (1786–1831) was an Indian mujaddid, Islamic revivalist, Islamic scholar, scholar, and commander, military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra an ...

's movement against the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

as well as

Mahmud Hasan Deobandi Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia University and launched the Silk Letter Movement for ...

Silk Letter Movement The Silk Letter Movement ('Tehreek-e-Reshmi Rumal') refers to a movement organised by Deobandi leaders between 1913 and 1920, aimed at gaining Indian independence from British rule by forming an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, the Emirate of A ...

. The area was never conquered by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

and its people and the unadministered tribes always remained hostile towards the British.

References

Sources

* * *

History

References

Sources

Further reading