Mughal-Afghan Relations in South Asia History and Developments
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Mughal-Afghan Relations in South Asia History and Developments Himayatullah Yaqubi National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research Centre of Excellence, Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad 2015 Mughal-Afghan Relations in South Asia History and Developments NIHCR Publication No. 174 Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing from the Director, National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Enquiries concerning reproduction should be sent to NIHCR at the address below: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research Centre of Excellence, New Campus, Quaid-i-Azam University P.O. Box 1230, Islamabad-44000. Tel: +92-51-2896153-54; Fax: +92-51-2896152 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: www.nihcr.edu.pk Published by Muhammad Munir Khawar, Publication Officer Printed at M/s. Roohani Art Press, 35-E, Chughtai Plaza, Blue Area, Islamabad, Pakistan. Price: Pakistan Rs. 600/- SAARC countries: Rs. 900/- ISBN: 978-969-415-115-1 Other countries: US$ 20/- For my parents and brothers Engineer Qaseemullah Yaqubi (Late), Dr. Hidayat Ullah Khan Contents Acknowledgement ix Illustrations xii Introduction xiii 1. Mughal-Afghan Relations in the Historical Perspective 1 Origin of the Afghans 3 Socio-Political Organization of the Afghans 7 Afghan Nobility in India 11 Emergence of the Mongols 12 Afghans and Mongols in India 19 Timur’s Indian Invasion and the Afghans 29 Establishment of the Afghan Lodhi Dynasty 32 2. Babur and the Afghans 43 Origin of the Mughal-Afghan Conflict 45 Babur’s Relations with the Afghan Tribes 53 Babur’s Marriage with Bibi Mubaraka 61 Downfall of the Lodhi Dynasty 66 3. Afghan Revival under Sher Shah Suri 79 Sher Shah Suri’s Rise to Prominence 80 Sher Shah’s Relations with the Mughals 83 Humayun-Sher Shah Confrontation 89 Establishment of the Afghan Suri Dynasty 91 Successors of Sher Shah Suri 96 4. Roshniya Movement and the Yusufzais’ Resistance 101 Bayazid Ansari: Birth and Childhood 107 In Search of Pir-i-Kamil 110 Bayazid’s Tussle with the Mughals 114 Bayazid’s Messenger in the Court of Akbar 116 Encounter with the Mughals 118 Death of Bayazid Ansari 122 viii Mughal-Afghan Relations in South Asia Akhun Darwaiza and Roshniya Movement 124 Yusufzais’ Uprising against Akbar 129 Successors of Bayazid Ansari 133 Roshniya Movement and the Afghan Nationalist Discourse 135 Decline of the Roshniya Movement 140 5. Aurangzeb and the Afghan Resistance-I 145 Khattak-Mughal Rapprochement 146 Khushal Khan as a Mughal Mansabdar 153 Afghan Nobles and Mughal War of Succession 160 Imprisonment of Khushal Khan 165 Yusufzais’ Uprising under Bhaku Khan 168 Revolt of Darya Khan and Aimal Khan 177 6. Aurangzeb and the Afghan Resistance-II 193 Revolt of Khushal Khan 194 Khushal Khan among the Swat Yusufzais 200 Yusufzais Attacks on Mughal Installations 212 Downfall of the Afghan Resistance 215 The Last days of Khushal Khan 218 Afghan Resistance after the Death of Khushal Khan 220 Glossary 225 Bibliography 229 Index 235 Acknowledgement The history and culture of the Afghans is one of the uphill tasks to deal with. It was a testing job for me to come out of my Pakhtun psyche along with personal biases, prejudices and lucidly present their historical records in an analytical manner. Facts are few whereas opinion and folktales are numerous. In the process, I remain engaged in intellectual cross-current discussions with renowned scholars and most of the time found some of them anchoring on their biases only. But the objective of the present research endeavour was to do justice with the facts to write a comprehensive history of the Afghans’ relationship with the Mughals. The topic seems to be simple but it takes into account all the important events and aspects which took place in encounters between these two important ruling ethnic groups in South Asia. I was fortunate enough to have the guidance of Prof. Dr. Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, Director, National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University who happens to be one of the authorities on the history and politics of the Afghans. The feedback I got from Prof. Wiqar is of immense significance. I discussed various themes regarding the Mughal- Afghan relations with him and got not only rare materials but also thoughtful academic cruising. I am also thankful to Prof. Dr. Sultan-i-Rome, Government Jehanzeb College, Saidu Sharif, Swat, for his cooperation in the completion of this work. He went through the entire manuscript and took pains to thoroughly check methodology and text. His scholarly suggestions and criticism prove to be practical and befitting. The valuable suggestions of Dr. Salman Bangash, Department of History, University of Peshawar, nevertheless provided me with immense thought products in the process of publication. The credit of this work also goes to my parents and elder brother Dr. Hidayatullah Khan as without their moral support and encouragement, I would have not been able to complete this work in time. My brother, in spite of his busy schedule, x Mughal-Afghan Relations in South Asia made arrangements for composition of the entire manuscript. I also express my gratitude for my uncle Haji Ikramullah, who, at the early stage of my career, invoked my interest in history and encouraged me to study the Afghan history at home. My cousins Engineer Qaseemullah (Late), Iftikhar Ahmad Yusufzai, Karam Sattar Yaqubi and Shahar Yar Yaqubi chose this discipline for me since my early days, as a student in Islamia College University, Peshawar. Prof. Ghulam Qasim Marwat, Director, Higher Education Teachers Training Academy, Peshawar, deserve special thanks. Exchange of ideas with him and Iftikhar Ahmad greatly refined the manuscript. My deep gratitude goes to the Librarians, Pashto Academy, Pakistan Study Centre and Department of History, University of Peshawar, who allowed me to consult and collect the source materials available in those repositories. Hazoor Bux Channa, librarian in the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research also provided me the available literature on the history of the Mughals and the Afghans. In the Publication section I would mention specially the names of Rao Tahir Hussain, Zahid Imran, Sher Afgan and Khalid Mahmood for their sincere effort in the proof-reading process of the manuscript. Mr. Muhammad Munir Khawar, Publication Officer, was always kind enough to incorporate all my suggestions at the final stage when the manuscript was ready for the press. Since long I am working on various themes regarding the Mughal-Afghan conflict and published a number of articles in various national and international journals. Therefore, I deem it pertinent to mention my gratitude to the editors of the Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Villanova University Pennsylvania USA, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Punjab University Lahore and Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. I am obliged to all of them for their generous cooperation to publish my article in these journals. I am grateful to my friends Altaf Ullah, Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Awan (COMSATS), Umar Fazal (IIUI), Naveed Iqbal Khan, Muhammad Ali Shah and Arshad Muhammad (Higher Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Acknowledgement xi Shahbaz Khan Khattak and Kafeel Ahmad (Pakistan Study Centre, University of Peshawar) who helped me with most valuable materials. Dr. Noor ul Basar Aman (University of Malakand) and Syed Zafar Ullah Bakhshali (Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar) helped me in composing the Pashto verses. I am thankful for their kind cooperation. I am enormously grateful to my wife Sadaf Ahmad, children Anas Khan Yaqubi, Afia Khan Yaqubi and Yunas Khan Yaqubi. They not only provided me peace and comfort at home but also encouraged me whenever I stayed away from home for the completion of this work. I tried my level best to make this research endeavour error free. If, however, any error still persists, I will be responsible for that and I would also welcome any further necessary suggestions. Dr. Himayatullah Yaqubi Islamabad, 2015 Illustrations a) Sultan Bahlul Lodhi 184 b) Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi 184 c) Bayazid Ansari 185 d) Gaju Khan Yusufzai 185 e) Afghan Emperor Sher Shah Suri 186 f) A Group of Afridi Fighters 187 g) Khushal Khan Khattak 188 h) Malak Ahmad Khan Yusufzai, Founder of Modern Pakhtunkhwa 189 i) Author at the Grave of Bhaku Khan Yusufzai (the grave is situated in Kankoway village district, Buner) 190 j) Suri Empire at the time of Sher Shah Suri 191 Introduction Like their origin, the role played by the Afghans in the political history of South Asia is shrouded in their rise and fall, myth and overlapping events. Historically, the Afghans played a momentous role in influencing the political dynamics of not only in Afghanistan, the north-western frontier areas but also shaped and reshaped the fate of the Delhi throne. They captured the throne of Delhi several times and simultaneously resisted and fought incessant wars against the waves of invaders who encroached upon their land. Due to their important position in the political history of South Asia, it is necessary to produce an objective inquiry about their relations with the Mughals who not only challenged them in Afghanistan but also overthrew them twice from the Delhi throne in India. Generally speaking, both the Mughals and Afghans in South Asia considered and treated each other as political rivals. In dealing with the Mughal-Afghan relations majority of the scholars started their inquiries after the coming of Zahir-ud-Din Babur who occupied the throne of Delhi in 1526.