YOUSAFZAI The Great Pushtoon Tribe

History

Yusufzai tribe is the largest Pashtun tribe. According to Akhund Darweza, the Yusufzai originated in Kandahar of present-day Afghanistan. In their migration eastward, they arrived in the Kabul area when it was ruled by the Turkic governor Ulugh Beg, who had succeeded his fatherShahrukh Mirza in 1447. Mirza Ulagh baig Killed all the prominent Yousafzai Elders in Kabul, and Yousafzais migrated to Peshawar, where they were given asylum by dilzaks^[2] 

When the Yusufzai spread into the area as far as Swat, their relationship with the local Dilazaks deteriorated and a long war ensued. After 20 years, under their leader Malik Ahmed Khan, the Yusufzai and allied clans(jadoon and uthmankhale) were able to push the Dilazaks eastwards towards the Hazara mountains east of the Indus River, at the battle of Katlang.

The tribe is mentioned as "Isapzais" by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.^[3] They are later mentioned by Babur in the 16th century. It is claimed that by the 1580s the Yusufzai numbered about 100,000 households. In general, they were uncooperative with the rule of Akbar who sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Raja Bir Bar to subdue them. In 1585 Raja Bir Bar was killed in fighting with the Yusufzai. It was not until about 1690 that they were fully brought within the realm of the Mughal Empire.^[4] Pir Baba, as the first emir. After Akbar Shah's death in 1857, Akhund Ghaffur assumed control of the state himself.^[5] The state lasted until the early 20th century under its religious leaders known as Akhunds of Swat, and later passed on to the last dynasty of Gujar/Safis, who ruled over the area now encompassing the present daySwat, District Buner, (right side of Indus River) district KohistanandShangla till 1969.

Settlements

The Yuosufzai are the predominant population in the districts of Swat,Swabi, Buner, Shangla, Mardan, Malakand, Tor Ghar,Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swabi in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They are also living in Battagram and the Rasheeda , Maloga village of the Oghi Tehsil of Mansehra.

In Afghanistan, they inhabit parts of the Kunar and Nangarhar and Herat provinces. In Balochistan, there is also a Yusufzai clan of the Dehwar tribe in the Mastung District which speak Brahui, and Persian with some mixture of Brahui words.

Most Yusufzai speak the northern variant of Pashto (Pukhto) with the hard "kh" replacing the softer "sh" of the southernPashto dialects.

Some Yusufzai lineages are settled in India, especially in Andhra Pradesh's capital Hyderabad city, in the Rohilkhand region of northwestern Uttar Pradesh, in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, in Gaya,gopalgang vaishali and the nearby Bihar, in Channapatna, Kadi, Ahmedabad, Baroda and the nearby Gujarat, in Maharashtra's Pune, Akola and Mumbai, and inKarnataka's Mysore and Bangalore. Many of the Yusufzai of Uttar Pradesh form a part of the larger Rohilla community.

List of People belonging to Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai Activist to right to education. Woman's rights activist. Target of attempted assassination by the Taliban. Recipient of over 20 peace prizes most notably the National Youth Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize and Honorary Canadian citizenship. Malala was also a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize (March 2013)