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Tarikh-i-Pakhtunkhwa
Nov 29, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Jadunath Sarkar has erred there. In April 1757, Ahmad Shah Abdali was only 33 years old and was not a man of "grandfatherly age" by any stretch of imagination. Hazrat Begum (the Mughal princess) was 17 years old in April 1757 when she married Ahmad Shah Abdali (According to Jadunath Sarkar, she reached her 16th year in February 1756).

J.N.Sarkar statement that Abdali's "two ears had been docked and nose was rotting from a leprous carbuncle", is not supported by any source.

Ahmad Shah Abdali 's face was not rotted with cancer in 1757. This is
Nov 28, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
A desi sepoy of British-Indian army bringing in a captured Mohmand (Pashtun) freedom fighter, 1897.

It is most probably an imaginary scene by the British war artist, with the idea to appreciate Indian soldiers for their subservience and loyalty to the British raj, and to Image disrespect those who had risen against them. It is very noticeable that Pashtun freedom fighter is drawn with looks of a villain. He looks as of he is possessed by evil demons.
Nov 28, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
They did not defect to the Afghan side. After the death of Adina Beg, Marathas gave the government of Jalandhar Doab to Adina Beg's widow while the government of Sirhind was given to Sadiq Beg Khan (one of the follower of Adina Beg).

When Ahmad Shah Abdali entered Punjab in 1759, Adina Beg's widow and Sadiq Beg Khan joined the forces of Marathas in their flight from Punjab.

The only Punjabi Muslim clans who were favorably inclined towards the Afghans and opposed Marathas, were Gakkhars and few other tribes of Sind-Sagar doab.

In November 1758
Nov 26, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Fun fact : British abandoned their traditional red coats and adopted Khaki uniform for their soldiers because of the dusty hills of Pakhtunkhwa.

In 1848 a British officer Sir Harry Lumsden received an order to raise a special regiment to deal with Pashtun tribesmen of the
1/4 Image frontier. Harry Lumsden realized that his soldiers in the red coloured uniforms will be very conspicuous in the dusty hills of frontier and will be easy target for the Pashtun snipers.

Harry decided to abandon the red coats. Instead he put his men into cloth dyed in the
2/4
Nov 25, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a man of few virtues and of many vices. He was what we call "کچه" (morally low) in Pashto.

In 1831 French Botanist Victor Jacquemont met Ranjit Singh. The former describes Ranjit Singh as a "shameless scoundrel". He writes that Ranjit Singh was not Image content with women of his own harem and he fancied wives of other men, and common prostitutes ( Jacquemont has phrased them as "those which belong to every body").

Ranjit Singh would mount an elephant with a prostitute by name of Moran and would shamelessly engage in foreplay
Nov 9, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
That's incorrect translation by Charles Stewart (and distorted interpretation by you). Afghans (the rulers at that time) did not have any such "peculiar custom" to hand over their wives and "daughters" to their Hindu subjects as mortgage.

The original Persian text simply says that Jauhar Aftabchi (the ewer-bearer of Mughal emperor Humayun) was assigned the pargana of Haibatpur (after it was wrested from Afghans). There he found that young children (not wives) of the "Mawalis" (a term used for servants, dependents or freed slaves of a household) of Image
Oct 23, 2021 11 tweets 3 min read
Ahmad Shah Durrani had a high repute in early 19th century.

James Rattrey visited his tomb in 1839 and writes : "The sovereign who sleeps there, called by the Afghauns “the faultless King,” was the greatest monarch their country ever produced. The people of every Eastern nation whether friend or foe, speak still in terms of the greatest admiration of his military skill, his nobleness of heart, clemency, and decision of character. His virtues were as numberless as his victories."

[….]"In addition to his science and military skill, he was fond of study
Oct 23, 2021 5 tweets 1 min read
Let me share some details which one cant get from simple google search.

Huzaifa is copying info from a website which has missed a very important detail ; Muqqarab Khan Gakkhar owed allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani and was steadfast supporter of Afghans.

(continued) According to Hari Ram Gupta (author of "History of the Sikhs"), Muqarrab Khan Gakkar gave his daughter in marriage to Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Another Gakkhar chief Karam Khan Gakkhar gave one of his daughter in marriage to Shah Wali Khan (the Wazir of Durrani empire) and
Oct 23, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
So?. Shuja Shuja Durrani allegedly cutting the manhood of one of his slave does not prove that all Durranis punished their slaves in that manner. You were talking about Adina Beg and Ahmad Shah Abdali, and then you blurted out that all "Durranis" used to do the mentioned acts. You have yet to provide the evidence for your second claim that "Durranis" (Ahmad Shah Abdali, all of his successors, and his entire tribe) used to force their slaves to have sex in front of them for entertainment. I am waiting for it.
Oct 22, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Waris Shah (Punjabi Muslim poet) has derided Sikhs in his poetry.

Waris Shah says that in 1766-67 AD, Jats (Sikhs) became the chieftains of Punjab. Under their rule, 'Ashrafia' (noble families) were in ruins while lowly people prospered. Thieves became Chauhdris (continued) (headmen of the village), women of bad-character assumed the garbs of righteous, and groups of ill-natured people prospered many times.

The word Waris Shah has used, is Jat but he is definitely talking about Sikhs (who were mostly Jats) here because it were them who had
Oct 21, 2021 6 tweets 4 min read
Waris Shah was not a cheerleader for invasions by Ahmad Abdali but he certainly has not referred to the latter as "rabid dog of Kabul".

– Thread

The seat of Ahmad Shah Abdali was Qandahar and Waris Shah always refers to him as Qandahari. "Kabuli dogs" gets mention only once in ImageImage the Heer when he likens a group of aggressive women to the Kabuli bitches (female dogs). Its poetry so it is open to interpretation but he is mostly likely talking about the Kabuli breed of dogs rather than Kabuli women. He certainly is not talking about Ahmad Shah Abdali. ImageImage
Oct 18, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
Sikhs of 18th century considered cow a sacred animal and they killed any Punjabi musalman who dared to slaughter cow and eat its meat.

In 1767 Hira Singh (leader of Nakai misl) received information that Muslims slaughtered cow and ate beef in the territory under Shaikh Subhan Chishti, the 'Sajjada Nishin' (the hereditary guardian) of the famous shrine of the saint Farid Shakarganj, in Pakpattan. Hira Singh collected a large number of troops and proceeded to Pakpattan to plunder the jagir of Shaikh Subhan and punish its Muslim population.

The news of
Oct 17, 2021 28 tweets 5 min read
Sikhs owed their rise in 18th century to Adina Beg Arian (a Punjabi Muslim). The latter believed in "chaos is a ladder" and used Sikh marauders to destroy the law & order of Punjab. The suffers of his dangerous games, were none other than his own Punjabi

(Continued in thread) Muslims. Mughals would have easily exterminated the menace of Sikh marauders but Adina Beg (who was in the service of Mughals) made sure that Sikh marauders were not eliminated.

Some time after the invasion of Nadir Shah Afsar, Zakariya Khan (the Mughal governor of Lahore subah)
Oct 16, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Qasuri, an Afghan of Kasur (in Punjab), 1825.

From "Tashrih al-aqvam" by James Skinner.

Source: British Library : imagesonline.bl.uk/asset/8819

Qasur is plural of Qasr (قصر) which means fortress or castle in Arabic. The place was named so because of the twelve forts built by Image Pashtuns settlers in 16th century, majority whom belonged to the Khweshgi (also spelled as Kheshgi) tribe of Pashtuns. The twelve forts were named after the heads of the twelve clans of Kheshgis. Seven of the twelve forts were still standing in 1871 as reported by Alexander
Oct 9, 2021 8 tweets 2 min read
1842 (c): The painting by James Atkinson showing the doors which were removed from the mausoleum of Sultan Mahmood of Ghazni by the British invaders. The latter believed it to be the "sandalwood gates of Somnath temple".

British invaders desecrated the tomb and removed the door in 1842 to restore their injured pride and ego, to upset the sentiments of Pashtuns (British erroneously thought that Sultan Mahmud was a Pashtun) and to gratify the Hindus.

James Atkinson (the painter) writes: "This is the relic which the Sikh Chieftain Runjeet Sing so much
Oct 8, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
Shaikh Jamaluddin Kasi was a 16th century Pashtun saint of Chishti order. A member of the Pashtun tribe of Kasi, he enjoyed considerable respect from his own as well as other Pashtun tribes. In his early life he held a high post in the government under Sher Shah Sur. After the Image downfall of the Pashtuns in India and restoration of Mughals to the throne, Jalaluddin Kasi renounced the world and moved to Unnao (UP, India) where he joined the khanqah of Shah Mahmud Chishti. Later he went to the tomb of Shaikh Badrud-Din of Badaun where he
Oct 7, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
Ghulam Qadir Rohilla neither stripped the Mughal princess naked nor he forced them to dance. Allama Iqbal made a blunder there.

It were Mughal princes, not princesses, who were forced to sing and dance for Ghulam Qadir. The author of Ibrat-nama (written in c.1790 AD) writes : "On the 25th Zil Qada, Ghulam Qadir called Prince Akbar, Suleiman Shikoh, and the other Princes, nineteen in number, before him, and with harsh words called upon them to sing and dance before him. They declined ; but he would not listen to them, saying that he had long heard
Sep 9, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
In 19th century some Tajiks often forayed into Hazarajat, captured Hazaras as slaves and sold them to Uzbeks.

James Atkinson writes in 1843: " The term Tajuk is applied to all people of Afghanistan, whose vernacular language is Persian. They reside in villages and are essentially cultivators, never leaving a pastoral life. In general they form the most peaceable class of the population, but in the Kohistan the case is reversed. Turbulent and vindictive their blood feuds are there endless. It is rare to see a man go to hunt or even ride out
Sep 4, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
The account of two 19th century paintings

In October 1879 Major-General Frederick Roberts found an Afghan painting in Amir Sher Ali's palace in Kabul showing a mounted Afghan sardar riding alongside a running British solider and a dog. This painting was made by an Afghan artist and was painted around the time of the First Afghan War (1838-1842) for an unknown Afghan patron. In my opinion the painting was demonstrating and symbolizing the victory and superiority of Afghans over Firangi invaders. The Afghan sardar is noticeably drawn larger
Sep 3, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
The Pashtun code of revenge against the wrongdoers became a proverb in India.

John Briggs in 1829 writes: "Afghan revenge has become proverbial in India . It is said , a man is never safe from the revenge of an elephant , a nag ( the cobra snake), or an Afghan".
Nov 25, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Lieut. Colonel Muhammad Aslam Khan (a Kamran Khel Saddozai) and Robert Warburton, 1897.

Sardar Muhammad Aslam Khan was the first Commandant of Khyber Rifles. He commanded the corps from 1881 to 1897.

Photo Source: facebook.com/photo.php?fb Aslam Khan's father Usman Khan served as Grand Wazir of Shah Shuja in 1840-1842. He fled to Peshawar after the Anglo-Afghan war and joined the British.

Sketch of Usman Khan, from London Illustrated News, dated to December 18, 1858 :-