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The Pathans are an Urdu-speaking community of Pashtun descent in the Uttar Pradesh state in India who form one of the largest Muslim communities in the state. They are also known as Khans which is a commonly used surname amongst them; although not all those who use the surname are Pathans, for example the Khanzada community of eastern Uttar Pradesh are also commonly known as Khan. The phrase Pathan Khanzada is used to describe Muslim Rajput groups, found mainly in Gorakhpur, who have been absorbed into the Pathan community. There are communities of partial Pashtun ancestry in the Rohilkhand region and in parts of the Doab and Awadh regions, such as the agrarian Rohilla community.

History

Many Pashtuns emigrated from their homeland of Afghanistan to what is now northern India during the Mughal Empire. Many of them were traders, soldiers and civil servants during the British Raj era. A process of indigenization has occurred, and the Pathan community became indistinguishable from neighbouring Muslim communities due to social factors such as assmilation as well as intermarriage with the local castes. They now speak Hindustani (Khari Boli) as well as various localised dialects of the language such as Awadhi, Braj Bhasha and Kannauji and are found throughout Uttar Pradesh with settlements in Moradabad, Farrukhabad, Hathras, Malihabad and a dense population of them found in the Rohillkhand region. In addition, a significant amount of them are found in parts of Azamgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur.

The Pathan are divided into sixteen groupings, who generally take their name from the ancestral Pashtun tribes. These include the Bangash, Afridi, Dustukhel, Tanoli, Luni (Miani), Jadoon, Bakarzai, Barech, Daudzai, Dilazak, Durrani, Ghorghushti, Toia Mehsud Khel, Ghori, Khalil, Lodi, Mohmand, Mohammadzai, Orakzai, Rohilla, Sherwani, Suri, Sultani and Yousafzai, all of which are well known Pashtun tribes. A further differentiation exists based on an identity known as the qabila or biradari, based on territorial subgroupings and community ties.

Pathans in Western Uttar Pradesh

The Pathans of the Barah-Basti villages of Bulandshahr produced a large number of volunteers who joined the British Irregular Cavalry, many of whom rebelled during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 under Abdul Latif Khan of Khanpur and Walidad Khan of Malagarh. The Pathans of Malakpur, who are Yousafzai were settled their by the Emperor Akbar. In additions to these communities, there are also settlements of Afridis, in the city of Bulandshahr, as well as Bangash.

Notes

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See also

• Urdu-speaking people
• Rohilla
• Pashtun
• Pathans of Madhya Pradesh
• Pathan of Bihar
• Pathans of Gujarat
• Pathans of Rajasthan
• Pathans of Punjab

References

1. Amir Hasan, Anthropological Survey of India, Baqr Raza Rizvi, J. C. Das, K. S. Singh (27 February 2019). People of India: The Communities: Nai-Yadav. Bio-Anthropological Indormation. Glossary. Select Bibliography. Maps. Index. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 9788173041143.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Shaji, U. S. (2010). Religions of IndiaA Multidimentional Study. p. 36. ISBN 9788178845340. A well known Indian Muslim community is Pathan
3. "Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India". www.khyber.org.
4. Amir Hasan (2005). People of India: The Communities: Nai-Yadav. Bio-Anthropological Indormation. Glossary. Select Bibliography. Maps. Index. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1139. ISBN 9788173041143.
5. Bengal, Past & Present:Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society · Volume 86. Calcutta Historical Society. 1967. p. 47.

External links

• A Dictionary of Pathan Tribes

• Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh
• Rohilla
• Muslim communities of India
• Pashtun diaspora in India