THREAD: History of the Khattak tribe from 1150 A.D. to 1880 A.D. Eight parts.
It’s quite long so buckle up.

The Khattak tribe lives west of the Indus, bordering Nowshera in the north and Bannu in the South. Their history is complex and one that has always intrigued me. In this thread, with the details that I have gathered, I have pieced together the history of Khattaks.

PART 1: SETTLEMENT
Their first recorded settlement was in the Shwal valley near Wana. Here, they spoke the Southern Pashto dialect and were called “Shattak”. They migrated north-eastwards towards Bannu, in 1150 A.D, when the Wazir tribe drove them out.
(1)

They settled there along with the Mangalai and Honai tribes. Things were calm for a while until the Shitak tribe (ancestors of Bannuchis) marched into the valley and kicked the Mangali and Honai tribes out, in around 1300 AD.
(2)

The Khattaks were at odds with Bannuchi and quarrels erupted often. Therefore, they soon decided to move out of the valley, north-east wards again. They first settled in the Teri valley and westwards in the Thal valley.
(3)

Uniting with the Bangash, they pushed the Orakzai out of the Kohat region. Khattaks continued and took over the Lachi valley, Gumbat and finally Nilaab, near Attock. This 500 hundred year time was just the beginning of Khattak history.
(4)

An important thing to note is the following their migration to the north, they were then called “Khattak” and not “Shattak”. This was because Northern Pashto was (is) spoken here: in which the “Sh” sound is prounounced as “Kh”.
(5)

references for part 1
(6)

PART 2: GLORY
Malik Akor is renowned to be the first prominent leader among Khattaks. He lived his early in the Thal valley near Karbogha and soon migrated to the bank of the river Indus. This was a grand trade route on which goods were taken from Kabul to Delhi and back.
(7)

Malik Akor rose to prominence quickly became a Khattak tribal chief, in around 1550. This was during the reign of the Mughal King, Akbar, who built the Attock fort and noticed the lack of security of the Peshawar valley section of the Kabul-Delhi trade route.
(8)

He thus appointed Malik Akor to secure the trade route. Malik Akor, in return, got the permission to tax the ferries and the lands. Following that, he got the royal grant of the lands from Nowshera down to the Indus. At this point the long Khattak-Yousafzai Rivalry erupted.
(9)

Another aspect of the Mughal support was that the Khattak tribe became increasingly powerful. This is seen where Malik Akor killed Hindus at large. Whether at their declination of accepting Islam or otherwise is debatable.
(10)

references for part 2
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PART 3: WARS WITH YOUSAFZAI
Khattaks have had countless wars with their neighbors throughout the 1000 years they have been in this land. However, none of them have had greater stakes and consequences than their wars with the Yousafzai.
(12)

“When Mughals were fighting the Yousafzai; they had taken advantage – to occupy large slices of Yousafzai territory.” What I call the ‘Akor doctrine’ was the effort to be on good term with the Mughals, earn from taxing the route,
(13)

and with the imperial grant, gain more territory out of the Yousafzai. Malik Akor died at the hands “of his own clansmen” in 1600, following an internal strife. His son, Yahya, became chief and continued where his father left. He died fighting in 1620.
(14)

Yahya’s son, Shahbaz, upheld the same doctrine as well and is noted to have been “undoubtedly cruel”. He died in 1641, after 21 year of rule. Following this Khattak-Yousafzai rivalry boiled up to the extent that the Mughal royal court got involved.
(15)

refrences for part 3
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PART 4: KHUSHAL KHATTAK, THE POET
Khushal Khan became the next chief. Son of Shabaz and great-grandson of Malik Akor. He is remembered as a great warrior and an even greater poet. Khushal Khattak wrote of war, of love, of medicine,
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and, of women and their beauty in his “Kama Sutra-like dewaan”; something that is overlooked in our current orthodox society. Of course I have no shame in telling history as it was.
(18)

His family have given Pashto a lot of literature. For example, “At least five of (his) sons wrote Diwans and translated works such as Gulistan, Bustan and Tutinama along with folk tales-” His grandson Afzal Khan wrote a long history from where most of this detail is taken.
(19)

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PART 5: KHUSHAL AND MUGHALS
This was during the reign of Mughal King Shah Jahan. His two sons, Dara Shiko and Aurangzeb, were embroiled in a cold war to earn or snatch the right of succession, once their father died.
(21)

When Khushal came to power, he tried diplomacy. He “induced” Shah Jahan to “include Yousafzai villages - in his Jagir.” The Yousafzai chief, Bahaku Khan, secured the assistance of Dara Shiko. Dara persuaded his father not to include Yousafzai land in Khattak jagir.
(22)

Khushal’s hatred for the Mughals grew as he felt betrayed and wished no good for them. Then the inevitable happened: war of succession occurred between Aurangzeb and Dara Shiko, who was being supported by Bahaku. Khushal denied to help Dara in light of what he had done.
(23)

During the war, Dara was not successful and kept retreating, from Delhi to Lahore and beyond. At one point, Yousafzai Lashkar seized the boats at Indus and waited for reception of his, to give him shelter. Khattak attacked Yousafzai and didn’t let him avail this opportunity
(24)

Dara was later captured and his head was cut off and presented to his father Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb was brutally cruel. His rise to power brought a dark age and the subsequent downfall of Mughals. What Khushal Khan lamented in his poetry later on. He accepted his mistake
(25)

For now, Aurangzeb confirmed Khushal Khan’s chieftainship. Khushal was infamously ruthless in his wars. In one account, to avenge the death of his father in 1641, he raided the village of Akozai and ordered his troops to “put to death whatever you come across, dogs or men”.
(26)

ref for part 5
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PART 6: PASHTUN REBELLION
In 1660s, King Aurangzeb ended the policy of internal tolls, on which the Khattak tribe relied. This infuriated Khushal and he protested. This led to the Governor disrespecting him on one occasion. Khushal felt betrayed,
(28)

he felt as if he and his tribe were used as a pawn by the Mughals against their own brethren, the Yousafzai. Which was in part truth but Khattak had their own priorities too. Khushal assisted Mughals for the last time during the battle of Khyber,
(29)

when Afridi tribesmen attacked the Mughal. He wrote to the Mughals that “he had enough of them and their ways” and joined rebel leaders Darya Khan and Aimal Khan, who he hailed as the heroes of Pashto. “He resigned the chieftainship of his tribe to his eldest son Ashraf
(30)

and declaring himself henceforth as a rebel and an outlaw.” In 1674, he and Aimal Khan attacked Nowshera. More and more attacks were carried out. The situation deteriorated to such an extent that the Aurangzeb had to come to Attock to personally
(31)

oversee the campaign against Pashtun. Khushal even contacted the Yousafzai but to no avail. It was too late. It went on until one of his sons, Bahram, betrayed him. Khushal was heartbroken. He died at the age of 76 on Friday, 20 February 1689 at Dambara.
(32)

ref for part 6
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PART 7: AKORA AND TERI
In 1694, Khattak chief Ashraf Khan died in Mughal custody. When his son, Afzal Khan (mentioned before), came to power, there was infighting in Khattaks influenced by the Mughals. He died July 1741. He was the last notable chief of Akora.
(34)

During this time, an independent Khattak chieftainship at Teri (modern day District Karak). Another breakaway chieftainship was at ShakarDarra. They united to support Ahmad Shah Abdali and deter Sikhs but the rift between them grew on.
(35)

In 1823, Khattak and Yousafzai clansmen united along with the Afridi to battle the Sikhs at Nowshera. The batte was gruesome and both sides fought valiantly as was expected. However, it ended in defeat when the Afghan Imperial army retreated and left without fighting.
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ref for part 7
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PART 8: BRITISH AND BAHADURKHEL
The British came in 1840. Soon after arriving, they found Salt in the Bahadur Khel and fuel in Teri Valleys. This area was of great importance to them as it was between the Bannu and Kohat Cantonments and, the uncontrollable Wazir country.
(38)

The British were constantly being attacked by Pashtun tribesmen, military outposts were constructed around Nari and Latambar. In 1852, Khattaks rose up and took the BahadarKhel salt mines back from the British and attacked the Nari garrison but the resistance was suppressed.
(39)

A lot of infrastructure was built. A new road from Bannu to Kohat was constructed. Railway lines from laid from Pindi to Kohat and Mianwali to Bannu but the line from Bannu to Kohat was never laid. To defend against Wazir raids, a fort was built at BahadarKhel in 1853.
(40)

The Barak Uprising of 1880 was a Khattak insurrection in the Southern Kohat regions. The chief or Nawab of Teri, “Sir” Khwaja Mehmood was unpopular among the people for his service to the British. In March an insurrection developed against the Nawab.”
(41)

In June and July, 1880, the law and order situation further deteriorated as the Salt mines and forts were taken over. The British Government’s 1884 Report on the settlement of the Kohat district in the Panjáb by Henry St. George Tucker reads:
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ref for part 8
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KHUDAI PA AMAAN.
Thanks for staying with me till the end.
I would appreciate any corrections or constructive criticisms.