Gakhars

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The location of Hazara relative to surrounding areas

Gakhar (also Gakkhar or Ghakhar or Ghakkar) (Urdu: گاکھر) are an ancient aristocratic and warlike clan now located in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum, Kashmir, Gilgit, Baltistan (Tibet), Chitral, and Khanpur (NWFP) regions in modern day Pakistan. A similar elite was recently portrayed in Asif Kapadia's critically acclaimed and BAFTA award winning 2001 movie "The Warrior".

Panoramic view of Pharwala Fort, Gakhar's stronghold

The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition of 1911 states that "the Ghakkars seem to represent an early wave of conquest from the east, and they still inhabit the whole eastern slope of the district; while the Awans, who now cluster in the western plain, are apparently later invaders from the opposite quarter. The Gakhars were the dominant race at the period of the first Mahommedan incursions, and long continued to retain their independence. During the flourishing period of the Mogul dynasty, the Gakhar chieftains were prosperous and loyal vassals of the house of Babur; but after the collapse of the Delhi Empire Jhelum fell, like its neighbours, under the sway of the Sikhs. In 1765 Gujar Singh defeated the last independent Gakhar prince, and reduced the wild mountaineers to subjection. His son succeeded to his dominions, until 1810, when he fell before the irresistible power of Ranjit Singh."

The 1893-94 Gazetteer of the Rawalpindi District also notes that "from the moment where oral traditions give way to more authentic historical records, the history of the Potohar becomes that of the Gakhar clan. The Gakhars became prominent at the time of the early Muslim era and have more or less maintained their rule over the city of Rawalpindi and parts of Hazara and Jhelum districts, independent of the sovereign powers at Delhi and Agra, until being defeated at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the Sikhs."

Important early sources for the Gakhars are "Kaygawharnāma" by Rāyzāda Dunīchand Bālī, completed in 1725 (a copy is held in the British Library), Ferishta's The History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India Till The Year A.D. 1612 and Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur's, Memoirs of Babur (Baburnama).

[edit] The Ancient Gakhars

There are no primary sources for the ancient Gakhars. The best secondary sources are Ferishta's history completed in 1606 and "Kaygawharnāma" by Rāyzāda Dunīchand Bālī which was written in 1725. The "Kaygawharnāma" can be read as a direct rebuttal of Ferishtas history and disagrees with it on almost every point.

The "Kaygawharnāma" claims the Gakhars were Sassanian Persian nobles who, with their knights, were driven to exile into the northeast frontier of the Sassanian empire, in modern day China, Tibet and Kashmir. Gakhars also use the ancient royal Persian title "Kay or "Kayani possibly as they claim of descent of semi-mythological Kayani dynasty of ancient Greater Iran. The clan later joined forces with the Mahmud of Ghazni in his invasion of 1008 and were rewarded with the kingdom of Potohar, which has since been the territory of the clan.

While by Ferishta's account, the Gakhars were pagan hill tribe (suggested as possibly descendants of Alexander the Great's army who attacked Rai Por at Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.) who first rose to prominence in the year 682 when the Raja of Lahore submitted to terms from the Gakhars. "This treaty included the cession of certain territories in perpetuity to the Gakhars... that they should protect the Indian frontier from the Muslim invasions." Anandapal, son of Jayapala Maharaja of Punjab, "...with the Gakhars, and other warlike tribes..." forght a critical battle against the Muslim invader Mahmud of Ghazni in the Punjab in the year 1008. "Mahmud, having thus secured himself, ordered six thousand archers to the front to endeavour to provoke the enemy to attack his entrenchments. The archers were opposed by the Gakhars, who, in spite of the King's (Mahmud of Ghazni) efforts and presence, repulsed his light troops, and followed them so closely, that no less than 30,000 Gakhars with their heads and feet bare, and armed with various weapons, penetrated into the Muslim lines, where a dreadful carnage ensured, and 5000 Muslims in a few minutes were slain." Nevertheless, Anandapal and his army was eventually crushed. Despite forced conversion in 1204, according to Ferishta the Gakhars maintained a largely successful resistance to the Muslim kingdoms that followed.

Though modern day Pakistan was once part of the Sassanian empire and there is both physical and historical evidence of Sassanian knights in modern day China, Tibet and Kashmir there is no real evidence that Raezadeh Diwan Dunni Chand's account is true, as he himself freely admits in the "Kaigoharnameh" . However, Ferishta's account is almost as weak. This is hardly surprising considering the antiquity of these events.

[edit] The Medieval Gakhars

The best primary source comes from the Baburnama (The Memoirs of Babur). In his chapter "Recent History of Bhera", in 1519 Babur noted: "There were the Jats, the Gujjars, and many other peoples living in the mountains between the Nilab and Bhera (in Jhelum district), which are connected to the mountains of Kashmir. Their rulers and chieftains belong to the Gakhar clan whose chieftainship is like that of the Jud and Janjua."

Of the Jud and Janjua, Babur noted: "Seven kos from Bhera to the north, there is a hill. This hill, in the Zafer-nāmeh and some other books, is called the hill of Jūd. At first I was ignorant of the origin of its name, but afterwards discovered that in this hill there were two races of men descended of the same father. One tribe is called Jūd, the other Janjūa. From old times, they have been the rulers and lords of the inhabitants of this hill, and of the tribes and clans which are between Nilāb and Bhera; but their power is exerted in a friendly and brotherly way. They cannot take from them whatever they please. They take as their share a portion that has been fixed from very remote times. The one never takes, and the others never give, a single grain more or less. Their agreement is as follows: They give a shahrokhi for each head of cattle; seven shahrokhis are paid by each master of a family, and they serve in their armies. The Jūd are divided into various branches or families, as well as the Janjūa. This hill, which lies within seven kos of Bhera, branching off from the hill-country of Kashmīr, which belongs to the same range as Hindū-kūsh, takes a south-westerly direction, and terminates below Dīnkot, on the river Sind. On the one half of this hill are the Jūd, and on the other the Janjūa. This hill got the name of Jūd from a supposed resemblance to the celebrated hill of Jūd. The chief man among them gets the name of Rai. His younger brothers and sons are called Malik. These Janjūa were the maternal uncles of Langer Khan. The name of the ruler of the clans and tribes in the neighbourhood of the river Sohān was Malik Hast. His original name was Asad, but as the people of Hindustān often drop the vowels, calling, for instance, khabar, khabr, and asad, asd, this word, going on from one corruption to another, ended in becoming Hast. Immediately on reaching our ground I sent Langer Khan in order to bring in Malik Hast. He galloped off, and by impressing him with a persuasion of my generosity and favourable intentions in his behalf, returned, accompanied by him, about bed-time prayers. Malik Hast brought a mail-clad horse with him and made his submission. He was about the twenty-second or twenty-third year of his age."

Concerning the Gakhar clan, Babur goes on to say: "At that time (1519), the chieftains of the peoples on the mountainsides were two cousins, Tatar Khan and Hati "Elephant" Gakhar. Their strongholds were the ravines and cliffs. Tatar's seat was Pharwala, which is way below the snow-covered mountains. Hati, whose territory was adjacent to the mountains, had gained dominance over Kalinjar, which belonged to Babu Khan of Bisut. Tatar Khan had seen Dawlat Khan and owed him total allegiance; Hati, however, had not seen him and maintained a rebellious attitude towards him. With the advice and agreement of the Hindustan Begs, Tatar had gone and camped at a distance as though to lay siege to Hati. While we were in Bhera, Hati seized upon some pretext to make a surprise attack on Tatar, kill him, and lay hands on his territory, his wives, and everything he had."

In the case of both the Janjua and the Gakhar clans in the Medieval period, Babur paints a clear picture of heavily armed warrior elites living off the tribute of many acquiescent villages and in turn paying reluctant homage to their Turko-Mongol overlords.

[edit] Gakhars and Mughals

Gakhar Chief Sarang Khan was conferred title of Sultan by Mughal Emperor Babur. Gakhars became so strong that they ruled the area from Attock to Jehlum, struck their own currency and had the chiefs name in Khutba.

Sultan Adam was imprisoned at Pharwala Fort by his nephew Kamal Khan, one of Sultan Sarang's sons. Adam died in captivity. Kamal Khan also hanged Adam's son Lashkar Khan who had been found guilty of an illicit love affair with the wife of Kamal Khans brother. Abul Fazl in his Akbarnama gives a different version omitting all reference to the love-affair and asserting that on a petition from Kamal Khan, Akbar ordered the division of the Gakhar territory between him and his uncle Adam; this resulted in a pitched battle in which Adam was utterly defeated and captured. This was clearly a stratagem which Akbar employed to punish the rebellious chief by pitting his own kinsman against him and to implant his overlordship firmly in the territory of the Gakhars, (Ansari).

In order to further cement his relations with the Gakhars and use them as an ally against the tubulent Afghans, Akbar in accordance with his well-known policy, contracted matrimonial alliances with them. Prince Salim was married to a daughter of Sayd Khan, a brother of Kamal Khan. Sayd Khan had fought under the Mughal General Zayn Khan against the Afghans in Swat and Bajawr. Later Aurangzeb also honoured the Gakhar chief Allah Kuli Khan (1681-1705) by marrying one of his daughters to his son prince Muhammad Akbar. Thus two Gakhar women found their way into the Imperial harem.

Akbars policy of pacification and reconciliation had its desired effect and we find the Gakhars leading a peaceful and uneventful life during the major part of the Mughal rule. They seem to have have only reluctantly accepted the Timurids as their overlords however as a celebrated Gakhar warrior-chief, Mukarrab Khan, sided with Nadir Shah Afshar and took part in the battle of Karnal (1739), which showed up the crumbelling fabric of the Mughal empire. As a reward for his services, he was confirmed in his possession of the fort of Pharwala and on his return to Kabul, Nadir Shah conferred upon him, as a mark of further foavour, the title of Nawab (this seems to have been a personal title as no later Gakhar chief ever used it. In his days the Gakhar power was greater than it had perhaps ever been before. He defeated the Yusafzai Afghans and Jang Kuli Khan of Khattak, and captured Gujrat, overrunning the Chib country as far north as Bhimber. He was finally defeated by the Sikhs at Gujrat in 1765 and had to surrender the whole of his possessions up to the Jehlum.

[edit] The Battle of Pharwala, 1519.

What follows is Babur's vivid account of his attack on Hati Gakhar at the fortress of Pharwala: "Those who knew the lay of the land hereabouts, especially the Janjua, who were old enemies of the Gakhar, reported that Hati Gakhar had recently turned outlaw. He was engaging in highway robbery and bringing ruination upon the people. It was necessary to do something to drive him from the area or else to teach him a good lesson. In agree­meant with them, the next morning we assigned Khwaja Mirmiran and Mirim Nasir to the camp and left the camp at mid-morning to ride to Pharwala against Hati Gakhar, who had killed Tatar a few days before and taken over Pharwala, as has been mentioned. We stopped in the late afternoon, fed the horses, and rode off by night. Our guide was a servant of Malik Hast’s, Surpa by name. We cleared the road and stopped near dawn. Beg Muhammad Moghul was sent back to camp. As it was becoming light we mounted, and at midmorning we put on our armor and charged. With one league left to go, we could see the outline of Pharwala. Off we galloped. The right wing went to the east of Pharwala. Qoch Beg, who was with the right wing, was sent to rein­force its rear. The men of the left wing and center were pouring down on Pharwala. Dost Beg was directed to support the rear of the left wing, which was also attacking. Pharwala, situated among ravines, has two roads. The one to the southeast—the road by which we were traveling—is atop the ravines and is surrounded by ravines and gullies on both sides. Half a kos from Pharwala, the road becomes such that in four or five places before reaching the gate the ravines are so precipitous that it is necessary to ride single file the distance of an arrow shot. The other road to Pharwala is to the northwest and leads through a wide valley. It too is precarious, and there is no other road on any side. Although it has no ramparts or battlements, there is no place to bring force to bear either. All around are ravines seven, eight, or ten yards straight down. The men farthest forward in the left wing passed through the nar­rows and gathered at the gate. Hati drove back the attackers with thirty to forty armed horsemen and many foot soldiers. When Dost Beg, who was reinforcing the rear of the attackers, arrived, he brought a lot of force to bear, unhorsed many men, and defeated the foe. Hati Gakhar was renowned in those parts for his valour, but regardless of how well he fought he could not maintain his stand and was forced to retreat. He was unable to hold the narrows, and when he made it to the fortress, he could not make it fast either. The attackers poured into the fortress be­hind him and ran through it to the narrow ravine on the northwest, but Hati got out and fled unencumbered. Here Dost Beg performed a good action and received the fiuldu. Meanwhile I entered the fortress and dismounted at Tatar’s quarters. Some of those who had been assigned to stay with me while the attack was launched had nevertheless gone on to join the fray. Among them were Amin-Muhammad Tarkhan Arghun and Qaracha, who for their disobedience were attached to the Gujar guide, Surpa and sent into the wilderness without their cloaks to meet the camp. The next morning we got across the northwest ravine and camped in a grain field. Wali KhizanachI was assigned a few valiant warriors and sent to meet the camp. On Thursday the fifteenth [March 17] we marched out and stopped at Anderana on the banks of the Sohan. [231] Long ago the Anderana fortress had belonged to Malik Hast’s father, but after Hati Gakhar killed Hast’s father, it fell to ruins, which was its condition when we found it. That night, the part of the camp that had been detached at Kalda Kahar arrived and joined us. After Hati took Tatar, he sent his relative Parbat to me with a mail clad horse and gifts. Before catching up with me, Parbart encountered the men of the camp who had stayed behind and came along with the uruq to present his gifts and pay homage. Langar Khan also came with the uruq on several matters of business, and when finished, he and some local people were given leave to depart for Bhera. Marching on and crossing the Sohan, we stopped on a hill. Parbat was given a robe of honor, and Muhammad-Ali Jang-Jang’s servant was sent to Hati with letters of appeasement.

According to Ansari in The Encyclopedia of Islam

At the end of 933/1526, Hati Khan waited on the emperor during his return to the Punjab (after the First battle of Panipat) and greatly assisted in procuring suppilies for the Mughal army. Babar fully recognised his services, making him a handsome present and conferring on him the title of Sultan".

[edit] Jhanda Khan's Rawalpindi

The first Muslim invader, Mahmud of Ghazni 979-1030), gave the ruined city to a Gakhar Chief, Kai Gohar. The town, however, being on an invasion route, could not prosper and remained deserted until Jhanda Khan, another Gakhar Chief, restored it and named it Rawalpindi after the village Rawal in 1493. Rawalpindi remained under the rule of the Gakkhars until Muqarrab Khan, the last Gakkhar ruler, was defeated by the Sikhs under Sardar Milka Singh in 1765.

[edit] Gakhar clans

Currently, there are forty one clans/branches of Gakhars but the following six are well-known and are the most important ones:

1. Adamal (descended from Sultan Adam)
2. Sarangal (descended from Sultan Sarang)
3. Hathial (said to be descended from Sultan Hathi)
4. Bogial (said to be descended from Malik Boga)
5. Firozal (said to be descended from Malik Firoz)
6. Iskandrial (said to be descended from Malik Sikandar)

[edit] References

• "Kaygawharnāma" by Dunīchand Bālī, Rāyzāda, edited by Dr. Muhammad Baqir, 1965 , copy held in the British Library, Oriental Collection.
• "Ghakkarnama" by Raezadeh Diwan Dunni Chand, 1856, copy held in the British Library,Oriental Collection, (Ethe 3021).
• Jhelum Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Online Edition.[1]
• Gujrat Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Online Edition. [2]
• Gakkhar, A. S Bazmee Ansari, in Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed.,Edited by J.H.Kramers et al, E.J Brill, Leiden, pp.972-74.
• Gakkhar, L. Dames, Encyclopedia of Islam, 1st ed., Leiden, p.128, 1927.
• "A History of the Gakkhars", J. G. Delmerick, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XL, Part 1 (1871), pp.67-107.
• Gazetteer of the Rawalpindi District 1893-94, Punjab Government, 2001 Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore.
• The Baburnama: memoirs of Babur, prince and emperor, Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur, Translated, edited and annotated by Wheeler M. Thackston. 2002 Modern Library Paperback Edition, New York.
• The History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India Till The Year A.D. 1612, Muhammad Kasim (Ferishta), Translated, edited and annotated by General J. Briggs. Reprinted 1981, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, New Delhi, 4 vols.

[edit] See also

• Kayani
• Rawalpindi