Awan (tribe)

 ( Awan ) 

Awan () is a tribe and ethnic community centred in the Northern and Punjab regions of Pakistan, the name Awan is used as a surname for this tribe.

Awans are predominantly present in the northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, with significant population also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and to a lesser extent, in Sindh and Balochistan. The tribe claim Arabs, particularly Alids, origin

(2025). 9789058230751, Routledge. ISBN 9789058230751

through its primary ancestor Qutb Shah, who is said to have came to modern-day Pakistan with Mahmud of Ghazni.

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History Jamal J. Elias notes that the Awans believe themselves to be of Arabs origin, descended from Ali and that the claim of Arab descent gives them "high status in the Indian Muslim environment".

Jamal J. Elias (1998). 9780520212428, University of California Press. ISBN 9780520212428

Christophe Jaffrelot says:

People of the Awan community have a strong presence in the Pakistan Army

and a notable martial tradition.

Imran Ali (1998). 9781400859580, Princeton University Press. . ISBN 9781400859580

They were listed as an "agricultural tribe" by the British Raj in 1925, a term that was then synonymous with classification as a "martial race".

Rajit K. Mazumder (2025). 9788178240596, Orient Longman. . ISBN 9788178240596

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Notable people

• Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan – Former Nawab of Kalabagh, Chief of the Awan tribe and Governor of West Pakistan from 1960 to 1966.
  Jahan Dad Khan (2025). 9780195795875, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195795875
• Nur Khan – Commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Air Force, 1965–69, Governor of West Pakistan, 1969–70, and recipient of the Hilal-i-Jurat, the second-highest military award of Pakistan.
  Roedad Khan (1999). 9780195791907, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195791907
• Tajammul Hussain Malik, War Hero of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, held an impenetrable defence in the Battle of Hilli against a multiple times larger force, famously refused to surrender and attempted coup against the military dictatorship of the 1980s
• Mir Sultan Khan – A chess master also believed by some to be the greatest natural chess player of modern times.
• Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi – Urdu poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist, short story author, recipient of the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third-highest civil award of Pakistan.
  Daud Kamal (2025). 9780195474978, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195474978
• Sultan Bahu – A Sufi mysticism, poet, scholar and founder of Sufism known as Sarwari Qadiri.
  Jürgen Wasim Frembgen (2025). 9780195470062, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195470062
• Khadim Hussain Rizvi – A Pakistani Islamic scholar and the founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.
• Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan – Islamic scholar and spiritual leader of the Sufism known as Naqshbandia Owaisiah.
• Saad Hussain Rizvi, Pakistani far-right politician
• Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi – Islamic scholar, jurist and Hadith studies.Ustad-e-Punjab (teacher of Punjab), in Urdu, by Maulana Majeed Sohadravi, Darussalam Pakistan/Muslim Publication, Lahore. page 41
• Dilip Kumar –A ctor in Hindi cinema.
• Babar Awan – Pakistani politician and lawyer
• Malik Munawar Khan Awan, Pakistan army officer who fought for independence of Azad Hind against the British Raj and a decorated soldier awarded for gallantry for conquering areas of the Kashmir Valley in the Second Indo-Pakistani War
• Muhammad Akram , Pakistani martyr soldier who commanded an outnumbered regiment at Hilli, East Pakistan and was post-humously awarded the highest military honour of the country

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See also

• Tribes and clans of the Pothohar Plateau
• Ahmed Gul Khel
• Awan Patti

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Further reading

• Mohammad Qadeer (2006). 9781134186174, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781134186174

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