The Shinwari () are an ethnic Pashtun people tribe of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Among the greatest poets of the Pashto language in the 20th century was the late Ameer Hamza Shinwari, also known as "Hamza Baba".
The Shinwari tribe are descended from the Kasi Pashtun tribe settled in the southern districts of Nangarhar Province, in Haska Meyna, Achin District, Rodat District, Bati Kot, Kot District, Chaprahar, Shinwar, Dor Baba and Nazyan District districts. A major portion of the tribe is centered in Jalalabad and Parwan province of Afghanistan, and Khyber Pass, Pakistan. These Shinwaris are mostly traders and businessmen. There are more than 3,000 Shinwaris settled in the Alizai village, 15 km away from Kohat, Pakistan. Mirdad Khel, a sub-tribe of the Shinwaris, migrated to Swat Valley during the 1750s and settled there. Among them one of the notable Shinwaris is Senator Abdul Rahim Mirdad Khel. In Afghanistan, the Shinwari are also located in the Kunar Province. Reporting from 2010 states that there are around 400,000 Shinwari in Afghanistan.
Location
The Shinwari tribe is settled in the southern districts of Nangarhar Province, in Haska Meyna,
Achin District,
Rodat District, Bati Kot,
Kot District, Chaprahar, Shinwar, Dor Baba and
Nazyan District districts. A major portion of this tribe is also settled between
Landi Kotal (Pakistan) and
Jalalabad (Afghanistan), as well as in
Parwan province of Afghanistan where they are concentrated in Shinwari, Ghorband, and Jabalussaraj districts. These Shinwaris are mostly traders and businessmen. There is also a significant minority of the tribe settled in
Kohat Division and Hangu (Jangal Khel, Haji Abad, Mohallah Sangirh), Pakistan, a settlement 60 km south of
Peshawar. In
Afghanistan, the Shinwari are also located in
Kunar Province,
Bajaur Agency and
Lower Dir. At
Lower Dir,
Munjai village contains a huge population of the Shinwari tribe, which had migrated from
Afghanistan to
Chamrakand (
Mohmand Agency and
Bajaur Agency) in the 1890s, and settled in the fertile land of
Munjai village in
Lower Dir. Reporting from 2010 states that there are around 400,000 Shinwari in
Afghanistan.
The
Shinwaris reside in hilly areas with narrow valleys such as in the
Khyber Agency where mountain ranges meet there:
Lacha Gar,
Karagah Ghar,
Surghar, Tor Ghar Morgah, and
Kalauch. The famous
Khyber Pass, at 1,180 meters (3,870 ft.) ASL, is the gateway to
Afghanistan through the Kuh-e Sefid range.
The Khyber Agency has two major rivers. The Bara River in the southern Khajuri Plain provides for relatively arable farm land. The Kabul River forms the northern boundary, separating Khyber Agency from Mohmand Agency. Another river in the agency is the Chora River, which flows east-northeast on the north side of the Surghar range. Valleys: Maidan, Rujgal, Bara River, Bazaar, Choora, Wachpal and Tirah.[ Unknown][waziristanhills.com/FATA/AgenciesFRs/KhyberAgency/tabid/79/language/en-GB/Default.aspx]
Khyber Agency experiences hot temperatures during the summer season, May through August. Maximum temperatures may reach 104 degrees, while the lower average 79 degrees. During the cooler months of November through April, however, average high temperatures reach 64 degrees and lows dip to around 39 degrees. Average annual rainfall over the Khyber Agency is 15 to 16 inches
The elders of the Shinwari tribe in Nangarhar signed a pact, uniting against the Taliban. They promised that anyone supporting the Taliban, would be punished with fines and expulsion. This pact, which per The Times "appears to be the first" incident of an entire tribe declaring war against the Taliban, has invited comparison with the Sunni Awakening of 2006, which tipped the balance of power in Iraq against the Sunni insurgency. The pact also had economic implications that America offered over in development funding. Further, reports suggested the Shinwari were against Taliban interference with their traditional smuggling routes across the Durand Line.
The security situation in Haska Mena district is getting worse daily due to the increased number of Taliban insurgents operating in Naria Aubo Village, Papen Village, Dara Village, Aughuz Village and other remote villages in the Haksa Mena, In December 2014, Most of the Taliban insurgents have changed from Taliban to ISIL-KP carrying out insurgent activities under the direct order of Abdul Khaliq, Who is the head of Taliban in Haska Mena. Several people were killed and injured during the insurgency in Haska Mena district, The most common are:
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Killing of General Kafee in Haska Mena due to his work with Ministry of Defence of Afghanistan in Jalalabad city.
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Killing of Masjid Mullah in Kutawal village, Haska Mena at night.
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Kidnapping of Deputy District Governor of Nangarhar Province, Mr. Nazifullah, but later released due to the intervention within district elders.
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Kidnapping and persecution of USAID contract driver, Mr. Baitullah in Haska Mena district due to working with the US government agencies, he was beaten, injured and wounded by cutting his right hand three fingers so that he can be not able to drive any more for USAID missions in Haska Mena. Later on he was also released on the intervention of the elder by the promise that he will not work anymore for any USAID or other government agencies. The district government was also unable to provide protection and help to this kind of peoples.
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Some Sub tribes of Shinwaris such as Mirdad Khel migrated to the Swat Valley in 1935 and then settled there.
History
British assessment (1885)
In 1885, a British author described the Shinwari ("Shanwari" in his text):
- The Shanwari inhabit a portion of the Khaibar mountains, some of the eastern valleys of the Safed Koh, and are also found on the borders of Bajaur. They have five sections - Mandizai/Manduzai, Abdul Rahim, Sangu, Sipai, and Ali Sher. They have been continuously predatory since the British approached their borders. They are the most industrious carriers between Peshawur and the other marts on the way to Kabul, using mules and camels for carriage. They are brave, hospitable, stalwart and hardworking. They are well-educated people
Edward Balfour.
The cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: commercial, industrial and scientific, products of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, useful arts and manufactures, Volume 2. Publisher B. Quaritch, 1885.
Feuds and alliances
The Shinwari tribe has been known to form alliances with the
Mohmands, the Safis, and the
Afridis.
[Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans, Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1958]
However, some sources indicate that the Mohmand tribe is frequently in a state of conflict with the Shinwari tribe.[Ahmed, Akbar S., Social and Economic Change in the Tribal Areas, 1972-1976, Oxford University Press, London, UK, 1977.]
The Shinwari tribe has historically feuded with the Khogyani tribe, which is a Karlani sub-tribe. There are some historical inter-tribal feuds over land.
Role in the Anglo-Afghan War
During the First Afghan War, a raid on the Shinwarree valley was conducted in Nangarhar, on the 24th of July 1842 Shinwari tribesmen skirmished with the British invaders and another action occurred in the 26th of July where a larger British Artillery force engaged the tribesmen.
[ Journal of Afghan War in 1842 edited by Edward William Bray][ History of the War in Afghanistan, Volume 2 by Sir John William Kaye]
Role in the Khost Rebellion
During the Khost rebellion, the Shinwari aligned themselves with the Afghan Government and helped quell the revolt.
Role in 1929 Afghan Civil War
During the late 1928 riots, the Shinwari tribe were the first to openly rebel against king
Amanullah Khan's imposition of various new laws, including the requirement to wear European dress, the rule that required them to send a quota of their daughters to Kabul for education and the impositions of taxes (they had never previously paid tax). The Shinwaris attacked
Jalalabad, cutting off its water supply and closing the Kabul–Peshawar road. Amanullah responded by using his fledgling Air Force, including Soviet pilots, to bomb the Shinwaris. The use of foreign "infidels" to subjugate Muslims roused other tribes to revolt and the country descended into what would become the 1929 Afghan Civil War.
Tribe
The Shinwaris are derived from the
Kasi tribe, and are further distributed into sub-tribes:
[ Shinwari tribe, Center for Culture and Conflict Studies, US Naval Postgraduate School.]
|
| Tribe | | Clans of Tribe | Subclans of Tribe | division of Tribe | Section of Subdivision | Minor Fractions | Other Fractions; |
| Shinwari | Mandizai / Manduzai | Hamza khel,
ilyas khel,
Hasan khel | AhmedMaghdud Daulat
kotwal kuki Musi Umar
Da Mahmud | Haska Meyna
Haska Meyna District | | | |
| Ali Sher Khel | Adal khel, Ash khel | Khuga Mirdad Utar
]Piro khel] Piset Shekmal | | | | |
| Sangu Khel | Ghani khel | Haider kachkal Khani
Karmu Mirjan Mai
Soulor [Mullagoris | | | | |
| Sephai | Rahimdad Haider
Suliman Babar Shabul | Aka Ata Mama
Aka Fatima Nimidar
Mamai Lala ya | Spinghar District | | |
|
| Mullagori | | | | | | |
| Soonkhel(found in nazyan) | | | | | | |
| Bu Saeed | | | | | | |
| Haji | Shibli Abdur | | | | |
|
| KobiZai | | | | | | |
| Mehmood Shinwaris of Dir Lower, Ancestry of Malak Mehmood Jan Shinwari/Fahm Jan Malak | | district(dir lower)] | | |
| YahyaZai | | | | | | |
| AliZai | | | | | | |
| other Shinwaris | | | | | | |
Notable Shinwari
-
Ghalib Hassan, leader in the anti-Taliban resistance under Abdul Haq, appointed District Commander of Shinwar, Afghanistan by Hamid Karzai,
[
]
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Rashid Khan Arman, sportsman, member of the Afghanistan national cricket team from Nangarhar
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Abdul Qayum Sher, Pakistan Army war hero
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Amir Hamza Shinwari, poet
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Faisal Ahmad Shinwari, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan 2001–2006
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Malalai Shinwari, advocate
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Rafiq Shinwari, singer
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Samiullah Shinwari, sportsman, member of the Afghanistan national cricket team
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Usman Khan Shinwari, sportsman, member of the Pakistan national cricket team.
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Prof. Dr. Zabta Khan Shinwari, Pakistani botanist and researcher.
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Baseerat Khan Shinwari, Becomes The First Woman To Be a Member of Provissional Assembly (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 2019 to 2023.
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Abdur Rahim mirdad khail ex senator of Pakistan
See also
7. http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/rawanews.php?id=656
8. http://afghanistantimes.af/old/news_details.php?page=8&id=9738&&cid=3
9. http://www.pajhwok.com/en/search/site/%22haska%22
10. https://sites.google.com/site/wwwbomnaforg/all-news-updates/news-updates-december-2013/clasheskill4ineafghanistan
11. http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2348647&Language=en
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/06/asia/npw-isis-reach-in-afghanistan/index.html
