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 18th Century Portrait of North Indian Rohilla Pashtun Recruit | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 369,582 (2011), 2,000,000 to 7,200,000 (ancestry)[citation needed] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| India (Rohilkhand), Pakistan (Karachi) | |
| Languages | |
| Urdu •Hindustani •Pashto | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pathans of Uttar Pradesh,Urdu-speaking people, otherPashtun tribes |
Rohillas[a] are a community ofPashtun heritage,[3][page needed][4][5][page needed] historically found inRohilkhand, a region in the state ofUttar Pradesh, India.[6] It forms the largestPashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region.[6] The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region ofnorthern India in the 1720s, the first of whom wasAli Mohammed Khan.[6][7]
The Rohillas are found all over Uttar Pradesh, but are more concentrated in the Rohilkhand regions ofBareilly andMoradabad divisions. After the 1947Partition of India, many of the Rohillas migrated toKarachi, Pakistan as a part of theMuhajir community.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 210,586 | — |
| 1961 | 234,754 | +1.09% |
| 1971 | 259,847 | +1.02% |
| 1981 | 289,934 | +1.10% |
| 1991 | 314,823 | +0.83% |
| 2001 | 339,716 | +0.76% |
| 2011 | 369,582 | +0.85% |
| Sources:[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] | ||
The Indian term "Rohilla" originated fromRoh, meaning the hilly country, where Rohilla was used as a fairly broad notion of the people from Roh.[17][page needed] LaterRoh referred to a geographical term which corresponded with, in its limited sense, the territory stretching fromSwat andBajaur in the north toSibi in the south, and fromHasan Abdal (Attock) in the east toKabul andKandahar in the west,[18] which corresponded with the homeland of the Pashtuns. ThePashtun or primarilyYusufzai migrations towards Northern India could be traced to their expulsion fromKandahar due to theTurko-Mongol invasions, who were subsequently resettled inKabul, where they were again dispelled by theTimurids and forced to settle inSwat, where they assimilated the nativeDardic andTajik Dehqan population, who were collectively termed Yusufzais to the outside. A further migration continued towards Northern India, where typically inhabitants in the valley without land and those seeking trade opportunities quitted the country of Roh and migrated to India.[19] The immigration of Pashtuns from the Peshawar valley was further exacerbated with the collapse of Mughal authority and the invasion ofNader Shah.[20]
This community over generations had become culturally closer to theAwadh region between Katehr and Awadh.[21][page needed] In the 1700s, the decentralization of Mughal power allowed for the rise of Rohilla power inKatehar, with the rise of Ali Muhammad Khan's territories, in the context of the rise of other elements such as theMarathas,Jats and theSikhs.[22][page needed] This region, calledKatehar by the Hindus, andSambhal-Moradabad by the Muslims,[citation needed] was already known as one of the most troublesome regions for its turbulence and rebelliousness under the Katehriya Rajputs, especially since theDelhi Sultanate. In this respect the Rohillas were following their footsteps.[23][24] As Ali Muhammad occupied Katehar, and had invited a large number of people fromRoh, it was during his lifetime that the land of Katehr was named Rohilkhand which meansthe land of the Rohillas.[25][26][page needed] The settlers from Roh consisted primarily of Pashtuns of theMandarr Yousafzai tribe, as well as theKhattak,BunerwalYousafzais,Muhammadzai andAfridi tribes who were inhabitants of thePeshawar valley and theBarech fromKandahār. A majority of Rohillas migrated from Pashtunistan to North India between the 17th and 18th century.[27][citation needed].[28][29][page needed][30] Finally, a large number of newerPashtun arrivals from the Northwest swelled their ranks, who were termed "Vilayati".[citation needed] All were collectively termed Rohillas, thus the Rohillas were in the process of developing a real or fictive kinship based on newly forged marriage alliances, consisting of Indian Pathan families, converted Hindus and new arrivals from the Northwest.[31][page needed]
The founder of the state of Rohilkhand wasAli Muhammad Khan who was a Jat[32][33] boy of age of eight when he was adopted by Daud Khan Barech. The first immigrant to theKatehr region was Shah Alam Khan, who had settled in Katehr in 1673 and had brought along a band of his tribe, theBarech.[34][page needed] His son Daud Khan gained a number of villages in theKatehr region by working for the Mughals and various Rajput Zamindars. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various Pashtun tribes asmercenaries had immigrated to the region. Daud Khan adopted two Hindus, converted them to Islam, and provided them a proper religious education. These were Ali Muhammad Khan and Fath Khan-i-Saman. They were trained as mercenaries, and the former was put at the head of his following, which included both Pashtuns and various Hindustanis.[35]
The rise of the Rohilla state owed mainly toAli Muhammed Khan, who succeeded Daud Khan's jagirs in 1721.[36] The Rohillas being a mixture of old pedigree IndianPathan families, Indian converts and new adventurers from the northwest, were in the process of developing a real or fictive kinship based on newly forged marriage alliances.[37] Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the Indian MuslimBarah Sayyid tribe, who controlled the upperDoab under theMughal Empire, and who had under their chief Saifudddin Barha put the Mughal governor Marhamat Khan and all of his followers to death.[citation needed] As a reward Ali Muhammad Khan was given the title of Nawab by Muhammad Shah in 1737. He became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central government. Ali Muhammad Khan defeated Despat, the Banjara chief who held Philbit. In 1744, Ali Muhammad Khan tried to invade Kumaon with a well-prepared army that was 10,000 men strong. In late 1743, he tried to capture Almora, after which the king Kalyan Chand fled and sought the protection of the Raja of Garhwal, who forgave his previous mutual animosity and offered military support. As Ali Muhammad Khan burnt down the temple ofJageshwar, the Rohillas were faced by a combined Garhwal and Kumaon army which defeated Ali Muhammad Khan at the battle of Kairarau, forcing the rohilla to sue for peace.[38][need quotation to verify]Safdar Jang, theNawab of Oudh,[39] warned the Mughal emperorMuhammad Shah[40] of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to send an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor ofSirhind. Most of his soldiers had already settled in theKatehar region duringNadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739, increasing the Rohilla population in the area to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of RohillaPashtuns, this part ofKatehar region came to be known as Rohilkhand. The conversion of Hindus to Islam further resulted in its rapid growth.[citation needed] As Ali Muhammad Khan returned to Rohilkhand,Bareilly was made the capital of this newly formed Rohilkhand state.[citation needed]
When Ali Muhammad Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were inAfghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, where Sadullah Khan was made the nominal head of the state. Faizullah Khan retainedBareilly, Dundi Khan gainedMoradabad and Bisauli, Fath Khan-i-Saman was placed in charge ofBadaun and Usehat, Mulla Sardar Bakhshi gained Kot andHafiz Rahmat Khan Barech gained Salempur orPilibhit.[41] In 1755,Qutb Shah Rohilla, who was not a Rohilla by caste, but came to be known as a Rohilla as a preceptor and fighter of the Indian Rohillas,[42] raised the standard of rebellion in Saharanpur against the Wazir Imad-ul-Mulk, who had taken his jagirs and given them to the Marathas. Mian Qutb Shah defeated the Mughal army at Karnal, and plundered the adjoining towns until he conquered the town ofSirhind. When he was completely defeated in his attempt to enter the Jalandhar Doab, he was forced to abandon all his territory.[43] The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand, and as the chiefs could offer no effective resistance, they fled to the Terai, whence they sought the aid ofShuja-ud-Daula of Awadh. Shuja-ud-Daulah came to their aid, and their combined forces in November 1759 drove the Marathas across the Ganges, after inflicting severe losses upon them.[citation needed] Qutb Khan Rohilla defeated and beheaded the Maratha general Dattaji at Burari Ghat.[44][full citation needed]
In theThird Battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars,Najib-ud-Daula, allied himself withAhmad Shah Abdali[b] against theMarathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to the allied. He also convincedShuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh, to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Marathas were defeated and as a consequence the Rohilla increased in power.[citation needed]
The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand to retaliate against the Rohillas' participation in thePanipat war. The Marathas under the leadership of the Maratha rulerMahadji Shinde entered theland ofSardar Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his sonZabita Khan after the sardar's death. Zabita Khan initially resisted the attack with Sayyid Khan and Saadat Khan behaving with gallantry, but was eventually defeated with the death of Saadat Khan by the Marathas and was forced to flee to the camp ofShuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas.[citation needed]Shah Alam II held the captured the family of Zabita Khan and Maratha rulerMahadji Shinde looted his fort and desecrated the grave ofNajib ad-Dawlah.[45] With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands ofAmrohi Sayyid tribes.[46] The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to the Terai whence the remaining SardarHafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab ofOudh, Shuja-ud-Daula, by which the Rohillas agreed to pay four million rupees in return for military help against the Marathas. Hafiz Rehmat, abhoring unnecessary violence unlike the outlook of his fellow Rohillas such as Ali Muhammad and Najib Khan, prided himself on his role as a political mediator and sought the alliance with Awadh to keep the Marathas out of Rohilkhand. He bound himself to pay on behalf of the Rohillas. However, after he refused to pay,Oudh attacked the Rohillas.[47]
Afterwards, the Rohillas were attacked by the neighbouring kingdom of Oudh led by the NawabShuja-ud-Daula and his principal sardars, Basant Ali Khan, Mahbub Ali Khan, and Sayyid Ali Khan.[48] The Nawab also received assistance from anEast India Company force under the command of ColonelAlexander Champion. Hafiz Rehmat was joined by the Indian Pathans of Farrukhabad in the Doab and the Rajput yeomanry.[49] This conflict is known as theRohilla War. WhenHafiz Rahmat Khan Barech was killed, in April 1774, Rohilla resistance crumbled, and Rohilkhand was annexed by the kingdom of Oudh. Shuja-ud-Daulah spread his troops to murder, plunder and commit every on the peasantry. The Rohillas underFaizullah Khan, Ahmad Khan Bakhshi, Ahmad Khan-i-Saman, the son of Fath Khan-i-saman retired to the hills at Lal Dang and started aguerrilla war to avenge their defeat.[50][better source needed]Warren Hastings' role in the conflict was publicized duringhis impeachment.[citation needed]
From 1774 to 1799, the region was administered by Khwaja Almas Khan, aJat Muslim convert fromHoshiarpur, Punjab,[51] as representative of theAwadh (Kingdom of Oudh) rulers. This period was particularly tough for the Rohillas, as Almas Khan made every effort to violently extract wealth from the inhabitants.[52] Almas Khan carved out a principality and possessed a considerable army like the Nawab.[53] In 1799, the BritishEast India Company annexed the territory, and started to pay a pension to the family ofHafiz Rahmat Khan.[54]
While most of Rohilkhand was annexed, the Rohilla State of Rampur was established by NawabFaizullah Khan on 7 October 1774 in the presence of ColonelAlexander Champion, and remained a compliant state under British protection thereafter. The first stone of the new Fort at Rampur was laid in 1775 by Nawab Faizullah Khan. The first Nawab proposed to rename the cityFaizabad, but many other places were known by that name so its name was changed toMustafabad. Faizullah Khan suppressed a rebellion of Hurmat Khan, the son of Hafiz Rehmat, and sent a force of horse under Muhammad Umar Khan help the British defeat the Sikh attacks in Bijnor.[55][better source needed]
TheQissa-o-Ahwal-i-Rohilla written by Rustam AliBijnori in 1776 provides an example of the refined Urdu prose of the Muslim Rohilla elite in Rohilkhand and Katehr.[56]
Nawab Faizullah Khan ruled for 20 years. He was a patron of education and began the collection of Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hindustani manuscripts which are now housed in the Rampur Raza Library. After his death his son Muhammad Ali Khan took over. He was assassinated by Rohilla elders after reigning for 24 days, and Muhammad Ali Khan's brother, Ghulam Muhammad Khan, was proclaimed Nawab. The East India Company took exception to this, and after a reign of just 3 months and 22 days, Ghulam Muhammad Khan was besieged and defeated byEast India Company forces. The East India Company supported Muhammad Ali Khan's son, Ahmad Ali Khan, to be the new Nawab. He ruled for 44 years. He did not have any sons, so Muhammad Saeed Khan, son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, took over as the new Nawab after his death. He established Courts and improved the economic conditions of farmers. His son Muhammad Yusuf Ali Khan took over after his death and his son, Kalb Ali Khan, became the new Nawab after his death in 1865.[citation needed]
| Nawab of Rampur | Reign Began | Reign Ended | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Faizullah Khan | 15 September 1774 | 24 July 1793 |
| 3 | Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur | 24 July 1793 | 11 August 1793 |
| 4 | Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur | 11 August 1793 | 24 October 1794 |
| 5 | Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur | 24 October 1794 | 5 July 1840 |
| – | Nasrullah Khan –Regent | 24 October 1794 | 1811 |
| 6 | Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur | 5 July 1840 | 1 April 1855 |
| 7 | Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur | 1 April 1855 | 21 April 1865 |
| 8 | Kalb Ali Khan Bahadur | 21 April 1865 | 23 March 1887 |
| 9 | Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan Bahadur | 23 March 1887 | 25 February 1889 |
| 10 | Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur | 25 February 1889 | 20 June 1930 |
| – | General Azeemudin Khan –Regent | 25 February 1889 | 4 April 1894 |
| 11 | Raza Ali Khan Bahadur | 20 June 1930 | 6 March 1966 |
| 12 | Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur – Nawabat abolished in 1971 | 6 March 1966 | 8 February 1982 |
| 13 | Murad Ali Khan Bahadur | 8 February 1982 | Incumbent |
They were generally settled in villages, in many of which they own and cultivate the soil, and in some of which they formed large brotherhoods, approaching those of Jats and Rajputs, with a similar constitution.[citation needed] Evidence from 1857 suggests that the survival of degrees of Pathan-derived lineage based identity in villagers of the old Rohilkhand districts. These identities were marked as much by signs of assimilation and transformation as any continuity.[57]
The period between the revolt of 1857 and the independence of India in 1947 was a period of stability for the Rohilla community. In 1858, the British colonial government issued a general pardon to all those who had taken part in the Indian Rebellion and restored many lands. Some of the tribes were punished for aiding the rebels. Some tribes had to migrate to Delhi andGurgaon, while others migrated tothe Deccan region. Conditions improved after some years and migration from theNorth West Frontier Province andAfghanistan recommenced, adding to the Rohilla population. During this period, the Rohillas were also effected by the reformist movement ofSir Syed Ahmed Khan, with many taking to modern education. The founder of theBarelvi sect ofSunni Islam,Ahmad Raza Khan, was also born among the Rohillas and the city ofBareilly became an important centre of Islamic learning in Northern India.[citation needed]
While a majority of Rohillas remained landowners and cultivators, a significant minority took to western education, and entered professions such as law and medicine. They also began to take an interest in the political debates during the last decade of the 19th Century. Some of them joined the newly formedIndian National Congress, while others were attracted topan-Islamism. This period also saw a wholesale adoption of North Indian Muslim culture, withUrdu becoming the native language of the Rohilla. In fact the term of Rohilla was slowly replaced with the term "Pathan", which was a new self-identification. However a sense of distinct identity remained strong, with the Rohillas residing in distinct quarters of cities, such as, Kakar Tola, Pani Tola andGali Nawaban in Bareilly, which was home to the descendants ofHafiz Rahmat Khan. There was intermarriages with neighbouring Muslim communities such as theShaikh,Muslim Rajput andKamboh. Thus at the dawn ofindependence, the Rohilla were losing their distinct community status.[58][full citation needed]
The independence of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 had a profound effect on the Rohilla community. During thepartition of India in 1947, some Rohillas moved to Pakistan.
The Rohilla, part of thePathan community, form one of the ethnic groups of Uttar Pradesh and are found throughout the state, with settlements in the cities ofRampur,Bareilly, andShahjahanpur in Rohilkhand, being the densest in Rampur, the seat of the Royal House of Rampur. The Rohillas are known for their rich cuisine.[59]
In Pakistan, the Rohillas and otherUrdu-speaking Pathans have now assimilated into the largerUrdu speaking community. There is no sense of corporate identity among the descendants of Rohilla Pathans in Pakistan with high degree of intermarriage with other Muslims. They mainly live inKarachi,Hyderabad,Sukkur,Dera Ismail Khan,Pharpur,RangPur,Haripur,Abbottabad and other urban areas ofSindh.[60][full citation needed]
The designationRohilla developed during the seventeenth century as a fairly broad notion of the people coming fromRoh orRõh, corresponding roughly with the mountainous terrain of the eastern Hindu Kush and the Sulaiman Range. Only in the seventeenth-century Indian and Indo-Afghan works do we findRoh frequently used as a more specific geographical term which corresponded with the territory stretching from Swat and Bajaur in the north to Sibi and Bhakkar in Sind, and from Hasan Abdal in the east to Kabul and Kandahar in the west.
The nomenclature ' Rohilkhand ' gained currency particularly after Ali Muhammad Khan, the adopted son and successor of Daud Khan defeated Raja Harnand and occupied Katehr in 1742
This is the area in U.P (Uttar Pradesh) Province, in which Pashtoons were either given land by the emperors or they settled for Trade purposes. Roh was the name of the North-East Afghanistan and North-West Pakistan region.Yousafzai Pathans especiallyMandarr sub clan, living in this valley were also known as Rohillas when they settled down the area was known asKatehr, which literally means soft well-aerated loam which is extremely suitable for cultivation. It later became known asRohil Khand (the land of the Rohillas). The great majority of Rohillas migrated between 17th and 18th Century.
Amongst other prisoners he obtained a young Jat boy of eight years . Daud took a fancy to him and adopted him as his son and named him ' Ali Muhammad Khan.
Dunde Khan; Fateh Khan retained possession of Budaun and Usehat, while Abdullah Khan ( Ali Muhammad's son ) was established in possession of Ujhani and Sahaswan . Kot was given to Sardar Khan and Salempur was kept by Hafiz Rahmat