Khiljies are Afghan

Abdul Hai Habibi

n the Indian Historical Congress, held in 1939, one of the speakers who spoke on this issue said that the Khaljies were not Turks, and his studies were published in the Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. But before this Edward Thomas had published a book entitled The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi, in 1871 in London, in which he recalls that from 1193 to 1554 A.D., the Delhi Sultans were Pathan=Afghan kings. During this period five Moslem dynasties and 40 kings ruled over the Delhi throne.[1]](Error 404 - Not found) Sir Wolseley Haig, who published the third volume of the Cambridge History of India in 1928, in which he discusses Turks and Afghans in India, says for the sake of precaution that the Khaljies were related to Afghans and adds that they were Turks who adhere to Afghan customs and live in the Garmser area of Afghanistan. Since their second race came into being in India, they have denied being the descendants of Turkish origin.[2]](Error 404 - Not found) In the whereabouts of 1205 A.D. and after the death of the Ghorid emperor Mui’ziz-ud-din Mohammad Saam, a number of Afghans, some of whom were of the Pashto speaking Afghan origin and others belonged to the Turkish race were raised in Afghan courts and got mixed with Afghans. Therefore, scholars like Thomas and his predecessors consider them afghan even they might have been related to Turks or Arabs. For example, when Khazir Khan, the son of Malik Sulayman conquered Delhi in 1404 A.D., he and his followers (according to Mohammad Qasim Firishta) considered themselves to be the descendants of the Prophet Mohammad. Yahya, son of Ahmad Shahrani, who wrote Tarikh-e Mubarak Shahi in 1404 A.D., in the name of his son Mubarakshah, and other historians like Shams Siraj A’fif in Tarikh-e Ferozshahi and Abdul Qadir Badayuni, the author of Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh also consider this dynasty to be Sayyids or the descendents of Mohammad the Prophet. But Mohammad Qasim Ferishta says: “Before this Malik Sulamaan never claimed to be a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad.”[3]](Error 404 - Not found) The same subject has also been written by Maulawi Ahmad Ali Hindi.[4]](Error 404 - Not found) While Zakaullah, the modern Indian historian manifests that Malik Sulaymaan and his son were Afghans and not Sayyids of the Arabic race.[5]](Error 404 - Not found)
Since in this article the issue under investigation is the Khalji and refutation that they are linked to the Turks, explanations and details into other issues will not be discussed. From the available historical and linguistic reasoning it can be said that Khalji is the present Ghalji and is the name of certain Afghan tribes. This root is present in Gharj, Gharcha, Ghalcha and other historical words, and “gh” has converted to “kh”, hence Ghalji has been mispronounced as Khalji. This change is seen in the texts of the third, fourth and following centuries of the Hijera.
According to Minhaj Seraj there were over 15 great Khalji personalities who ruled from 1203 A.D. onwards over India and were spreading Khorasanian and Islamic culture all over northern India and the highlands of North Bengal.[6]](Error 404 - Not found) Once again the Khaljies ruled over Delhi from 1203 to 1320 A.D. All these rulers were the Ghaljis of Afghanistan. Several places are still known in Afghanistan as Khalaj. Such as the Khalaj (near Gizeo of Rozgan, north of Kandahar), the Khalaj[7]](Error 404 - Not found) of Helmand valley and the Khalaj of Ghazna, which Yaqut also mentions[8]](Error 404 - Not found) as being near Ghazni in the land of Zabulistan.
In view of linguistic analysis, Khalji, Ghalji or Ghalzi are Gharzay, meaning mountain-dwellers (in Pahsto ghar means a mountain and zay born of). In the tale of Kak Kohzad (Mulhaqat-e-Shahnama, vol. 5, p. 33) these people are of Afghan descent and according to the author of this book they lived in Zabul (between Ghazni and Helmand) in the plain which is linked with Hindwan. These people are said to be tent dwellers. Kohzad is the translation of Pashto Gharza and the Ghalji. Tent dwellers still live in the same manner in this region. Just as in Pashto this ancient word is Gharzay=Gharlji=Khalji. In Arabic it is written Gharj, and kohzad in Dari has the same structure and meaning. The term is so old that Panini, the founder of Sanskrit grammar (about 350 B.C.), has called the tribes of central and northern Rohita-Giri=Hindu Kush, as Pohita Giries or mountaineers[9]](Error 404 - Not found), which means kohzad or gharzay=Khalji.
We know that Indians called this land Roh. Huen Tsang has also noted this word in 630 A.D. and after 1203 A.D. Indian authors have called Afghanistan, (extending from Heart to Hasan Abdal) Roh[10]](Error 404 - Not found) and its inhabitants as Rohela, which means kohzad or Ghalji=Khalji. In India a place named Rohil-Kohzad is related to Rohela (Kohzad) and was the dwelling place of Afghans who had settled in India. In the names of some tribes “gh” has ben converted to “kh” e.g. Khir=Khez=Qir=Ghez[11]](Error 404 - Not found) or the present Saghar, south of Ghor, has been recorded as Saakhar by Minhaj Sierj.[12]](Error 404 - Not found)
With great doubt Mohammad Qasim Firisha states from Tabaqat-e Akbari of Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad Bakhshi Hirawi that Khaljies are the descendants of Khalij Khan, the son-in-law of Genghis Khan. But this statement is not true, since historical documents reveal that Khaljies or Ghaljies lived in Zabulistan three centuries before Genghis. The unknown author of Hudud-ul-Alam writes in 982 A.D.: “In Ghazna and the vicinity of these towns, which have been mentioned here, live Taraks of Khalj.” They are a nomadic people and possess a lot of sheep. These Taraks of Khalj are found in great numbers in Balkh, Tukharistan and Gozganan also.[13]](Error 404 - Not found)
Minhaj Siraj once again proves that the Khaljies ruled long before Genghis and his son-in-law over India and their empire stretched as far as the highlands of North Bengal. A full chapter of the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] part of his book deals with these people.[14]](Error 404 - Not found)
He says that the Khaljies live near Ghazni, Garmseer and Ghor, but has not said anything about these people being Turks. On the other hand, he clearly refers to other rulers of Turkish descent as Turks.
Khalj, which has been altered to Khalakh by calligraphers, was a well-known word among geographers long before the compilation of Hudud-ul-Alam. Ibne Khurdadbeh (844-848 A.D.) also speaks about Khaljiya. He confirms that there is a difference between Khalj and says: “the winter dwelling of Turks of Kharlukh (Kharlikh) is near Taraz and nearby them lie the pastures of Khalj (Khaljiya).[15]](Error 404 - Not found) From this it is evident that the nomadic tribes of Khalji of that time, similar to their present habits, moved towards warmer regions during the cold season of the year. According to Ibn-e Khurdadbeh these regions were called Jarmiya (Jurum of Baladhuri and Minhaj Siraj). Ibn-e Khurdadbeh writes that their winter pastures were on this side of the Oxus river (p. 3). Some of these nomadic tribes still go to these areas.
Another geographer Ibrahim Ibn-e Mohammad Istakhri (about 951 A.D.) writes Khalj are a clan of Atrak (most probably a plural of Tarak) who came to the region between India and Seistan during ancient times. They had large stocks of sheep and their language and clothes resemble those of Turks.[16]](Error 404 - Not found)
Some oriental scholars are of the belief that Gharjies are the descendants of Helthalites (presumably a mixed race of Hepthalite and Pakhts who have been living in Afghanistan since the Vedic Aryan period). Marquart says: Khalch or Kholackj are descendants of the Yaftals, who have been mentioned as Khwalas in Syrian sources (about 554 A.D.). After this in 569 A.D. ambassador Zemarchos has written this name as Xoliatai.[17]](Error 404 - Not found)
Mohammd son of Ahmad Khwarazmi (980 A.D.) says: Khalj and Taraks of Kabjiya[18]](Error 404 - Not found) are the descendants of Hayatila who held great prestige in Tukharistan.[19]](Error 404 - Not found)
The Khalj and Afghans have always been mentioned together and indispensably their place or origin and race was common. Abu Nasr Mohammad, son of Abdul Jabbar Utbi (1023 A.D.), in the conquests of Subuktagin writes as follows: “the Afghans and Khalj obeyed Subuktagin and reluctantly joined his forces.”[20]](Error 404 - Not found) Ibn-ul-Athir has also mentioned this event in the same manner.[21]](Error 404 - Not found)
Minorsky clearly writes that these Khaljies are the ancestors of the present Afghan Ghalji. Barthold and Haig have written the same in the Islamic Encyclopedia.[22]](Error 404 - Not found) It can therefore be said that Khalji or Ghalji were related to the Hepthalites and Zabul rulers, since the Helthalites, (Hayatila of Arabs) ruled over Zabulistan. Their features struck on coins resemble the features of the Ghalji youth who live in this area and have high noses, almond eyes, bushy hair, and strong features.
Therefore, Khaljies or Ghaljies are not the descendants of those Turks or Ghuz who had come to Khorasan during the Islamic period, but are Hepthalites of the Arian race who were famous as White Huns and lived in Tukharistan and Zabulistan and the name of their ancestors has remained in the names of the present Ghalji—the Kochi=Koshi tribes of Zabul. Similarly the root of Hiftal is seen in Yaftal and Haftali in Abdali. The word Ghalji is known in Badakhshan now as Ghalcha=Garcha. In Dari literature this word means a simple man or mountain dweller. Abu Tayib Musa’bi (about 938 A.D.), the poet of the Samanid court says:
If a Garcha can live over one hundred years,
Why did the Arab (Prophet) live only sixty three?
The word Koch and Baloch have been written in the same place in appendages of Shahnama, and the Arabs have Arabized them to Qufs and Balus. In fact they are Khalji=Ghalji nomads having an ancient history in Ariana. Some scholars believe that these Kochi (nomads) are the Apa Kochiya mentioned in Achaemenian inscriptions who lived in this region before commingling between the Hunnish Arians.[23]](Error 404 - Not found) The blending of White Huns of Arian descent with Pakhts (Paxtoons) in Bactria, the valleys of the Hindu Kush, Kabulistan, and Zabulistan was a natural phenomenon since two northern and southern branches of the Arian race have got mixed. It is not evident what language the White Arians (Hun=Hepthalite) spoke, but from the closeness of dialects in the upper Hindu Kush e.g. Gharcha, Wakhi etc. it can be guessed to have resembled Pashto and certain Pashto sounds which are not found in Pahlawi, Dari, Avesta and Sanskrit are present in these dialects until now. These white Arian Huns were Haftali (Abdali) who attacked India from Zabulistan and conquered Kashmir. The Sanskrit inscription of the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] century A.D. found in 1839 A.D. in Wihand on the banks of the Indus river near Attock refers to them as strong men who ate meat and calls them Turushka.[24]](Error 404 - Not found)
The Kashmiri historian, Kalkana, in his book Raja Tarangini (1148 A.D.) writes about these kings and their ferocious attacks over Kashmir and says that the Turushkas carried their weapons upon their shoulders and shaved half their scalp. He says that the Kushanid kings Kanishka, Hushka, and Jushka are the descendents of Turushka.[25]](Error 404 - Not found)
Turushka of Indian sources will be discussed later. The Huns who after the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] century A.D. increased in numbers after amalgamating with the Pashtoons and attacked India have been called Khans in India and until the present time Pashtoons are called Khan all over India due to the alteration of h and kh in central Asian languages. For example the Hwarazm was converted to Khwarazm. The Turks pronounce Khanam as Hanam while the Afridis of Khyber pronounce Khan and Khun. In Masalik of Ibn-Khurdadbeh the name of Turkhan has been written as Tarkhum (p. 41). Therefore it is possible that Huns or Khun could have been converted to Khan, which means that the Afghan Khalji Khans were not Turks and we have the following reasoning to prove this statement.

  1.           Mahmud Kashghari (1074 A.D.),  who  was of Turkish descent and a Turkologist says: The ghuz of Turkmans comprise 24 tribes, but two Khaljiya tribes  resemble the Turks are not considered Turks.[26]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftn26) This Turkish historian who has studied the Turks and even note their  tribes, refrains from adding the name of Khalj with the Turks.[27]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftn27)
    
  2.            Mohammad son of Bakran in the whereabouts of 1203 A.D. writes: The Khaljies of Taraks migrated from Khalukh to Zabulistan. They have settled in the plain near Ghaznayn. Because of the hot weather their color has changed and they  became swarthy, their language also changed. As a misreading Khalukh is read  Khalj.[28]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftn28)
    

From this declaration of the author of Jahan Nama it is clear that due to differences in color and language the Khaljiya were separate by all means from the Turks and a misreading existed between Khalj and Khalukh.
3. Minhaj Seraj, who is from Khorasan and is well familiar with the affairs of this land, knows a number of Turkish rulers of India, but has always referred to the Turkish and Turks and the Khaljiya as Khaljies.
4. Zia Barani, the Indian historian (1357 A.D.) in his book Tarikh-e-Ferozshahi, has a special chapter where he says the king must be among the Turks but when Malik Jalaluddin Khalji ascended the Delhi throne he says: “the people found it difficult to tolerate a Khalji king.”[29]](Error 404 - Not found) Since Khaljies were not Turks Indian historians also considered them to be Afghans.[30]](Error 404 - Not found)
5. In Afghan literature the Khalji of India have been referred to as being Afghan Ghalji. Khushal Khan Khattak, the famous Pashto poet (died 1688 A.D.) in a long elegy enumerates the Afghan kings and considers Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-1295 A.D.) to be a Ghalji of Wilayat (Afghanistan).
“Then Sultan Jalaluddin ascended the Delhi throne who was a Ghalji from Wilayat.”[31]](Error 404 - Not found)
Afghans usually referred to the lands behind Khyber as Wilayat and the Indians referred to Khorasan and Afghanistan by this name. This shows that until the time of Khushal Khan the Khaljies were considered Afghans and not Turks.
6. Another reason which proves that the Khaljies are Afghans is an ancient book in which it is stated that the Pashto language (Afghani) is the language of the Khaljiya. Since Pashto is the language of the Pashtoons (Afghans) therefore the Khaljies are also Afghans.
A manuscript on the miracles of Sultan Sakhi Sarwar[32]](Error 404 - Not found) (known as Lakhdata died 1181 A.D. and buried in Shah Kot of Dera Ghazi Khan) is written in Persian whose author is unknown. In this book the author relates a story from Tarikh-e Ghazna by Abu Hamid-al-Zawali and quotes Hasan Saghani.[33]](Error 404 - Not found) “Kabul Shah, Khingil, who according to Yaqubi lived about 779 A.D.[34]](Error 404 - Not found) sent a poem in the Khaljiya language to the Loyak of Ghazni.” Analysis of this poem shows that it is ancient Pashto which is said to have been the language of Khaljiya. This means that the Khalji spoke Pashto, and they are the present Afghan Ghaljies.
7. Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, well known as Fakhr-e Mudabir and author of Adab-al-Harb and other famous books, writing on the History of India (1205 A.D.) says that the armies of Sultan Qutb-ud-Din comprised of Turks, Ghori, Khorasani, Khalji and Indian soldiers.[35]](Error 404 - Not found) This proves that in the beginning of the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] century Hijera the Turks and Khaljies were two separate nationalities. If not so then they would not have been mentioned separately in the same sentence.
8. Until the time of Babur, the founder of the Indian Mughal dynasty the Ghalji of present Ghazna have been mentioned as Afghan Khalji and not as Turks. Babur says: “In 1507 A.D. we had ridden out of Kabul with the intention of over-running the country of Afghan Khaljies, northeast of Ghazni and brought back with us one hundred thousand head of sheep and other things.”[36]](Error 404 - Not found)

Turk-Tarak Turuska
There are two reason as to why the Khaljies have been mistaken to be Turks:
First: The Sakas, Kushanids and Huns came to Bactria and Tukharistan and southern Hindu Kush from Trans Oxiana and they were desert dwelling Arians and their culture resembled that of Turks of Altai and western China. These people probably had cultural and linguistic similarities with the Turks. Since these people got mixed with the aborigines of Ariana (ancient Afghanistan), the Tajiks and the Pashtoons. According to Jahan Nama their language and color changed. Therefore, Barthold and some other oriental scholars considered the Pashto speaking Ghaljies to be descendants of these people. Even the name Abdali is related to these people and Awdal=Abdal has derived from Haftal=Yaftal. Classic writers have written this name as Euthalite. The tribes of Kafiristan (present Nuristan), northeast Hindu Kush also referred to Moslem Afghans as Odal up to the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century.[37]](Error 404 - Not found) The Kabul Shahs of the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] century whose titles and names were in Dari or Pashto were the descendants of the Dumi tribe of the Kushanids.[38]](Error 404 - Not found)
The second reason is that in Arabic script the word Tarak and Turk resemble each other and since Turks were well-known among Arab writers from the early years of Islamic period, therefore, they considered Tarak of the Afghan Khaljies to be Turks from the Turkish race. While the Taraki Ghaljies are famous Afghan nomadic tribes whose number in the plains of Ghazni (according to Shahnama from their land there was a way to Hindustan) surpass 50,000. Until the present time these people move towards the valleys of the Indus and Tukharistan during winter. They possess large herds of sheep, speak Pashto and are true representatives of Afghan culture.
But the word Turushka, mentioned in Sanskrit works, has been used in different forms in Raja Tarangini. In first Tarangini, shlok 170, three Kushanid emperors have been considered to belong to the Turushka tribe. Paragraph 20 of another Indian work, Chavithakara, also deals with this issue the same way.[39]](Error 404 - Not found) But in Rajaa Tarangini (vol. 2, p. 336) this word has been mentioned by Kalhana as the name of Muslim conquerors who were in war with the Kabul Shahs. Sir Aurel Stein says: “Undoubtedly, here Turushka means the Moslems. In 871 A.D. Saffarid Yaqub Layth captured Kabul and like the Arab conquerors attacked the remnants of Kabul Shah from Seistan and Rukhaj. Therefore the danger poised by Turushka, which Kalhans says, was from the south is not devoid of truth.[40]](Error 404 - Not found)
From these facts it is evident that the Indian word Turushka, as was thought, not only meant a Turk but was also used to mean the Arabs, the Saffarids of Seistan and all those who attacked India and the Kabul Shah from the west. For example, Harasha, a Turushka king ruined all the temples and idols of Kashmir about of 495 A.D.[41]](Error 404 - Not found) Discussing Samagram Raja (1003-1028 A.D.) in Tarangini 7 shlok 57 who was a contemporary of Subuktagin and Sultan Mahmud, the battles of Turushka Kammira conducted by Subuktagin or Amir Mahmud have been mentioned. This further means that Turushka was a word also applied to the conquerors from the west i.e. the Kushanids, Huns, Moslems and Turks. This word has also been inscribed in the Sanskrit inscription of Wihand, in which the carnivorous and mighty Huns have been called by this name.
The ancient Arians of the Vedic period who moved towards the east from Afghanistan called their soldiers Kshatria. This word (kash+tura) means a swordsman in Pashto. The title suits the warrior soldiers and the name of the Tarakay tribe is related to this same root. There are a number of other similar Afghan names of this type like Turman, Turyalay, Turkalanay with an initial tur+a suffix.
The word tura is widespread in a number of historical names like Turoyana, which according to the Vedas, was a king of the Pakht (Pashtoon) tribes. At present this world is used as turwahuney, meaning one who wields a sword. According to Kalhana, Turman was the name of a Kshatria king of Gandhara and in present usage also means a swordsman.
After reading the stated facts we can conclude that the Khaljies were Pashto speaking Taraks and not Turks. Confusion between the two words started in Arabic script from the early Islamic period.[42]](Error 404 - Not found) Similarly, the Iranian word Turushka did not mean Turks but as a converted form of the Vedic Kshatria, which has been used in Pashto literature as tur kash, meaning those soldiers armed with swords. However, it must be added that several centuries after the advent of the Christian era, Afghan Khaljies intermingled with powerful Turks of the courts in battles and journeys, therefore they acquired Turkish names and customs. Thus authors had a right to confuse the two nationalities while there existed a confusion between the words Tarak (the Afghan Khalji tribe) and Turk also. Due to these facts a number of Turkish words have been used in Pashto from the time of the Kushanids and the Hepthalites (Huns) and have acquired a special Pashto form, like wulus (nation), jirgah (a council) kuk (meaning rhythm in Turkish), khan (a chieftain=hun) and tugh (flag) etc.
It must not be forgotten that Mahmud son of Husayn Kashghari, the Turkish scholar 1073 A.D., has denominated a special form for Khalj. He says that in the Samarqand battles with Alexander only 22 persons were left from the Turkish tribes. While walking with their families as men on foot they met two persons carrying loads on their backs and consulted them. They advised them as follows: “Alexander is a passer by and he is bound to leave and will not stay in this country, only we will remain.”
In Turkish they referred to these two persons “qal-aj” meaning that they remained and stayed. Therefore they became famous as Khalj and their successors were the two clans of Khaljies. Since thier character and mode resembled the Turks Alexander said they are Turkman, that is they resemble the Turks. Hence they are still referred to as Turkman. All Turkish tribes are composed of 22 clans but the two clans of Khaljies do not consider themselves to the Turkish.[43]](Error 404 - Not found)
This denomination of Khalj and Turkman, in which Alexander was considered to be a Persian speaker, has the form of a fable and does not bear any historical evidence. But the fact that the Kushanids and Helthalites (Huns) were ruling over this land during the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] and 8[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries A.D. has been recorded in a number of historical and linguistic documents. Inscriptions also bear these facts. And that they have mingled racially and culturally with the Pashtoons is a very natural phenomenon.
Since the Kushanid and Yaftali tribes had a number of Turkish cultural and linguistic elements instilled among them and the Turharian Tigins ruled over the south and north of the Hindu Kush, until the beginning of the Islamic period, and Zabulistan (the present land of the Khaljies) was considered the center of the Hepthalites, bearing the title of Zabul Shah, it is possible that they married and got mixed with the Khalji mountain dwelling people. In this process they accepted the linguistic and cultural effects on one another. For example the word Bag (meaning God, king or great) which has a deep root in Sanskrit and Avesta was usually inscribed on the Achamenian, Sassanid, Kushanid and Yaftali inscriptions and coins. In Turkish it was entered in the form of Bag (meaning an emperor or king).[44]](Error 404 - Not found) On the other hand on the inscription of the Yaftali period, in Jaghatu of Ghazni, the Turkish title of Ulugh has been written with the name of a king in cursive Greek script and we know that Ulugh also means Bag or great. The names of most Khaljies and even other Afghans are Turkish like Qaraqush (a hawk), Balka (sage), Sanqur (falcon) etc.[45]](Error 404 - Not found) Previously we discussed a number of Pashto words bearing Turkish roots.
On the separation of the Khalji=Ghalji, Minhaj Siraj’s statement is worth consideration in which he says: “Sultan Jalaluddin Khwarazm Shah and Malik Khan of Heart reached Ghaznayn and a large army of Turks, and rulers of Ghor, Tajik, Khalji and Ghori gathered at their service.”[46]](Error 404 - Not found) Here Minhaj Siraj mentions the Turks and Khalj as two separate entities. Juwaini, in Tarikh-e Jahankusha also speaks about the presence of Khalji in the battle of Parwan and the defeat of the Genghis army.[47]](Error 404 - Not found)
In the common usage of the people of Khorasan the word Khalji was pronounced with a (ghein) as Ghalji. Even today in Afghanistan this mode of pronunciation is widespread. We also have historical proof for this statement: the oriental branch of the Moscow Academy of Sciences has printed in Arabic Al-Tarikh-ul-Mansuri of Mohammad son of Ali Hamawi from a unique manuscript in photographic form in which the supporters of Khwarazm Shah have been continuously referred to as Qalji.[48]](Error 404 - Not found) Since in western Khorasan and Iran (ghein) is pronounced as (qaf) qiran as ghiran and Quran as Ghuran, therefore, they converted Ghalji to Qalji and if they would have heard this word in the form of Khalji they would have written it in its original form, because these people do not convert (khe) to (Qaf).
Now after all these details we can conclude that Khaljies belong to the present Ghalji tribes of Zabul of Afghanistan, whose original name in Pashto was Gharzay meaning kohzad or mountaineer. Thus Gharzay was converted to Ghalji or Khalji in the historical records of Afghanistan and India.

[HR][/HR] [1]](Error 404 - Not found) The Chronicles of Pathan Kings, p. 7, Delhi 1967.

[2]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref2) Cambridge History of India. 3/61. 

[3]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref3) Tarkikh-e Firishta, p. 162.

[4]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref4) Qasr-e A’rifan. P. 341, published in Lahore 1965. 

[5]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref5) Tarikh-e Hindustan, Vol. 9. 

[6]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref6) Tabaqat-e Naseri, I/422. 

[7]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref7) Istakhri has mentioned these Khalk in the province of Helmand, p. 245. 

[8]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref8) Mu’jan-ul-Buldan. 2/381. 

[9]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref9) Hindustan as seen by Panini by Dr. Agrawala, Lucknow University, 1953.

[10]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref10) See Tarikh-e Farishta. 

[11]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref11) Notes of Tabaye-ul-Haywan, 18. 

[12]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref12) Tabaqate-e Nasiri 1/387, Habibi edition. 

[13]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref13) Hudud-ul-Alam in which the word Khalj has been misinterpreted as Khalkh by the calligrapher and  published that way. 

[14]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref14) Tabakat-e Nasiri after 1/422. 

[15]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref15) Al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, 28. 

[16]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref16) Masalik-ul-Mamalik of Istakhri, 245. 

[17]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref17) Minorsky’s commentary on Hudud-ul-Alam, 347 from Iranshahar of Marquart after 251. 

[18]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref18) In the original source Kanjina has been written incorrectly. In Bayhaqi it is Kapchi and in  Tabaqat-e Nasiri Kochi and the Arabs have converted it to Qufs. In the appendages  to the Shahnama it has been written Koch and at present this word is Kochi in Afghanistan. This word is a remnant of the name of Koshi=the Koshan of  the first century B.C.

[19]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref19) Mafatih-ul-Ulum, 72. 

[20]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref20) Tarikh-e Yamini, 26. 

[21]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref21) Al-Kamil 8/348, Ibn-ul-Athir writes in Al-Kamil:L Yaqub Layth conquered Khaljiya and Zabul. 

[22]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref22) Minorsky’s comments on Hudud-al-Alam, 348. 

[23]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref23) Old Persian 165 and Sabk Shinasi by Bahar 2/67. 

[24]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref24) Kabul by Alexander Burns, 190. London.

[25]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref25) Raja Tarangini 4/179, Tanslated by Sir Aurel Stein, London 1900, and India of Bohler 2/206.

[26]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref26) Divan Lughat-ul-Turk 3/307, Istanbul, 1915. 

[27]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref27) Divant Lughat-ul-Turk, photographic publication p. 4-41. 

[28]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref28) Jahan Nama, 73. 

[29]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref29) Zia Barani’s Tarikh-e Ferozshahi, 173. Calcutta. 

[30]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref30) Tazkira-e Bahaduran-e Islam, 2/331.

[31]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref31) Divan of Khushal Khan 669, Kandahar. 

[32]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref32) For the biography of this saint refer to Khazinat-ul-Asfiya 2/248 and Ab-e Kawtbar by Shaikh Ikram  p. 91 onwards.

[33]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref33) Born in Lahore 1181, died 1252 A.D.

[34]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref34) Tarikh-al-Yaqubi 2/131.

[35]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref35) Introduction to the History of Mubarak Shah, 33. London, 1927.

[36]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref36) Tuzuk-e Babur 127, Bombay. 

[37]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref37) Charles Mason, narrative of various journeys in Baluchistan and Afghanistan. 1/232, London 1842. 

[38]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref38) A new research on the Kabulshahan, p. 30, Kabul 1969. 

[39]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref39) Aurel Stien’s comments on Raja Tarangini 1/30. 

[40]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref40) Aurel Stein’s comments on Raja Tarangini after 336. 

[41]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref41) Raja Tarangini. 7 shlok, 1095. 

[42]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref42) Between 651-709 A.D. historians speak about Nizak rulers in Badghis, Merv and north of Kabul  who have minted coins stating NYCHKMLKA in Pahlavi. These people or family  have also been considered Turks while in the coins belonging to them Shah (o)  Taraka Nisaga, with two short As of Taraka is evident (R. Ghirshman’s book on  the Chinites=Hepthalites, p. 23 printed in Cairo in 1948). The word Taraka  with two short As bears complete resemblance with the Afghan name Tarak. 

[43]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref43) Diwn-ul-Lughat-ul-Turk 3/307.

[44]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref44) Diwan-ul-Lughat-ul-Turk 3/116. 

[45]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref45) Refer to Tabaqat-e-Nasiri. Vol. 2. The Khalji kings in India. 

[46]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref46) Tabaqat-e Nasiri 2/259.

[47]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref47) Jahan Kusha of Juwayni 2/194. 

[48]](http://alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles%5CKhaljies_are_Afghan.htm#_ftnref48) Al-Tarikh-ul-Mansuri 140. 

Khaljies are Afghan
Khaljies are Afghan

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

It is important to note that Khushal khan khattak, pashto poet of Aurangzeb times, mention alaudin khilji as pashtun king in his poetry along with bahlol lodhi and sher shah suri......

Khiljis were afghanized/pashtunized turks or simply turko-afghans.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

why narrow it down to khiljis? the word "khan" is a turco-mongol word for leader - completely alien to afghanistan before the turkic hordes swept thru it. now, every afghan male is a khan. this would be the equivalent of desi men calling themselves Sir this Sir that after british rule. the mighty turks have left an indelible imprint on the simple pashtoon's self-identity.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Why you have so low self-esteem?
Khan is a mongol title, both pashtuns and turks have borrowed it from them.
Not only pashtuns , but balochs, muslim rajputs etc also use surname of khan.........Khan doesnt denote ethnicity, so your views are absurd.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

But khan erroneously now assumes that a person is of Pashtun ancestry like syeds trace their lineage to Prophet Muhammad. I bet no one knows back home about the mongol connection to khan. It reminds me of a story published in dawn recently regarding history in Pakistan (Punjab was the main focus) and how a pathan shopkeeper got into it with the author when the author was disrespecting Gul named guy. The guy said that gul is a hero, after all why not since there are gul khans, compared to the hindu king who actually was a native who fought against a hun Gul invader.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

If you check out the names of pashtuns of Afghanistan, khan surname is not very common among them. In Punjab and sindh they call us "khan sahab" in a very stereotypical way. I have noticed a non-pashtun with surname of khan is not called "khan sahab".
In Pashtun society "khan" is a specific term used for feudal chiefs/landlords. They are also called "malaks". That is khan might have become an epidemic surname among pashtuns nowadays but in pashto it specifically means powerful hereditary chieftains.

This @queer guy who claims to be pashtun, would agree with me on this.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

^ lol queer has never claimed to be a Pashtun.

I know three Pashtun rulers durrani, lodhi and suri.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

** I ALSO HEARD THAT Khilji ARE TURKISH NOT afghan**

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Thats why he was against Mughals? :hmmm:

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Origin of the dynasty
The Encyclopædia Britannica states that “this dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty, was of Turkish origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in Afghanistan”.

“The sultans of the Slave Dynasty were Turkic central Asians, but the members of the new dynasty, although they were also Turkic, had settled in Afghanistan and brought a new set of customs and culture to Delhi”.

“The Khilji dynasty was named after a village in Afghanistan. Some historians feel that they were Afghans, but Bharani and Wolse Haig have mentioned in their accounts that the rulers from this dynasty who came to India had temporarily settled in Afghanistan, but were originally Turks”.

“The Khiljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, and adopted some Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court”.

The three sultans of the Khalji dynasty were noted for their faithlessness, their ferocity, and their penetration from Afghanistan into what is now India. Although the rulers were members of Turko-Afghan origin, the court was of multi-ethnical background, filled with ministers, vezirs, poets, writers, teachers etc. of Turkic, Indian, Persian, and Arab background. The term Khilji was their self-designation, (see also Ibn Batuta’s and Ibn Khaldun’s excessive quantity) meaning in Turkic languages “swordsman” or in Ottoman-Turkish “long arm” or “long fingers” and in Pashto language “thief”.

Originated from upper Central Asia, they came in contact with the multi-ethnic population of Khorasan and thus with the native ruling class, the Ghaznavids and later Ghurids, who islamized them and taught them their culture, language and civilization. During the Ghaznavid period, the Khiljis were ruled for a short time by the Seljuqs, who expanded their Khorasanian empire until they were driven out by the alliance of Ghurids. Under the Ghurids, the Khiljis had still the slave-statue as before under the Ghaznavids and played a role in Ghurid’s slave army, Bardagân-e Nezâmi, also called Ghilman.

Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiar Khilji, one of the servants of Qutb-ud-din Aybak who was himself an ex-slave of the Ghurids and of Turkic background and an Indo-Ghurid Shah (king) and founder of the Delhi Sultanat, conquered Bihar and Bengal regions of India in the late 12th century. From this time, the Khiljis became servants and vassals of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. From 1266 to his death in 1290, the Sultan of Delhi was officially Ghiyas ud din Balban, another servant of Qutab-ud-din Aybak. Balban’s immediate successors, however, were unable to manage either the administration or the factional conflicts between the old Turkic nobility and the new forces, led by the Khaljis. After a struggle between the two factions, Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji was established by a noble faction of Turkic, Persian, Arabic and Indian-Muslim aristocrates on the collapse of the last feeble Slave king, Kay-Qubadh. Their rise to power was aided by impatient outsiders, some of them Indian-born Muslims, who might expect to enhance their positions if the hold of the followers of Balban and the Forty (members of the royal Loya Jirga) were broken. Jalal-ud-din was already elderly, and for a time he was so unpopular, because his tribe was thought to be close to the nomadic Afghans, that he dared not to enter the capital. During his short reign (1290-96), some of Balban’s officers revolted due to this assumption but Jalal-ud-din suppressed them, led an unsuccessful expedition against Ranthambhor, and defeated a substantial Mongol force on the banks of the Sind River in central India.

Ali Gurshap, his nephew and son-in-law was ordered by his father to lead an expedition with ca. 4000-7000 men into the Hindu Deccan where the conquered countries had refused obedience and to capture Ellichpur and it’s treasure and possibly it was also his father’s order to murder his uncle after his return in 1296. However, the prince is considered to be the greatest among the Khiljis, due to successfully repelling of two invasions from the Mongols.

With the title of Ala ud din Khilji, Ali Gurshap reigned for 20 years. He captured Ranthambhor (1301) and Chitor (1303), conquered Māndu (1305), and captured and annexed the wealthy Hindu kingdom of Devagiri. He also repelled Mongol raids. Ala-ud-din’s lieutenant, Malik Kafur, a native Muslim Indian, was sent on a plundering expedition to the south in 1308, which led to the capture of Warangal, the overthrow of the Hoysala Dynasty south of the Krishna River, and the occupation of Madura in the extreme south. Malik Kafur returned to Delhi in 1311, laden with spoils. Thereafter, the empire felt into a deep political and family decadence. The sultan died in early 1316. Malik Kafur’s attempted usurpation ended with his own death. The last Khalji, Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah, was murdered in 1320 by former Indian slave who was also chief minister and his friend, Khusraw Khan, who was in turn replaced by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, the first ruler of the Turkic Tughluq dynasty. A remnant of the ruling house of the Khaljis ruled in Malwa from 1436 to 1530/31 until the Sultan of Gujarat cleansed their entire nobility.

To some extent then, the Khilji usurpation was a move toward the recognition of a shifting balance of power, attributable both to the developments outside the territory of the Delhi sultanate, in Central Asia and Iran, and to the changes that followed the establishment of Turkic rule in northern India.

In large measure, the dislocation in the regions beyond the northwest assured the establishment of an independent Delhi-Sultanate and its subsequent consolidation. The eastern steppe tribes’ movements to the west not only ended the threat to Delhi from the rival Turks and Iranians in Ghazna and Ghur but also forced a number of the Central Asian Muslims to migrate to northern India, a land that came to be known as Hindustan. Almost all the high nobles, including the famous Forty in the 13th century, were of Central Asian origin (mostly Iranians and Turks). Many of them were slaves purchased from the Central Asian bazaars. The same phenomenon also led to the destabilization of the core of the Turkic Mamluks. With the Mongol plunder of Central Asia and eastern Iran (modern Afghanistan, Samarkand, Bukhara, Gorgon, Khwarezm, Merv, Peshawar, Swat, Quetta … and borderlands), many more members of the political and religious elite of these regions were thrown into north India, where they were admitted into various levels of the military and administrative cadre by the early Delhi sultans.

**The position of the Khiljis within the Turkic society of India **
The Khilji Turks were not recognized by the older nobility as coming from a pure Turkic stock even in Singam and Kuselan (although they were ethnic Turks), since they were (unlike the Turks and their Turkic nobility who tried to intermerry only into Turkic families) assimilated into non-Turks, mostly by Muslims of Indian, Afghan (Pashtun) and Arab (bedouines) origine, who populated the entire North-West India and near locations which cause that they were in terms of customs and manners different from the Turks. Although they had played a conspicuous role in the success of the Turkic armies in India, they had always been looked down upon by the leading Turks, the dominant group during the Slave dynasty. This tension between the Khiljis and other Turks, kept in check by Balban, came to the surface in the succeeding reign, and ended in the displacement of the Ilbari Turks.Khilji tribe was mostly known for thier ferocious war capabilities and retaliation against any invader.

**Origin of the Khalji people **
It seems, that the larger Khilji tribe was once member of Hephthalites of central Asia who also conquered -invaded- India. Originally, the Khaljis were mainly dwelling in Turkestan, except in some cases or members of ancient Gökturks. In older scripts of Al-Biruni, Al-Khwarezmi, Masudi, in Juzjani’s Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib and of Arab and Indian historians (Ibn Batuta, Ibn Khaldun or Vahara Mihira etc.) they are considered as one of the original (in the sense of real) members of the Hephtalite’s confederation and of Turkic origin who are also found as nomads near Bactria, in Turfan (Turkestan) and east-ward of modern Ghazni in Afghanistan. Possibly, they have split themselves from these large area up and moved to Iran, Armenia, Iraq, Anatolia, Turkmenistan, Punjab) and modern Pakistan and Afghanistan, around the Sulaiman Mountains under the Ghaznavids (see also on Ghalzais). In Iran, they moved to Pars where they settled an isolated region which is called today as Khaljistan - Land of Khaljis. However, Persians of Iran use the term Khalji also to describe nomads of Turkic background in their country. Also in in the Kohistan destrict of Pakistan, there is a place called after the Khiljis. The Khilji people of Iran and Afghanistan, the Ghilzai (also called Khaldjish) fraction of the Pashtuns, the Khaldji people of Bengal and Sindh are considered as descendants of ancient and middle-age Khalji (sub-)tribes. However, modern Khalji people are not more comparable to the past Khalji tribes who were of pure Turkic stock. For example in the case of India, modern Khalji people became ethnic Indians and lost their east-Asian features and their Turkic identity. In Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, they are either of hybrid origin or in the case of Turkmen Khalji tribe they kept Turks but became culturally Iranians and South Asian. Because of this fact, most of modern Khalji people and tribes have no more ties or any kind of an identity that trace them intentional to the Turks, except for the Khaljis of Iran and Afghanistan, who speak a Khalaj dialect of the Khalaj language group.

**Cultural achievements and religious propagation **
The main court language of Khiljis became Persian, followed by Arabic and their own native Turkoman language and some of north-Indian dialects. Even if it was not related with their nature as original nomads and had no ties with urbane cultures and civilizations, the Khilji of Delhi promoted Persian language to a high degree. Such a co-existence of different languages gave birth to the earliest and archaic version of Urdu. According to Ibn Batuta, the Khiljis encouraged conversion to Islam by making it a custom to have the convert presented to the Sultan who would place a robe on the convert and award him with bracelets of gold. During Ikhtiyar Uddin Bakhtiyar Khilji’s control of the Bengal, Muslim missionaries in India achieved their greatest success, in terms of number of converts to Islam.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

lols. queer is a Pashtun from Sohrab Goth Karachi :cb:

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Khiljis were Turks who setteled in Qalat-->Qalat-e Khilji in Afghanistan for a while before moving towards India

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Khiljis or ghiljays are not the only the pashto speakers with non-pashtun origin. No nation in sub-continent can be racially homogeneous. 1- Turis of parachinar claims to originally shia turks from iran. 2- Roghanis of dir are said to be originally from iran. 3- mashwanis of haripur claim to be syeds and all of them have "shah" surnames" 4- burki tribe of waziristan has non-pashtun roots. 5- Lodhis and Niazis claim to be descendants of shah hussain ghuri, so are ghorids.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

also abdalis are said to be descendants of ancient hepthalites.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Nausherwani (Balochi: نوشیروانی) is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan. Like some Baloch tribes, the Nausherwanis also have a Persian origin, descent from legendary Persian King Nausherwan-e-Adil (Nausherwan, The Just). Most Nausherwanis were Zoroastrians before conversion to Islam. Within Balochistan, Nausherwanis are divided into two sub tribes:first the Nawabs of Kharan, and second the sardars of Kholwa in Awaran district.

Young Nausherwani Itehad( United Community of Young Nausherwanis) is leading community of young Nausherwanis which promotes Social Welfare and Education in Kharan Region and other areas of Balochistan.

      **Nausherwan-e-Adil   501 to  579

           Empire of Nausherwan-e-Adil **[TABLE="class: infobox vcard"]

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Yes, Khiljis dynasty was Turkish in origin.

Originally, the word 'Afghan' was a Persian word for Pashtuns. But now it refers to anyone living in Afghanistan.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Really?
Actually, it is a very common name used by Pashtuns. Obviously out of respect and awe of the original Khans of Mongolia.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Turko-afghans to be precise, long settled in afghanistan, adopted afghan language , traditions and culture before moving to india. Today they are just pashtuns. Read the article.

In the same way mughals were not exactly mongols but turko-mongols who had adopted turkic language and culture.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

If you read carefully, you will see that I said they were Turkish in "origin".
Of course no one remains "pure" ethnically while living alongside other people. No "Syed" is pure Arab anymore in Pakistan. No Pashtun is pure Pashtun in India. etc.

Re: Khiljies are Afghan

Read my post carefully, i said pashtuns of Afghanistan.

I doubt that khans of mongolia inspired pashtuns. They must have got titles of khan in the mughal courts of india where they formed a portion of mughal nobility and army.

We pashtuns and balochs usually have first name, middle name of khan and last name of tribe.
e.g my name is ABC khan marwat. Shahid khan Afridi. Obaidullah khan khattak and so on.

Similarly akbar khan bugti, zafrullah khan jamali etc in case of balochs.