The founders of the Pathan state of Rohilkhand were Daud Khan and his adopted son Ali Mohammed Khan. Daud Khan arrived in 1705 in India along with a band of his tribe. He was succeeded in 1721 by Ali Mohammed Khan, who became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central governament. Safdar Jang, the Nawab[1]](Rohilla - Wikipedia) of Oudh, warned Mughal emperor Mohammed Shah[2]](Rohilla - Wikipedia) of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to sent 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 of Sirhind. In 1748, he returned to Rohilkhand and recovered his lost possessions. Later that year Ali Mohammed Ali Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan 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, the most important being Hafiz Rahmat Khan and Dundi Khan.
In the third battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ul-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali[3]](Rohilla - Wikipedia) against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to combined forces. He also convinced the Nawab Shuja-ul-Daula of Oudh to join Ahmad Shah Abdali’s forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Maratha’s were defeated and as a consequence Rohilla increased in power.
Rohilkhand was invaded by the Marathas to retaliate against Rohillas paticipation in the Panipat War against Marathas. The Marathas entered the jagir (land) of late Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was now held by his son Zabita Khan. Zabita Khan gave tough resistancs but was defeated and forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. The principal remaining Rohilla Sardar was Hafiz Rahmat Khan and through him an agreement was formed with Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula by which they had to pay 4 million rupees in return to their military help in defeating Marathas. However, after the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. The Wazir (minister) then decided to annex the country of Rohilkhand but he was unable to fight the Rohillas alone. Therefore he sought assistance from Warren Hastings of the British East India Company (the company had been trading in India since 1600), promising 4 million rupees in return for their military aid.
The joined forces of British and Oudh invaded Rohilkhand. Rohillas fought fiercely but when their leader Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed, they faced defeat in April 1774. the whole Rohilkhand was plundered and hundreds of thousands of Rohillas flee to jungles across Ganges to save their lives. Later Rohilla began a guerilla war against British occupation. In response, the Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered by the British and were subsequently scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later charges of destroying a nation (ethnic cleansing or genocide) were brought against Hastings by Edmund Burke and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Later, the British transferred Rohilkhand to the British Empire in 1774. The Rohillas took an active part in War of Independence in 1857 against British imperial forces (referred to as the Mutiny by the British historians, or the War of Independence). The revolt was bitterly suppressed, and in its wake the British dramatically reorganized the government of South Asia, bringing an end to the British East India Company’s regime and leading to almost a century of direct rule of the South Asia by Britain under the British Raj.
Origin
Most Rohillas belonged to Yousafzai tribe of Pathans, mainly of Mandanr sub-section. The term Rohilla was used for all Pathans, except for the Bangashes who settled in the Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs . They were awarded the Katehr region in northern India by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658-1707) to suppress Rajput uprisings. However most of them settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah’s invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region gained fame as Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state. Other important cities were Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, and others. This region is nowadays located in modern Uttar Pradesh state of India.
Rohillas were distinguished by their separate language and culture. They spoke Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language over time. Nowadays most of them are living in the region between Rampur and Bareilly and speak the Urdu language.
Some Rohillas are descendants of Hindu Rajputs who ruled Rohilkhand from 1702-1720. Bareilly was the capital (1707-20) of the Hindu Rohilla kingdom. The region is named for the Rohilla tribe, and was known as Madhyadesh in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Dr. K. C. Sen has written a book on the history of Rohilla Rajputs
Hindus in India still a lot of hatred for these pathans! Once I saw a BBC news item which showed hindu youths hoisting their thirshol and shouting " issay hum pathan ko katay gay"
Foundation of Rohilkhand was laid by Daud Khan (Son of Mahmud Khan of Tirah in Afghanistan) and later on by his adopted son Ali Muhammad Khan (original name Saiyid Muhammad Ali). He started from where Sardar Daud Khan left and extended Rohilkhand up to Muzaffarnagar. For his service against the powerful family of Baraha Saiyaids, in the course of which he defeated Saif-ud-Din Khan and others of that family near Muzaffarnagar, Ali Muhammad Khan received from the Emperor
Muhammad Shah in 1737, the title of Nawab with the rank of Commander of five thousand soldiers, and the grant of a large portion of Kather. In 1741 he defeated Governor of Moradabad and Bereilly with merely 12,000 soldiers against the 50,000 strong army of Delhi. In this battle at Asalatpur Jarai, a village on the bank of the Aril river in the present pargana of Bilari both the Governors were slain, and thus the Nawab obtained possession of most of what now is known as Rohilkhand. He was officially recognized as the ruler of Kather or Rohilkhand.
The rapid rise of Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan excited ill feeling on the part of Safdar Jang, the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, who induced the Emperor Muhammad Shah to take the field against Rohillas. Ali Muhammad Khan ultimately gave himself up to the Emperor, who took him to Delhi. After six months, the Emperor decided to bestow on Ali Muhammad Khan the *Faujdari *or the Governorship of Sirhind, and to retain two of his sons as hostages at Delhi.
In 1748, when Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India, Ali Muhammad Khan seized the opportunity to return to Rohilkhand, where he joined his old retainers and soon regained his former possession. He obtained recognition once more as ruler of Rohilkhand from Delhi.
Before his death Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan made an arrangement for future administration of his dominions. Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan expired on the 3 rd Shawwal 1162 AH. (1749 A.D). He was buried at Aonla in the handsome tomb, which is now in poor state of preservation.
The death of Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan was soon followed by quarrels and intrigues among the Rohailla chiefs, and the attack of foes from outside. But these attempts were turned out to be failure by Hafiz Rahmat Khan (Protector or Regent appointed by Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan).
In 1752 Ahmad Shah Abdali invade India second time, but he left India before approaching Delhi. He had previously taken a friendly interest in Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan and requested that the provisions of his will might be observed. Rehmat Khan and his colleagues were unwilling to deprive themselves of all authority, and accordingly they devised a method of carrying out the will which would embroil Nawab Ali Muhammad’s sons with one another, and would eventually restore the power to their own hands.
They divided the state into three parts, each part being assigned to two brothers jointly. Thus, Abdullah Khan and Murtaza Khan, the eldest and the youngest son of Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan, received Aonla. Bareilly fell to Faiz-ullah Khan and Muhammad Yar Khan, and Moradabad to Sadullah Khan and Allah Yar Khan. Naturally this soon led to quarrels, which served the Chiefs as an excuse for a fresh partition of the country. Nawab Sadullah Khan was made the nominal head of the Rohilla State, Nawab Abdullah Khan received a large portion of Badaun, and Nawab Faiz-ullah Khan was given most of the Rampur and Chhajlet. Murtaza Khan left the country in disgust, while Muhammad Yar Khan, who was probably absent at the time of distribution, is not mentioned. Allah Yar Khan died almost immediately afterwards in 1754.