Pashtun-descended ethnic group of Uttar Pradesh, India
This article is about a community in Uttar Pradesh. For the steamship, see SS Rohilla. For the 18th century dynasty in Rohilkhand, see Rohilla dynasty.
The Rohillas are found all over Uttar Pradesh, but are more concentrated in the Rohilkhand regions of Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. Between 1838 and 1916, some Rohillas migrated to Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean region of the Americas in which they form a subset of the Muslim minority of the Indo-Caribbean ethnic group.[6] After the 1947 Partition of India, many of the Rohillas migrated to Karachi, Pakistan as a part of the Muhajir community.
Origin
The Indian term "Rohilla" originated from Roh, meaning the hilly country, where Rohilla was used as a fairly broad notion of the people from Roh.[7][page needed] Later Roh referred to a geographical term which corresponded with, in its limited sense, the territory stretching from Swat and Bajaur in the north to Sibi in the south, and from Hasan Abdal (Attock) in the east to Kabul and Kandahar in the west,[8] which corresponded with the homeland of the Pashtuns. The Pashtun or primarily Yusufzai migrations towards Northern India could be traced to their expulsion from Kandahar due to the Turko-Mongol invasions, who were subsequently resettled in Kabul, where they were again dispelled by the Timurids and forced to settle in Swat, where they assimilated the native Dardic and Tajik 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.[9] The immigration of Pashtuns from the Peshawar valley was further exacerbated with the collapse of Mughal authority and the invasion of Nader Shah.[10]
This community over generations had become culturally closer to the Awadh region between Katehr and Awadh.[11][page needed] In the 1700s, the decentralization of Mughal power allowed for the rise of Rohilla power in Katehar, with the rise of Ali Muhammad Khan's territories, in the context of the rise of other elements such as the Marathas, Jats and the Sikhs.[12][page needed] This region, called Katehar by the Hindus, and Sambhal-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 the Delhi Sultanate. In this respect the Rohillas were following their footsteps.[13][14] As Ali Muhammad occupied Katehar, and had invited a large number of people from Roh, it was during his lifetime that the land of Katehr was named Rohilkhand which means the land of the Rohillas.[15][16][page needed] The settlers from Roh consisted primarily of Pashtuns of the Mandarr Yousafzai tribe, as well as the Khattak, BunerwalYousafzais, Muhammadzai and Afridi tribes who were inhabitants of the Peshawar valley and the Barech from Kandahār. A majority of Rohillas migrated from Pashtunistan to North India between the 17th and 18th century.[17][citation needed][18].[19][page needed][20]Finally, a large number of newer Pashtun 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.[21][page needed]
History
Early history
The founder of the state of Rohilkhand was Ali Muhammad Khan who was a Jat[22][23] boy of age of eight when he was adopted by Daud Khan Rohilla. The first immigrant to the Katehr region was Shah Alam Khan, who had settled in Katehr in 1673 and had brought along a band of his tribe, the Barech.[24][page needed] His son Daud Khan gained a number of villages in the Katehr region by working for the Mughals and various Rajput Zamindars. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various Pashtun tribes as mercenaries 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.[25]
Establishment of the Rohilla state
The rise of the Rohilla state owed mainly to Ali Muhammad Khan, who succeeded Daud Khan's jagirs in 1721.[citation needed] The Rohillas being a mixture of old pedigree Indian Pathan 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.[26] Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the Indian Muslim Barah Sayyid tribe, who controlled the upper Doab under the Mughal 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 successfully invaded Kumaon with a well-prepared army that was 10,000 men strong. In late 1743, he captured 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 of Jageshwar, the Rohillas were faced by a combined Garhwal and Kumaon army which was defeated by Ali Muhammad Khan at the battle of Kairarau, forcing the Garhwal king to sue for peace. After seven months stay, disliking the climate of the region, the Rohillas returned to their homes in Katehr.[27][need quotation to verify]Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Oudh,[28] warned the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah[29] 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 of Sirhind. Most of his soldiers has already settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing the Rohilla population in the area to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Pashtuns, this part Katehar 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 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, where Sadullah Khan was made the nominal head of the state. Faizullah Khan retained Bareilly, Dundi Khan gained Moradabad and Bisauli, Fath Khan-i-Saman was placed in charge of Badaun and Usehat, Mulla Sardar Bakhshi gained Kot and Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech gained Salempur or Pilibhit.[30] 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,[31] 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 of Sirhind. When he was completely defeated in his attempt to enter the Jalandhar Doab, he was forced to abandon all his territory.[32] The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand, and as the chiefs could offer no effective resistance, they fled to the Terai, whence they sought the aid of Shuja-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.[33][full citation needed]
Following the Battle of Panipat in 1761
In the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ud-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali[a] against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to the allied. He also convinced Shuja-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 the Panipat war. The Marathas under the leadership of the Maratha ruler Mahadji Shinde entered the land of Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his son Zabita 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 of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas.[citation needed]Shah Alam II held the captured the family of Zabita Khan and Maratha ruler Mahadji Shinde looted his fort and desecrated the grave of Najib ad-Dawlah.[34] 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 of Amrohi Sayyid tribes.[35] The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to the Terai whence the remaining Sardar Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab of Oudh, 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.[36]
Afterwards, the Rohillas were attacked by the neighbouring kingdom of Oudh led by the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and his principal sardars, Basant Ali Khan, Mahbub Ali Khan, and Sayyid Ali Khan.[37] The Nawab also received assistance from an East India Company force under the command of Colonel Alexander Champion. Hafiz Rehmat was joined by the Indian Pathans of Farrukhabad in the Doab and the Rajput yeomanry.[38] This conflict is known as the Rohilla War. When Hafiz 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 under Faizullah Khan, Ahmad Khan Bakhshi, Ahmad Khan-i-Saman, the son of Fath Khan-i-saman retired to the hills at Lal Dang and started a guerrilla war to avenge their defeat.[39][better source needed]Warren Hastings' role in the conflict was publicized during his impeachment.[citation needed]
From 1774 to 1799, the region was administered by Khwaja Almas Khan, a Jat Muslim convert from Hoshiarpur, Punjab,[40] as representative of the Awadh (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.[41] Almas Khan carved out a principality and possessed a considerable army like the Nawab.[42] In 1799, the British East India Company annexed the territory, and started to pay a pension to the family of Hafiz Rahmat Khan.[43]
Establishment of Rampur State
While most of Rohilkhand was annexed, the Rohilla State of Rampur was established by Nawab Faizullah Khan on 7 October 1774 in the presence of Colonel Alexander 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 city Faizabad, but many other places were known by that name so its name was changed to Mustafabad. 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.[44][better source needed]
The Qissa-o-Ahwal-i-Rohilla written by Rustam Ali Bijnori in 1776 provides an example of the refined Urdu prose of the Muslim Rohilla elite in Rohilkhand and Katehr.[45]
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 by East 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]
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.[46]
Between 1857 and 1947
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 and Gurgaon, while others migrated to the Deccan region. Conditions improved after some years and migration from the North West Frontier Province and Afghanistan recommenced, adding to the Rohilla population. During this period, the Rohillas were also effected by the reformist movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, with many taking to modern education. The founder of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, Ahmad Raza Khan, was also born among the Rohillas and the city of Bareilly 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 formed Indian National Congress, while others were attracted to pan-Islamism. This period also saw a wholesale adoption of North Indian Muslim culture, with Urdu 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 and Gali Nawaban in Bareilly, which was home to the descendants of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. There was intermarriages with neighbouring Muslim communities such as the Shaikh, Muslim Rajput and Kamboh. Thus at the dawn of independence, the Rohilla were losing their distinct community status.[47][full citation needed]
Present circumstances
The independence of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 had a profound effect on the Rohilla community. During the partition of India in 1947, some Rohillas moved to Pakistan.
In India
The Rohilla, part of the Pathan community, form one of the ethnic groups of Uttar Pradesh and are found throughout the state, with settlements in the cities of Rampur, Bareilly, and Shahjahanpur in Rohilkhand, being the densest in Rampur, the seat of the Royal House of Rampur. The Rohillas are known for their rich cuisine.[48]
^Ahmad Shah Abdali (died 1772) adopted the title of Durr-i Dowran (pearl of pearls), which gave the name to the dynasty he established, the Durrani, which lasted in Afghanistan until 1973
^"Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol 22, No 2, 2002. 3 November 2004. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Gommans, Jos J.L. (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710–1780. BRILL. p. 219. ISBN9004101098. The designation Rohilla developed during the seventeenth century as a fairly broad notion of the people coming from Roh or Rõh, 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 find Roh 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.
^Haleem, Safia (24 July 2007). Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India. Khyber Gateway. 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 especially Mandarr sub clan, living in this valley were also known as Rohillas when they settled down the area was known as Katehr, which literally means soft well-aerated loam which is extremely suitable for cultivation. It later became known as Rohil Khand (the land of the Rohillas). The great majority of Rohillas migrated between 17th and 18th Century.
^Ḥusain, M.; Pakistan Historical Society (1957). A History of the Freedom Movement: 1707–1831. A History of the Freedom Movement: Being the Story of Muslim Struggle for the Freedom of Hind-Pakistan, 1707–1947. Pakistan Historical Society. p. 304. Retrieved 30 July 2022. 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.
^Nawab was the title of notables during the Mughal era in India, who helped the central authority govern different statelets within the South Asia. During the colonial, new nawabs were created because of various land grants given to the pro-British Indian elite.
^Mohammad Shah (1702–1748) was a Mughal emperor of Mughal empire between 1719 and 1748
^Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Garhwal. Government of Uttar Pradesh. 1986. p. 34. 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
^Hari Ram Gupta (1987). History of the Sikhs: Evolution of Sikh confederacies, 1708–1769. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 339.