Khattak
The Khattak is a Pashtun tribe numbering over 3 million, who speak a variant of the softer Kandahari Pashto. The Khattaks are settled along the western bank of the Indus River from as north upwards as Lund Khwar, Katlang, Sawaldher, Sher Garh and near Malakand, Shaidu Nowshera District, Kohat District, Mianwali District, Attock District & Karak District in Pakistan. Across the Durand line, a smaller number of Khattaks are scattered in Kandahar, Ghazni, Logar and Khost in Afghanistan. The historic capitals of the Khattaks were Teri, a town at District Karak, and Akora Khattak, a town at District Nowshera..
A number of Khattak are also found in Swat valley near Ramet village and Madyan verified by residents lived there and by presence of their tribe names “Khattak” in the land records of Bahrain.
History
Migration from today's Afghanistan
Early records show migration of the Khattak from Ghazni, Ghor and Logar of modern-day Afghanistan. Later on, the Khattak settled in the Shawal region of present-day Waziristan.Subsequently, they migrated further eastwards and settled in Bannu District, where the Pashtun tribes of Mangal and Honai were already settled. In the 14th century, the Shitaks, a tribe allied to the Khattaks which also previously held Shawal, migrated to Bannu. The Shitaks first defeated and drove away the Mangals and the Honais, and later gradually captured Bannu and pushed the Khattaks northwards to the southern portions of Kohat, where the Khattaks settled in Bahadur Khel and Teri. Then the Khattak allied with the Bangash, defeated the other Pashtun tribes, and occupied northeastern Kohat, Gumbat, Pattiala and Zira Tippas. Eventually, the Khattak settled in Karak and Nowshera and finally a small number migrated to Nizampur, Mardan and Malakand.
A number of Khattak are also found in Sawat valley near Ramet village and Madyan verified by residents lived there and by presence of their tribe names “Khattak” in the land records of Tehsil Bahrain Swat.
Khattak also migrated from Akora Khattak more than 100 years ago, and settled down in city of Mansehra in the current day province of Khyber Pashtunkhwa. They are settled in the city of Mansehra, and in the villages of Lambi Dheri, Kotkay, Jhagir, and Labarkot. In addition, they are settled in some areas of Abbottabad.
Khushal Khan Khattak
A warrior poet by the name of Khushal Khan Khattak was once the chief of this tribe, and his contributions to Pashto literature are considered as classic textsHis life and times are one of the most chronicled and discussed subjects in Pashtun history, as he was active on the political, social and intellectual fora of his times. He was a most voluminous writer, and composed no less than three hundred and sixty literary works, both in the Pashto and Persian languages
. His poetry revolves around concepts of Honour, Justice, Bravery and Nationalism and his works have been translated into numerous languages, English and Urdu being the primary ones.
Older references
According to Nimatullah's 1620 work History of The Afghans, the Khattaks are amongst the oldest of the Afghan tribes. Their history has been closely knit with that of the khattak have given the place to yusafzai Tribe from their first settlement around the mountains of Ghor and Ghazni to present day East-Central and North-Eastern Pukhtunkhwa Province.The Sattagudai were a people mentioned by Herodotus in connection to people under the influence of the Achaemenid Empire.
Herodotus, Book 3, 91.
Herodotus, without assigning a name to the satrapy, tells us that Darius' yth Satrapy was inhabited by four tribes, the Sattagudai, the Gandarioi, the Dadikai, and the Aparutai.
The addition of the Aparutai/Aparidai correspondence helps to buttress the case for finding in Herodotus traces of names which carry through to the present day. Bellew has gone further and identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak tribe.
"The Pathans 55O B.C.-A.D. 1957" printed St Martin's Press 1958 by MacMillan and Company Limited"
Sattagudai
Numerous historians identify the Khattak with the Sattagudai.Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:
Satrapy was inhabited by four tribes, the Sattagudai, the Gandarioi, the Dadikai, and the Aparutai.
Bellew has gone further and identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak tribe, and the Dadikai with an obscure branch of Kakars whom he calls Dadi."
Khattaks and Shetaks
Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:It is thus clear that Babur & other Mughals in their descriptions identify Khattaks & Shetaks together without any differentiation.
In Pashtun history
Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans 550BC 1957AD:Theory of Israelite descent
Khattak tribe has oral traditions and legendary history of descent from the Israelites.Khushal Khan Khattak, chosen malak in 1641, believed that malak was a continuation of the Israelite title malak given to the legendary progenitors King Saul and Malak Afghana.
Khushal expresses that the Khattak reputation for fierceness and valor stems from the fact that Khattaks and Afghans have been nursed by the Lioness’s milk.
One of the first progenitors of the modern tribe is Manal. Manal is considered to be a modification of Manas from the word Manasseh. In his book The Armies of India, A.C. Lovett declares the Khattaks to be a widely enlisted tribe, who also lay claim to the Pashtun Jewish descent.
Theory of descent from the Greeks
After the creation of Pakistan, some Pakistani scholars, suggested a Greek descent for the Khattaks. However from the Histories of Herodotus, Herodotus, Book 3, 91., it is clear that a tribe by the name of SattaGydae were already settled in the area around current day Ghor in Afghanistan and paid as tribute coinage and materials to the Greeks when they subjugated these areas:"The Sattagudai and the Gandarioi and the Dadikai and the Aparutai, who were all reckoned together paid 170 talents."
Later Bellew, Caroe and other historians both Pashtun and Western through their works identified the Sattagudai with the famous Khatak & Shitak tribes. "The Pathans 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957" printed St Martin's Press 1958 by MacMillan and Company Limited"
Though all Afghan DNA including Khattak DNA has minor contributions from haplogroups more common to the Greeks, these are minor enough to rule out a direct lineage. Together with works from Herodotus and more recent historians, the theory of Khattak descent from the Greeks is unfounded.
Afridi and Khattak history
Sir Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans 550BC - 1957AD" :One theory of the Oriya Khel is below:
1. A sub tribe of the Kattaks known as Oriya Khel has the DNA of both the Khattak and Afridi tribes. Oriya was an Afridi woman who married a Khattak chief known as Saleh Khan and from their off spring we now have the Oriya Khel sub tribe, consisting of the following 5 villages: Saleh Khana, Kotli Kalan, Bakhte, Sappara/Chapri and Kotli Khurd.
2. The other theory is that some of the Oriya Khel is that The people of these villages belong to the Zakha Khel clan and then the sub clan Oriya Khel of the Afridi tribe. This could only be the case if the male progeny belonged to the Afridi Zama Khel tribe. these tribals have migrated from their homeland in the Tirah valley in Afghanistan to their current village during the 17 century.
3. A third and more realistic assertion is one that combines the above. The different Khels in the villages above may be better explained as an amalgamation of people from different backgrounds coming to settle in the area for work. The British who were at a confrontational footing with the Afridi and would not let Afridia settle in the area allowed the Khattaks to settle in the area that was used for arms trade and repair. The Area being known as Aslah khanna. The Various Khels who has settled rebranded themselves as Khattaks to survive in annonymity and retain title and ownership of the lands given and taken. Such is the case of the Tatar Khel who are seen as a branch of the Afridi Adam Khel and also present in various Sajaras. The same Tatar Khel seem to be more paile in complexion than some of the other Khels. The Zaka Khel are also present but they are not the whole tribe.
Molding and amalgamation
Sir Olaf Caroe, "The Pathans 550BC - 1957AD" :Demographics
The Khattak sub tribes include the Seni Khattak, Barak Khattak, Akora Khel Khattak, Mungi Khel Khattak, Mattu Khel Khattak, and the Saghri Khattak.They also live in Sndh, Balochistan and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.
In past there was democratic process to make a new leader of the tribe by vote of leaders of clans. each tribe leader was given extra land as Jagir to cover the expenses of his Public Kitchen. There are 3 Chieftain of Khattak's, Khan of Terri, Akora and Makhad. it seems till the time of Khushal Khan, khattaks were having one Chieftain at Akora.
Bangi khels live at Narrah Bani Afghan, Tabbi sari at Mianwali and some village at Shakar Dara District Kohat. Bangi khel are much in count so mostly considered separate tribe of Khattak's but actually Bangi khel and Akora's are part of Saghri's. Saghris living at Shakardara are called as "Topi Sughri" whereas at Attock are called "nar-rray sughri" in local dialect. According to Punjab government revenue record, Saghri khattak's living at Tehsil Jand belong to the following clans/ Pats. Taraf Narrah comprise the Patti khosar khel, Patti Nanadrak, Patti Khatter khel, Patti Abdullh Khel and Patti Chandel Khel, Patti Taraf Syeded Khel comprise Patti Nanadrak, Kotiwal, Qureshi, Bangash, Awan, Malyar and Sarban and Patti Taraf Jamal khel. The property belonging to each Patti is separately compiled as book to avoid mistake due to repetition of names. This system provide authentic family tree through inherited land transfer record. today each Patti is sub divided in dozens of sub khels.
Saghris that live in shakardara they in the past were warlike people and didn't have written history but wisely they recorded their existence through naming their new settlements with old names.