Tahirkheli

The Tahir Kheli (also Tar Kheli) is a Pashtun tribe which mainly dwells in the Hazara region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Some Tahirkhelis speak Hindko, which is the native language of the people of Haripur of Hazara Division. However, a large number settled in areas such as Topi, Swabi, Ghazi, and Qazipur still speak their ancestral language of Pashto.

As far as the family tree they are part of the Yousafzai tribes. Tahirkhelis get their name from “Tahir Baba“, a commander under Ahmed Shah Abdali. After fighting for Abdali, and leading his men to a sweeping victory in the entire Haripur region, Tahir Baba was gifted all the land in that area by Abdali as a commemoration for his regiments bravery. Tahir Baba’s son, Bulland Khan was seen as the first “Tahirkheli” or “son of Tahir”. By the early 1900s Tahirkheli’s had become the politically powerful family of the region and adapted to the Hindkowan people around them. Tahirkheli origins are tied to western Afghanistan and Iran.

Once revered throughout Hazara and Haripur as fierce warriors, Tahirkhelis are now seen as a politically powerful and land owning tribe. Most Tahirkheli hold powerful positions through the khyber pakhtunkhwa province.

After their migration to Hazara, which occurred in the late-18th century, most Tahirkhelis settled in that area. The earliest written accounts of British encounters with the Tahirkhelis is by Watson’s Gazetteer of the early-20th century, during an evaluation of ancient art from the area of the Hazara.[2]^[1]

Diaspora

There are large Tahirkheli communities outside of Pakistan, residing in the London, Birmingham, Bradford and Cardiff in the United Kingdom, as well as Northern California and North Carolina in the United States.

See also

• tahir kheli Pashtun people
• Hazara people

References