Marghuz Village-A Memoir
This is not a research paper but
imprints and random thoughts of my childhood memory covering the period since
1945 till date of Marghuz village. As
this is the history of Marghuz, it will be appropriate to comment on all those events
and people who influenced the course of history of Marghuz one way or the other
and played a prominent role in its development.
Early settlement
The residents of Marghuz and that of
adjoining villages belong to the ‘Mandanr’
tribe a sub-branch of Pukhtoon Nation. Tracing their genealogy Mande son of Khashe or Khakhe from 'Sarbanry' branch had two sons.
Yousef and Umar. Yousef the elder had
five sons; Akoo, Moosa, Easa , Mali, and Youria. Umar the younger had one son
Mandanr. Daughter of Yousef was married
to Mandanr. It is out respect that the descendants of Mandanr also call themselves eusefzai. People in ‘sama’ Swabi,
Mardan and Buner Districts are ‘Mandanr’ where
as people of Swat are ‘eusefzai’. All
the maliks who headed the eusefzai/mandanr tribe belong to the mandanr branch.
Early settlement
Eusefzai / Mandanr tribe lived around
Kabul (Afganistan). It was in the last quarter of 15th Century when
a calamity befell on Eusefzai /Mandanr tribe. They were invited by Mirza Alagh
Beg the Governor of Kabul uncle of Zaheer-ud-Din Babar (1483-1530) later king
of India, as his honoured guests. Little did they realize that it was a treacherous
plot and a deceit played on them. After
the feast when they were unarmed and merry making all numbering seven hundred were
put to death. Only six were left alive including one Ahmed Khan aged barely 15
years, later chosen as Head/Malik of the Eusefzai/Mandanr tribe by the elders.
To save themselves
from annihilation, the remaining migrated in miserable condition to this part of
the country. The Dalazak a pukhtoon tribe, who lived in this area, gave them
shelter. Later as a result of inter tribe wars Eusefzia tribe overcame Dalazak
and the later were pushed to Hazara across the river Indus. The Dalazak tribe
is now extinct. Their descendants are scattered but the tribe has no such
boundaries as other pukhtoon tribes have.
Different Phases of the History of Marghuz
When Dalazak were defeated, lands left
behind were distributed (wesh)
amongst all the segments of Eusafzai / Mandanr families. This stupendous task
was performed by Shaikh Malli, the advisor and right hand man of Malik Ahmed Khan,
the chosen leader of Eusafzai. In the beginning, land allotment was not
permanent but the tribes had to shift to new lands (garzenda wesh) after a period of five, seven and ten years.
It is said the khels / tapa of Marghuz
have shifted from Slaim Khan another village in District Swabi and took their
abode here. They adopted the same names of ‘tapa’ as they had in Slaim khan
‘Aka khel’ and ‘Yara khel’. People had their dwellings near the lands allotted to
them.
Who were the Khans/elders of the village?
Who nominated them? What were the rules of ascendency? To the misfortune of Eusafzia/Mandanr
tribe, the central authority was broken after Malik Bhakoo Khan a contemporary
of King Aurangzeb (1618-1707). It was Malik Ahmed Khan who had united the
Eusafzai / Mandanr tribe as one unit. He carved a state for ‘Eusafzai/Mandanr’
tribe including the whole of Swat, Sama (Mardan, Swabi) extending up to
Charsadda. It was a formidable force and could be called a state in its real
meaning. After the death of Malik Ahmed Khan, there came in line Khan Gaju,
Malik Misri Khan, Malik Ghazi Khan, Malik Kaloo Khan and Malik Bhakoo Khan. All these Maliks who took
over after Malik Ahmed Khan were elected in Jirga of the elders. Ascendency to
Malik-ship was not hereditary but depended on the meritorious services rendered
to the tribe. After the last Malik Bhakoo Khan there were some thirty two Khanates/units
each headed by a khan exercising full authority and control over the people. Central
authority was lost and each one grinded his own axe and took care only in
preservation of his fiefdom. What sort of measures they took to dispense
justice and settle the family feuds and land disputes of their subjects are a
domain not documented.
At that time there was only one vocation
of people that is agriculture. The whole society depended on land. Being
agrarian society there was no other economic activity. Lands were distributed
according to a formula devised by Shaikh Malli agreed upon by all. Shaikh Malli
was the right hand man and adviser of Malik Ahmed Khan the ‘malik/king’ of
Eusafzai tribe. It is said that Shaikh Malli maintained full record of the land
possessions with each family but alas, these are lost and no more available.
Senior people in the advanced age bracket
talk that the people of Marghuz have come from Slaim Khan another village in
District Swabi. Shifting of dwellings was a mechanism devised by Shaikh Malli
for the satisfaction of the families and to settle their disputes on lands so
that no one is left permanently on harsh and uncultivable piece of land. The Marghuz
‘tapas’ (Akakhel and Yarakhel) are named on the same pattern as in Slaim Khan. A
metaled road divides the two main ‘tapas’/ branches of the village.
If we believe on this assumption and
there is nothing contrary to this, the people here in Marghuz have a history of
around 200 years. This gives credence to the fact that because of Shaikh Malli’s
rule of distribution (wesh) of land
the families used to exchange land and shifted to new places leaving behind
lands to some other family. Later on when people started living in houses made
of mud instead of huts, this practice of movement from one place to another
stopped.
Little, almost nothing is known about
the different ‘khel’ family units of Marghuz claiming to be lineage (segmental)
Pukhtoons and the land holdings allotted to them. The khans had an edge over the
rest of the people and given more lands as they had to incur expenditure on
entertainment of guests and they had to look after the ‘hujra’ and other related
matters. Expenses for the oil in lamps lit in 'hujras were born by Hindus.
Name of any person belonging to Marghuz is not
documented in the wars fought with Dalazak or in the war fought with the Mughal
armies of Emperor Akbar under Zain Khan Koka in Malakand / Swat and later with
Sikh armies of Ranjeet Singh at Peer Sabak. The favorite companion Bheerbal of
Mughal Emperor Akbar was killed in the battle fought with Mughal Army in Swat.
In this war all the Mughal army was wiped out. Mughals did not dare to attack
again on Eusafzai/Mandar lands. It
remained independent till 1857 when the English occupied the whole of
subcontinent. 