History of Barozai of Sibi District

History of Barozai of Sibi District

The history of the Barozai dates from about 1470 when Baro Khan, the founder of the Barozais, ingratiated himself with the Mizri who were then in possession of Dhadar and married the daughter of the chief. On the decay of the Arghun rule, the Pannis increased in power and importance, and about 1570 -1575 are found as being in possession of the Sibi fort and district.

Barozai Panni of Sibi District

Three expeditions were undertaken by the Mughals against them. In 1595, the fort of Siwi, finally fell to the imperialists, led by Mir Masum, the soldier and the historian. The tribe is spoken of as having fought bravely and it seems to have retained its importance, as in 1695 its dependencies were held by one Mirza Khan, a Baruzai, who had received the title of Nawab from the ruler of Delhi and also administered the affairs of Upper Sindh.

History of Barozai Tribe

During the time of Mirza Khan Barozai, the Afghan Chief of Sibi (1666-1699 AD) eighteen battles were fought between the Panni Confederacy and the Brahuis of Kalat in the neighborhood of Sibi or Dhadar . In sixteen battles with the Barozai Ruler of Siwi, Mir Ahmad Brahui  was defeated in each encounter with their forces. A seventeenth engagement took place at a spot called Pir Lehkan in which neither party obtained a decisive result. But Mir Ahmad himself, and his Minister, Akhund Mohammad Saleh, were both wounded and Mir Shawaz and Mir Ibrahim, the latter an ancestor of the  Naushirwani Sardar Mir Azad Khan, lost their lives. The Brahuis left the battlefield; the Afghans collected the booty, consisting of silken belts and horses of Turki and Tazi breed. Mir Ahmad Qambrani's sister named Bibo gallantly attacked the Pannis. Attired in male garments she fought valiantly and got killed at the hand of Jalal Khan Kurak. Soon the Brahuis avenged themselves on the Pannis and defeated Rahim Khan Pirang who led the Pannis in the absence of Mirza Khan Barozai. In 1695 AD, peace prevailed between the two tribes, which was sealed by a happy marriage of Princes Mahnaz the daughter of Mir Ahmad Qambrani with Said Khan Barozai Panni, the brother of Mirza Khan Barozai.

Mirza Khan was succeeded by his son Bakhtiar Khan Barozai who rose in revolt against the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir in January, 1702 A.D. He successfully fought for the freedom of Siwi or Sibi, but later fell a prey to a strong Mughal force led by the Subedar of Multan, Muizuddin. His successor Ismail Khan  is locally credited with having built the town of Dera Ismail Khan ; he was succeeded by Isa Khan, who was followed by Ismail Khan II who accompanied Nadir Shah to Delhi and later on built the fort at Sangan.
The Baruzais of Sibi appear to have become separated from the Sangan branch at this period, and during the reign of Ahmad Shah, Durrani, Muhammad Khan, who had gone to Kabul to complain of Ismail Khan, was granted a warrant dated 1759 in which Ahmad Shah entrusted the Government of the Sibi District and the Barkhan, Khethran and Hasni dependencies jointly to both claimants.
Muhammad Khan was killed by the Khajjaks, a branch of the Panni tribe who had greatly increased in strength and importance, and his successor Habib Khan, who was also ultimately slain by the Khajaks, was obliged to abandon Sibi and retire to Kurk. The Khajjaks had now become the most powerful section, and their importance is shown by the common Sibi proverb which says that, "though the Kakars may conquer in the hills, the Khajaks lord it in the plains."
At the out- break of the Afghan war in 1839, the nominal chief of the tribe was Shakar Khan, but the real power was in the hands of Misri Khan, who tendered his services to Shah Shuja and was taken into British pay. In 184 1, as already described in the section on History, the town of Khajak was occupied by British troops and dismantled. The power of the Khajaks was thus weakened, and shortly afterwards the Marris acquired a footing in the Sibi District. They dis- possessed the Pannis of Badra and Quat-Mandai and over- ran Sangan. Shakar Khan was succeeded by his son Doda Khan, but he was a weak chief and after Misri Khan's death the management of the tribe passed successively into the hands of Bakhtiar Khan and Sher Zaman Khan, the latter of whom was killed while endeavouring to stop a fight between the Brahuis and the Marghazani section of the Pannis. After Doda Khan's death the chieftainship of the tribe devolved on his eldest son Muhammad Khan after being unsuccessfully claimed by Sarbuland Khan, the son of Misri Khan.

According to Tarikhi Sindh of Ghulam Rasool Mehr, the Dhahdar area was in possession of Barozais, with Malik Kala khan Barozai listed as owner of land thereof , upto the times of Mian Nur Muhammad Kalhora (1719-1753 A.D). Graves of Panni notables such as Junaid Khan Barozai , Mirza Khan Barozai, and well known Mullah Misri Afghan are present in Dhadar. The town of Dhadar formed the first capital of the Panni tribe of Afghans on their arrivals in the plains. It was also the place where Dara Shikoh, the Mughal prince, visited Juanid khan, the first Barozai chief and in the vicinity of which many of the famous Baruhi Afghan battles were fought towards the end of seventeenth century A.D.
In 1901, the number of Pannis in the district was 3,656 : males 1,871,females 1,785. They are divided into nine- teen sections : Abdulla Khel, Ali Khel, Bjighun, Baruzai, Davi, Dehpjil, Janti, Khajak, Kurk, Laun, Luni, Marghazani, Mizri, Musa Khel, Naudhjini, Pirani, SAfi, Sodi and Usmani.

Daud Khan Panni
Daud Khan Panni was a Mughal commander, Nawab of the Carnatic and later Viceroy of Deccan.In 1703, Daud Khan was appointed as the Nawab of the Carnatic. Before he was made Nawab, the Emperor Aurangazeb appointed him as a leading commander of the Mughal Army in 1701.The Ahmad shah Abdali issued sanads to Ismail khan Panni Barozai of Sangan and Muhammad khan Panni Barozai of Sibi.

Sources
1.Sibi district; text. Compiled by A. McConaghey"
2 The Tribal Baluchistan by Syed Abdul Quddus
3 Afghans of the frontier passes: a study in the historical geography of Sibi and Dhader in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, Volume 1
The Ain I Akbari - Volume 3
Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan by Henry George Raverty