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{{short description|A tribe in Pakistan}}
Awan is Pashtun tribe living predominantly in the northern, central, and western parts of [[Punjab (Pakistan) |Pakistani Punjabll, with significant numbers also present in [[Pakhtunkhwall, [[Azad Kashmirl],


'''Awan''' ({{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|اعوان}}}}) is a [[Pashtun]] tribe living predominantly in the northern, central, and western parts of [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Pakistani Punjab]], with significant numbers also present in [[Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Azad Kashmir]], and to a lesser extent in [[Sindh]] and [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Pakistani Balochistan]].<ref>Douie, J. 2003. The Panjab, North West Frontier Province and Kashmir. Asian Educational Services, p.105.</ref> Genetically, it is a Pashtun sub-tribe of [[Ghoryakhel]] tribe but the people of Awan tribe claim [[Arabs|Arab]] descent.
and to a lesser extent in [[Sindh]] and [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Pakistani Balochistan]l. <ref>Douie, J. 2003. The Panjab, North West Frontier Province and Kashmir. Asian Educational Services, p. 105.</ref> Genetically, it is a Pashtun sub-tribe of [[Ghoryakhel]] tribe but the people of Awan tribe claim [[Arabs|Arab]] descent.


==History==
==History==
[[Jamal J. Elias]] notes that the Awans believe themselves to be of Arab origin, descended from [[Ali ibn Abu Talib]] and that the claim of Arab descent gives them "high status in the Indian Muslim environment".<ref>{{cite book|title=Death Before Dying: The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu|last=J. Elias|first=Jamal|author-link=Jamal J. Elias|publisher=University of California Press|date=1998|page=12|isbn=978-0-52021-242-8}}</ref>
Traditional genealogical records (Shajrah) maintain that the Awans are descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph of Islam and cousin/son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad) through his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (or in some branches, Abbas ibn Ali).


[[Christophe Jaffrelot]] says: {{quote|The Awan deserve close attention, because of their historical importance and, above all, because they settled in the west, right up to the edge of [[Baloch people|Baluchi]] and [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] territory. Legend has it that their origins go back to Imam Ali and his second wife, Hanafiya. Historians describe them as valiant warriors and farmers who imposed their supremacy on the [[Janjua]] in part of the [[Salt Range]] and established large colonies all along the [[Indus River|Indus]] to [[Sindh|Sind]], and a densely populated center not far from [[Lahore]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Pakistan and Its Origins |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2004 |page=205 |isbn=978-1-84331-149-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9sI_Y2CKAcC}}</ref>}}
According to this account, the direct progenitor of the tribe in South Asia was Qutb Shah (Awn ibn Ya'la), a medieval commander who arrived during the invasions of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the early 11th century.
 
People of the Awan community have a strong presence in the [[Pakistani Army]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pakistan People's Party: Rise to Power|last=Jones|first=Philip Edward|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xliNAAAAMAAJ|page=61|quote=This [Awan] tribe is perhaps the most heavily recruited tribe in the [Pakistan] Army.|isbn=0195799666}}</ref> and a notable martial tradition.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ali |first=Imran |year=1998 |title=Punjab under Imperialism, 1885–1947 |publisher=Princeton University Press|page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgUABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114|isbn=1400859581}}</ref> They were listed as an "agricultural tribe" by the British Raj in 1925, a term that was then synonymous with classification as a "[[martial race]]".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC |title=The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab |first=Rajit K. |last=Mazumder |page=105 |publisher=Orient Longman |year=2003|isbn=9788178240596 }}</ref>


==Genetic studies on Awan==
==Genetic studies on Awan==

Latest revision as of 02:05, 3 August 2026

Awan is Pashtun tribe living predominantly in the northern, central, and western parts of [[Punjab (Pakistan) |Pakistani Punjabll, with significant numbers also present in [[Pakhtunkhwall, [[Azad Kashmirl],

and to a lesser extent in Sindh and [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Pakistani Balochistan]l. [1] Genetically, it is a Pashtun sub-tribe of Ghoryakhel tribe but the people of Awan tribe claim Arab descent.

History[edit | edit source]

Traditional genealogical records (Shajrah) maintain that the Awans are descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph of Islam and cousin/son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad) through his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (or in some branches, Abbas ibn Ali).

According to this account, the direct progenitor of the tribe in South Asia was Qutb Shah (Awn ibn Ya'la), a medieval commander who arrived during the invasions of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the early 11th century.

Genetic studies on Awan[edit | edit source]

Centre for Human Genetics of Edith Cowan University, Australia, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Pakistan and Institute of General Genetics of Russian Academy of Science, Russia conducted different genetic studies on Awan and its neighbouring tribes, namely Khattar and Rajput, which concluded that Awans are genetically isolated, endogamous and very different from its neighbouring tribes.[2]

Department of Genetics of Hazara University, Pakistan conducted a dental morphology and DNA analysis of major tribes in Northern Pakistan which recorded that haplogroup T1 (originated in Israel[3][4]) is only found in Awans.[5]

Department of Genetics of Hazara University, Pakistan, Department of Anthropology of University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA and Center for Human Genetics of Hazara University, Pakistan conducted different studies in which hypervariable segment I (HVSI) from mtDNA was analyzed to establish the genetic lineage of the populations living in Northern Pakistan. A three-cytosine deletion (CCC) at position 16191-16193 was clearly observed in Awans and they fall in the same genetic cluster as Arab tribe of Syeds because of their similarity.[6]

A latest study conducted by Zoological Society of Pakistan concluded that Awans are genetically identical to Pashtuns, specifically Daudzai and Khalils sub-tribes of Ghoryakhel tribe.[7]

Notable people[edit | edit source]

Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, former Nawab of Kalabagh, Chief of the Awan tribe, Governor of West Pakistan from 1960 to 1966
Air Marshal Nur Khan, Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, 1965–69, Governor of West Pakistan, 1969–70

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Douie, J. 2003. The Panjab, North West Frontier Province and Kashmir. Asian Educational Services, p. 105.
  2. ↑ W. Wang; S. G. Sullivan; S. Ahmed; D. Chandler; L. A. Zhivotovsky; A. H. Bittles (2000). "A genome-based study of consanguinity in three co-resident endogamous Pakistan communities". Annals of Human Genetics. 64 (Pt 1). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: 41–49. doi:10.1046/j.1469-1809.2000.6410041.x. PMID 11246460. S2CID 21493970. There was a reduction in heterozygosity and high average inbreeding effects (FIS and/or HS), particularly in the Awan, indicating genetic isolation and a high cumulative level of autozygosity.
  3. ↑ Lazaridis, Iosif; et al. (2016). "Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East". Nature. 536 (7617): 419–424. Bibcode:2016Natur.536..419L. bioRxiv 10.1101/059311. doi:10.1038/nature19310. PMC 5003663. PMID 27459054.
  4. ↑ "Haplogroup T-M184". 9 April 2022. It appears to have originated somewhere around the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, perhaps somewhere between Israel to the Jordan Valley.
  5. ↑ Nazia (2014). "GENETIC ANALYSES OF THE MAJOR TRIBES OF ABBOTTABAD AND MANSEHRA DISTRICTS THROUGH DENTAL MORPHOLOGY AND DNA ANALYSES" (PDF). Department of Genetics Hazara University Mansehra: 92.
  6. ↑ N. Akbar; H. Ahmad; M.S. Nadeem; B.E. Hemphill; K. Muhammad; W. Ahmad; M. Ilyas (June 24, 2016). "HVSI polymorphism indicates multiple origins of mtDNA in the Hazarewal population of Northern Pakistan" (PDF). Genetics and Molecular Research. 15 (2). doi:10.4238/gmr.15027167. PMID 27420957. Retrieved November 28, 2020. HVSI sequence homology showed that Hazarewal populations fall into three major clusters: Syeds and Awans sorted out into cluster I, ... A three-cytosine deletion (CCC) at position 16191-16193 observed in the ethnic Awan population residing in Mansehra.
  7. ↑ Zubair, Muhammad; Ahmad, Habib; Hemphill, Brian E.; Tariq, Muhammad; Shah, Muzaffar (June 2021). "Identification of Genetic Lineage of Peshawar and Nowshera Tribes through Dental Morphology". Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 53 (3). doi:10.17582/journal.pjz/20190927080941. ISSN 0030-9923.
  8. ↑ Khan, Jahan Dad (2001). Pakistan Leadership Challenges. Oxford University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0195795873.
  9. ↑ Khan, Roedad (1999). The American Papers: Secret and Confidential India-Pakistan-Bangladesh Documents, 1965-1973. Oxford University Press. p. 265. ISBN 0195791908.
  10. ↑ Sultan, Ather; Sultan, Atiyab (17 May 2020). "CHESS:The Wrath of Khan". Dawn. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. ↑ Kamal, Daud (2008). Flower on a Grave: Poems from Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195474978.
  12. ↑ Frembgen, Jürgen Wasim (2006). The Friends of God: Sufi Saints in Islam, Popular Poster Art from Pakistan. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0195470060. ... Sultan Bahu (d. 1691) whose real name was Sultan Muhammad. Born into an Awan Family in Shorkot (District Jhang), ...
  13. ↑ Warraich, Suhail (10 December 2017). "A Barelvi revival?". The News International. Islamabad. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "Hazrat Ameer Muhammad Akram (RA)". Silsala Naqshbandia Owaisia. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. ↑ Ustad-e-Punjab (teacher of Punjab), in Urdu Language, by Maulana Majeed Sohadravi, Darussalam Pakistan/Muslim Publication, Lahore. page 41
  16. ↑ Web Team, WION (July 8, 2021). "Pakistan mourns the loss of legendary Indian star Dilip Kumar, prayers offered outside ancestral home". WION. New Delhi, India. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

Further reading[edit | edit source]

  • Qadeer, Mohammad (22 November 2006). Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation. Taylor & Francis. p. 71. ISBN 1134186177.

Template:Castes and Tribes of the Punjab

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