General Area History


Located near the site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and Harappa, the region was annexed as part of a far flung satrapy by the old Persian Achaemenid Empire before 500 B.C and brought under Mauryan rule two centuries later. The Macedonians under Alexander the Great marched on the area around 330 B.C., the later Greco-Bactrians establishing an independent Indo-Greek Kingdom following a split with Seleucid Empire to the west. The Saka arrived around 97 B.C., before the Indo-Parthians of Arsacid affinity ruled under Gondophares to about A.D. 75. The following few centuries A.D. brought at least nominal Kushan, Ephthalite, Kidarite and Sassanian Persian rule, the last of which fell to the forces of the Arab Rashidin Caliphate, which introduced Islam to the East Iranian borderlands in the seventh century. Islam was spread further east under the Saffarid dynasty which, under Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari, pressed deep into the Khyber hinterlands. The succeeding centuries saw Ghaznavid, Ghorid, and Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar control of the area, where regional Pakhtun tribes living in and around the Hindu-Kush later battled the encroaching British India northwest of the Punjab. From then onward, the region was either under British Indian or Afghan rule after the 1893 Durand Line agreement, until the state of Pakistan was created.


AHMADZAI WAZIR

PRIMARY LOCATIONS:

The Ahmadzai Wazir Tribe inhabits South Waziristan Agency. They control the border regions between South Waziristan and Afghanistan. Their ancestral home appears to have been in the Birmal Valley in Afghanistan. Two-thirds of the Ahmadzais live in the Bannu District, and the remaining one-third lives in South Waziristan Agency near Wana and the Shakai Valley. A large number migrate to and from these areas according to the season.
South Waziristan is the southern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² (4,473 mi²). Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The North-West Frontier Province lies immediately to the east. The region was an independent tribal territory from 1893, remaining outside of British-ruled empire and Afghanistan. Tribal raiding into British-ruled territory was a constant problem for the British, requiring frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. Troops of the British Raj coined a name for this region "Hell's Door Knocker" in recognition of the fearsome reputation of the local fighters and inhospitable terrain. The region became part of Pakistan in 1947.
Waziristan is divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan, with estimated populations (as of 1998) of 361,246 and 429,841 respectively. The two parts have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Waziris and speak a common Waziri language. They have a reputation as warriors and are known for their frequent blood feuds. The tribes are divided into sub-tribes governed by male village elders who meet in a tribal jirga. Socially and religiously, Waziristan is an extremely conservative area. Women are carefully guarded, and every household must be headed by a male figure. Tribal cohesiveness is strong through so-called Collective Responsibility Acts in the Frontier Crimes Regulation.
Waziristan is named after the Pashtun Wazir tribe. South Waziristan is the largest agency of FATA in size. It has two headquarters: Tank is the winter headquarters of the Agency while Wana is its summer headquarters. It has been functioning since 1895. It is bound to the north by the North Waziristan Agency, to the north-east by Bannu and Lakki Marwat Districts, to the east by Tribal Area Adjoining Tank District and D.I. Khan Districts, to the south by Zhob District of Balochistan Province and Tribal Area Adjoining D.I. Khan District, and to the west by Afghanistan. The total area of the Agency is 6,619 km².
Origins
The Waziris are an isolated tribe and have lived in the Pashtun tribal belt region for many centuries[Like most other Pashtun tribes, the Waziris might be descendants of Aryans or the later migrant Scythians with some Hephthalite and Kushan admixture Others claim that the Wazir resided in the mountainous region for several thousand years in a similar fashion to the Afridis. Wazir are the descendants of Waziri who was the son of Sulaiman the son of Kakai, the son of Karlan and grandson of Qais Abdur Rashid. So they are usually described as being a tribe of Karlani Pashtuns.
From this common origin come the Wazirs, a title which properly includes the Wazirs, Gurbaz, Lalawazir in Kugiani in the area of the Sufed Koh in Afghanistan and Mahsuds but the word Wazir has now practically been appropriated by the former.

Language

The two agencies have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Wazir Tribe and speak a common Wazirwola pashtu language, which is in fact a dialect of the Pashto language.


Geography

The Agency is mostly a mass of rugged and complex hills and ridges. There are no regular mountain alignments. The land rises gradually from south and east to north and west. The dominating range is the Preghal in the west along the border with Afghanistan. It is the highest peak which is 3,515 metres high. Zarmelan, Wana, Shakki, Zalai, Spin and Tiarza are the main plains of the Agency.
Direction of water courses, in general, is from west to south i.e. from the watersheds of Sulaiman Mountains to the Indus. There are two principal rivers in the Agency, Gomal of Luni and Tank Zam. Some important rivulets are Khaisora, Shaktu, Splitoi, Wana Toi, Shuza, Shinkai and Shahur. The rest are mountain streams which can become dangerous and impassable during heavy rains which frequently occur during the months of July and August. The Gomal River rises in two branches in the eastern slopes of the western Sulaiman range in the Birmal District of Afghanistan not far from the source of the Tochi River. The Tank Zam is formed by the junction of the Tauda China and the Baddar Toi, at Dwa Toi, south of Razmak


Climate

The Agency has hot summers and very cold winters. In winter, temperatures go below freezing point in places of high altitude. The summer season starts in May and ends by September. June is generally the warmest month when the mean maximum temperature rises slightly over 30 degrees Celsius. The winter starts in October and continues until April. December, January and February are the coldest months. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures for this period are 10 and -2 degrees Celsius, respectively. The Agency is outside the monsoon zone, yet at higher altitudes a fair amount of rainfall is received. South Waziristan Agency has an arid climate, receiving minimal precipitation. The western portion, bordering Afghanistan, receives more rainfall than the eastern portion touching Tank and D.I.Khan districts. Most of the Agency receives mean annual rainfall of 6 inches, while a small area in the southeastern corner receives less than 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall annually.



Famous Personalities


Musa Nikkah (Darwaish)
Mahmood(Mehsood)
Karim Khoon
Laloo Khan
Faqir of Ipi: Haji Amir zaali khan(Faqir of Api) was a renowned freedom activist and took part in the violent struggle against the British raj. He was the only freedom fighter at the end of the British raj. He was a strong supporter of the Pakhtunistan cause.
Sher Bahadir Sab
Saday Gul Kaka Khail Sab
Jallat Khan SaB
Shah Sab(Late) Headmaster GHS, Wana
Mirzaman Amir Sab
Behram Khan Amir Sab
Prof. Muhammad Gul Sab
Miraskar Sab
Muhammad Yar(Maydari)
Nisar Lala
Dr.Hassan Khan Waziri
Dr.Bad shah Jan Waziri
Mr.Nasrullah Khan
Engineer Ashraf
Engineer Mir Ghulam
Mr.Abdul Malik, MNA(SWA)
Sher Azam khan , Current Minister Khyber Pukhtonkhwa,
Maulana Noor Muhammad ex MNA, Religious Scholar.
Ayaz Wazir, Former Ambassador of Pakistan.
Malik Faridullah Khan Shaheed (Hilal-e-Imtiaz), Chief of wazir and former Federal Minister
Genral Retired Alam Jan Maseed
Col. Yaqoob Maseed
Col. Mahyudin Sab

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Forget safety.Live where you fear to live.Destroy your reputation.Be notorious