The Sattagydae, Gandarii, Dadicae, and Aparytae (Ἀπαρύται) paid together a hundred and seventy talents; this was the seventh province
— Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 91, Section 4
Origins
Aurel Stein described Afridis with lighter and fair features, similar to their Dardic neighbours, in contrast to the Afghans living on the other side of the Khyber Pass, whom he described as darker and swarthier.[8] This supports the Dardic origins of Afridis.[9]
History
Resistance against the Mughals
The Afridis and their allies Khalils were first mentioned in the memoirs of Mughal Emperor Babar as violent tribes in need of subduing.[10] The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the Indian subcontinent with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.[11]
Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors Akbar and Jahangir both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, with little success.[9]
Under the leadership of Darya Khan Afridi, they engaged in protracted warfare against the Mughal army in the 1670s.[12] The Afridis once destroyed two large Mughal armies of Emperor Aurangzeb: in 1672, in a surprise attack between Peshawar and Kabul, and in the winter of 1673, in an ambush in the mountain passes.[13] The emperor sent his Rajput general Rai Tulsidas with reinforcements into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain.[13][14] Allegedly, only five Mughal soldiers made it out of the battle alive and the rest of the Mughals were brutally slaughtered.[15][16][17]
The British colonial administration regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "martial tribe" under the martial races theory.[19] Different Afridi clans also cooperated with the British in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the British Indian Army.[19][20]
Abbas Khan Afridi, Pakistani politician who has been a member of senate, federal minister and state minister. He is also a reputable trader and businessman in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ahmad Kamal Faridi (Colonel Fareedi, Colonel Faridi), a character of Ibn-e-Safi, world renowned mystery writer/novelist of Pakistan. Ibn-e-Safi showed in his two novels (out of 125 novels) of Jasoosi Dunya (The Spy World) novel number 52 and novel number 117 that Colonel Fareedi belongs to Afridi tribe.
Malik Sher Muhammad Khan Afridi, Chief of Sepah. He along with the Maliks of Khyber Agency visited Kolkatta on train from Peshawar along with Political Agent, Colonel Robert Warburton.[30] He also was a key figure in the relations between the Pathans especially the Afridis and the British Government during the 19th century, also mentioned in the book Eighteen Years in the Khyber.[31]
^Ramachandran (26 January 2023). Red Jihad: Islamic Communism in India 1920-1950. Indus Scrolls Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-93-90981-33-5.
^Rashid, Haroon (2002). History of the Pathans: The Sarabani Pathans. Haroon Rashid. p. 10.
^"The History of Herodotus Chapter 3, Verse 91; Written 440 B.C.E, Translated by G. C. Macaulay". sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
^"Herodotus, The Histories, Book 3, chapter 91, section 4". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^Dani, Ahmad Hasan (2007). History of Pakistan: Pakistan through ages. Sang-e Meel Publications. p. 77. ISBN 978-969-35-2020-0.
^Holdich, Thomas (12 March 2019). The Gates of India, Being an Historical Narrative. Creative Media Partners, LLC. pp. 28, 31. ISBN 978-0-530-94119-6.
^Caroe, Olaf (1957). The Pathans, 550 B.C.-A.D. 1957. Oxford University Press. p. 37. ISBN 0-19-577221-0.
^Stewart, J. (2007). The Savage Border: The Story of the North-West Frontier. History Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7524-9607-8. For Aurel Stein's views regarding relation of Afridis with Dardic people, see Stein, Aurel (1925). "Notes on Tirahi. The Speakers of Tirahi". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (3): 399–404. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25220760.
^ a b"AFRĪDĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
^A. S. Beveridge, Babor-nama London, 1922 [repr. 1969], p. 412
^History of Khyber Agency: Gateway to the Subcontinent Archived 13 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Office of the Political Agent, Khyber Agency
^Momand, Ahmad Gul. The Bare Language of Khoshal's Poetry. Nangarhar University. p. 13.[permanent dead link]
^ a bRichards, John F. (1996), "Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658–1869. Testing the limits of the empire: the Northwest.", The Mughal Empire, New Cambridge history of India: The Mughals and their contemporaries, vol. 5 (illustrated, reprint ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 170–171, ISBN 978-0-521-56603-2
^Geoffrey Powell; J. S. W. Powell (1983), Famous regiments (illustrated ed.), Secker & Warburg, p. 69, ISBN 978-0-436-37910-9
^Robert E. L. Masters; Eduard Lea (1963). Perverse crimes in history: evolving concepts of sadism, lust-murder, and necrophilia from ancient to modern times. Julian Press. p. 211. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
^Robert E. L. Masters; Eduard Lea (1963). Sex crimes in history: evolving concepts of sadism, lust-murder, and necrophilia, from ancient to modern times. Julian Press. p. 211. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
^ a bClarke, Alexander (30 October 2020). Tribals, Battles & Darings: The Genesis of the Modern Destroyer. Seaforth Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-5267-7291-6.
^Stewart, Dr Jules (22 June 2006). The Khyber Rifles: From the British Raj to Al Qaeda. The History Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7524-9558-3.
^M.K. Teng (2001) Kashmir: The Bitter Truth Archived 26 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Kashmir Information Network
^Afridi demographics in Pakistan and Afghanistan[usurped] The excessive figure sometimes mentioned in Afghanistan reflects in a particular way the Afghan claim to Pashtunistan and actually represents an estimate of the whole of the Afridi tribe on both sides of the frontier.
^Nirvan, Kiran (20 May 2019). 21 Kesaris: The Untold Story of the Battle of Saragarhi. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 978-93-89000-41-2.
^"AFRĪDĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
^Denzil Ibbetson, Edward MacLagan, H. A. Rose "A Glossary of The Tribes & Castes of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province", 1911 AD, Page 217, Vol. III, Published by Asian Educational Services
^History of the Pathans by Haroon Rashid Published by Haroon Rashid, 2002 Item notes: v. 1 Page 45 Original from the University of Michigan
^M. Fahim Jemadar Mir Mast Khan Afridi: An Unsung Afridi Pashtun Hero Who Refused to Fight against Ottoman Army and Deserted the British Raj (2020) Pakistan Info
^History of Pashtuns - Pashtunistan & Malik Wali Kuki Khel
^Pakistan Old Memories (2022) Leader of the Kuki Khel Afridis
^"Eighteen Years in the Khyber, 1879-1898 — Viewer — World Digital Library".
^"Review of Eighteen Years in the Khyber, 1879–1898 by Col. Sir Robert Warburton"