Awan (tribe) explained

Awan
Location:	Punjab, Sindh, Hazara and Azad Kashmir
Language:	Hindko, Punjabi, Urdu

Awan (ur|{{Nastaliq|اعوان) is a tribe and surname centred in the Northern Pakistan and Punjab region of Pakistan.^[1] Awans are predominantly present in the northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, with significant population also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and to a lesser extent, in Sindh and Balochistan. The tribe claim Arab, particularly Alid, origin^[2] through its primary ancestor Qutub Shah, who came to modern-day Pakistan with Mahmud of Ghazni.^[3]

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".^[4] However, they are also described as having Jat origins by certain British Raj writers.^[5] Christophe Jaffrelot says:

People of the Awan community have a strong presence in the Pakistan Army^[6] and a notable martial tradition.^[7] 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".^[8]

Genetic studies on Awan

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.^[9]

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^{[10] [11]}) is only found in Awans.^[12]

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. In the study it was concluded that Awans fall in the same genetic cluster as the Arab tribe of Syeds because of their similarity.^[13]

Notable people

• Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan – Former Nawab of Kalabagh, Chief of the Awan tribe and Governor of West Pakistan from 1960 to 1966.^[14]
• Air Marshal Nur Khan – Commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Air Force, 1965–69, Governor of West Pakistan, 1969–70, and recipient of the Hilal-i-Jurat, the second-highest military award of Pakistan.^[15]
• Tajammul Hussain Malik, War Hero of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, held an impenetrable defence in the Battle of Hilli against a multiple times larger force, famously refused to surrender and attempted coup against the Military Dictatorship of the 1980s
• Mir Sultan Khan – A chess master also believed by some to be the greatest natural chess player of modern times.^[16]
• Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi – Urdu poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist, short story author, recipient of the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third-highest civil award of Pakistan.^[17]
• Sultan Bahu – A Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and founder of mystic tradition known as Sarwari Qadiri.^[18]
• Khadim Hussain Rizvi – A Pakistani Islamic scholar and the founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.^[19]
• Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan – Islamic scholar and spiritual leader of the mystic tradition known as Naqshbandia Owaisiah.^[20]
• Saad Hussain Rizvi, Pakistani politician
• Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi – Islamic scholar, jurist and muhaddith.^[21]
• Dilip Kumar – An actor in Hindi cinema.^[22]
• Babar Awan – Pakistani politician and lawyer
• Malik Munawar Khan Awan, Pakistan army officer who fought for independence of Azad Hind against the British Raj and a decorated soldier awarded for gallantry for his conquering of areas of the Kashmir Valley in the Second Indo-Pakistani War

See also

• Qutub Shah
• Tribes and clans of the Pothohar Plateau
• Ahmed Gul Khel
• Awan Patti

Further reading

• Book: Qadeer, Mohammad. Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation. Taylor & Francis. 22 November 2006. 1134186177. 71.

Notes and References

1. Book: Tan, Tai Yong . The Garrison State: The Military, Government and Society in Colonial Punjab 1849–1947 . Sage . 2005 . 978-0-7619-3336-6 . 61–62.
2. Book: Shaw . Alison . Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani Families in Britain . 2000 . Routledge . 9058230759 . London . 116 . 10.4324/9781315080062.
3. 1996 . Archaeological Remains in Son Sakesar (Salt Range) . Journal of Central Asia . . XIX . 150–169 . Sarwar . Malik Muhammad . Before the arrival of Awan tribes, the valley was a part of the state under the rule of Janjua Rajputs. They were forcibly ousted by the Awans. The Awans claim that their ancestor, Qutb Shah came along with the army of Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna in the 10th century. He headed some troops of Alavids who had been given the title of Awans by the Sultan.. 1016-0701. 655897382.
4. Book: J. Elias, Jamal. Death Before Dying: The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu. Jamal J. Elias. University of California Press. 1998. 12. 978-0-52021-242-8.
5. Book: Khan, Sabir Badal . Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore: Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore . 2013 . Università di Napoli, "l'Orientale" . en. 40.
6. Book: Jones, Philip Edward. The Pakistan People's Party: Rise to Power. Oxford University Press. 2003. 61. This [Awan] tribe is perhaps the most heavily recruited tribe in the [Pakistan] Army.. 0195799666.
7. Book: Ali, Imran . 1998 . Punjab under Imperialism, 1885–1947 . Princeton University Press. 114 . 1400859581.
8. Book: Mazumder, Rajit K. . The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab . 105 . Orient Longman . 2003. 9788178240596 .
9. 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. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. 64. Pt 1. 41–49. 10.1046/j.1469-1809.2000.6410041.x. 11246460. 21493970. There was a reduction in heterozygosity and high average inbreeding effects (F_IS and/or H_S), particularly in the Awan, indicating genetic isolation and a high cumulative level of autozygosity..
10. Lazaridis . Iosif . etal . 2016 . Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East . Nature . 536 . 7617 . 419–424 . 2016Natur.536..419L . 10.1101/059311 . 10.1038/nature19310 . 5003663 . 27459054.
11. Web site: 9 April 2022 . Haplogroup T-M184 . It appears to have originated somewhere around the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, perhaps somewhere between Israel to the Jordan Valley..
12. Nazia . 2014 . GENETIC ANALYSES OF THE MAJOR TRIBES OF ABBOTTABAD AND MANSEHRA DISTRICTS THROUGH DENTAL MORPHOLOGY AND DNA ANALYSES . Department of Genetics Hazara University Mansehra . 92.
13. 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 . Genetics and Molecular Research . 15 . 2 . 10.4238/gmr.15027167 . 27420957 . 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. . free.
14. Book: Khan, Jahan Dad. Pakistan Leadership Challenges. Oxford University Press. 2001. 72. 0195795873.
15. Book: Khan, Roedad. The American Papers: Secret and Confidential India-Pakistan-Bangladesh Documents, 1965-1973. Oxford University Press. 1999. 265. 0195791908.
16. News: Sultan. Ather. Sultan. Atiyab. 17 May 2020. CHESS:The Wrath of Khan. Dawn. 12 June 2020.
17. Book: Kamal, Daud . Flower on a Grave: Poems from Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi. Oxford University Press. 2008. 9780195474978.
18. Book: Frembgen, Jürgen Wasim . The Friends of God: Sufi Saints in Islam, Popular Poster Art from Pakistan. Oxford University Press. 2006. 103. ... Sultan Bahu (d. 1691) whose real name was Sultan Muhammad. Born into an Awan Family in Shorkot (District Jhang), ... . 0195470060.
19. News: Warraich . Suhail . 10 December 2017 . A Barelvi revival? . The News International . Islamabad. 24 January 2021.
20. Web site: Hazrat Ameer Muhammad Akram (RA) . Silsala Naqshbandia Owaisia . 3 January 2021.
21. Ustad-e-Punjab (teacher of Punjab), in Urdu Language, by Maulana Majeed Sohadravi, Darussalam Pakistan/Muslim Publication, Lahore. page 41
22. News: 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. July 13, 2021.