Mullagori
Encyclopedia
The Mullagori (ملاكوري) are a Pashtun
tribe who inhabit the Khyber Agency
, one of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
of Pakistan
.
. They settled just north of the Khyber Pass
during the time when Islam
was brought to South Asia
. Other areas inhabited by the Mullagori include Munda (near Shabqadar), Harichand
(in Charsadda
) and Peshawar
(near the Shah Qabul areas of Dabgari, and on Dalazak Road). They hold to a tradition that when Muhammad of Ghor was killed by enemies, some of his family members came to the hills of Tatara in the Khyber Agency
and laid the foundations for a village named Bara Dara. They felt safe there; at that time the hills were deeply forested, protecting them from enemies. In addition, the forests provided wild fruits and vegetables sufficient for their survival.
The name Mullagori is derived from mulla (religious leader) and Ghori (from Muhammad of Ghor). British colonial governmental records misspelled the word Ghori as Gori. In his book, The Pathan Borderland, James W. Spain
believes the Mullagori to be the descendants of the Mulla Ghor (son of Ba-Yazid Ansari, the Pir Rokhan of the Pakhtuns, and Pir Tarik of the Mughals). The Pakhtun historian Bahadur Shah Zafar Kaka Khel, in his book Pukhtana da Tarikh pa Ranra key, is of the opinion that the Mullagori are a subgroup of the Mohmand
tribe.
The Taar Khel make up 50% of the total population of Mullagori living in the Khyber Agency
. They are the best educated and have influential jobs, while the Pahar Khel dominate in the affairs of their tribe.
factories in the area, which employ not only Mullagori tribesmen but also the residents of nearby villages.
separates them from the Mohmand
tribe. There are a considerable number of Mullagori families residing in Mohmand Agency
, across the Kabul River.
, is also a popular picnicking spot.
has opened a cadet college in the Mullagori area, despite promises no seats are given to Mullagori students. Former governor Saeed Aftkhar Hussain Shah promised to build a secondary school for Mullagori students when he visited Jamrud
. Work was begun on Lowara Mina High School; after six rooms were built, the government withdrew its support for the remainder of the project.
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
tribe who inhabit the Khyber Agency
Khyber agency
Khyber is a tribal area in the FATA region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar...
, one of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Origins
The Mullagori are believed to be one of the tribes descended from Muhammad of GhorMuhammad of Ghor
Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām , was a ruler of the Ghurid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.Shahabuddin Ghori reconquered the city of Ghazna Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori...
. They settled just north of the Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
during the time when Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
was brought to South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. Other areas inhabited by the Mullagori include Munda (near Shabqadar), Harichand
Harichand
Harichand is a town and union council in Charsadda District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located at 34°23'2N 71°48'18E and has an altitude of 381 metres .-References:...
(in Charsadda
Charsadda
Charsadda is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°8'43N 71°43'51E with an altitude of 276 metres and lies 29 kilometres from the provincial capital - Peshawar....
) and Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
(near the Shah Qabul areas of Dabgari, and on Dalazak Road). They hold to a tradition that when Muhammad of Ghor was killed by enemies, some of his family members came to the hills of Tatara in the Khyber Agency
Khyber agency
Khyber is a tribal area in the FATA region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar...
and laid the foundations for a village named Bara Dara. They felt safe there; at that time the hills were deeply forested, protecting them from enemies. In addition, the forests provided wild fruits and vegetables sufficient for their survival.
The name Mullagori is derived from mulla (religious leader) and Ghori (from Muhammad of Ghor). British colonial governmental records misspelled the word Ghori as Gori. In his book, The Pathan Borderland, James W. Spain
James W. Spain
James W. Spain was in the US Foreign Service with postings in Karachi, Islamabad, Istanbul, Ankara, Dar Es Salaam, and Colombo and four ambassadorships in Tanzania, Turkey, the United Nations , and Sri Lanka.His son is Patrick Spain, founder of Hoover's and HighBeam Research.-Biography:Ambassador...
believes the Mullagori to be the descendants of the Mulla Ghor (son of Ba-Yazid Ansari, the Pir Rokhan of the Pakhtuns, and Pir Tarik of the Mughals). The Pakhtun historian Bahadur Shah Zafar Kaka Khel, in his book Pukhtana da Tarikh pa Ranra key, is of the opinion that the Mullagori are a subgroup of the Mohmand
Mohmand
The Mohmand are a clan of Sarban Pashtuns, living primarily in the FATA & Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan & northeastern Afghanistan.- Demographics :...
tribe.
Sub-tribes
The forefather of the Mullagori was said to have had four sons, and each son fathered a sub-section of the Mullagori tribe. The four sub-tribes are named for the sons:- Pahar KhelPahar Khel ThalPahar Khel Thal is a town and union council of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°38'51N 70°52'34E and has an altitude of 254 metres .-References:...
- Taar Khel
- Daulat Khel (also believed to be a subset of the Kakazai tribe)
- Ahmed KhelAhmed KhelAhmed Khel is a town and union council in Lakki Marwat District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located at 32°26'49N 70°58'6E and has an altitude of 430 metres .-References:...
The Taar Khel make up 50% of the total population of Mullagori living in the Khyber Agency
Khyber agency
Khyber is a tribal area in the FATA region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar...
. They are the best educated and have influential jobs, while the Pahar Khel dominate in the affairs of their tribe.
Noted Mullagori
- Khan Bahadur Adam Khel - Prominent tribal head during the colonial era
- Malik Fazl e Maula - Tribal chieftain
- Haji Abdul Manan Mullagori - head of the Mullagori qaumi lashkar (tribal militia); the Mullagori qaumi lashkar was the first lashkar which developed on a secular, nationalistic basis (or qumiath) rather than a religious one
- Malik Imdad Mir - Active elder in tribal issues and at the Agency level
- Manzar Faryadi – Well-known Mullagori poet in Khyber Agency region for his book, Dilkash; head of the Mullagori Adabi Jarga
- Muhammad Alam Shawgeer - Poet
- Waqar Mallagori (Fazal Shah Waqar) - Poet
- Khaista Shah Kaka (Mullagori) of Tatara – Well-known personality in the Bacha Khan Khudai Khidmathdar movement. During the PashtunistanPashtunistanPakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...
movement, he and other Mullagori destroyed the Tatara Bridge. - Niaz Muhammad Mullagori who was the first Graduate Engineer of Mullagori tribe and completed his degree in 1972 from Engineering college peshawar.. after this he served in T&T now (PTCL) for round about 25 years.. at the end he was the director general of PTCL... currently retired and serving as the chief of mullagori tribe (pirsaddo takhtbhai mardan).
- Safi Ullah Mullagori – First professional journalist to write extensively about the Mullagori
- Ibrar Ahmad Mullagori – Received a master's degree in economics from the University of PeshawarUniversity of PeshawarThe University of Peshawar is a public sector university in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The university was established in October 1950 by Mr...
, and well-versed in the economy of the FATAFederally Administered Tribal AreasThe Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
. He considers the low adult population in the tribal areas the biggest hurdle to economic development of the FATA. - Bakht jamal khan Mullagori is the first GIS analyst in mullagori tribe.....he did his M.Sc Geography research on the Mullagori marble industries....
- Nisar khan Mullagori is the student of MBA in I.M.S university....he is one of the active and autonomous person of the Mullagori tribe...
- Dr. Aftab Ahmad Mullagori is the first doctor in Mullagori tribe doing his post graduation in Medicine (FCPS), at Lady Reading Hospital. He has a keen interest in providing good quality medical care to his people in their village as well as in the hospital and tries to save them from the hands of the quacks who are a common source of many health related problems in his village.
Employment
There are about 250 marbleMarble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
factories in the area, which employ not only Mullagori tribesmen but also the residents of nearby villages.
Demographics
The Mullagori inhabit two main areas: the Khakata Mena (lower area) and the Lowarha Mena (upper area). The Tatara Hill, a tourist resort, separates the Mullagori from the Afridi and the Kabul RiverKabul River
Kabul River , the classical Cophes , is a 700 km long river that starts in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan and ends in the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and is separated from the watershed of the Helmand by the Unai Pass...
separates them from the Mohmand
Mohmand
The Mohmand are a clan of Sarban Pashtuns, living primarily in the FATA & Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan & northeastern Afghanistan.- Demographics :...
tribe. There are a considerable number of Mullagori families residing in Mohmand Agency
Mohmand Agency
The Mohmand Agency is a district in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan created in 1951. Before that, the Mohmand Tribes were administered by the Deputy Commissioner based in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. However it was not until 1973 that the headquarters of...
, across the Kabul River.
Sights
Most of the Mullagori area has dry hills with wild grasses and the local fruit trees of Gurgure. Tatara is a picnic spot dating from the colonial era. It is a small village of 1,000 to 1,500 with green hills, springs and cool summer weather during the summer, and is also the location of a shrine to Hazrath Masoom Baba. The people of Tatara are known for their hospitality. Another picnic spot in the area is Warsak Dam, at which there is a rest house for visitors provided by the Pakistani government. The village of Shaheed Mina, located on the bank of the Kabul RiverKabul River
Kabul River , the classical Cophes , is a 700 km long river that starts in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan and ends in the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and is separated from the watershed of the Helmand by the Unai Pass...
, is also a popular picnicking spot.
Population
As of 2011, the Mullagori population is about 50,000. The chief villages are Lora Miana, Paindi Lalma, Sher Braj, Murad Dand, Tatara and Nehar Ghara.Education
The Mullagori are underserved in schools built by the Pakistani government. In a population of about 50,000, there is no middle (or high school) for girls and no college for boys. While the Pakistani government built a high school for Mullagori boys in 1975, there is no middle school for girls in the Mullagori area of the Khyber Agency. Although the Frontier CorpsFrontier Corps
The Frontier Corps is a federally-controlled paramilitary force of Pakistan, recruited mostly from the tribal areas along the western borders and led by officers from the Pakistan Army...
has opened a cadet college in the Mullagori area, despite promises no seats are given to Mullagori students. Former governor Saeed Aftkhar Hussain Shah promised to build a secondary school for Mullagori students when he visited Jamrud
Jamrud
Jamrud , is a town located in the Khyber Agency, one of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The town is the doorway to the Khyber pass, part of the Hindu Kush range...
. Work was begun on Lowara Mina High School; after six rooms were built, the government withdrew its support for the remainder of the project.