Orakzai Tribe — People of the Tirah Highlands.

The Orakzai (اورکزي) are a Pashtun tribe whose traditional homeland lies in the mountainous country of Tirah, particularly the valleys northwest of Kohat in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For centuries, the Orakzai have inhabited a strategically important region between Kohat, the Afridi country and the mountains approaching the Safed Koh.

According to legends by the Orakzai elders, Tirah was formerly occupied by the Hindu non-Pashtun race, called the Tirahis whose descendants are, to this day, found in some villages as 'Hamsaya' (dependents) of the Orakzai. Tirahis were ruled by different rajas whose names can still be traced in several places in Tirah such as the Rajgal valley, Darbar Ghundi and Moula Ghar, named after King Rajgal, Raja Darbar and Raja Moula respectively.

Conflict with the Mughals:

In 1619 or 1620, Mahabat Khan, Subahdar of Kabul, under the emperor Jahangir, treacherously massacred 300 Daulatzai Orakzai, who were Roshania adherents; and, during his absence on a visit to Jahangir at Rohtas, Ghairat Khan was sent with a large force via Kohat to invade Tirah. He advanced to the foot of the Sampagha pass, which was held by the Roshanias under Ihdad and the Daulatzai under Malik Tor. The Rajputs attacked the former and the latter were assailed by Ghairat Khan's own troops, but the Mughal forces were repulsed with great loss. Six years later, however, Muzaffar Khan, son of Khwaja Abdul Hasan, then Subahdar of Kabul, marched against Ihdad by the Sugawand pass and Gardez, and after five- or six-months' fighting Ihdad was shot, and his head sent to Jahangir. His followers then took refuge in the Lowaghar; and subsequently Abdul Kadir, Ihdad's son, and his widow Alai, returned to Tirah. The death of Jahangir in 1627 was the signal for a general rising of the Afghans against the Mughal domination. Muzaffar Khan was attacked on his way from Peshawar to Kabul, and severely handled by the Orakzai and Afridis, while Abdul Kadir attacked Peshawar, plundered the city, and invested the citadel. Abdul Kadir was, however, compelled by the jealousy of the Afghans to abandon the siege and retire to Tirah, whence he was induced to come into Peshawar. There he died in 1635. The Mughals sent a fresh expedition against his followers in Tirah; and Yusuf, the Afridi, and Asar Mir, the Orakzai chief, were at length induced to submit, and received lands at Panipat near Delhi. Simultaneously operations were undertaken in Kurram. Yet, in spite of these measures, Mir Yakut, the imperial Diwan at Peshawar, was sent to Tirah in 1658 to repress an Orakzai and Afridi revolt

Orakzai notables in India, Dost Muhammad Khan and Jalal Khan:

Dost Muhammad Khan, born in 1672 A.D, was the son of Nur Muhammad Khan, and belonged to Mirazi Khel clan of Orakzais of Tirah. He emigrated to Hindustan, somewhere between 1697 and 1703, during the final years of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir. He founded the Bhopal principality in 1707 and expanded it till his death in 1728. At its zenith, the Bhopal state comprised a territory of around 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2). The state became a British protectorate in 1818 and was ruled by the descendants of Dost Mohammad Khan till 1949, when it was merged with the Dominion of India. Jalal Khan 's father, Hazar Mir Orakzai of Miranzai Khel, came to India during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan and obtained the zamindari of certain villages in the Jamuna-Gangetic Doab. After his father's death, Jalal Khan succeeded to the zamindari and obtained, in addition thereto, some more villages in the pargana of Thana Bhawan, near which he built a fortress and founded the town of Jalalabad (Saharanpur, U.P). In 1709 Jalal Khan faced seventy or eighty thousand Sikhs of Banda Singh and successfully defended his fort with just few hundred men. For the victory over the Sikhs, Jalal Khan was rewarded by the Nazim of Delhi, on 31st August 1710 AD, with the Faujdari of Saharanpur. He was raised to the rank of two thousand and five hundred in the reign of Jahandar Shah, with a further promotion during Farrukh Siyar's time. He died in September 1718 AD.

Orakzais during the Durrani period:

Since the decay of the Mughal empire, Orakzai tribes had been virtually independent, though owning at times a nominal allegiance to Kabul. Syed Ghulam Muhammad in Timur Shah's reign, has following description of Orakzais;

"The Afghan tribe (Orakzai) contains some thousands of families, and they dwell in mountain tracts of Tirah, the Khyber, and Jalalabad. They have to furnish a contingent of soldiers to the Badhshah of Kabul, and their Sardars hold jagirs or fiefs in the Peshawar district for guarding and keeping open the passes within their boundaries."

During the Durrani period, the titular chief of the Orakzai belonged to the Abdul Aziz Khel clan. He had very cordial relations with the Saddozai Kings at Kabul. The Abdul Aziz Khel 'Khan Khels' had a 'sanad' from Ahmad Shah Abdali , granting them a 'jagir' and some monetary allowances. In 1796-7 AD, Orakzais provided an infantry contingent of ten thousand men to Zaman Shah for his invasion of the Punjab. The Durranis, from the very beginning , managed the Orakzai tribe through the Bangash 'Khans' of Hangu. During the Barakzai and Sikh domination of the area, the Orakzai were under the management of Sultan Muhammad Khan Barakzai, the governor of Kohat.