page_title: Yusufzai
section_title: Durrani period
hierarchical_section_title: Yusufzai / History / Durrani period
caption_attribution_description: English: Patthargarh fort outside Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. 1814-15. Patthargarh fort, built by Najib-ud-Daula, within a mile of the city, in 1755. Patthargarh, also known as Najafgarh, was built from the stones of Mordhaj, an ancient fort within the area.
context_page_description: The Yūsufzai also spelled Yousafzai or Esapzai, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are mostly based in northern and eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan, but they are also settled in large numbers in Rohilkhand, northern India. Their name may originate from the names of the Aspasioi and the Aśvakan, ancient inhabitants of the Kunar, Swat, and adjoining valleys in the Hindu Kush. Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, belongs to the Yusufzai tribe.
  Most of them speak a northern variety of Pashto; the Yusufzai dialect is considered prestigious in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
context_section_description: Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747–1772), the founder of the Afghan Durrani Empire, categorized all Pashtun tribes into four ulūs (tribal confederacies) for administrative purposes: Durrani, Ghilji, Sur, and Bar Durrani ("Upper Durranis"). The Yusufzai were included in the Bar Durrani confederacy along with other eastern Pashtun tribes, including the Mohmand, Afridi, Bangash, and Khattak. The Bar Durrani were also known as the Rohilla, and comprised the bulk of those Pashtuns who settled in Rohilkhand, India.
  Najib ad-Dawlah, who belonged to the Yusufzai tribe, was a prominent Rohilla chief. In the 1740s, he founded the city of Najibabad in Rohilkhand. In 1757, he supported Ahmad Shah Durrani in his attack on Delhi. After his victory, Ahmad Shah Durrani re-installed the Mughal emperor Alamgir II on the Delhi throne as the titular Mughal head, but gave the actual control of Delhi to Najib ad-Daula. From 1757 to 1770, Najib ad-Daula served as the governor of Saharanpur, also ruling over Dehradun. In 1761, he took part in the Third Battle of Panipat and provided thousands of Rohilla troops and many guns to Ahmad Shah Durrani to defeat the Marathas. He also convinced Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, to join the Durrani forces. Before his departure from Delhi, Ahmad Shah Durrani appointed Najib ad-Dawlah as mir bakshi (paymaster-general) of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. After his death in 1770, Najib ad-Dawlah was succeed by his son, Zabita Khan, who was defeated in 1772 by the Marathas, forcing him to flee from Rohilkhand. However, the descendants of Najib ad-Dawlah continued to rule Najibabad area until they were defeated by the British at Nagina on 21 April 1858 during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
  Today, many Yusufzais are settled in India, most notably in Rohilkhand region, as well as in Farrukhabad, which was founded in 1714 by Pashtun Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash.
caption: Patthargarh fort outside Najibabad, which was founded by Najib ad-Dawlah Yusufzai in Rohilkhand, India
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