page_title: History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
section_title: Mughal era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa / Arrival of Islam / Mughal era
caption_attribution_description: English: The "Memoirs of Babur" or Baburnama are the work of the great-great-great-grandson of Timur (Tamerlane), Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1483-1530). The Baburnama tells the tale of the prince's struggle first to assert and defend his claim to the throne of Samarkand and the region of the Fergana Valley. After being driven out of Samarkand in 1501 by the Uzbek Shaibanids, he ultimately sought greener pastures, first in Kabul and then in northern India, where his descendants were the Moghul (Mughal) dynasty ruling in Delhi until 1858. The miniatures are from an illustrated copy of the Baburnama prepared for the author's grandson, the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is worth remembering that the miniatures reflect the culture of the court at Delhi; hence, for example, the architecture of Central Asian cities resembles the architecture of Mughal India. Nonetheless, these illustrations are important as evidence of the tradition of exquisite miniature painting which developed at the court of Timur and his successors. Timurid miniatures are among the greatest artistic achievements of the Islamic world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Illustrations of Mughals from the Baburnama
context_page_description: The History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa refers to the history of the modern-day Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which has colloquially been referred to as Pashtunistan. The earliest evidence from the region indicates that trade was common via the Khyber Pass; originating from the Indus Valley Civilization. The early people of the region were a Vedic people known as the Pakthas, identified with the modern day Pakhtun peoples. The Vedic culture reached its peak between the 6th and 1st centuries B.C under the Gandharan Civilization, and was identified as a center of Hindu and Buddhist learning and scholarship.
  The area saw a brief shock during the invasions of Alexander the Great, which had managed to conquer the small Janapadas, or city states, that had ruled the region. Seizing the resulting instability and inexperience of the local Greek governors, a young prince named Chandragupta Maurya managed to take control of the area, eventually going on to conquer much of Northern India.
context_section_description: In 1519, Babur's aid was invoked by the Gigianis against the Umr Khel Dilazaks. Both were Pashtun tribes, and Babur's victory at Panipat in 1526 gave him control of the province. On his death in 1530 Mirza Kamran became a feudatory of Kabul. By his aid the Ghworia Khels overthrew the Dilazaks who were loyal to Humayun, and thus obtained control over Peshawar; but about 1550 Gajju Khan, at the head of a Grand Confederation of the Khakhay Khels, defeated the Ghworia Khels at Shaikh Tapur. Humayun at this point had overthrown Kamran, and entered Peshawar; ultimately leaving a garrison there.
  On Humayun's death in 1556, Kabul became the apanage of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, Akbar's brother; and in 1564 he was driven back on Peshawar by the ruler of Badakhshan, and had to be reinstated by imperial troops. Driven out of Kabul again two years later, he invaded Punjab; but eventually, Akbar forgave him, visited Kabul, and restored his authority. When Mirza Hakim died in 1585, Akbar's Rajput general Kunwar Man Singh occupied Peshawar and Kabul where the imperial rule was re-established. Mann Singh became governor of the province of Kabul. In 1586, however, the Mohmands and others revolted under Jalala, the Roshania heretic, and invaded Peshawar.
  Man Singh, turning to attack them, found the Khyber closed and was repulsed, but subsequently joined Akbar's forces. Meanwhile, the Yusufzai and Mandaur Pashtuns had also joined the Roshania rebellion; and c.1587 Zain Khan was dispatched into Swat and Bajaur to suppress them. The expedition resulted in defeat for the Mughals.  The Roshanias, however, were not fully subdued. Tirah was their stronghold, and in about 1620 a large Mughal force was defeated at the Sampagha pass. Six years later Ihdad, the Roshania leader, was killed; but Jahangir's death in 1627 was the signal for a general Pashtun revolt, and the Roshanias laid siege to Peshawar in 1630, but retreated to Tirah due to distrust for their allies. Mughal authority was thus restored, and Tirah was invaded and pacified by the imperial troops in an arduous campaign. Shah Jahan's rule was unpopular with the Pashtuns, but nevertheless, Raja Jagat Singh held Kohat and Kurram, and thus kept open the communications with Kabul. In 1660 Tirah had to be pacified again, and in 1667 the Yusufzai and Mandaur Pashtuns had crossed the Indus to attack, and were defeated near Attock.
  In 1672 Muhammad Amin Khan, Subahdar of Kabul, attempted to cross the Khyber Pass, and was defeated. Khan's whole army of 40,000, as well as supplies and other materials, were destroyed. Other disasters followed. At Gandab in 1673, the Afridis defeated a second Mughal army, and in 1674 they defeated a third force at Khapash and drove it into Bajaur.
  Aurangzeb was described to have adopted a conciliatory policy towards the Pashtuns, some of whom now received fiefs from the emperor. This is believed to have prevented any concerted Afghan uprising against the Mughals. Nevertheless, the Pashtuns overran the Pakhli district of Hazara early in the eighteenth century and the Mughal power rapidly declined until in 1738 when Nadir Shah defeated Nazir Shah, the Mughal governor of Kabul, but allowed him as feudatory to retain that province, which included Peshawar and Ghazni.
caption: Babur pursuing The Inhabitants Of Bilah across the Indus river
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