Tahirkheli

The Tahir Kheli (also Tar Kheli) are a tribe who mainly dwell in the Hazara region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They are a prominent tribe in their region. Tahirkhelis now speak Hindko, which is the native language of the people of Haripur. However, there is still a number of Tahirkhelis that speak their ancestral language of Pashto in areas such as Topi, Swabi, Ghazi, and Qazipur. They are ethnically Pashtun .

Their history can be traced back to Southern Afghanistan and Eastern Iran.^[1]

History and origin

Tahirkheli's form part of the larger Yousafzai tribe and get their name from 'Tahir Baba', a military officer or commander during the 18th century.

After their migration to Hazara, which occurred in the late-18th century, most Tahirkhelis settled in that area. The earliest written accounts of British encounters with the Tahirkhelis is by Watson's Gazeteer of the early-20th century, during an evaluation of ancient art from the area of the Hazara.^[2]

Diaspora

There are large Tahirkheli communities outside of Pakistan, residing in the London, Birmingham, Bradford and Cardiff in the United Kingdom, as well as Northern California and North Carolina in the USA.

See also

• Pashtun people
• Hazara people

References

1. Olaf Caroe The Pathans 1984
2. J. W. Frembgen, "Religious Folk Art as an Expression of Identity: Muslim Tombstones in the Hazara Mountains of Pakistan" Vol. 1, 1998