The Sattagydae, Gandarii, Dadicae, and Aparytae (Ἀπαρύται) paid together a hundred and seventy talents; this was the seventh province
— Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 91, Section 4
Origins
Aurel Stein described Afridis with lighter and fair features, similar to their
Dardic neighbours, in contrast to the Afghans living on the other side of the
Khyber Pass, whom he described as darker and swarthier.[8] This supports the Dardic origins of Afridis.[9]
History
Resistance against the Mughals
The Afridis and their allies
Khalils were first mentioned in the
memoirs of Mughal Emperor
Babar as violent tribes in need of subduing.[10] The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the
Indian subcontinent with
Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.[11]
Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors
Akbar and
Jahangir both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, with little success.[9]
Under the leadership of
Darya Khan Afridi, they engaged in protracted warfare against the
Mughal army in the 1670s.[12] The Afridis once destroyed two large
Mughal armies of Emperor
Aurangzeb: in 1672, in a surprise attack between
Peshawar and
Kabul, and in the winter of 1673, in an ambush in the mountain passes.[13] The emperor sent his
Rajput general Rai Tulsidas with reinforcements into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain.[13][14] Allegedly, only five Mughal soldiers made it out of the battle alive and the rest of the Mughals were brutally slaughtered.[15][16][17]
The British colonial administration regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "martial tribe" under the
martial races theory.[19] Different Afridi clans also cooperated with the British in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the
Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the
British Indian Army.[19][20]
Abbas Khan Afridi, Pakistani politician who has been a member of senate, federal minister and state minister. He is also a reputable trader and businessman in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ahmad Kamal Faridi (Colonel Fareedi, Colonel Faridi), a character of
Ibn-e-Safi, world renowned mystery writer/novelist of Pakistan. Ibn-e-Safi showed in his two novels (out of 125 novels) of Jasoosi Dunya (The Spy World) novel number 52 and novel number 117 that Colonel Fareedi belongs to Afridi tribe.
Malik Sher Muhammad Khan Afridi, Chief of
Sepah. He along with the Maliks of
Khyber Agency visited
Kolkatta on train from
Peshawar along with Political Agent, Colonel
Robert Warburton.[30] He also was a key figure in the relations between the Pathans especially the
Afridis and the British Government during the 19th century, also mentioned in the book Eighteen Years in the Khyber.[31]
^
abRichards, John F. (1996), "Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658–1869. Testing the limits of the empire: the Northwest.",
The Mughal Empire, New Cambridge history of India: The Mughals and their contemporaries, vol. 5 (illustrated, reprint ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 170–171,
ISBN978-0-521-56603-2
^Denzil Ibbetson, Edward MacLagan, H. A. Rose "A Glossary of The Tribes & Castes of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province", 1911 AD, Page 217, Vol. III, Published by Asian Educational Services
^History of the Pathans by Haroon Rashid Published by Haroon Rashid, 2002 Item notes: v. 1 Page 45 Original from the University of Michigan