Pir Roshan

Bāyazīd Khān Ansārī, more widely known as Pīr Rōshān or Pīr Rōkhān, was an Ormur warrior, Sufi Pir, and revolutionary leader who lived from around 1525 until sometime between 1572 and 1578. He is remembered as the founder of the Roshani movement, which attracted a large following across what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan, and inspired a number of Pashto poets and writers.

Among his contributions is the Khayr al-Bayān, one of the earliest works to include Pashto prose, and the creation of the Pashto alphabet. This alphabet, based on the Arabic script, added thirteen new letters, and a modified form of it remains in use for writing Pashto today. He wrote mainly in Pashto, but also in Persian, Urdu, and Arabic; his mother tongue was Ormuri.

Aftermath

Pir Roshan gathered Pashtun tribesmen to fight against the Mughal emperor Akbar, in response to Akbar’s ongoing military campaigns. The Mughals called him Pīr-e Tārīk, meaning “Dark Sufi Master.” Because of his strong spiritual and religious influence over many Pashtuns, Akbar enlisted the help of various religious figures, including Pir Baba and Akhund Darweza, to counter him. The Mughals persecuted his followers, executing many of them.

Eventually, a Mughal army killed Pir Roshan and most of his sons. Only his youngest son, Pir Jalala, survived and later led the Roshani movement in renewed resistance against the Mughals. Followers of the movement in Waziristan, Kurram, Tirah, Loya Paktia, Loy Kandahar (including Kasi tribesmen), and Nangarhar continued their struggle for about a hundred years after Pir Roshan’s death.

Background

Bayazid was born in 1525 just outside Jalandhar in Punjab, present-day India. As a young child, he moved with his family to their ancestral homeland of Kaniguram in South Waziristan, now part of Pakistan. He came from a prominent family originally from Medina, tracing its lineage back to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the prophet Muhammad.

His family was among many that fled back to their ancestral lands after the Turkic ruler Babur overthrew the Afghan Lodi dynasty in India in 1526. His grandfather had lived in the Lohgar Valley near Kabul, among the Barkis, before immigrating to Waziristan; his grandson was born in India. Bayazid’s father, Abdullah, worked as an Islamic Qadi, or judge, but both he and his relatives, and later Bayazid himself, also traded between Afghanistan and India.

Roshani movement

Bayazid began teaching at age forty. His message was well received by the Mohmand and Shinwari tribes. He then traveled to the Peshawar valley, spreading his teachings to the Khalil and Muhammadzai.

He sent missionaries, or khalifas, to various parts of South and Central Asia. One disciple, Dawlat Khan, was sent with his book Sirat at-Tawhid to Mughal Emperor Akbar. Another, Khalifa Yusuf, carried his book Fakhr at-Talibin to Mirza Sulayman, the ruler of Badakhshan.

Mawdud Tareen was dispatched to Kandahar, Balochistan, and Sindh, while Arzani Khweshki was sent to India to reach common people there. He also sent deputies to Kabul, Balkh, Bukhara, and Samarkand. However, when he and his followers began spreading their movement among the Yousafzais, Bayazid came into direct conflict with the orthodox followers of Pir Baba in Buner. He established a base in the Tirah valley, where he rallied other tribes.

In the Oxford History of India, Vincent Smith describes this as the first “Pashtun renaissance” against Mughal rule. When Akbar proclaimed the Din-i Ilahi, Bayazid openly rebelled. He led his army in several successful skirmishes and battles against Mughal forces, but they were routed in a major battle in Nangarhar by Mughal General Muhsin Khan.

Battle of Aghazpur

The Battle of Aghazpur was the first major military clash between Bayazid and the Mughals, fought near Kalpani, close to present-day Shahbazgarhi in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The battle began after Mirza Hakim ordered Masum Khan, the Mughal governor of Peshawar, to arrest Bayazid. Warned in advance by two loyal disciples, Bahar Khan and Painda Khan of the Muhammadzai tribe, Bayazid fled from Hashtnagar toward Mardan, where Mughal soldiers intercepted him. Though heavily outnumbered, Bayazid and his 313 followers fought with exceptional bravery and defeated the Mughal army, inflicting heavy losses.

Bayazid himself named the battle “Aghazpur” as a symbol of his resolve against Mughal oppression. This victory proved a turning point, inspiring him to pursue independent authority over parts of the Afghan borderland. Emboldened, he moved to Tirah with help from the Afridis and established his own rule there.

After his defeat at Tora Ragha in Shinwari territory by Mohsin Khan’s forces, Bayazid escaped the battlefield with the help of loyal companions. But the harsh journey took a severe toll.

Exhausted and overcome by extreme heat and thirst during his retreat, he fell gravely ill on his way toward Hashtnagar. He died at Kalpani, near what is now Mardan, around 980 A.H. (1572 A.D.). Historians disagree on the exact year: the Makhzan records it as 1573–74, while the Tawarikh Hafiz Rahmat Khani places it as late as 1578.

During the 1580s, the Yusufzais rebelled against the Mughals and joined the Roshani movement. In late 1585, Akbar sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion.

In February 1586, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed near the Karakar Pass between Buner and Swat while fighting against the Yusufzai lashkar led by Kalu Khan. This was the greatest disaster the Mughal army faced during Akbar’s reign. However, during this attack, Pir Roshan himself was killed by the Mughals.