Shahzada by Hidayat ur Rahman

Shahzada.

In the realm of a shah (or a more lofty derived ruler style), a prince of the blood was logically called shahzada as the term is derived from shah using the Persian patronymic suffix -zāde or -zāda, “son, descendant”. It was used by some of the Iranian empire. The word derives from the full title of the Achaemenid rulers (First Persian Empire). It has been also used in Badakshan as called ‘Shahan-e Badakhshan’ for their rulers, and the Shah Rais dynasty also descendants of that line and probably the titles of Shah and Shahzada they brought to Chitral from Badakhshan, hence the rulers of Shah Raisa dynasty called themselves as Shah (for example Shah Babur, Shah Rais, Shah Nasir, Shah Mehmud and Shah Abdul Qadir). The political structure as captured from Rais by latter rulers, inherited the titles of Shah and Shahzada. However the precise full styles can differ in the court traditions of Former State of Chitral. We have some sources in pre-British period if we study Shahnama of Siyar, written by Siyar a historian and poet in early nineteenth century A.D. identified few sons of the Mehtar called them as Shahzadas. At the end of page of Shahnama certain Muhammad Sadiq Khoja of village Shogram, used the title of ‘Shahzada’ for Aman-ul-Mulk (later on he became Mehtar) But most of the documents bear the titles of Mehtar and Mehtarjou to be used for the Katur rulers and their off springs. Now we shall discuss different primary and secondary sources one by one.
1. There was another royal title ’Mehtarbak’ prevalent in pre-British times For example if we study the famous The Gilgit Mission written by W.S.A Lackhart, K.C.B (later became commander in chief of British forces in India) and R.G Woodthrope jointly both of them visited Chitral in 1885, stayed in Chitral for about six months and signed a treaty with Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk. This report famously known as ‘Lockhart report’.
In this report, they says “……….brother of present Mehtar and his sons styled as Mehtarbak, his daughter styled as Mirzazhuri; his brother styled Lal thus the Mehtar brother Bahadur Khan was Mehtar bak in his father’s reign styled Bahadur Khan Mehtar bak, when Aman-ul-Mulk succeeded he became Bahadur Khan Lal. However all the Mehtar’s sons and his brothers as Mehtarjou except in the case of heir-apparent, who styled Sardar and his brother Afzal-ul-Mulk who has had bestowed them by their father” (Lockhart & Woodthorpe 1889:264).
2. A royal order issued by Mehtar Shuja-ul-Mulk latter incorporated in government of India’s report ‘Who is Who in Dir, Swat and Chitral agency in 1937.
Report says “
“Only sons of the Mehtar can enjoy the title of Shahzada” (Government of India 1937:48).
3. In 1895, a Khowar Dictionary and Grammar written by Captain D.J.T OBRIEN later on it has been revised by Shahzada Muhammad Muzafar-ul-Mulk in 1935. He says “The present Mehtar is Shuja-ul-Mulk. He has three half-brothers alive and they, and sons of previous Mehtars, are called Mehtarjous. His own sons are called Shahzadas: They are fifteen of these and the four eldest and governors of four principle provinces” (Muzafar-ul-Mulk 1935:3).
4. If we further discuss Shahzada Hussam-ul-Mulk, Samsam-ul-Mulk and Gul Nawaz Khaki, all these three are icon of local history and Khowar language. Shahzada Hussam-ul-Mulk was first president of Khowar literary association’ Anjuman-e-Chitral founded in 1957, was authority of local ethnography as recognized by some international scholars. (Karl Jettmar, John Staley and J.Pott etc) and a dozen book on Chitral’s culture and civilization.
5. Dasturul Amal of State Judicial council also confirms the above narration of Shahzada Muzafar-ul-Mulk (later on became Mehtar)
They says
6. “Only sons of sitting Mehtars since Shuja-ul-Mulk can enjoy the title of Shahzada and their sons can become Lal (Lord)”.(Hussam-ul-Mulk 1964; Samsam-ul-Mulk 2009; Khaki 1973)
7. Dasturul Amal of State Judicial council also confirms the above narration of Shahzada Muzafar-ul-Mulk (later on became Mehtar)
The above sources are self-explanatory and ascribe the title of ‘Shahzada’ only to the sitting rulers since Shuja-ul-Mulk (1895-1936), entitled to be called as ‘Shahzada’ and all others who use it with their names, either because of their kinship with the Mehtar or otherwise may use the title at their own discretion but the sources and traditions do not allow it all the relatives of Shahzada call themselves ‘Shahzadas’.
As for as the title ‘Shahzada’, used for the Sayeds of Chitral is concerned the documents prove that very few Sayed who happened to be the off springs of ex-ruler of Zebak were as known as ‘Shahzadas’( Shahzada Lais of Arkari and Shahzada Abdul Nawaz of Mastuj) they were leading Pirs. The areas inhabited by the Islamili were roughly divided among a number of Pirs who were treated by the disciples with extra-ordinary respect. The office was hereditary, and Ismaili families transfer their spiritual obedience from father to son, regardless of changes of residence, For example Shah Abdur Rahim of Zibak, who was honored and respected as being next in rank of Imam, had disciples in Sirikul, Kanjut, Yasin and Badakshan, but other pirs also had disciples to those places (Barrow 1887). The respect paid to the Pirs by their disciples was unbounded nothing was refused to them. One of them said to John Biddulp “if I ordered a father to kill his own son he dares not to refuse”. In above sentences I have discussed the importance and role of Pirs in Imaili community in pre-AKDN period, but the common practice in the pre- AKDN period was that out of respect Sayed were called Shah and their son had again choice to use Shahzada as a self-applied title with their names.

References

Muhammad Yousuf Hussein Abadi, Tarikh-i Baltistan, Skardu, n.d.

Miangul Badsha Abdul Wadood, The Story of Swat, Eng. trans. Muhammad Asif Khan, Peshawar, 1973.

Alberuni [Al Beruni], Alberuni’s India, ed. with notes and indices by E .C. Sachau, 2 vols., London, 1910.

Alauddin,  Kalash, The Paradise Lost, Lahore, 1992.

65. and Kishwar Ijaz Anwar-ul-Haq, “Demographic Characteristics of Chitral,” in Proceedings of Second International Hindu Kush Cultural Conference, ed. E. Bashir and Israr-ud-Din, Karachi, 1996, pp. 59-65.

Aowlad-i-Hazrat Salman Farsi-Shajar-i-Nasan Hokumranan-i-Yasin aur Chitral. Anonymous. unpublished ms. in possession of Nasir Iqbal in Yasin, 1897.

Afzal Khan, Chitral and Kafiristan. Peshawar, 1975.

Elizabeth E. Bacon, (1951), “The Inquiry into the History of the Hazara Mongols of Afghanistan,” South Western Journal of Anthropology 7/3, 1951, pp. 230-247.

APA (n.d) P.Political, File No. 5. DCO records Chitral

Sang Muhammad Badakhshi, Tarikh-i Badakhshan, 1959, Leningrad.

E.G. Barrow, Gazetteer of Eastern Hindu Kush, in four parts, Simla, 1987.

Idem, Gazetteer of the Afghan Provinces, Simla, 1988.

1996. Bashir and Israr-ud-Din, eds., Proceedings of Second International Hindu Kush Cultural Conference, Karachi, 1996.

H.W. Bellew, Afghanistan and the Afghans: Being a Brief Review of the History of the Country and Account of the People with Special Reference to the Present Crises and War with Amir Sher Ali Khan, London, 1879.

Idem, The Races of Afghanistan; Being a brief Account of the Principle Nations Inhabiting that Country, Culcutta, 1880.

­­­Idem, An Inquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, London, 1891.

C.D. Bruce, Chinese Turkestan, London, 1907.

1834. Burnes, Travels into Bokhara; Being the Account of a Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia, 1834.

Gabriel Bonvalot, Through the Heart of Asia; Over the Pamir to India, vol. 2, London, 1889.

A.M. Cacopardo, “The Kalasha of Southern Chitral, part 1: The Eastern Area, in E. Bashir and Israr-ud-Din,” eds., Proceedings of Second International Hindu Kush Cultural Conference, Karachi, 1996, pp. 247-270.

A.A. Cacopardo and A.S. Cacopardo, “The Kalasha in Southern Chitral part 3: Jinjiret Kuh and the Problem of Kalasha Origins,”  in Bashir & Israr ud din, 1996, pp.  299-313.

A.S. Cacopardo, “The Kalasha in Southern Chitral, part 2, The Pre-Islamic Culture of the Urtsun valley,” In Bashir & Israr-ud-Din. 1996, pp. 271-298.

A.M. Cacopardo and A.S. Cacopardo, Gates of Paristan, Rome,  2001.

Adle Chahryar and Irfan Habib, The History of Civilizations of Central Asia, vol.5. UNESCO, 2003.

Alexander Cunningham, Ladak, Physical, and Historical; with the Notices of the Surrounding Countries, London, 1854.

Idem, The Ancient Geography of India, Including the Campaign of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. London, 1871.

Jeremiah Curtin, Jeremiah, The Mongols: A History, Boston, 1908.

William E . Curtis, Turkestan: The Heart of Asia, New York, 1911.

M.A. Czaplicka, The Turks of Central Asia, in History and at the Present Day, London, 1918.

Ahmad Hassan Dani, History of Northern Areas, Islamabad, 1989.

Idem, New Lights of Central Asia, Lahore, 1993.

Idem,  Human Records in the Karakuram High Way, Lahore, 1995.

Mirza Muhammad Haider Doughlat, Tarikh-i Rashidi; A History of Moghuls in Central Asia, An English version, ed. with commentary, notes and maps by N. Elias, trans. by E. Denison Ross, London, 1895.

1980. Drew, The Jammu and Kashmir territories; A geographical account, London, 1875, reprinted Karachi, 1980.

A.G. Durand, The Making of Frontiers, London, 1899.

M.E. Elliot, History of India, ed. A.V. Williams  Jackson, vol. 5, London, 1907.

 

Mountstuart Elphinstone, An Account of Kingdom of Cabul, 2 vols. 1815, Karachi ed., 1992.

Inayatulah Faizi, Wakhan; The Window into Central Asia, Islamabad, 1996.

F.B.(Faiz Buksh), Report on Chatral. Selections from the Records and its Dependencies, Lahore, 1883.

T.D. Forsyth, Trade Routes between Northern India and Central Asia. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1869, pp .161-62.

Idem, Report of a Mission to Yarkand in 1873,under comments of Sir T. D. Forsythwith historical and Geographical information regarding the possessions of Ameer of Yarkand, Culcutta, 1875.

General Staff of India, Military Report & Gazetteer. Government of India, 1928.

Muhammad Shakoor Gharib, Devan-i-Gharib MS, n.d.

Muhamad Mirza Ghufran, Muhtasar Tarikh-i Chitral, MS, Chitral, 1893.

Idem, Musada-i-Tarikh-i Chitral, MS, Chitral, 1911.

Idem,  Khudnawisht, MS, Chitral, 1921.

­­­­­­­­Idem, Tarikh-i Chitrar, India, 1921.

Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and Nasir-ul-Mulk, Musaved-i-Tarikh-I Chitral, MS, Chitral, 1940.

Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, Tarikh-i Chitral Farsi, MS, Chitral, 2 vols., 1955.

Idem,  Mahzan-i-Tarikh, MS, Chitral, 1955.

Idem, Musaveda Tarjuma-i- Tarikh-i Chitral Farsi, first draft, MS, Chitral, 1957.

Idem, Musaveda Tarjuma Tarikh-i Chitral Farsi, second draft, MS, Chitral, 1959.

Idem,  Nai Tarikh-i Chitral, Peshawar, 1962.

S.H. Godfrey, S.H., Report on the Gilgit Agency and Wazarat, and the Countries of Chilas, Hunza, and Yasin, Including Ashkuman, Ghizr, and Koh 1896-97, Calcutta, 1898.

T.E. Gordon, The Roof of the World ; Being the Narrative of a Journey to over the High Plateau of  Tibet to the Russian Frontiers and the Oxus Sources on Pamir, Edinburgh, 1876.

Government of Pakistan, District Census Report of Chitral. 1999.

 

B.E.M. Gurdon, Military Report on Chitral, part 1, Simla, 1903.

Idem, Gazetteer Part 2, Simla, 1903.

Idem, “Chitral Memories: Events Leading up to the Siege of Chitral,” The Himalayan Journal 5, 1933, pp 1-27.

Idem, “ Chitral Memories: Event Leading up to the Siege of Chitral,” The Himalayan Journal 6, 1934, pp. 1-3.

Abdul Hay Habibi, Tarikh-i Afghanistan bat az Islam, Tehran, 1368 AH.

Hidayat-ur-Rahman, Ethnography of Jughore, MS, 2008.

Idem, Contribution of Chitral Towards Persian Literature, MS, 2009.

Idem, Nai Tarikh-i Chitral kaise likhe gaye han, MS. 2009a.

1901. Colonel Holdich, The Indian Borderland,1880-1900, London, 1901.

Idem, The Gates of India, Being An Historical Narrative, London, 1910.

134. Holzwarth, W., “Chitral History 1540-1660: Comments on Sources and Historiography,” in E. Bashir and Israr- ud-din, 1996, pp. 114-134.

Idem, “Islam in Baltistan: Problems of  Research on the Formative Period,” in Irmtraud Stellrecht, The past in the present: horizons of remembering in the Pakistan Himalaya, 1997a, Cologne, pp, 1-40.

Idem,  Change in Pre-Colonial Times: An Evaluation of Sources on the Karakoram and Eastern Hindu Kush Regions (From 1500 to 1800),” in Irmrtraud Stellrecht, ed., Karakorum – Hindukush – Himalaya: Dynamics of Change. Cologne, 1998.

Idem, “Sources of Gilgit Hunza and Nager History (1500 to 1800) and Comments of Oral Roots of Local Historiography,” In Hermann Kreutzmann, Karakurum in Transition: Culture, Development and Ecology in the Hunza Valley, Karachi, 2006.

Idem, translated pages from Karl Jettmar, comments on Chitral history from German to English, through e-mail, 2007.

Henry H. Howorth, History of the Mongols: From the 9th to the 19th Century, London, 1880.

Abdullah Jan Hunzai, Hunza ke Qadim Tehwar aur Rusm-u-Riwaj. Sang-e-Meel, Lahore, 2000.

Hussain Khan, “The Genesis of the Royal Title ‘Shah Kator’,” in E. Bashir and Israr-ud-din, The Proceedings of Second Hindu Kush International Cultural Conference, 1996, pp. 135-37.

Imperial Gazetteer of India, North-West Frontier Province, Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1908.

Denzil Sir Ibbetson, Denzil Sir, Punjab Caste, Lahore, 1916.

Karl Jettmar, Karl, “Cultures and Ethnic Groups West of China in Second and First Millennia B.C.,” Asian Perspective 24/12, 1981.

John Staley, “Economy and Society in Dardistan; Traditional System and the Impact of Change,” PhD Dissertation, University of Punjab, Lahore, 1996.

Idem, Words for my Brother, Travels between the Hindu Kush and the Hamalaya, Karachi, 1982.

Maulvi Sher Ahmad Kabuli, Shah-nameh-e-Chitral Anjuman-i-Chitral, 1966.

Rehmat Karim Baig, Hindu Kush Study Series, vol. 1, Peshawar, 1994.

1990. Keay, J., Where three Empire Meet: A Narrative of Recent travels in Kashmir, Western Tibet, Karachi, 1990.

Pringle Kennedy, Pringle, A History of Great Moghuls or A History of the Badshahate of Dehli (1605 to 1739 A.D), Calcutta, 1911.

Marshall Monroe Kirkman, The Prince, A Romance of the Camp and Court of Alexander the Great, The Love Story of Roxana, the Maid of Bactria, Chicago, 1913.

327. Kreutzmann, “The Chitral Triangle,” Asien Afrika Latinamerika 26, 1998, pp.289-327.

W.S.A. Lockhart and R.G. Woodthorpe, The Gilgit Mission,1885-86, London., 1889.

E.R. Leach, ed., Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon, and North-West Pakistan, Cambridge, 1969.

1937. Minorsky, Hudud al-‘Alam, The Regions of the World; A Persian Geography, 372 A.H.-982 A.D., London, 1937.

Mohan Lal, “A Brief Description of Herat,” Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal 3, 1834, pp. 9-18.

Idem,  “Further Information Regarding the Siah Posh Tribe or Reputed Descendants of the Macedonians,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3,1834, pp, 76-79.

T.G. Montgomerie, T. G., Report of the Havildar’s Journey through Chitral to Faizabad, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 42, 1872, pp. 180-201.

William Moorcraft and George Trebeck. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab; In Ladak and Kashmir; In Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara (from 1819 to 1825), 2 vols., London, 1841.

E.H. Parker, E.H., “A Few Chinese Observations about Chitral and Hunza etc.,” The China Review 22/6,1897, pp. 787-89.

1983. Parkes, P., “Alliance and Elopement: Economy Social Order and Sexual Antagonism among the Kalasha of Chitral,” PhD Dissertation, Oxford University, 1983.

Idem, “A Minority Perspective on the History of Chitral; Katore Rule in Kalasha Traditions,” Proceedings of third Hindu Kush Cultural Conference, MS, 1996, pp. 335-358.

Qudratullah Beg, Tarikh-i-Ahd-i-Atiq Riyasat-i-Hunza, Rawalpindi, 1980.

Qurban Muhammad Zada and Muhabat Zada, Tarikh-i Badakhshan, Moscow, 1983.

Rajah Khan, “Account of the Panjkora Valley, and of Lower and Upper Kashkar, by Rajah Khan of Cabool. Translated by Major R. Leech, C.B., Late Political Agent,Candahar, at whose request it was drawn up in 1840,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 14, 1845, pp. 812-816.

1792. Rennell.J, Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan; or the Mogul Empire 2nd ed., London, 1792.

James Rev. Reynolds, James. Rev., The Kitab-i-Yamani, Historical Memories of the Amir Sabaktagin and the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, early conqueror of Hindustan, and founder of Ghaznavide dynasty, trans. from the Persian version of the Contemporary Arabic Chronicle of Al Utbi, London, n.d.

G.S. Robertson, The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, London, 1896.

Idem, Chitral, The Story of  Minor Siege, London, 1898.

H.A. Ross and E.B Howell, North-West Frontier Province, Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provisional Series, London, 1908.

H.A. Ross, H.A., A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Lahore, 1911.

William L.F. Rushbrook, An Empire Builder of Sixteenth Century. A Summary Account of the Political career of Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad surnamed Babur, Delhi, 1915-16.

Shah Rais Khan, Tarikh-i Gilgit, ed. A.H. Dani, Islamabad, 1987.

R.C.F. Schomberg, Kafirs and Glaciers, London, 1938.

Idem,  Between the Oxus and the Indus, London, 1935, repr. Indus Karachi, 1993.

I.D. Scott, I.D., Notes on Chitral, Simla, 1937.

R.B. Shaw, R.B., “On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhi and Sarikoli),” Asiatic Society of Bengal 14, 1876.

Ghulam Sarwar Sehraye, Unpublished Notes on Chitral History, Chitral, 2010.

Muhammad Mirza Siyar, Shah-Nama-i-Siyar, MS copied by Muhammad Sidiq Khoja in 1844, c. 1810.

Shuja-ul-Mulk, “Chitral,” in Mirza Muhammad Ghufran, Musaved-e-Tarikh-i Chitral, MS.Chitral, 1911.

Vincent A. Smith, The Oxford History of India, Karachi, 1981.

M.A. Stein, Preliminary Report on a Journey of Archeological and Topographical Exploration in Chinese Turkestan, London, 1901.

Idem, Serindia. Detail report of explorations in Central Asia & Western China, Oxford, 1921.

Idem, Ancient Khotan. Detailed report of Archeological Explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols., Oxford, 1907.

Idem,  Khoroshthi Inscriptions in Chinese Turkestan, part 1, Oxford, 1920.

Idem,  Preliminary Report on a Journey of Archaeological Explorations in Chinese Turkestan, London. 1901.

Irmtraud Stellrecht, “Passage to Hunza: Route Nets and Political Process in a Mountain State,” in Hermann Kreutzmann, ed., Karakuram in Transition, 2006, pp. 191-216.

Charles Major Stewart, Charles. Major, Tezkereh Al Vakiat or Private Memoirs of the Mughal Empire Humayun, written in Persian language by Jouher, Eng. trans., 1832.

R.F. Strand, R.F., “Narrative Accounts of Kom History,” In Karl Jettmar and Lennart Edelberg, Cultures of the Hindukush: Selected Papers from the Hindu-Kush Cultural Conference Held at Moesgård 1970. Beiträge zur Südasienforschung, Südasien-Institut, Universität Heidelberg, 1, 1974, pp. 23-23.

Idem, The KalaSa of KalaSum, 2002. http://users.sedona.net/~strand/Nuristani/Kalasha/kalasha.html#hist1 (accessed 11 May 2010).

G.P. Tate, G.P., The Kingdom of Afghanistan, A Historical Sketch, Karachi, 1911, reprinted 1973.

Bayard Taylor, Central Asia; Travel in Cashmere, Little Tibet and Central Asia, New York, 1892.

Edward Thornton, Edward, A Gazetteer of the Countries Adjacent to India on the North West; Including Sinde, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, The Punjab, and The Neighbouring States, vol. 1, London, 1844.

Gail H. Trail, “Tsyam Revisited: A Study of Kalasha Origin,” in E. Bashir and Israr-ud-din. 1996 pp. 358-76.

P.A. Vans Agnew, “Diaries of Mr. P.A Vans Agnew, Assistant to the Agent Governor–General, North West Frontiers, on deputation in Gilgit – June to September 1847,” in A. Raynor, ed., Political Diaries of Lieutenant Reynell G. Taylor, M.P. Sandys  Melvill, Pandit Kunahya Lal, Mr. P.A. Vans Agnew, Lieutenant J. Nicholson, Mr. L. Bowring and Mr. A.H. Cooks 1847-1849, Selections from the Punjab Government Records 6, Lahore and Allahabad, 1915, pp. 275-302.

G.T.Vigne, G.T., Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardu etc., 2 vols., 1841, London, H Colburn Reprint, Karachi, 1987.

Idem,  A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghazni, Kabul and Afghanistan and of a Residence at the Court of Dost Muhammad; with Notices of Ranjit Sing, Khiva and the Russian Expedition, London, 1843.

Siegfried Weber, Die Persische Verwaltung Kashchmirs, Band 1, OAW, 2007.

1872. Wood, J., A Journey to the Sources of the River Oxus, London, 1872.

H.Yule, H., The Book of Ser Marco Polo, 1871; repr. Dehli, 1993.

Idem,  “Kafiristan,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th ed., 1882.

1921. Yule and H.Cordier, The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian Concerning the Kingdom and Marvels of the East, 3rd edition, revised throughout in the light of recent discoveries by Henry Cordier (of Paris), London, 1921.

Posted by Chitral Printing Publishing Company in News Updates