Awan (tribe)
Pakistani community and surname
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awan (Urdu: اعوان) is a tribe and ethnic community centred in the Northern and Punjab regions of Pakistan, the name Awan is used as a surname for this tribe.[2][3] Awans are predominantly present in the northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, with significant population also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and to a lesser extent, in Sindh and Balochistan. The tribe claim Arab, particularly Alid, origin[4] through its primary ancestor Qutub Shah, who is said to have came to modern-day Pakistan with Mahmud of Ghazni.[5]
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History
Jamal J. Elias notes that the Awans believe themselves to be of Arab origin, descended from Ali ibn Abu Talib and that the claim of Arab descent gives them "high status in the Indian Muslim environment".[6]
Christophe Jaffrelot says:
The Awan deserve close attention, because of their historical importance and, above all, because they settled in the west, right up to the edge of Baluchi and Pashtun territory. Legend has it that their origins go back to Imam Ali and his second wife, Hanafiya. Historians describe them as valiant warriors and farmers who imposed their supremacy on the Janjua in part of the Salt Range and established large colonies all along the Indus to Sind, and a densely populated center not far from Lahore.[7]
People of the Awan community have a strong presence in the Pakistan Army[8] and a notable martial tradition.[9] They were listed as an "agricultural tribe" by the British Raj in 1925, a term that was then synonymous with classification as a "martial race".[10]
Notable people
- Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan – Former Nawab of Kalabagh, Chief of the Awan tribe and Governor of West Pakistan from 1960 to 1966.[11]
- Nur Khan – Commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Air Force, 1965–69, Governor of West Pakistan, 1969–70, and recipient of the Hilal-i-Jurat, the second-highest military award of Pakistan.[12]
- Tajammul Hussain Malik, veteran of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, held the defence in the Battle of Hilli against a larger force, refused to surrender and attempted coup against the military dictatorship of the 1980s
- Mir Sultan Khan – chess master[13]
- Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi – Urdu poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist, short story author, recipient of the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third-highest civil award of Pakistan.[14]
- Sultan Bahu – A Sufi mystic, poet, and founder of Sarwari Qadiri.[15]
- Khadim Hussain Rizvi – A Pakistani Islamic scholar and the founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.[16]
- Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan – Islamic scholar and spiritual leader of Naqshbandia Owaisiah.[17]
- Saad Hussain Rizvi, Pakistani far-right politician
- Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi – Islamic scholar, faqīh and muhaddith.[18][better source needed]
- Dilip Kumar –Actor in Hindi cinema.[19]
- Babar Awan – Pakistani politician and lawyer
- Malik Munawar Khan Awan – Pakistan army officer who fought for independence of Azad Hind against the British Raj and a decorated soldier awarded for gallantry for conquering areas of the Kashmir Valley in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965
- Muhammad Akram NH – Pakistani martyr soldier who commanded a regiment at Hilli, East Pakistan and was post-humously awarded the highest military honour of the country