The Rulers (Nawabs) of Dir State

 The Rulers (Nawabs) of Dir State.

Nawab E Dir Darbar ( Public Court) at Dir Mahal

In 18th century a section of Painda Khel (a Pashtun tribe live on the eastern side of river Punjkora in Upper Dir) came from Kohan village in Nehag Dara and took control of the area, including the trade route of Chitral and Afghanistan (Ali, 2010). Mullah Elyas popular as Akhond Elyas Baba, was a member and spiritual leader of Painda Khel in 17th century. He had a great and respectable position among the Malizai tribe who founded Dir village (Hugh, 1911).

Later on his successors established their own dynasty of a state (Anonymous, 1933). The family of Akhond Elyas Baba adopted the name of Akhond Khel as a separate clan (khel in local language), while the rulers got the title of Khans (Logan, 1883 & 1892).In 1890, Omara Khan of Jandol defeated, the Akhund Khel Khan Sharif Khan (the ruler of Dir state) and took control of the of the Dir state. But in 1895, the British Forces helped Khan Sharif Khan and succeeded in regaining back his reign. Khan Sharif Khan signed a written agreement with the British and allowed them to construct a road to Chitral via Dir. The British also granted him the title of Nawab. Thus Khan Sharif Khan became the first Nawab of the State (Hugh, 1911).

In 1904, Nawab Sharif Khan died and the dynasty was inherited by his son Aurangzeb Badshah Khan (Known as Chara Nawab), who ruled Dir state till 1925. Several attempts were made by his brothers to over throw him from the seat and succeeded for a short time but Chara Nawab managed to save his crown soon. In 1925, he died and his elder son Nawab Shah Jahan Khan became the ruler with the help of the British Government because his brother Alamzeb Khan also wished to become Nawab (Anonymous, 1933). To strengthen his position as a ruler and to overcome any possible rebellion Nawab Shah Jahan Khan appointed his sons, Muhammad Shah Khosru Khan, Shahabuddin Khan and Muhammad Shah Khan as governors of various parts of the state (Ali, 2010).

Naturally Nawab Shah Jahan Khan was a harsh and strict ruler and wanted to keep his people press and away from education. The Italian anthropologist Fosco Maraini, who visited the state in 1959, describes that “the Nawab was a very cruel person. Whenever he liked a girl or woman he used to keep her as his maid in the palace by force. There were no schools, no hospitals, no link-roads and even other developmental work in the whole state as compared to Wali Swat (Ruler of Swat State).

A number of uprising and revolts were also reported in the state in 1959-60 and the death of almost 200 soldiers was reported (Fosco, 1959). As a result of this uprising, frequent news was published in the press and the Government of Pakistan had to take action against the Nawab. Therefore, General Ayub Khan ordered the exile of Nawab Shah Jahan Khan and in October 1961, appointed his son Muhammad Shah Khosru as Nawab (ruler) of the state.

Nawab Shah Khosru was educated in India and England and was serving as Major General in Pakistan Army, but he was a dummy ruler and the actual powers and command of the state were in the hands of the Political Agent (PA). Finally, on 28th of July 1969, like Swat and Chitral (Princely Stets) Dir state also got the status of a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP) (Pataudi, 1989).

In 1996, District Dir being a huge and wide district was bifurcated into, Lower and Upper Dir. Timargara and Dir as their respective headquarters respectively, but funds were not allocated until 2000 A.D and both the districts were continued to be administered by a single District Commissioner (D.C) from Timergara.

Research By Saeed Gul, Oach Adenzai Dir Lower.

Research Paper: Dir In The Pages Of History.

Keywords:

 Nawaban E Dir. History of Princely State Dir. Akhun Ilyas Baba. Royal Family of Dir. Akhunkhel, Royal Family of Dir. Nawab Shah Jehan, Nawab Aurangzeb. Nawab Muhammad Sharif Khan. Dir State merger with Pakistan. Nawab Muhammad Shah Khesro Khan of Dir. Khan Shahab Ud Din Khan Of Jandool. Afghan Nepolian Ghazi Umara Khan wars, Malakand Accord 1897 with Muhammad Sharif Khan. Suliman Shahid Book Gumnam Riyast Dir