Naushera - History

History

In the Soon valley of Salt Range, Naushehra, the main town of the valley, and its surroundings villages are always notable as the centre and home of the leading Awan tribe. Sir Lepel Henry Griffin also states that “In Shahpur District, the Awans held the hilly country to the north west, Jalar, Naoshera (Naushera) and Sukesar, where the head of the tribe still resides.”

At some time between the era of Mahmud of Ghazni and Sultan Shahab ud din Ghori, Arabs marauders captured the mountainous region of Salt range and settled in the mountains after they defeated the Janjuas, Gakhars, and other Rajput tribes until they permanently settled for at least six hundred years.

During the period of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal period, the government at Lahore maintained only a nominal control over such remote western hilly areas as Soon valley. In the absence of a stable political structure, Awans fought to maintain the lands of their ancestors which they had inherited.

It is stated in the Imperial Gazetteer of India that “They are essentially a tribe of the Salt Range, where they once held independent possessions of very considerable extent, and in the western and central portions of which they are still the dominant race.” While writing about the Chiefs of Punjab, Sir Lepel Henry Griffin states in his book entitled, “The Panjab Chiefs: the most authentic book on the subject that;

“All branches of the tribe (Awans) are unanimous in stating that they originally came from neighourhood of Ghazni to India, and all trace their genealogy to Hasrat Ali the son-in-law of the Prophet. Kutab Shah, who came from Ghazni with Sultan Mahmud, was the common ancestor of the Awans".

Qutb Shah’s sons are said to have settled in the mountains in the centre of what is now Soon Valley and Sakesar. Later, some of them withdrew to neighbourhood of Salt Range. They occupied more prosperous plains and open plateaux. Some of them withdrew to west of Salt Range and settled at Kalabh. Some of them withdrew to North and settled and founded a town Talagang. According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, it was founded by an Awan chieftain, about the year 1625. It has ever since remained the seat of local administration under the Awans, the Sikh, and the British. One branch of the tribe withdrew to the east of Salt Range near Jehlum. Other branch withdrew to the south of the range and settled at the north of Shahpur. With the passage of time and the force of economic pressure, they then spread from that region into Mianwali, Chakwal, Camelpur now Attock, Mianwali, Jehlum, Rawalpindi,Haripur,Abbottabad,Mardan(Sawal Dher Village) Peshawar valley and all parts of Azad Kashmir.

Ibbetson, D states in his book Punjab Castes, that the Awans of Jalandhar claimed that their ancestors served in the armies of the Slave Dynasty and the Khilji dynasty during the Delhi Sultanate period, who brought them from the Salt-range.

But the main noble branch of Awan tribe maintained their dominian in these mountainous regions. These are undoubtedly the leading tribes among the Awan people. As a whole this is they who have kept alight the lantern of the race.