Shamsabad, Pakistan - Awans of Shamasabad

Awans of Shamasabad

Awan is a South Asian Zamindar tribe, generally believed to be of Arab origin, living predominantly in northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, Pakistan, and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The Awans subscribe to the belief that they are the descendants of the fourth Caliph, Ali.

Aziz Ahmad, was an academic who compiled and collected a great deal of information about the origin and family tree of the Awan family. He provided his hand written material to Younus Malik. Aziz Ahmad research produced a detailed family tree for the majority of the Awan residents of Shamasabad. Later on, this work was researched and extended by Younus Malik over a period of 60 years and described in exhaustive detail.

The forefather of the Awan inhabitants of Shamsabad, Mahr Majid s/o Noor Ahmad, migrated from Sialkot to settle here with his two sons Usman and Beema. Detailed family trees from Usman to the present generations are available. It is narrated that Mahr Majid left his two sons Amir and Hamza in Sialkot. It is believed that it was the late period of Mughal king Akbar (1542 - 1605 A.D.). Ain-I Akbari of AbuAl-Fazl mentioned Shamasabad as one of the Mahals (Tehsil) fetching huge amount of revenue and providing 500 foot-soldiers & 50 horsemen to the Mughal kingdom. He described the residents as Khokars and according to Aziz Ahmad this is one of the reasons that many Awans of this village describe themselves as Khokar Awan.

The son Beema of Mahar Majid is known by his nickname. The names of his descendants up to ninth generation are available but not very detailed. The other son of Mahar Majid, Usman, had six sons by the names of Taj Khan, Khan Mohammad, Shadi Khan, Lattaf Khan, Dadoo Khan and Fateh Mohammad. Fateh Mohammad, grandson of Mahr Majid went to live in the newly founded village of Fattu Chack near old Attock. Almost all other residents of Shamsabad (except Gondals, Dhoond, Juts, Moeens, Moghuls and Pathans) are the offspring’s of the five sons of Usman and they can produce a Genealogical map up to Usman and Mahr Majid.
It appears that the first hand written family tree appeared around 1860. It was found in the papers of Mian Siraj Din, a junior revenue official of Bannu. He was the 10th generation descendants of Mahr Majid.

It was asserted in 1939 that “ the Awans seem to have settled initially in Rawalpindi, where Shamir Khan built a town on the Indus river which he called Shamirabad, after his name”. This reference does not identify any specific period. The Shamsabad is not near Rawalpindi!! It is not logical to consider Shamasabad and Shamirabad as the same village. It is not clear as to how the name was changed from Shamirabad to Shamsabad.
It is well documented that Awans were also settled in Sialkot. The Awan descendants gave their name to Bajar or Bajra Garhi in Sialkot. It appears that around 16th century some of their descendants decided to migrate to the present village of Shamasabad. It is difficult to determine the cause of their immigration

Azeem Khan, a contemporary of Aziz Ahmad, stated that the name Shamsabad eventuated from one of their elders by the name Shams & that they are in the 28th generation of him. There is no family tree or document available to authenticate this claim. The forefathers of Azeem Khan were settled in the raised hilly top (Dhakki). It is logical to assume that only the earliest immigrants to the Shamasabad could occupy the top of this hilly place (Dhakki). Their ownership in the village is limited to the hilly top. Their descendants are not in majority in the village to justify that Shamas was the founder of the village. There is no documentary or historical evidence available to substantiate that Shamir or Shamas was the founder or forefather of the Awan family of Shamasabad.

The word Malik represented ownership and it was used by all the headmen of Awan of Attock District. According to Aziz Ahmad the word, Malik was never used or spoken in Shamsabad before Malik Allah Yar, a 7th generation descendant of Mahr Majid. The ownership of Shamsabad was recognised and transferred by the Indian (British) Govt. during 1863 in the name of Allah Yar Khan, captioned as Awan Qureshi. Awans are reckoned to be the descendants of Hazrat Ali, and as such, a number adopt the title, Alvi or Awan Qureshi as Caliph Ali was from the tribe of Quraish of Makkah. Qutb Shah or Qutab Shah, who came from Ghazni with Sultan Mahmud, was the common ancestor of the Awans.". Qutab Shah, took a wife from Khokar Rajputs and for this reason they call them as Khokar Awan or Qutab Shahi Awan also.