Awan (Kashmir)
Encyclopedia
Awan are one of the major tribes from the districts of Poonch
, Sudhanoti, Bagh
, Muzaffarabad
, Mirpur and Kolti
in Kashmir
.
"Awans are mainly settled in the region from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad of present Azad Jammu & Kashmir and having the population of more than 500,000”. Apart from Indian Kashmir Awans are also settled in different cities of Pakistan
mainly in Rawalpindi
, Islamabad
, Kahuta, Murree and Kotli Sattian.
Rawalakot
, in the Poonch District and Pallandri, in the Sudhanoti Districts of Azad Kashmir
are major Awans strongholds. Internationally Awan are settled all over the world and have large communities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. A significant Awan diaspora is now present in Australia, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Belgium. Awans are also found in large numbers in Middle East and South Africa.
Major G. Carmichael Smyth in his book A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore states:
"About the year 1832, several independent hill-tribes inhabiting the north western regions of the Punjaub [Punjab] were reduced into subjection to the Lahore
state. These were the Doondh,(Awan), Suthee, Hoteels(Muhgals) and Murdiall(Mughals) tribes. The Doondh tribe lived chiefly on the banks of the Jhelum
...was in number about fifty or sixty thousand... The Awan tribe inhabited a large tract on the eastern bank of the same river opposite the country of the Doondhs, and numbered about forty thousand souls."
According to Major (Retd) Tilla Mohammad, now deceased, a political leader in Peshawar, in his books on the Awan tribe stated:
Some Awan adopted the name Malik, after the publication of the articles by Col (Retd) Resham Khan Awan.
and Urdu
.
. Pakistan sent the Punjab constabulary along with a Brigade of Pakistan Army, to crush the rebellion. This rebellion damaged the careers of some Awan, however, Awan supported the rebellion against the Pakistan military.
Awans were not given security clearance until 1972, and were not accepted in the Pakistan Military Academy regular course until 1965. Awans have suffered by the oppression of Pakistan occupation led by Military Dictators.
Initially they had joined British Indian Army
during the First & Second World Wars. During the Second World War Awan fought in Burma, North Africa
and participated in the liberation of Europe
.
Awan fought against the British Occupation of India with the Indian National Army. One prominent being Colonel Resham Khan Awan. He later fought in the war against Dogra rule.
After independence of India
and Pakistan
, Awan continued the tradition of joining the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
, religious communities. Awans are mostly Sunni of the Hannafi branch of Islam
. With mushrooming of religious madrassas all sects of Sunni Islam have crept into the Awan belt. There is lately, Wahabi/Shia influence, that has crept into Awan communities being brought by Saudi Arabian and Iran authorities.
During the Second World War Awans fought in Burma, North Africa and participated in the liberation of Europe. Some Awans who participated in the War are receiving war compensation from the Government of Japan
. Awans are well represented in the military, government and business.
The city of Rawalakot, the capital of the Awan tribe, suffered significant damage from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake
; although most of the buildings were left standing, many of them were rendered uninhabitable, and some of the population was left homeless. Most of the buildings have been reconstructed, though without the help of the Governments of Pakistan or Azad Kashmir.
In District Rawalakot the Press for Peace team in the supervision of divisional coordinator, Sardar Abid Siddique started rescue and relief work soon after the disaster.
Cuba
along with the Czech Republic
and Jordan
provided medical assistance to the population of Rawalakot.
Poonch
Poonch is a town and a municipal committee in Poonch District in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on the Mahābhārata evidence, and the evidence from 7th Chinese traveler Xuanzang, the districts of Poonch along with Rajauri and Abhisara had been under the sway of the Republican Kambojas...
, Sudhanoti, Bagh
Bagh
Bagh is the chief town of Bagh District in Azad KashmirBagh, the district headquarters of district Bagh is 100 Kilometers from Muzaffarabad via Kohallah & 80 Kilometers via Suddhen Gali, 205 Kilometers from Islamabad and 48 kilometers from Rawalakot. This town is situated on the confluence of two...
, Muzaffarabad
Muzaffarabad
Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located in Muzaffarabad District on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers...
, Mirpur and Kolti
Kolti
Kolti is a village in Bajura District in the Seti Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 4,530 and had 850 houses in the village....
in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
.
"Awans are mainly settled in the region from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad of present Azad Jammu & Kashmir and having the population of more than 500,000”. Apart from Indian Kashmir Awans are also settled in different cities of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
mainly in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Kahuta, Murree and Kotli Sattian.
Rawalakot
Rawalakot
Rawalakot , is a city in Azad Kashmir, and is the capital of Poonch Division and Poonch District. It is in a saucer-shaped valley at an elevation of 1,615 metres ....
, in the Poonch District and Pallandri, in the Sudhanoti Districts of Azad Kashmir
Azad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...
are major Awans strongholds. Internationally Awan are settled all over the world and have large communities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. A significant Awan diaspora is now present in Australia, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Belgium. Awans are also found in large numbers in Middle East and South Africa.
Major G. Carmichael Smyth in his book A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore states:
"About the year 1832, several independent hill-tribes inhabiting the north western regions of the Punjaub [Punjab] were reduced into subjection to the Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
state. These were the Doondh,(Awan), Suthee, Hoteels(Muhgals) and Murdiall(Mughals) tribes. The Doondh tribe lived chiefly on the banks of the Jhelum
Jhelum
Jhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
...was in number about fifty or sixty thousand... The Awan tribe inhabited a large tract on the eastern bank of the same river opposite the country of the Doondhs, and numbered about forty thousand souls."
According to Major (Retd) Tilla Mohammad, now deceased, a political leader in Peshawar, in his books on the Awan tribe stated:
Col (Retd) Resham Khan Awan was himself from Singola, Kashmir and his ancestors had migrated to Wadea Soon from Kashmir.
"Awans had immigrated to Pakistan Wadie Soon to Azad Kashmir from Ghazni and KandaharKandaharKandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, Afghanistan, during the 14th century."
Some Awan adopted the name Malik, after the publication of the articles by Col (Retd) Resham Khan Awan.
Language
The Awan (Kashmir) mother tongue is the Pahari language. Awan generally learn and speak the language of the area of settlement but take pride in speaking Pahari. Awan living in Karachi and other elite classes have become accustomed to using EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
.
Awan Kashmir rebellion against Pakistan Army
Awan rebelled against the Pakistan ArmyPakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
. Pakistan sent the Punjab constabulary along with a Brigade of Pakistan Army, to crush the rebellion. This rebellion damaged the careers of some Awan, however, Awan supported the rebellion against the Pakistan military.
Awans were not given security clearance until 1972, and were not accepted in the Pakistan Military Academy regular course until 1965. Awans have suffered by the oppression of Pakistan occupation led by Military Dictators.
Awans in the army
The Awan (Kashmiri) have long history of service in the Armed Forces. This was due to the fact that in Poonch district, opportunities for employment were few and far between, thus joining the Indian Army was necessary for survival.Initially they had joined British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
during the First & Second World Wars. During the Second World War Awan fought in Burma, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and participated in the liberation of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Awan fought against the British Occupation of India with the Indian National Army. One prominent being Colonel Resham Khan Awan. He later fought in the war against Dogra rule.
After independence of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Awan continued the tradition of joining the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
Religion
Awans are found among MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, religious communities. Awans are mostly Sunni of the Hannafi branch of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. With mushrooming of religious madrassas all sects of Sunni Islam have crept into the Awan belt. There is lately, Wahabi/Shia influence, that has crept into Awan communities being brought by Saudi Arabian and Iran authorities.
Employment
Having a few natural resources resulted in Awans joining the military, initially joining the British Indian Army during the First World War and later during the Second World War.During the Second World War Awans fought in Burma, North Africa and participated in the liberation of Europe. Some Awans who participated in the War are receiving war compensation from the Government of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Awans are well represented in the military, government and business.
Earthquake of 2005
On Saturday, October 8, 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed more than 30,000 people and left up to three million homeless in AJK alone.The city of Rawalakot, the capital of the Awan tribe, suffered significant damage from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake
2005 Kashmir earthquake
The 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad, affecting Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005...
; although most of the buildings were left standing, many of them were rendered uninhabitable, and some of the population was left homeless. Most of the buildings have been reconstructed, though without the help of the Governments of Pakistan or Azad Kashmir.
In District Rawalakot the Press for Peace team in the supervision of divisional coordinator, Sardar Abid Siddique started rescue and relief work soon after the disaster.
Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
along with the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
provided medical assistance to the population of Rawalakot.