Pashtuns in Bangladesh?

[Admin Khan]

I met a Bangladeshi national today, who told me his roots are Afghan, and how his forefathers were from Afghanistan. How accurate is this, and what's the story behind Afghans/Pashtuns in Bangladesh?

[Karachi]

could be possible, but many muslims in south asia use outsiders as their roots to hide their hindu past. But again any thing is possible, because afghans and central asians ruled north indian plains for very long. Many muslims at least will have some roots from them

[Hakim Khan Urgonai]

Yes, Pashtuns can settle in far away places.

[Admin Khan]

I guess where I am getting at is if there is any historical evidence.

[Karachi]

yup, sher shah suri and his army went all the way to bangaladesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sher_Shah_Suri

^ in fact the road he built between Kabul and Bengal still exists today

Also they must have left soldiers behind

[Admin Khan]

Oh okay, that makes sense.

Thanks Karachi bhai.

[RevolutionThroughReason]

did this guy look like one of us or was he the typical pudgy faced soft looking Bengali?

[asad71]

1. Bengalee Muslims are largely of Afghan origin except in the South and East where they are of Arab descent. Bengal-Arakan coast was one of the earliest to receive The Message conveyed to them by Sahabi Abu Waqqas. The Sahabi was the maternal uncle of the Holy Prophet and was tasked with this mission even before the Hizrat. The target was the growing Arab / semi-Arab community located in this region as a result of the east-west, ie, Canton-Aden trading since the Monsoon winds was discovered by the Byzantine navigator Hippolatus.

2. The Sahabi had stayed among our midst for 8 years travelling between the ports of Swandip and Akyab-Ramree and Sylhet. That is why the present day Arabs accept the Rohingyas as their people. Moreover, certain Zionist groups claim Mizos are a lost Israelite tribe.

3. There is a huge misconception about conversions from Hinduism in SA. There were no forced or coerced conversion whatsoever. Otherwise SA would have been totally green after a thousand years of Muslim presence and rule. What really ocurred is that surplus Brahmins (those not involved as priests) and Ksyatrias had found it convenient to convert to the religion of the rulers for entry into the army and govt service. These Hindus, however, did not abandon their clan/tribal identity. That is why throughout SA you can find Thakurs, Mazumdars, Gujjars, Dogras, Jats, Rajputs, Chowdhurys, Biswas, etc among Muslims as well as Hindus. Bhuttos are a Rajput clan. So is Zardaris. Raja/Rao is Rajput.

4. The Low Cast did not convert into Islam at all. The reason is simple. Their vocation was better pursued remaining a Low Cast / Dalit. The Muslim rulers also needed the menial workers for their empire. The Low Cast were targeted aggressively by the Christian missionaries allowing these people to continue in their professions as sweepers, barbers, cobblers, etc.

5. Whereas Arab/semi Arabs were growing in numbers in the E and S, in 1202 Qutubuddin Aibak's Turkish General Bakhtiar Khilji formally conquered Bengal overthrowing the Senas who had become quite unpopular with the Buddhist population.

6. Muslim rule in Hindustan began under the Afghans, a term used to include the mix of Persians and Turks. They were ousted from the throne of Delhi by the Mughals from C Asia. Thereafter, began a tussle between the Mughals and the Afghans for the over-lordship of Hindustan. After the 1st ans 2nd Battles of Panipath, the Afghans, who had fought the Mughals, had withdrawn into Eastern Hindustan at the heart of which lies Bengal. Bengal whose rulers and aristocracy were Afghans resisted the Mughals till Emperor Aurangjeb had declared Hindustan a Dar ul Islam. The Nawab owed allegiance to the Padshah who in turn owed allegiance to the Caliph. Sher Shah Suri, with capital at Sasaram, was our hero.

7. Interestingly this historic conflict between the Afghans and the Mughals continue even today when we find the Pashtuns fighting the Northern Alliance. Note also that in the Jihad of Shaheed Syed Ahmed Brelavi volunteers and donations from our land exceeded others. Also to be noted is that after the Jihad against the Soviets most of our BD volunteers stayed back to fight against the N Alliance.

[A Khan]

1. Bengalee Muslims are largely of Afghan origin except in the South and East where they are of Arab descent. Bengal-Arakan coast was one of the earliest to receive The Message conveyed to them by Sahabi Abu Waqqas.
......
7. Interestingly this historic conflict between the Afghans and the Mughals continue even today when we find the Pashtuns fighting the Northern Alliance. Note also that in the Jihad of Shaheed Syed Ahmed Brelavi volunteers and donations from our land exceeded others. Also to be noted is that after the Jihad against the Soviets most of our BD volunteers stayed back to fight against the N Alliance.

Thanks for the info, would you be able to share links or your sources for these?

[A Khan]

Yes we exist all right

In Bangladesh, it is actually quite easy to distinguish between families and their origins, given that not so long ago there were so few and most could account for one another.

"Old families," for lack of a better word to avoid snobbish or racist undertones, have historically been few and far between there. The true natives of the area were the indigenous 'Bong' people and a few, still-existing hill tribes. Religion-wise, these peoples did not have any in the modern sense of the word. The Sheikhs and the Syeds from the Arab world came in by sea and the Khans from Pashtun territory migrated there to spread Islam about the same time they migrated to India and Pakistan [the whole place was one territory as u know], and for a long time these were the only ruling class families. It was not until much later that others moved there, including Hindu races and descendants of more Pashtun and Arab wings, Persians, Turks, Portuguese, etc.

And to answer your question, offensive racism notwithstanding, do we look like "one of you"RevolutionThroughReason , yes some of us still do, even after generations of marrying others...I mean we'd have to if we're sharing the same roots wouldn't we

[Midnight_Sun]

Bangladesh was ruled by the Khilji as well. Sorry I'm on my phone right now, otherwise I'd expand more on this.

[M17ArnoBaloch]

But most of Bengalis are dark skinned aren't they? Most of Pashtuns living in Balochistan-Afghanistan border and Afghanistan are rather light skinned. Then how does that explain them being dark compared to those living in middle-east?

[A Khan]

But most of Bengalis are dark skinned aren't they? Most of Pashtuns living in Balochistan-Afghanistan border and Afghanistan are rather light skinned. Then how does that explain them being dark compared to those living in middle-east?

Are you referring to Bengalis in general or Bengali Pashtuns? For the first you're right and it needs no explanation, as for the second, most are fair to wheatish complexion, hardly ever any darker...

In Bangladesh no differentiation is made between ethnic origins in Islam, and Bengali Pashtuns have married muslim people of Arab, Indian, Pakistani, Burmese etc origins for many generations..that could have sth to do with shared physical features with these ethnicities

[RevolutionThroughReason]

1. Bengalee Muslims are largely of Afghan origin

bahahahahhahahahhahaha ...no you're low caste Hindus CONVERTED by Afghans, Turks Arabs and whoeever else.

[RevolutionThroughReason]

Bangladesh was ruled by the Khilji as well. Sorry I'm on my phone right now, otherwise I'd expand more on this.

That's right and there was no widespread genetic incursion by Afghans in that lot


Let's face it, bengali women, at least the ones from Bangladesh, GENERALLY speaking, are NOT attractive. A few yes, a HANDFUL yes, but most NOT attractive. The West Bengali Hindu women are attractive, because they're from a different ethnic stock entirely.




There's no way a Khilji would want to mate with that.