Deportation of Pashtuns in the late 19th / early 20th century

Zajir

THE Northwest-Frontier-Province was a constant source of conflict in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, owing to the bisection of Pashtun lands by the Durand Line.

Population transfer was not unknown in that part of the world, see Savafids moving Sunnis from the Zargos Mountains to current Iran-Turkmenistan border, or internal displacement of tribes within Afghanistan.

So a transfer of Pashtuns from the NFWP to interior India doesn't seem to farfeched.

What effects would this have on Indian/Pakistani history and demographics?
 

SlideAway

Zajir said:
THE Northwest-Frontier-Province was a constant source of conflict in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, owing to the bisection of Pashtun lands by the Durand Line.

Population transfer was not unknown in that part of the world, see Savafids moving Sunnis from the Zargos Mountains to current Iran-Turkmenistan border, or internal displacement of tribes within Afghanistan.

So a transfer of Pashtuns from the NFWP to interior India doesn't seem to farfeched.

What effects would this have on Indian/Pakistani history and demographics?
Click to expand...

Your premise isn't necessarily that true. Afghanistan was in conflict, but the British had largely created a working protectorate-type arrangement by the end of the 19th Century. Treaties to leave the tribes alone kept the border regions on the Indian side relatively peaceful.

And don't make the mistake of thinking all Pashtuns were tribal. Much of the NWFP was highly settled, and Pashtuns were not disloyal to the British Indian state. Large numbers served in the army and many did emigrate to other parts of India - many Indian Muslims to this day have Pashtun ancestry. (The name Khan usually indicates people have Central Asian or Pashtun ancestry.)

Nor has the NWFP/Khyber-Pakhtunkwa been particularly puritan. The odd thing about the region's politics is that it tends to be quite schizophrenic. It has actually been a major bastion of leftism and even communism in Pakistani times. Pre-partition, the region was actually a stronghold of the Indian National Congress and signed onto the Pakistan project quite late.

So I guess the point is I'm not really sure why the British would resettle the Pashtuns all over India or how they would even do so.
 
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