1911 Census of the of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan

This was the breakdown by caste, religion and community of the population of the North West Frontier Province, now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, by the 1911 Census of India. At that time Pashtuns accounted for 70% (845,189) population, with the Hindko speaking Awan forming the second largest community (276,511 or about 23%).

Among the Pashtun dominated areas lived a number of minorities referred to as hamsiya such as the Dhobi, Mirasi, Qassab, Kumhar, Julaha, Teli, Nai, Shah Khel e.t.c, speaking both Pashtu and Hindko languages. The hamsiya lived and still live in villages inhabited by Pashtuns, but were not allowed to own property. Each hamsiya group was affiliated to a particular tribe, in which territory they lived. The hamsaya were paid in kind for the services they rendered.

 

Other groups that lived and still live among the Pashtuns include the Awan, who are also found in the Peshawar Valley, Kohat and Bannu, the Maliar or Baghban, concentrated mainly in the Peshawer valley, the Paracha also found in Peshawer and Kohat, and the Gujjar. The Paracha had much in common with the Hindu Khatri, a group I will discuss latter in this post, in that they were largely traders, with extensive presence in Afghanistan. The Gujjar of the Frontier were essentially nomadic, although there were several settled Gujar communities in Mardan and near Peshawar city.

　

In Hazara, tribes of Pashtoon origin such as the Dilizak, Tareen and Mashwani formed about a quarter of the population. The rest of the population belonged to Hindko speaking tribes such as the Awan, Gakhar, Sarara, Karral, Turk and Dhund, as well as Gojri speaking Gujjars. The Gujjar were and still are also found in Malakand and the Peshawer valley, where they were largly nomadic. Some Hindko speaking communities such as the Mishwani of Hazara and Swati were bilingual, also speaking Pashto and both have also been separately noted in this census. In the south of the province in the districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu there are Seraiki speaking tribes such as the Jat, Khokhar, Arain and Mallaah, as well as the Baloch of the province who also speak Seraiki. The Muslim Rajputs were local and found mainly in the Abbotabad and Haripur areas of Hazara, while the Hindu and Sikh Rajputs were mainly soldiers stationed in the province. Similarly, the Hindu and Sikh Jats were also entirely soldiers stationed for a short time in the province. While Muslim Jats were found mainly in Bannu and Dera Ismail District, with thos of Bannu being slowly assimilated into Pashtoon society.

　

　

The census is also of interests as is show the divisions within the Hindu and Sikh groups in the North West Frontier, who in 1911 amounted to about 11% of the population. The indigenous Hindu and Sikh population consisted of the Aroras, Bhatias, Brahmins, Khatris and Sunar as well as the Chuhras, who were considered untouchable. The city of Peshawer was home to a Khatri community involved in long distance trade with Central Asia, which had first settled in the city during the period of the Mughals. These trading networks extended as far north as Siberia, and as far west as Baghdad. Other Hindu castes included the Dhobis, Jhinwars, Mochis and Nais, who were found mainly in Peshawer and the southern Hazara towns like Haripur and Abbotabad, and spoke Hindko at least as a second language. They were descended from settlers that have arrived from North India at the time of the conquest of the province by the British in 1848, with a substantial presence in the cantonment area of Peshawar. Among those groups long settled were the Brahmins, who were divided between the Muhials of Hazara, who were mainly landowners and other Brahmins were either priests or traders. They were also linguistically divided between those of Hazara and Peshawar, who spoke Hindko, and those of Dera Ismail Khan who were Seraiki speaking, although both terms are modern, and in 1911 most Hindus would have referred to their language as Punjabi. The Aroras were concentrated in the southern district of Bannu, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan, and spoke Seriki, while the Khatris were Hindko speaking found mainly in Peshawer and Hazara. While the Sunar and Bhatia were also largely Seraiki speaking, and the Chuhra of the south spoke Seraiki and those in Peshawer and Hazara spoke Hindko.

 

Religion	Caste or Tribe	Sub-Caste	Population
Muslims			1,054,171
	Arain		3,343
	Awan		276,511
	Baghban		20,471
	Baluch		26,513
	Bhatiara		4,130
	Chamar		4,333
	Chuhra		879
	Darzi		2,265
	Dhobi		13,902
	Dhund		30,464
	Faqir		1,466
	Gakhar		6,806
	Gujjar		113,498
	Jat		78,070
	Jhinwar		1,350
	Julaha		37,384
	Karral		22,106
	Kashmiri		28,631
	Khoja		2,974
	Khokhar		1,179
	Kumhar		22,576
	Lohar		28,560
	Macchi		4,031
	Maliar		19,950
	Mallah		4,802
	Mirasi		11,790
	Mishwani		4,888
	Mochi		22,983
	Mughal		14,865
	Mussalli (including Kutana)		13,254
	Nai		24,566
	Paracha		12,330
	Pathan		845,189
		Afridi	25,161
		Bangash	25,877
		Bannuchi	34,605
		Bhittani	10,480
		Daudzai	10,736
		Dilazak	3,665
		Durrani	10,736
		Gadun	27,546
		Ghilzai	30,611
		Gigiani	12,757
		Khalil	17,046
		Khattak	148,552
		Khugiani	1,351
		Mangal	159
		Marwat	68,018
		Mohammadzai	30,230
		Mohmand	69,506
		Mullagori	608
		Niazi	6,406
		Orakzai	12,629
		Shinwari	1,489
		Shirani	812
		Tareen	2,849
		Tarklanri	1,311
		Turi	705
		Ustarana	2,218
		Utmankhel	7,264
		Wazir	31,326
		Yousafzai	130,026
		Zadran	965
		Zaimusht	1,024
		Other Pathans	103,509
	Qassab		8,721
	Qureshi		20,939
	Rajput		10,042
	Rangrez		3,929
	Sarara		8,507
	Sayyid		75,115
	Shaikh		17,892
	Sunar		8,447
	Swati		38.329
	Tanoli		63,985
	Tarkhan		42,367
	Teli		6,932
	Turk		4,499
	Minor and Unspecified		32,942
Hindus			121,284
	Arora		55,713
	Bhatia		3,786
	Bhatiara		61
	Brahman		9,740
	Chamar		348
	Chuhra		4,884
	Darzi		6
	Dhobi		970
	Faqir		58
	Gujjar		345
	Gurkha		6,343
	Jhinwar		797
	Julaha		6
	Khatri		30,033
	Kumhar		83
	Lohar		29
	Mallah		3
	Mochi		226
	Nai		178
	Rajput		4,051
	Sunar		991
	Tarkhan		37
	Minor and Unspecified		2,596
Sikh			28,251
	Arora		13,502
	Bhatia		300
	Chamar		140
	Chuhra		300
	Darzi		7
	Faqir		84
	Gujjar		28
	Jat		6,683
	Jhinwar		180
	Khatri		5,687
	Kumhar		5
	Nai		33
	Rajput		270
	Rangrez		4
	Sunar		276
	Tarkhan		214
	Minor and Unspecified		538
Parsi			49
Christian			857
Jewish			14
Jain			4
Total Population			1,204,630