Tareen

The Tareen (Pashto: ترین) are a prominent Pashtun tribe residing in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tribe have an influence on politics in Haripur District and the Hazara area of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Ayub Khan a former President of Pakistan was a Tareen from Haripur District.

History

The Tareen are an important Pashtun tribe, they played a key role in Sultan Muhammad Ghori's army and showed great bravery. The Tareen tribes of Hazara migrated from Kandahar as well as the Pishin District of Balochistan in the 17th century CE under the leadership of Sher Khan Tareen.

Ahmed Shah Abdali on his conquest of India deputed powerful tribal chiefs with conquered areas. In the Hazara region, amongst these deputed chiefs were Najeebullah Khan Tareen, Sa'adat Khan Swati of Garhi Habibullah, Mir Zabardast Khan Tanoli (also known as Suba Khan Tanoli), and some others. Tareens have some history with other Pashtun tribes of Hazara Division, uniting against Sikhs during the period of Sikh rule. People like Muhammad Khan Tareen and Bostan Khan Tareen are heroes for their staunch resistance against the Sikh empire, now revered as heroes of Hazara history.

Branches of the Tareen Tribe

The famous Khels and subsections of the Tareen tribe are Taur, Speen, Bor, Zharh and Abdaal. And sub tribes are Taranzai, Mangalzai, Bedalzai and Ferozzai. In Balochistan the major Sub-tribes of Tareen are Haroonzai, Alizai, Saimzai, Noorzai, Lalazai, Millizai, Shadizai, Sakhizai, Mohammadzai, Balozai, Aghakhel, Batezai, Hekalzai, Sheikhalzai, Kamalzai, Khanzai, Sagai, Raisani, Wazir, Jam, Sulaiman, Omchai are the closest Pashtun tribes to Tareen in the region of Hazara division, and in Multan too. Abdaal Tarin, or Abdali, is now a separate tribe, and usually goes by the name Durrani. The Durrani confederacy is one of the two most powerful tribal confederacies in Afghanistan, and is no longer considered part of the Tarin tribe. The other is led by the Ghilzai tribe.

Languages

Principal language of Tareens is Pashto while formerly Persian was used as the language for records and correspondence. Tareeno is the language spoken in Harnai. Tombstones up to late nineteenth century are in Persian. Those who have settled away from Pishin speak local languages (Pushto), such as Multani or Sraiki in Multan, Hindko in Hazara, Urdu in Bhopal and Sindhi in Sindh.

Tareen diaspora

The base of Tareen tribe is in Pishin near Quetta in Baluchistan province of Pakistan. This area was formerly a part of Afghanistan but was ceded to the British after the Second Afghan War. Some families migrated to Haripur in Hazara Division in the present North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan (then part of British India.

Tareens are also settled in Quetta, Pishin, Harnai, Duki (only the Spin Tareen branch of the tribe), and Gulistan districts in Balochistan and Hazara Division, North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. They are also present in sizeable proportions in the areas near Kandahar in Afghanistan. A provincial capital in central Afghanistan is also named "Tareen Kowt" (Meaning castle of the Tareens). The Tareens have a sizeable presence in Multan since the times of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

One Abdul Karim Khan Tareen migrated from Multan to Istanbul (Then capital of erstwhile Ottoman Turkey) in mid-nineteenth century and his descendants are living in Turkey but they do not use the Surname "Tareen", instead they use the name "Bey". Detailed History of Tareens is available in Sir Olaf Caroe's book The Pathans, Dewan Hakam Chand (Extra Assistant Commissioner)'s book "Tawareekh Multan" (Histories of Multan) Published 1878 AD (One volume available in the Multan Public Library, Bagh Langhe Khan, Multan), and the "Imperial Gazetteer of Quetta and Pishin Districts" (Published in late nineteenth century by the Government of Baluchistan at Peshawar).However a considerable population of Tareen Pathans settled down in India and adopted Urdu/Hindi as there first language.

They are living in the Afghanistan, Kandahar, Helmand, Orzgun,Mianwali, Tarin Kowt, Pishin, Mastung, Gulistan, Quetta, Ziarat, Loralai, Harnai, Sharaga, Khost, Sanjavi, Duki, Bolan, Sibi, Gandava, Qallat, Usta Mohammad (District Jafferabad), Multan, Rahimyar Khan, Lodarahan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Attok, Peshawar, Haripur, Abbotabbad (Hazara Division) and in Sindh.

Peshawar District (Pakistan)

Tareens also settled in Peshawar, migrated from Pishin (Balochistan). The first person named Saghir came to Peshawar from Pishin and started living here in a village named Pajaggi near Peshawar city.

Kandahar District (Afghanistan)

Most of tareen are found in Kandahar and in Helmand in Afghanistan...... A provincial capital in central Afghanistan is also named "Tareen Kot" (Meaning castle of the Tareens).

Balochistan

Balochistan is the province of two brave tribes Pathan and Baloch. Tareen is the main tribe of Pathan. Tareen is mainly located in Balochistan in Quetta, Pishin, Qilla Abdullah, Ziarat, Sanjavi, Harnai, Sharaga, Khost, Dukki, Loralai, Sibi, Usta Mohammad, Jhal Magsi, Ghandava, Mustung, Kalat, Khuzdar and many more places.

Pishin District

Pishin District has four main tribes the Tareen, Achakzai, Kakar and Syed. The Tareen tribe is the Sardar of Pishin. Sardar Bashir Khan Tareen, Sardar Farooq Khan Tareen, and Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen are the main notable persons of the Sardar family. These Sardar sub tribe is Haroonzai - Noorzai. Other families of the Noorzai tribe are located in Killi Torashah near Bund Khushdil Khan lake.

Qilla Abdulla District

A major section of the Tareen Tribe, the Sehgi, is established in areas of Qilla Abdullah District. There has been a conflict between the Sehgi and the Achakzai tribe in this district.

Loralai District

Loralai is a district in the centre of Balochistan province of Pakistan, the majority of the population are Pakhtun and the Tareen are one of the main tribes.

Ziarat District

Ziarat is a district in the north of Balochistan province of Pakistan. The Tareen are one of the main tribes here.

Harnai District

Harnai is the capital city of Harnai District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Harnai has a population of about 200,000 and is dominated by the Tareen.

Personalities

Ayub Khan, former President of Pakistan was also a Tareen and belonged to Haripur, Hazara. His son Gohar Ayub Khan has been elected five times to the National Assembly from his home constituency, and grandsons Yusuf Ayub Khan and Omar Ayub Khan are among the prominent politicians of Pakistan.

General Ayub Khan Tareen

Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu/Pashto: محمد ايوب خان) HJ, NPk (May 14, 1907 – April 19, 1974) was born in Rehana, Haripur. In Tareen their sub tribe is Tor Tareen, Batezai (Pishin). Their family is migrated from Qilla Batezai Pishin, Balochistan to Haripur. Muhammad Ayub Khan Tareen is one of the most famous members of the Tareen. He fought in Burma during WWII and was a Field Marshal during the mid-1960s, and the political leader of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969. He became Pakistan's first native Commander in Chief in 1951, and was the youngest full-rank general and self-appointed field marshal in Pakistan's military history. He was also the first Pakistani military general to seize power through a coup.

He would later go on to serve in the second cabinet (1954) of Muhammad Ali Bogra as Defence Minister, and when Iskander Mirza declared martial law on October 7, 1958, Khan was made its chief martial law administrator. This would be the first of many instances in the history of Pakistan of the military becoming directly involved in politics.

Sardar Bashir Khan Tareen Sardar Bashir Ahmad Khan Tareen was born at Pishin in Balochistan in 1938. His sub tribe is Noorzai. He is the son of Sardar Khair Muhammad Khan Tareen, Sardar of Pishin and brother of Sardar Naseer Khan Tareen and uncle of Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen. He took special interest in the development of his area and started his political career by joining National Pakhtoon Khawah Balochistan in 1972. He held the office of the Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Religious Affairs and was again taken as Minister for Food and Fisheries in the caretaker government of Balochistan. He joined Jamhoori Watan Party in August 1990 and remains as a Founder-Member of the JWP. He is a Sardar of the Tareen Tribe and was elected to the Senate in March 1991 for a six-year term.

Sardar Naseer Khan Tareen Sardar Naseer Khan Tareen was born in district Pishin in Sardar home. Sardar Naseer came across a pocket of some of the last remaining populations of Suleiman Markhor and Afghan Urial in Torghar. When Sardar Naseer realised that nothing was being done by either the government or the local tribesmen to save these wild ungulates from extinction, he took the difficult task upon himself, turning into a self-confessed ‘accidental environmentalist.’ At the time, his father was the Sardar (or chieftain) of the Tareen tribe, as is his nephew today.

Hazara Tareen

The Hazara Tareens have also produced prominent civilians such as Abdur Rehman Khan (1901 - 1997), former ambassador of Pakistan, decorated for his bravery during the 1965 war with India, and respected for his services to Pakistan in the International Arena. His son, Jehangir Khan, currently Senior Joint Secretary in the Government of Pakistan, is also one of the prominent people of the Hazara Area.

Haleem Tareen

He was born in 1960 in the district of Quilla Abdullah. He is very qualified in history, economics and political affairs. He was the advisor to the government of Balochistan (1990-1992). He has many political contributions for the province. Nowadays he is based in the United Kingdom and is active for the rights of his province.

Tareens in Dera Ghazi Khan Few numbers of Tareen's family have lived in Dera Ghazi Khan in the last hundred and fifty years. The most prominent Tareen personality is "Professor Fayyaz Ahmad Tareen (Chemistry)" at a leading top-tier governmental institution of the territory, a campus of Bahauddin Zakariya University.

See also

• Achakzai
• Alakozai
• Barakzai (tribes)
• Qais Abdur Rashid
• Pashtun tribes
• Popalzai