Lohani


The Lohani, sometimes called Nuhani is a Pashtun tribe found in Pakistan especially in the region of Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Shakargarh, Afghanistan and India. They were a mostly pastoral and migratory tribe but nowadays most of them have settled down in the plains of DI Khan, Tank and Lakki Marwat. Lohanis have four branches, Marwat, Daulat Khel, Miya Khel and Tatoor. The Tatoor tribe was crushed by Nadir shah and Daulat khel who brought them near to extinction. Therefore, nowadays Tatoor tribe is generally dispersed in the region of Tank, Dera Ismail khan and FR Tank and especially found in village Tatoor near Tank city.

Origin

Lohanis are descendants of a person by name of Nuhan who was son of Ismael, son of Siarnaey, son of Ibrahim alias Lodi. Nuhan got mispronounced as Luhan and his descendants are called Nuhwanraey or Lowanraey in Pashto which changed into Nuhani and Lohani in India respectively. Though Lohanis did engage in trade like other Pashtun tribes of the region, they were not restrictively merchant class like Hindu Lohanas and mostly engaged in military careers. Also unlike Lohanas, Nuhanis have extensive tribal branching, with a lineage tree culminating on a common ancestor. They show their kinship with other lodi tribes and Ghilzais. In Pashtun genealogy, they are in the category of Beittani tribes. There is no historical evidence which suggest that they migrated from Sindh.

History

Lohanis, like other Lodi tribes, were originally inhabitants of Ghor. From Ghor they descended into Ghazni, and engaged in pastoral pursuits.Due to conflict with neighboring Ghilzais, they migrated to Katawaz and from there they moved to the plains of Daman in the 16th century. A big portion of the tribe migrated to India on invitation of Lodi Sultans of Delhi where they became the most prominent participants in the sultanate administration and army. During Ibrahim Lodi's reign, the Lohanis of south Bihar rebelled and carved out an independent kingdom for themselves which was later incorporated into Suri empire. In their homeland, conflict arose between Lohani clans over distribution of land and revenue of Daman tract and after some battles, the Marwat and Miya Khel clans of Lohani migrated from Daman to Lakki and DI Khan tracts respectively.

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