Amb State

The nawabs (Rulers)of the State

The Tanoli tribe headed via its chieftains, the Nawab of Amb Family, enjoys great importance within Hazara Division of the North West Frontier Province. AMB state, as it is known, has a history that goes backtowards pre-Mughal moments when within the morning portion of the fourteenth century the Tanoli tribe below its chieftains conquered andcolonised the banks of the river Indus and a big frontier round it, whicharrived towards be known as “Tanawal”. A picturesque site was picked for a capital onto the river banks and named Amb. The principality of Tanawal, which was agreed via the British Government as a state arrivedtowards be known as Amb state. The contract of kinship between thecivilians and the kings proved towards be 

a principal cause of intensityand unity during the very turbulent moments consecutive the liquidation of the Mughal empire. Prior towards the British period the complete of the region ruled via the leader of Amb was known as Mulk-e-Tanawal  The voluminous Urdu mimic of the village inform of Hazara compiled viaMajor Wace within 1872 consists a lot passages within its historical resume of the area. In a number of maps drawn at the moment andenveloped within the inform, appearing Hazara below the Mughals andbelow the Durranis, the Amb state has been guided as Mulk-i-Tanawal. (Country of Tanawal). The original presence of that Mulk is as old as the middle period of the great Afghan invasions of India. The principality ruled via the Nawabs of Amb was transmit again thirty miles within tne Indus valley and 200 miles within the upper Tanawal frontier containingmany than 500 villages.

The Amb State as it is known has ever since its creation managed its own affairs without any disruption from the Mughals, Sikhs and the British. No invader has ever succeeded within imposing his administrative indicesonto Amb state, nor has its lands ever been measured or estimated for any rates of land revenue either via the Sikhs or the British, nor has the British government ever enforced any enactment, criminal or civil, withinany portion of the Amb state. It was operate so wisely and brilliantly thatnone one within the periods of Mughals, Sikhs or British kings meddled with its affairs. Rather the kings of Amb were appreciated within every period for smoothly operating the affairs of the state. Maintaining cordial relations based onto mutual respect with the tribes of Kala Dhaka has always been a priority of the kings of Amb and the otherwise Nawab was invited towards " Darbar e Dehli" onto special invitation from viceroy of India upon arrival of Queen of England. In 1947 when the Subcontinent was being partitioned Nawab Sir Mohmmad Farid Khan the otherwiseking of Amb acceded towards Pakistan via signing Instruments of Accession with the Quaid -e-Azam, The State was finally blended with the province of West Pakistan and the royal status of the Nawab eliminatedwithin 1969.

Short History Of Nawabs

They are descendants of Barlas tribe of the Mughals and this has been mentioned in many historical books, for instance; The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia (1841), in the following words; "There is one chief who, though not a Eusofzye, yet from his position in the midst of, and intimate connection with, the Eusofzyes, and his singular history and character, must not be omitted in a description of the Eusofzye country. Paieendah Khan, of Tanawul, is a Mogul of the Birlas tribe, the same from which the Ameer Timoor was descended. All record of the first settlement in Tanawul of his family is lost, and it has long ago broken off all connection with the other branches of the Birlas, which are still to be found in Turkestan

The Imperial Gazetteer of India also confirms this line of descent; it states, "Its (Tanawul's) real rulers, however, were the Tanawalis, a tribe of Mughal descent divided into two septs, the Pul-al and Hando-al or Hind-wal."

The Sikh records of the region also confirm this line of decent of the Tanolis. They state, "The family of Paeendah Khan is a branch of the Birlas, a Mogul House, well known in history. All record of its first settlement in Tanawul is lost. It may perhaps have been left there by the Emperor Baber. Among the list of whose nobles, the name Birlas is found."

.Mir Painda Khan: Mir Painda Khan is famed for his staunch rebellion against Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Governors of Hazara. He was the son of Mir Nawab Khan, who defeated the Durranis and freed his kingdom from their influence. [Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a Sikh ruler of the Punjab. The Hazara region is located in NWFP, Pakistan.

Painda Khan's relentless rebellion against the Sikh empire, cost him a major portion of his Kingdom, leaving only his twin capitals Amb and Darband. However, this deterred him less and appeared to increase his resistance against the Sikh government. [Amb was a princely state in what is today the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.

The District Gazetteer of the North-West Frontier Province  confirms, "Painda Khan, played a considerable part in the history of his time and vigorously opposed the Sikhs."

Mir Painda Khan set the tone for the regional resistance against Sikh rule. In 1828 Mir Painda Khan gifted the State of Phulra to his brother Mir Madad Khan.

Painda Khan was the Nawab of Amb who took over the valley of Agror in 1834. The Swatis appealed to Sardar Hari Singh, who was unable to help them but in 1841 Hari Singh's successor restored Agror to Ata Muhammad, a descendant of Sad-ud-din.

Eventually, realising that the Heroic Tanoli Khan would not be subdued by force, General Dhaurikal Singh, commanding officer of the Sikh troops in Hazara, had Painda Khan poisoned to death in September 1844. He is still revered in Hazara today as a Heroic Warrior King of the People.

Mir Jehandad Khan: This Tanoli chief deserves special mention as the son of a famous Tanoli hero of Amb Darband Hazara, Mir Painda Khan. It is mentioned in 'Men who made the North-West Frontier' that "Of all the tribal chiefs of Hazara, the most powerful said to be Jehandad Khan of the Tanoli, whose land straddled both banks of the Indus and whose fellow-tribesmen were 'brave and hardy and accounted for the best swordsmen in Hazara'. There was a long history of conflict between Jehandad Khan's family and the Sikhs, and the name of his father Painda Khan, was said to be 'magic to the ears of the people of Hazara' because of the struggles he fought on behalf of his 'poor circumscribed and rugged principality' against the Sikhs. Abbot was aware that before his death Painda Khan had made his son (Jehandad Khan) swear never to trust his safety to any ruler." This was a strong testament to the physical, political power and heroic background of the House of Tanoli which continued throughout the history of the tribes ancestry.

Mir Jehandad Khan is further mentioned in the same source as, "Jehandad Khan - a good looking young man of 26 years, tall and slender, with remarkably large and fine eyes - rode into Abbott's encampment surrounded by an escort of horsemen clad in shirts of mail and steel skull caps, handsomely mounted and equipped, who made a most picturesque display....the bystanders, who regarded the Chief with great awe, were thunderstruck.."

In 1852, Jehandad Khan was summoned by the President of the Board of Administration (who travelled to Hazara to see the Khan) in relation to a murder enquiry of two British officers (in his lands. It is mentioned in the above source (p203,p204) that "Jehan Dad Khan, the head of the Clan, and his minister Boostan Khan...knowing himself charged for his life, with the air of a prince sat down....answered all questions in an easy off hand way that looked very much like innocence. I was glad when the examination was over and the men let go, for they had a following of five or six hundred men, all stalwart fellows who had accompanied their Chief..." The President ended the talk by threatening him that, "If you refuse to give up the murderers...I will come with an army to burn your villages and give your country to another." It is said that the Khan replied, folding hands and with some fun replied with his elders, "We should consider your presence (in our kingdom) an honor, but our country is a 'rather difficult one' for your army." This famed statement was the talk of the day and remembered by many locals of Hazara even to this day as a heroic answer to a staunch threat from a powerful official.

Jahandad Khan's position in British India is summed in the following lines in a letter by R. Temple, Esq., Secretary to the Chief Commissioner Punjab, the letter is addressed to The Financial Commissioner Punjab.(dated 8 January 1859) "'5. The term "Jagir" has never appeared to me applicable in any sense to this (Jehandad Khan's) hereditory domain (Upper Tannowul), for it was never granted as such by the Sikhs or by our Government; we upheld the Khan as we found him in his position as a feudal lord and large proprietor.'

Jehandad's position is, and probably always must be, an anomalous one....the Chief Commissioner considers that Upper Tannowul is a chiefship held under the British Government, but in which, as a rule, we possess no internal jurisdiction. The Chief manages his own people in his own way without regard to our laws, rules or system. This tenure resembles that on which the Chiefs of Patiala, Jhind, Nabha, Kapurthala and others hold their lands."

His son, Nawab Bahadur Sir Muhammed Akram Khan was conferred the title Nawab Bahadur by the British Raj.

Nawab Sir Muhammad Akram Khan: The next chief of the Tanolis and son of Mir Jahandad Khan was Nawab Sir Akram Khan (K.C.S.I)(1868 - 1907). He was a popular chief and it was during his tenure that the fort at Shergarh was constructed, along with Dogah and Shahkot Forts. His rule was a peaceful time for Tanawal with no major conflicts.

Nawab Sir Muhammad Khan Zaman Khan: Nawab Khanizaman Khan (K.C.I.E) succeeded his father in taking over the reins of power in Tanawal in Amb. He helped the British in carrying out the Black Mountain (Kala Dhaka/Tur Ghar)expeditions.

Nawab Sir Muhammad Farid Khan: Nawab Sir Muhammad Farid Khan (K.B.E) had very good relations with The Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan. His contributions to the Pakistan movement have been acknowledged by letters from The Quaid e Azam.[9][10] In 1947 the Nawab of Amb, Mohammad Farid Khan, acceded to Pakistan by signing the Instrument of Accession of his State, in favour of Pakistan. In 1969, the State was incorporated into the North-West Frontier Province and in 1971 the royal status of the Nawab was abolished by the Government of Pakistan.