Pathans of Punjab

The Pathans of Punjab (Punjabi: پنجابی پٹھان (Shahmukhi); Pashto: د پنجاب پښتانه‎; also called Punjabi Pathans are originally Pashtun people (Pathans) who have settled in the Punjab region of Pakistan Most of these Pashtun communities are scattered throughout the Punjab and have over time assimilated into the Punjabi society and culture.

These non-frontier Pathans are usually known by the town or locality in which they are settled, e.g., Qasuria Pathans, Multani Pathans, or Lahore.
Colonies of Pathans (Pashtun people) arriving in Punjab are accounted for by Sir Densil Ibbetson in the following manner:
During the Khilji, Lodi and Suri dynasties many Pathans migrated to Punjab especially during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Khalji, Bahlol Lodhi and Sher Shah Suri. These naturally belonged to the Ghilzai section from which those kings sprang.[4]

— Sir Denzil Ibbetson
The history of Pathans in India is much earlier. Trapusa and Bahalika, variously assumed to be merchants or slaves from Balkh were the first lay-person to accept Buddha. It should be noted that during that time, the regions west of HinduKush, including Afghanistan were ruled by Mauryan empire and their vassal states of Indo-Greeks. These Indo-Greeks were staunch followers of Vishnu and Buddha and ruled large parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They gave rise to the Hellenistic form of Buddhism which competed with the Mathura form.

Large numbers of Pathans accompanied the armies of Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad of Ghor and Babur, and many of them obtained grants of land in the Punjab plains and founded Pathan colonies which still exist. Many Pathans were driven out of present-day Afghanistan and khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to devastated invading forces such as Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies, including internal feuds or famine, and have taken refuge in the plains east of the Indus River where the Mongols marked the line of their aggression.Mehmond Pathan Hoshiarpur were also in the army of Mahmud of Ghazni. Which show strength of Pathan tribes

The tribes most commonly to be found in the Punjab region are the Niazi, Kundi, Miana, Bangash, Yusufzai, Hassan Zai, Mandanr, Lodhi, Kakar, Sherwani, Orakzai, Tareen, Sulaimankhel sulemani, Kakazai, Karlanri, barakzai, Khaterzai and the Zamand Pathans. Of these the most widely distributed are the Yusufzai, of whom a body of 12,000 accompanied the Mughal Emperor Babur in the final invasion of India, and settled in the plains of India and the Punjab. But as a rule the Pathans who have settled away from the frontier have lost all memory of their tribal divisions, and indeed almost all their national characteristics.
The oral tradition of Pathans has that they are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great who invaded the area in 327–323 BC. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests a Greek influence before this invasion. A phylogenetic study investigated the possible genetic relation of Pathans with Greeks and found evidence of a limited contributions of Greek genes in the Pathan population
Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan
Feroz Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan
Hamidullah Khan Burki WWII Flotilla Commander, Captain Pakistan Hockey Team, writer, photographer