Yusufzai

According to some scholars, including philologist J.W. McCrindle, the name Yūsəpzay or Īsəpzay is derived from the tribal names of Aspasioi and Assakenoi – the ancient inhabitants of the Kunar Valley and the Swat Valley who offered resistance when Alexander invaded their land in 327–326 BCE. According to historian R.C. Majumdar, the Assakenoi were either allied to or a branch of the larger Aspasioi, and both of these ancient tribal names were probably derived from the word Aśvaka, which literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (from aśva or aspa, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse").{{cite book |title=Ancient India |first=Ramesh Chandra |last=Majumdar |author-link=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1977 |orig-year=1952 |isbn=978-8-12080-436-4 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNxiN5tzKOgC&pg=PA99}}

McCrindle said "The name of the Aśvaka indicates that their country was renowned in primitive times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. The fact that the Greeks translated their name into "Hippasioi" (from ἵππος, a horse) shows that they must have been aware of its etymological signification."{{cite book |title=The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great: As Described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin|author=John Watson McCrindle |publisher=A. Constable|year=1896 |location=University of Michigan |pages=333–334 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioE2AAAAMAAJ}}

The name of the Aśvakan or Assakan is also the origin of the ethnonym Afghān, which has been historically used for all Pashtuns."The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J.W. McCrindle)."Even the name Afghan is Aryan being derived from Asvakayana, an important clan of the Asvakas or horsemen who must have derived this title from their handling of celebrated breeds of horses" (See: Imprints of Indian Thought and Culture abroad, p 124, Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan).cf: "Their name (Afghan) means "cavalier" being derived from the Sanskrit, Asva, or Asvaka, a horse, and shows that their country must have been noted in ancient times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. Asvaka was an important tribe settled north to Kabul river, which offered a gallant resistance but ineffectual resistance to the arms of Alexander "(Ref: Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1999, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society)."Afghans are Assakani of the Greeks; this word being the Sanskrit Ashvaka meaning 'horsemen' " (Ref: Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood).Cf: "The name represents Sanskrit Asvaka in the sense of a cavalier, and this reappears scarcely modified in the Assakani or Assakeni of the historians of the expedition of Alexander" (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).

The 1595 Mughal account Ain-i-Akbari said there was a tradition of Israelite descent among Pashtuns.

File:Babur, during his second Hindustan campaign, riding a raft from Kunar back to Atar.jpg crossing the Kunar River on a raft, west of Bajaur]]

During the early modern period, the Yusufzai tribe of Afghans was first explicitly mentioned in Baburnama by Babur, a Timurid ruler from Fergana (in present-day Uzbekistan) who captured Kabul in 1504.{{cite journal | last = Samrin | first = Farah | title = Yusufzais in Mughal History | year = 2006 | journal = Proceedings of the Indian History Congress| volume = 67 | pages = 292–300 | jstor = 44147949 }} On 21 January 1519, two weeks after his Bajaur massacre, Babur wrote: "On Friday we marched for Sawad (Swat), with the intention of attacking the Yusufzai Afghans, and dismounted in between the water of Panjkora and the united waters of Chandāwal (Jandul) and Bajaur. Shah Mansur Yusufzai had brought a few well-flavoured and quite intoxicating confections."{{cite book |last=Beveridge |first=Annette Susannah |author-link=Annette Beveridge |date=7 January 2014 |title=The Bābur-nāma in English, Memoirs of Bābur|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44608/44608-h/44608-h.htm |publisher=Project Gutenberg}}

Due to the military and strategic strength of the Yousafzai, Babur needed security from their location in the hills that threatened his empire and did not allow for a safe expansion to India. As part of a treaty with Yusufzai Afghans to have family ties, Babur married Bibi Mubarika, daughter of Yusufzai chief Shah Mansur on 30 January 1519 for mutual security after failing to subdue the tribe. Shah Mansur had favoured peace while the faction of Malik Ahmad Khan was against any forging of close ties.{{cite book|first=Radhey|last=Shyam|title=Babur|publisher=Janaki Prakashan|year=1978|pages=263}}Arlinghaus, Joseph Theodore (1988) The Transformation of Afghan Tribal Society: Tribal Expansion, Mughal Imperialism and the Roshaniyya Insurrection, 1450-1600Elizabeth Moynihan [https://asia-archive.si.edu/essays/memoir-05/ V. A Passage to Kabul - An Unplanned Life: In Search of Mughal Gardens] National Museum of Asian Art Bibi Mubarika played an important role in the establishment of friendly relations of Yusufzai Pashtun chiefs with Babur, who later founded the Mughal Empire after defeating Pashtun Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.{{cite book |last1=Aftab |first1=Tahera |title=Inscribing South Asian Muslim women : an annotated bibliography & research guide |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004158498 |edition=[Online-Ausg.]. |location=Leiden |page=46}} One of Mubarika's brothers, Mir Jamal Yusufzai, accompanied Babur to India in 1525 and later held high posts under Mughal Emperors Humayun and Akbar. Although suspicions existed on both sides and the Yusufzai had never paid taxes or tributes to Babur or any other Mughal Emperor.{{cite book|first=Soma|last=Mukherjee|title=Royal Mughal Ladies and Their Contributions|publisher=Gyan Books|year=2001|pages=118|isbn=978-8-121-20760-7}}The News (2016) [https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/561719-forgotten-queen-babur The forgotten Queen of Babur] by Dr. Himayatullah Yaqubi

Malak Ahmad Khan Yusufzai conquered the land of Malakand division and Yusufzai remained the powerful and prominent tribe of Malakand Agency.{{cite web | url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/amp/38531-malik-ahmad-baba-yousafzais-lige-services-to-be-rembered | title=Malik Ahmad Baba Yousafzai's life, services to be rembered | date=4 May 2015 }} Major parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained under the Yusufzai Chieftaincy and major Yusufzai chiefs are the following.

• Malak Ahmad Khan Yusufzai (Reign; 1520 - 1535).
• Malak Gaju Khan Yusufzai (Reign; 1535 - 1553)
• Malak Misri Khan Ali Asghar Yusufzai (Reign; 1553 - 1580)
• Malak Ghazi Khan Yusufzai (Reign; 1580 - 1585)
• Malak Kalu Khan Yousafzai (Reign; 1585 - 1626).{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOFtAAAAMAAJ | title=History of the Pathans: The Sarabani Pathans | last1=Rashid | first1=Haroon | date=2002 }}
• Malak Bhaku Khan Yusufzai (Reign; 1626 - 1675).{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9otAAAAMAAJ&q=Bhaku+Khan | title=Muslim Rule in India & Pakistan, 711-1858 A.C.: A Political and Cultural History | last1=Ikram | first1=Sheikh Mohamad | date=1966 }}

After 1675, the Yusufzai Chieftaincy was divided into 32 areas which was remained under each Yusufzai tribal Mashar (Leader).

In 1586, Akbar the Great tried to invade Malakand in the Battle of the Malandari Pass (1586) but failed and it become the greatest disaster to Mughal empire in the era of Akbar.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/a-short-history-of-the-mughal-empire | title=A Short History of the Mughal Empire | date=2016 }}

During the 1580s, many Yusufzais and Mandanrs rebelled against the Mughals and joined the Roshani movement of Pir Roshan.{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V19_154.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 19– Imperial Gazetteer of India |publisher=Digital South Asia Library|page=152|access-date=22 April 2015}} In late 1585, Moghul emperor Akbar sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed near the Karakar Pass between Swat and Buner by the Yusufzai lashkar led by Kalu Khan. This was the greatest disaster faced by the Mughal Army during Akbar's reign.{{cite book |first=John F. |last=Richards |author-link=John F. Richards |series=The New Cambridge History of India |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |pages=50–51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA50|isbn=9780521566032 }}

In 1630, under the leadership of Pir Roshan's great-grandson, Abdul Qadir, thousands of Pashtuns from the Yusufzai, Mandanrs, Kheshgi, Mohmand, Afridi, Bangash, and other tribes launched an attack on the Mughal Army in Peshawar.{{cite book |last=Misdaq |first=Nabi |date=2006 |title=Afghanistan: Political Frailty and External Interference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHmTAgAAQBAJ |isbn=1135990174|publisher=Routledge}} In 1667, the Yusufzai again revolted against the Mughals, with one of their chiefs in Swat proclaiming himself the king. Muhammad Amin Khan brought a 9,000 strong Mughal Army from Delhi to suppress the revolt.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&q=yusufzai&pg=PA50 |title = The Mughal Empire|isbn = 9780521566032|last1 = Richards|first1 = John F.|year = 1995| publisher=Cambridge University Press }} Although the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was able to conquer the southern Yusufzai plains within the northern Kabul valley, he failed to wrest Swat and the adjoining valleys from the control of the Yusufzai.

File:Patthargarh fort outside Najibabad, 1814-15.jpg, which was founded by Najib ad-Dawlah Yusufzai in Rohilkhand, India]]

File:The Third battle of Panipat 13 January 1761.jpg and Shuja-ud-Daula, marching on the left of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who is riding a brown horse, during the Third Battle of Panipat, which was the largest number of fatalities in a single day reported in a classic formation battle between two armies]]

Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747–1772), the founder of the Afghan Durrani Empire, categorized all Afghan tribes into four ulūs (tribal confederacies) for administrative purposes: Durrani, Ghilji, Sur, and Bar Durrani ("Upper Durranis"). The Yusufzai were included in the Bar Durrani confederacy along with other eastern Pashtun tribes, including the Mohmand, Afridi, Bangash, and Khattak.The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān by Sajjad Nejatie. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/80750. The Bar Durrani comprised the bulk of those Pashtuns who settled in Rohilkhand, India where they were known as the Rohilla.{{cite book|title=The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC |last=Gommans|first=Jos J.L.|author-link=Jos Gommans|publisher=Brill|year=1995|pages=219|isbn=9004101098}}

Najib-ud-Daula, who belonged to the Yusufzai tribe, was a prominent Afghan Rohilla chief. In the 1740s, he founded the city of Najibabad in Rohilkhand. In 1757, he supported Ahmad Shah Durrani in his attack on Delhi. After his victory, Ahmad Shah Durrani re-installed the Mughal emperor Alamgir II on the Delhi throne as the titular Mughal head, but gave the actual control of Delhi to Najib ad-Daula. From 1757 to 1770, Najib ad-Daula served as the governor of Saharanpur, also ruling over Dehradun. In 1761, he took part in the Third Battle of Panipat and provided thousands of Rohilla troops and many guns to Ahmad Shah Durrani to defeat the Marathas.[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V18_340.gif Najibabad Tehsil & Town] The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 18, p. 334. He also convinced Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, to join the Durrani forces. Before his departure from Delhi, Ahmad Shah Durrani appointed Najib-ud-Daula as Mir Bakshi (paymaster-general) of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.[https://books.google.com/books?id=MS_jrForJOoC&dq=najib-ud-daula+mir+bakshi+panipat&pg=PA19 History of Modern India, 1707 A. D. to 2000 A. D] After his death in 1770, Najib ad-Dawlah was succeeded by his son, Zabita Khan, who was defeated in 1772 by a joint Mughal-Maratha force, forcing him to flee from Rohilkhand. However, the descendants of Najib ad-Dawlah continued to rule Najibabad area until they were defeated by the British at Nagina on 21 April 1858 during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Bijnor |volume=3 |page=928}}

Today, many Yusufzais are settled in India, most notably in Rohilkhand region, as well as in Farrukhabad, which was founded in 1714 by Pashtun Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash.{{cite web|title=Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India|last=Haleem|first=Safia|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430071054/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=April 30, 2013|date=24 July 2007|publisher=Khyber Gateway|language=en|access-date=4 May 2014|quote=Farrukhabad has a mixed population of Pathans dominated by the Bangash and Yousafzais.}}{{cite web|title=Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India|last=Haleem|first=Safia|date=24 July 2007|publisher=Khyber Gateway|language=en|access-date=4 May 2014|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430071054/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=April 30, 2013}}

{{main|Dir (princely state)}}

File:Flag of the State of Dir.svg]]

In Dir, descendants of 17th-century Akhund Ilyas Yusufzai, the founder of the city of Dir, laid the foundation of the state of Dir. In 1897, the British Raj annexed Dir and granted the title of the "Nawab of Dir" to Sharif Khan Akhundkhel, the ruler of Dir (1886–1904).{{cite book|title=Who's Who in the Dir, Swat and Chitral Agency – Corrected up to 1st September 1933|url=http://www.mahraka.com/pdf/1933.pdf|access-date=2013-07-31|year=1933|publisher=The Manager Government of India Press|location=New Delhi}}{{Britannica|164794|Dir}}

The princely state of Dir existed until 1969, after which they were merged into West Pakistan, and then in 1970 into the North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) of Pakistan.{{cite book|last1=Claus|first1=Peter J.|last2=Diamond|first2=Sarah|last3=Ann Mills|first3=Margaret|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka|date=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-41593-919-5|page=447|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ienxrTPHzzwC&pg=PA447}} Its area is part of the present-day Buner, Lower Dir and Upper Dir. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

{{Main|Ghoriwala#Arrival of Mughal Khel}}

File:Bannu_Kuram_River.jpg, District Bannu]]

One of Iliaszai grandson through Taje, was a man named Gadezai, who had five sons: Hassan, Behram, Ali Sher, Hussain, and Ibrahim. The first four sons settled in present-day District Buner, while Ibrahim was separated from them during the massacre of Yousafzai by Ulugh Beg in Kabul. Initially settling in Kurram, Ibrahim's descendants eventually migrated to Ghoriwala in present-day District Bannu.

Ibrahim had only one son named Hassan Khan, and his family was known as Hassan Khel. However, after one of his descendant, Mughal Khan Yousafzai, his tribe came to be known as Mughal Khel. Mughal Khan's leadership and capabilities helped establish his tribe as one of the leading and honorable tribes of Bannu. Jaffar Khan Yousafzai, Mughal Khan's grandson, also earned a name and place for himself among the elders of the district. He also commissioned the construction of a mosque in Bannu Bazar in around 1820s.

File:Family_Lineage_of_Pashtun_Tribe_Mughal_Khel.jpg

The Mughal Khel tribe has the following sub-tribes: Qasim Khel, Jaffar Khel, Hakim Khel, and Muhammad Hassan Khel. The Mughal Khel have ruled and held the position of maliks in Ghoriwala for more than 300 years. Due to centuries of living in a land far away from their brethren, the Mughal Khels gradually assimilated in the local society, adopting the local elements and thus have transitioned from the Hard Pashto pronunciations to Soft Pashto but still in their speech and appearance their long lost characters can be identified.{{Cite web |title=Bannu :: History, Culture, LifeStyle, People, Food etc |url=https://pmru.kp.gov.pk/districts/bannu/ |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=pmru.kp.gov.pk}}{{Cite book |last=Ibbetson |first=Sir Denzil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dO0OAAAAQAAJ&dq=Mughal+Khel+Bannu&pg=PA82 |title=Panjab Castes: Being a Reprint of the Chapter on "The Races, Castes, and Tribes of the People" in the Report on the Census of the Panjab |date=1916 |publisher=Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab |pages=82 |language=en}}

As the author of Bannu Gazetteer said:

{{cquote|The most notable case of the sort is that of the Mughal Khels of Ghoriwala, a Yousafzai group, who conquered territory for themselves seven generations ago and still preserve in speech and physiognomy proof of their origin.

| author = Herbert Benjamin Edwardes

| source = Gazetteer of the Bannu District 1883

}}

{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJwIAAAAQAAJ&q=Moghal+khel |title=Gazetteer of the Bannu District: 1883 |date=1883 |publisher=British Government |pages=Page number 58 |language=en}}

Yusufzai Pashto, which is a variety of Northern Pashto, is the prestige variety of Pashto in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Some of its consonants differ from the other dialects:

The Yusufzai Pashtun aristocracy was historically divided into several communities based on patrilineal segmentary groups:

;Khān

The khān referred to the Yusufzai landowners. In the 16th century, saint Sheikh Milli, a prominent Yusufzai dignitary, distributed the Yusufzai land among the major Yusufzai tribal clans (khēl). However, to avoid inequalities, he ordered that the lands should not become permanent property of the clans, but rather they should be realloted within the patrilineal clans periodically after every ten years or so. In this system (wēsh), each landowning khān would own shares (brakha) representing his proportion of the total area distributed. Through a regular rotation of ownership, the Yusufzai landowners would migrate for up to 30 miles for their new share after each cycle, although the tenants cultivating the land would stay on.

The wēsh system operated among the Yusufzai of Swat region until at least 1920s.{{cite book|title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826-1863)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylTi-e2C_0IC |last=Noelle|first=Christine|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|page=139|isbn=978-1136603174}}

;Hamsāya

The hamsāya or "shade sharers" were the clients or dependents from other (non-Yusufzai) Pashtun tribes who became attached to the Yusufzai tribe over the years.

;Faqīr

The faqīr or "poor" were the non-Pashtun landless peasants who were assigned to the Yusufzai landowners. As dependent peasants, the faqīr used to pay rent for the land they cultivated.

In the 19th century, the distinction between hamsāya as a "dependent Pashtun tribe" and faqīr as "non-Pashtun landless peasants" became blurred. Both terms were then interchangeably used to simply refer to landless dependents or clients.

;Mlātəṛ

The mlātəṛ or "supporters" provided services to their patrons as artisans (kasabgar), musicians (ḍəm), herders, or commercial agents, mostly in return for a payment in grain or rice.

;Ghulām

The ghulām or "slaves" were more closely attached to their patron and his family and frequently entrusted with a variety of functions within their master's household. Although the ghulām were less free as compared to the hamsāya or the faqīr, they generally enjoyed a higher status in the society.

• Azizkhel
• Akazai
• Babuzai
• Shamozai
• Balarkhel
• Chagharzai
• Degankhel
• Hassanzai
• Kamalzai
• Khan Khel{{Cite web |title=Ancestor Database - Khan Khel -.-> خان خېل |url=http://www.khyber.org/tribes/web/ppl/6/0/c425bd60e1475530b8fb0be7e06.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926224453/http://www.khyber.org/tribes/web/ppl/6/0/c425bd60e1475530b8fb0be7e06.shtml |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |access-date=2021-03-28 |website=www.khyber.org}}{{Cite web |last=Khan Roshan Khan |title=Yousafzai qaum ki sarguzasht |url=http://archive.org/details/YousafzaiQaumKiSarguzasht |access-date=2021-03-28}}[https://archive.org/download/ADictionaryOfThePathanTribesCORRECT/A%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Pathan%20Tribes%20-%201910.pdf"A Dictionary of the Pathan Tribes of the North West Frontier of India"] (Part I. North of the Kabul River, including all Mohmands, and tribes west of the Indus), published by The General Staff Army Headquarter, Calcutta, India - (Originally Published 1910) :: The Khan Khel are mentioned on Page 26 (under ‘K’ -Khan Khel)
• Khwaja Khel (Khwajgan)
• Madakhel
• Mahabatkhel
• Malizai
• Mandanr
• Abakhel
• Khadarzai
• Utmanzai
• Mughal Khel{{Cite web |title=Bannu :: Gazetteer |url=https://pmru.kp.gov.pk/districts/bannu/gazetteer.php#page/2 |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=pmru.kp.gov.pk}}{{Cite book |last=Khan Roshan Khan |url=http://archive.org/details/YousafzaiQaumKiSarguzasht |title=Yousafzai qaum ki sarguzasht |others=Nasir khan |pages=The Mughal Khels are mentioned on page no. 424 under Gadezai Heading |language=ur}}{{Cite web |first= |title=Leading Families in Bannu :: Khyber.ORG |url=http://www.khyber.org/publications/031-035/leadingfamilies.shtml#Jafar%20Khan%20of%20Ghoriwal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213055311/http://www.khyber.org/publications/031-035/leadingfamilies.shtml#Jafar%20Khan%20of%20Ghoriwal |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 13, 2007 |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=www.khyber.org}}{{Cite book |last=Khān |first=Muḥammad Ḥayāt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hopEAQAAMAAJ |title=Afghanistan and Its Inhabitants |date=1981 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |pages=Mentioned on page no. 626 under the title of Khandane Ghoriwala |language=ur}}
• Niamatkhel
• Nikpikhel
• Ranizai
• Tahirkheli

• Gaju Khan, Pashtun Revolutionary and ruler who once served under Sher Shah Sur
• Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Journalist and PTI leader
• Gohar Ali Khan, Lawyer and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
• Mashal Yousafzai, Chief advisor to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and lawyer for PTI
• Bibi Mubarika, Empress Consort of the Mughal Empire
• Malak Ahmad Khan Yusufzai, "Founder of Pakhtunkhwa" who fought for control of northern Khyber and Pakhtunkhwa to expand the Yusufzai tribe
• Bahaku Khan Yousafzai, Afghan Warrior who fought in the Sixth Afghan-Mughal War of 1667-1678{{efn|The War beginning with the Yusufzai attack of 1667, led by Bhaku/Bhagu Khan}}We Mountains – Regional Website of North Pakistan (2020) [https://wemountains.com/05/14/1602/ Akhund Salaak: The Soldier Saint] Jahandad KhanInternational: The News (2015) [https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/39846-speakers-recall-life-and-sacrifices-of-yousafzai-tribes-chief Speakers recall life and sacrifices of Yousafzai tribe’s chief] Correspondents[https://ia801609.us.archive.org/29/items/ThePathansByOlafCaroe/The-Pathans-By-Olaf-Caroe-ISBN10-%200710306822.pdf The Pathans ~ 550 B.C. - AD 1957] by Olaf Caroe (1958){{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=John F. |date=1993 |title=The Mughal Empire Part 1: Vol V|page=170 |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 1st edition |isbn=978-0521251198}}
• Kalu Khan Yusufzai (16th Century), Afghan chieftan leader who rallied his tribe and rebelled against Mughal emperor Akbar the Great and inflicted one of their greatest defeats in 1586
• Hafiz Alpuri, Pashto Poet of the 18th Century
• Haji Musa Khan, Pashtun tribal leader martyr who refused to give up ground to the Taliban
• Malala Yousafzai (born 1997), Pashtun female education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from the Dalokhel Subclan
• Ziauddin Yousafzai (born 1969), Pashtun education activist and father of Malala Yousafzai, from the Dalokhel Subclan
• Khan Roshan Khan, Pashtun historian
• Najib ad-Dawlah Yousafzai, Afghan serviceman who fought with Ahmad Shāh's Durrani Empire to Victory at Panipat, 1761
• Karnal Sher Khan, Military officer who was martyred in the Kargil War and decorated with the awarded Nishan-e-Haider for highest Wartime Gallantry of Pakistan
• Rahimullah Yusufzai, Journalist who once interviewed Osama Bin Laden
• Sami Yousafzai, Afghan Journalist
• Nisar Muhammad Yousafzai, Socialist Revolutionary, decorated War Hero of the Afghan War of Independence as well as a founding father for the nation of Tajikistan
• Abdul Ghafoor Yusufzai, Afghan footballer representing the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the 1948 Summer Olympic Games
• Mohammad Sarwar Yousafzai, Afghan footballer who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics
• Hamidullah Yousafzai, Afghan football player who played for Afghanistan national football team
• Abaseen Yousafzai, Poet and famous writer
• Sartor Faqir, was a Pashtun tribal Yusufzai leader and a freedom fighter. The faqīr declared a Jihād against the British Empire, unsuccessfully in 1895, then successfully in 1897
• Nisar Muhammad Khan, specialised in Pashto language and culture
• Azimullah Khan Yusufzai, Afghan warrior hero of the Great Revolt of 1857 against the British East India Company
• Malik Jamroz Khan, Pashtun tribal leader and among the founders of the Princely State of Swat
• Afzal Khan Lala, Pashtun nationalist, NAP affiliate and former provincial and federal minister of NWFP
• Kabir Stori, Pashtun nationalist, poet and writer who founded the Pashtuns Social Democratic Party, refused offers to join government from President Najibullah and was imprisoned by the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq
• Asmatullah Rohani, Afghan judge, educator and a human rights activist during the PDPA regime
• Ghulam Nabi Khan, Afghan ambassador killed without trial and avenged with the assassination of King Nadir Shah
• Jafar Khan Yusufzai,{{cite web | url=https://historyofpashtuns.blogspot.com/2016/05/yousafzais-of-ghoriwala-in-bannu.html?m=1 | title=History of Pashtuns: Yousafzais of Ghoriwala in Bannu | date=23 May 2016 }} former Raes of Mughal Khel Tappa, Bannu
• Madhubala, Indian Bollywood actress and superstar {{Cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1157403 |title=Madhubala: From Peshawar with love ... |last=Khan |first=Javed |date=18 January 2015 |work=Dawn |access-date=20 April 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=20 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420140131/https://www.dawn.com/news/1157403 |url-status=live}}

• {{note|a|1}}In Pashto, "Yusufzai" ({{lang|ps|یوسفزی‎}}, [jusəpˈzai]) is the masculine singular form of the word. Its feminine singular is "Yusufzey" ({{lang|ps|یوسفزۍ}}, [jusəpˈzəi]), while its plural is "Yusufzee" ({{lang|ps|یوسفزي}}, [jusəpˈzi]).

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{{Pashtun tribes}}

Category:Sarbani Pashtun tribes

Category:Yusufzai Pashtun tribes

Category:Pashto-language surnames

Category:Groups claiming Israelite descent

Category:Tribes of Afghanistan

Category:Tribes of Pakistan

Category:Ethnic groups in Kunar Province

Category:Ethnic groups in Malakand

Category:Ethnic groups in Kabul Province

Category:Ethnic groups in Kandahar Province

Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan