Kassi

The Kasi are a Pashtun tribe that lives in the Quetta region southeast of Qandahar. They are named after Kasi, a descendant of Kharshbun, the son of Sarban. The Pashtun Family Tree In the early seventeenth century, a Pashtun from North India called Khwaja Ni’mat Allah described the tribal structure and origin of Pashtun Society in this work, the Makbzan-I Afghani. Although it undoubtedly contains information on the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns, this genealogy should not be read as a sound historical source that indicates how the Pashtuns came into being as a distinct ethnic group. Instead, it should be used as a source of information, from the seventeenth century or earlier, for the way in which the Pashtuns saw themselves as a group. Ni’mat Allah differentiates between four main groups of Pashtuns. These are the descendants of the three sons of the putative ancestor of al Pashtuns, Qays Abdul Al-Rashid Pathan, plus another, fourth group. The putative ancestor himself descended, according to traditional genealogies, from King Sarul (Saul), the Jewish king. The allegedly Jewish ancestry of the Pashtuns was a subject always hotly debated in Pashtun tea houses! The three sons of Qays Abdul Al-Rashid pathan were named Sarban, Bitan and Ghurghusht (although there are many variants of these names). Most important of these, at least in the eyes of Ni’mat Allah, was Sarban. He was the eldest son. His descendants, via his son Sharkhbun, are mainly found in South Afghanistan, and via his other son Kharshbun, in the Peshawar Valley. Those in the west include the Abdalis, who since the mid-eighteenth century are called the Durranis. Those in the east include the Yousfzay, who lie north of Peshawar, and many other tribes in the same area. Genealogy of Pathan tribes, from The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XIX, Pg 207 The relationship between the descendants of Sharkhbun and Kharshbun is of great interest. If Ni’mat Allah is correct, this would indicate historical connections. In this context the spread of another group, namely the offspring of a man called Kasi, is also important. Kasi was another descendant of Kharshbun, the son of Sarban. Kasi’s descendants include the Shinwaris, who nowadays live in the Jalalabad area west of Peshawar. But they also include two other tribes who live far to the south, in the Quetta region southeast of Qandahar, namely the Kasis themselves and the Ketrans. You can also download the Pata Khazana and see page number 10 which is about Kasi. Pata Khazana or the Hidden Treasure is a biography of Pashtoon poets from the earliest times to the time of Mohammad Hotak, the author. It was written in 1728-29 AD in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The earliest poet mentioned in Pata Khazana, Amir Krorr, died in 771 AD. Lt. General Sir Georage Macmunn observes: “This race (Semitic) claims that it is descended from Saul by a grandson Afghana, said to have been solomon’s commander-in-Chief, through one Kish or Kasi, eighteenth in descent from the first King of Israel. There is no direct evidence in support of this claim.” Sub-Tribes (Kasi Bin Kharashboon Bin Sarhban Bin Qais Abdul Rashid)

1. Akazai (Balochistan) 2. Zamarianai 3. Muhammad Zai 4. Moseegh 5. Seron 6. Kattran 7. Qaum Yar 8. Shinwari 9. Herh 10. Slatt 11. Saam 12. Alo Zai