Kayani Mughal

The Kayani (Kiyani or Kaini or Kiani) ( کیانی ) is a title used by ghakhar tribe based in [Rawalpindi] Potohar Region and Kashmir, in some parts of Balochistan and Khyber Paktoonkha as well.

In his Baburnama, Babur noted that:

There were the Jats, the Gujjars, and many other peoples living in the mountains between the Nilab and Bhera (in Jhelum district), which are connected to the mountains of Kashmir. Their rulers and chieftains belong to the Gakhar clan whose chieftain ship is like that of the Jud and Janjua.

Up to this time, around 1519, the Gakhars and Janjua Rajputs had engaged in an endless battle for sovereignty over the Salt Range.

The history of this region (the Salt Range) from the thirteenth century onward had been a sickening record of wars between the Janjuhas and the Gakkhars for political ascendancy.

However, the alliance of Raja Sahib Khan (Janjua overlord) and Malik Bir Khan Gakhar, saw a period of peace between the two tribes (both being visionary princes, and with a legendary friendship of treating each other as half brothers). This was later abruptly ended upon the ascension of Hathi Khan Gakhar as the leader of the Gakhar tribe, who assassinated Malik Hast Janjua's father, thereby reawakening the old feud between the two clans.

Concerning the Gakhar clan, Babur goes on to say.

Babur also gives an account of his attack on Ruler of Pothohar Hathi Khan (Hamad Khan) Gakhar at the fortress of Pharwala.

Humayun, Babur's son, ruled from 1530–1540. Humayun lost his Indian territories to the Afghan Sultan, Sher Shah Suri, and, with Persian aid, regained them fifteen years later.

According to the Akbarnama, Sher Shah Suri started a genocidal war against Sultan Sarang. Khan Gakhar who remained loyal to Humayun, building the massive Rohtas Fort in 1541-43 (designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997) in an effort to crush the Gakhars, to whom the fort was finally surrendered ten years after Sher Suri's death. Sultan Sarang built Rawat Fort nearby and is buried there with many of his sons.

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Wikipedia