Bomba (tribe)

The Bomba, also spelled Bambas, are a Rajput tribe found in Pakistani-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. In Azad Kashmir, they are primarily found in Muzaffarabad and Neelum districts, with a large number concentrated in and around the town of Ghori. In Jammu and Kashmir, they are found in the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu division. Outside of Kashmir, they are also found in the Boi and Kaghan valleys of Mansehra District, and the city of Abbottabad, all located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

History and origin

The Bomba clan claim descent were from Arab tribes. Others state that they are of indigenous hill Rajput descent and inhabitants of the tracts of Karnah, Keran and Kupwara regions who converted to Islam from Hinduism. In the past Bombas ruled the Jhelum Valley and had a close alliance and kinship with the Khakha Rajputs who inhabited the same area. The success of this alliance earned them a warlike and refractory reputation, as they jointly fought the early Mughal rule of Akbar and later resisted the Sikhs.^[1] The rajas of the Bomba clan ruled Karnah till the Sikh conquest of Kashmir.^[1] The Karnah Bombas and their supporters, the Khakha chiefs of Jhelum Valley, were invaded in 1846.^[1]

The Bombas style themselves as sultans.

Sultan Muzaffar Khan of the Bomba clan established the city of Muzaffarabad in present-day Azad Kashmir. Sultan Sher Ahmed Khan, the last Bomba ruler, was defeated by the Dogra ruler, Maharaja Ranbir Singh, at Panzgam, Kupwara in present-day Indian-administered Kashmir in the early 19th century.

Bombas of Hazara

The Bomba^[2] are found in smaller numbers in the Boi tract of the Mansehra District also in Mansehra city of the Hazara Division of the North West Frontier Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are represented by three main families of Boi, Tarheri and Jabri Kalesh. The laso Kagha and Tarheri families are also important in this region.^[3][4]

Notable people

• Sultan Muzaffar Khan, founder of Muzaffarabad
• Raza Ali Khan, Judge of Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir^[5]
• Sultan Matwali Khan, Jagirdar of Kathai
• Sultan Hassan Ali Khan, Jagirdar of Boi and member of the Central Legislative Assembly on the seat of landlord
• Sultan Qutub-ud-din Khan, Jagirdar of Lawasi
• Raja Muhammad Nasir Khan, secretary to Maharaja of Kashmir
• Muhammad Muzaffar Khan, first Muslim judge in the princely state Jammu and Kashmir

See also

• Ethnic groups of Azad Kashmir

References

1. Stein 1989, p. 434.
2. History Of The Chamar Dynasty by Raj Kumar, History Of The Chamar Dynasty. From 6th Century A.D. To 12th Century A.D. Raj Kumar. p. 232.
3. Hill Tribes of Kashmere and Huzara (1932), Tribes of Kashmir (1932). Hill Tribes of Kashmere and Huzara (1932). Gallway, HW.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series: Kashmir and Jammu Adamant co, p9, Imperial Gazetteer of India. Kashmir and Jammu Adamant. India: Provincial Series. pp. hi 9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
5. "Justice Raza Khan, Justice Naseem swear in as judges of AJK Supreme Court". Daily Times. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.

Books

• Stein, Mark Aurel (1989) [1900]. Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 2 (Reprinted ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0370-1. Retrieved 10 July 2011.