History of Mughal-Pathans

I recently had a intresting conversation with my uncle and the conversation went like this:

He told me my Great Grandfather, who was from Jullandar, was Pashto speaking, but he claimed it wasn't his mother tongue, but a language he picked up whilst he was in the area of Swat, Peshawar due to Army duties there. There is also no clue as to where his parents originated from; though, the name of my Great Grandfather and his brothers: Abdullah Khan, Maula Baksh and Khadhar Khan; aswell as their physical descriptions, to me, sound as if they were foreign settlers. My Uncle inisisted that they were Mughal Chaghattai, whereas my father recalled my uncle saying they were Mughal-Pathan or Mughal-Chaghattai-Pathan. I don't understand why i keep hearing different narrations. Anyway, i expressed my doubts, but i learnt these doubts existed for my Uncle, who himself was not completely sure about our history. The problem is my ancestoral history only goes back 1 generation, so its something we are bound to inherit.
 
Some things i would like to clarify are ...

1) Is it true that during the time of the British Raj, if you were found to be Mughal, you would be killed or deprived in some way in society, which meant you had to hide your original identity or tribe ???
2) How likely could the language Pashto been picked up while serving the Army?
3) How possible was it for people to change their Tribe ?
4) Did people generally adopt the Surname "Khan" as their second names ?

About Mughal-Pathans:

Originally posted by malizai_ Also, simply appearances alone are not a qualifier for pathan origin, Kashmirs are often mistaken for pathans. It is perfectly possible for kashmiri communities that speak local dialects other than their own from pakhtun dominated areas to be confused with the pakhtuns themselves.

Yes that is true, but you can't deny both Pukthuns & Kashmiri's already inherit similar physical fetures obvious to the eye. Whereas, Punjabi's in comparison to Pukhtuns or Kashmiri's don't naturally ( except those bordering the NWFP and Azad Kashmir ). How commonly do you see Punjabi's being confused for Pukhtuns or Kashmiri, unless there are real obvious features, very rarely. For some Punjabi's to claim Pathan origin may infact be because of their appearence, but it would be a very weak claim. But if it is then backed up with their ancestors being foreigners in the land they live, then it maybe a truer claim.

Originally posted by Indian Pathan Thanks Malizai, if you know some site of Pathans History from the Begining.  And I want to know when exactly, I mean the period of time when "Mahmand" Qabila or tribe came from Afghanistan to 'Presnet India'. as I heard they used to come with the kings or rulers at that time.

Originally posted by Indian Pathan Thanks, Malizai, But I read in some books, in Kashmir too, Pathans came from Afghanistan, not all kashmiri are pathans but there are some tribes of Pathans. We should study and find out the realities.

The confusion of caste arises from the fact that over time under Islamic influence various Indian origin non pathan/pakhtun communities in India assumed the identity of high profile well to do muslim communities like mughals and pathans.

Originally posted by Indian Pathan In Islam there is no cast system like other religions, the one who has 'Taqwa' (fear of God) is near to Allah (SWT), Arabs are not higher than others and others are not higher than Arabs (this is the mafhoom[similar to translation] of an hadeeth). Just for identification we can give a name to our group.   The message of brother yas245 is not understandable. thanks.

Brother, I know Islam doesen't tolerate a caste system, but that doesent answer my question. I wanted to know whether such a caste existed and what it really meant. My initial thought was people wern't using it in the sense that one is higher or lower, but rather as an indication of ethnicity. In my case and in the case of my friend who started the thread, the strange thing is we have a mix of identities - We are Mughal-Pathans. I was only enquiring so it would help me understand what Mughal Pathan really meant. As far as i know we are Mughal by Tribe, which leaves a huge question mark on the Pathan aspect.

So, having just said that, it should make things a little clearer to you, but it would of helped if you had read the whole thread beforehand.

Is there such a thing as Pathan Caste?

If there is then could it be what this person described in another Forum:

"My dada told me that we are not the same as Pashtuns, he said they use the word Pathan to describe their ethnicity and for us its used to describe our caste, we’re Pathan (high caste, farmers, landlords, ghairatmand) as opposed to the Kami’s i.e. Potters (Kumhaar), Barbers (Nai), Carpenter’s (Mistri), Weavers (Julaahey), Shoemakers (Mochi) etc."

I was reading Punjab Caste by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, which is readily available to download here : http://www.archive.org/stream/panjabcastes00ibbe/panjabcastes00ibbe_djvu.txt,
and in it he had the following Observation :

2,510 persons have returned them-
selves as Pathan by caste and 
Mughal by tribe, of whom 1,169 
are in the Peshawar district ... (p.212)

This extract was detailed underneath the report findings of the Mughal Tribes, in particular this was of the Chaghatta tribe, and the numbers are just figures from a consensus report (so that shouldnt cause confusion).

My issue is, What does it mean to identify yourself from a Pathan Caste and a Mughal Tribe ??
I mean is that even possible ??

Edited by yas245 - 16-Apr-2009 at 21:37

Do ask about the place and the branch of family you said as did belong to in Afghanistan. If all that fails and you do not have any information then do start with an Afghan family branch in South Africa with the name of your father or grandfather who had migrated there. If the first man of your ancestor there was Ahmad Jan or Salim Khan then start by then as Ahmad Kheil or Salim Khel, South African Afghan. You are to be attached to the land you are living now. 

Edited by Cheeta - 23-Feb-2009 at 20:30