The Kasi or Kasian are a Pashtun tribe, primarily found in the Pakistani city of Quetta, as well as in Iran, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.
North India Pashtun Khwaja Ni’mat Allah described the tribal structure and origin of Pashtun Society in his early seventeenth century work the Makbzan-I Afghani. Although it contains information on the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns, scholars believe] that this genealogy should not be read as a sound historical source that indicates how the Pashtuns came into being as a distinct ethnic group but instead taken as a source of information, from the seventeenth century or earlier, on how the Pashtuns saw themselves as a group.
Ni’mat Allah differentiates between four main groups of Pashtuns – descendants of the three sons of the putative ancestor of all Pashtuns, Qays Abdul Al-Rashid Pathan, together with a fourth group. According to traditional genealogies, Qays himself is descended from the Jewish king Sarul (Saul). The allegedly Jewish ancestry of the Pashtuns was a subject always hotly debated in Pashtun tea houses.Of Qay's three sons: Sarban, Bitan and Ghurghusht, although there are many variants of these names, Sarban, at least in the eyes of Ni’mat Allah, was the most important. The eldest son's descendants, via his son Sharkhbun, are mainly found in South Afghanistan, and in the Peshawar Valley through his other son Kharshbun. Those in the west include the Abdalis, who since the mid-eighteenth century have been known as the Durranis. Tribes in the east include the Yousfzay, north of Peshawar along with many others.
If Ni’mat Allah is correct, there are historical connections between the descendants of Sharkhbun and Kharshbun. 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 today live in the Jalalabad area, west of Peshawar and two other tribes who live far to the south in the Quetta region, southeast of Qandahar – the Kasis themselves and the Kateers.
The Pata Khazana (Hidden Treasure) is a biography of Pashtun poets from the earliest times to those of its author Mohammad Hotak. Written in Kandahar, Afghanistan between 1728–1729 AD, the earliest poet mentioned is Amir Krorr, who died in 771 AD.
Lieutenant 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.
North India Pashtun Khwaja Ni’mat Allah described the tribal structure and origin of Pashtun Society in his early seventeenth century work the Makbzan-I Afghani. Although it contains information on the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns, scholars believe] that this genealogy should not be read as a sound historical source that indicates how the Pashtuns came into being as a distinct ethnic group but instead taken as a source of information, from the seventeenth century or earlier, on how the Pashtuns saw themselves as a group.
Ni’mat Allah differentiates between four main groups of Pashtuns – descendants of the three sons of the putative ancestor of all Pashtuns, Qays Abdul Al-Rashid Pathan, together with a fourth group. According to traditional genealogies, Qays himself is descended from the Jewish king Sarul (Saul). The allegedly Jewish ancestry of the Pashtuns was a subject always hotly debated in Pashtun tea houses.Of Qay's three sons: Sarban, Bitan and Ghurghusht, although there are many variants of these names, Sarban, at least in the eyes of Ni’mat Allah, was the most important. The eldest son's descendants, via his son Sharkhbun, are mainly found in South Afghanistan, and in the Peshawar Valley through his other son Kharshbun. Those in the west include the Abdalis, who since the mid-eighteenth century have been known as the Durranis. Tribes in the east include the Yousfzay, north of Peshawar along with many others.
If Ni’mat Allah is correct, there are historical connections between the descendants of Sharkhbun and Kharshbun. 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 today live in the Jalalabad area, west of Peshawar and two other tribes who live far to the south in the Quetta region, southeast of Qandahar – the Kasis themselves and the Kateers.
The Pata Khazana (Hidden Treasure) is a biography of Pashtun poets from the earliest times to those of its author Mohammad Hotak. Written in Kandahar, Afghanistan between 1728–1729 AD, the earliest poet mentioned is Amir Krorr, who died in 771 AD.
Lieutenant 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.