arathas.
Rohilla
The term Rohilla is derived from the Pashtu Roh, meaning mountain, literally a mountain air and was used by the Baluch and Jats of the Derajat region to refer to the Pashtun mountains tribes of Loralai, Zhob and Waziristan regions. The Muslims in the area are chiefly the descendants of Yousafzai Afghans tribe of Pashtuns, called the Rohilla Pathans of the Mandanh sub-section, (other Pashtuns also became part of the community), who settled in the country about the year 1720. Rohilla's Sardar like Daud Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan and Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech were from the Afghan tribe the Barech, who were originally from the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. In Uttar Pradesh, it was used for all Pashtuns, except for the Shia Bangashes who settled in the Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs. Rohillas were distinguished by their separate language and culture. They spoke Pashto with each other but gradually lost their language over time and now converse in Urdu. Bishop Heber described them as
"The country is burdened with a crowd of lazy, profligate, self-called sawars (cavaliers), who, though many of them are not worth a rupee, conceive it derogatory to their gentility and Pathan blood to apply themselves to any honest industry, and obtain for the most part a precarious livelihood by sponging on the industrious tradesmen and farmers, on whom they levy a sort of blackmail, or as hangers-on to the wealthy and noble families yet remaining in the province. These men have no visible means of maintenance, and no visible occupation except that of lounging up and down with their swords and shields, like the ancient Highlanders, whom in many respects they much resemble."
British East India Company
Rohilkhand (under Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech) was on the on the winning side at the
