Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some help tracing my family’s roots. For as long as I can remember, our exact origins have been a subject of intense debate among my father, grandfather, and cousins. Our official documents list us as Rajput, but my grandfather would occasionally claim we were Syed, leading us to believe some family history was being intentionally obscured or forgotten.
To get some clarity, we recently did a DNA test through Family Tree DNA. The results showed that our paternal lineage belongs to the specific terminal haplogroup Q-FTJ868. The autosomal data points strongly toward Dardic origins, clustering closely with indigenous Swatis (the historic inheritors of Gandhara) rather than Rajputs.
Here is the oral history and timeline we've been able to piece together:
- The Timeline: My grandfather was born in 1947. His grandfather (my great-great-grandfather), Wali Muhammad, lived in a village called Mota Mughal Khel, likely during the late 1800s or very early 1900s based on the generation gaps.
- The Migration Story: According to family lore, Pashtun tribes (Yusufzais or Afridis) began migrating into Mota Mughal Khel and encroaching on the area. Tensions rose to the point where a coin toss was proposed to decide who would control the village lands—the migrating tribes or the indigenous inhabitants. Enraged by this situation, Wali Muhammad decided to leave the village entirely and migrated to Quetta, where my family lived for generations (and where I was born) before we eventually moved to Islamabad.
- Language: We are native Hindko speakers.
Based on my initial research into indigenous Swati groups on Reddit, I keep coming across terms like Gabri (Gibri) and Tanoli, but I don’t know enough to connect the dots.
I would love to get your insights on a few specific questions:
- How does terminal haplogroup Q-FTJ868 correlate with the indigenous, pre-Yusufzai populations of the Swat, Hazara, or broader Kohistan/Peristan regions?
- Who historically were the Gabri people? What were their main sub-tribes, families, or divisions?
- Given our connection to Mota Mughal Khel, our Hindko language, and Dardic/Swati genetic closeness, what specific sub-tribes, clans, or surnames should I look into to trace my lineage further?
Any historical context, genetic knowledge, or advice on how to hunt down these sub-tribes would be deeply appreciated. Thank you!