Yusufzai

Yusufzai is one of the largest and historically most important tribes of the Pashtuns. Today, the tribe is mainly based in the northern and central regions of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, specifically the Swat, Panjkora, Buner, Shangla and Peshawar valleys, but members of the tribe also inhabit eastern Afghanistan, having migrated from Kabulistan in the 16th century to the valleys of Swat and Panjkora. They speak a northern dialect of Pashto, traditionally considered the most refined among Pashto dialects, while some are speakers of the southern dialect, such as the Mughal Khel branch, as well as of Urdu and Dari.

The name Yusufzai is composed of Yusuf and Pashtun tribal suffix -zai, literally "the descendants of Yusuf". According to the 1595 Mughal text, Ain-i-Akbari, the tribe had a tradition of Israelite descent like other Pashtuns.

Due to the military and strategic strength of the Yousafzai, Babur needed security from their location in the hills that threatened his empire and did not allow for a safe expansion to India. As part of a treaty with Yusufzai Afghans to have family ties, Babur married Bibi Mubarika, daughter of Yusufzai chief Shah Mansur on 30 January 1519 for mutual security after failing to subdue the tribe. Shah Mansur had favoured peace while the faction of Malik Ahmad Khan was against any forging of close ties. Bibi Mubarika played an important role in the establishment of friendly relations of Yusufzai Pashtun chiefs with Babur, who later founded the Mughal Empire after defeating Pashtun Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. One of Mubarika's brothers, Mir Jamal Yusufzai, accompanied Babur to India in 1525 and later held high posts under Mughal Emperors Humayun and Akbar.

In 1586, Akbar the Great invaded Swat but his campaign failed at the Battle of Malandari Pass and it become the greatest disaster to Mughal empire in the era of Akbar.