Roshani

the name used in the literature for a popular movement of the Pashtoons (Afghans) against the empire of the Great Moguls and Afghan feudal nobility. The movement was headed by the Muslim Roshani sect, whose name derives from the founder of the sect and leader of the movement, Bayazid Ansari, also known as Pir Roshan. The Roshani movement lasted from about 1560 to 1638. It took the form of a popular war against oppressors and was directed against the seizure of communal lands by the Afghan feudal lords, who were supported by the Great Moguls. The movement sought the liquidation of the privileges of the khans and ulama. The Roshanis advocated the establishment of a kingdom of justice and equality. They took and divided up the lands and property of the feudal lords. The Roshani forces defeated the troops of the Great Moguls and the Afghan feudal lords several times; they blocked the roads between Kabul and India, laid siege to Peshawar, and in 1610 took the city of Ghazni.

After the death of Bayazid Ansari in 1585, the struggle was led by his successors, including Jalaluddin and Abdulkhadir. The Roshani movement was crushed by the Great Moguls with great difficulty. It had a considerable influence on the development of the Afghan state and Afghan culture and contributed to the ethnic consolidation of the Afghans.