Kalu Khan was upgraded to the status of "Tehsil Headquarters" of District Swabi during the ANP (Awami National Party/ملي اولسي ګوند) government term in the province between 2008 and 2013.

The Village is named after Kalu Khan Yousafzai, an Afghan warrior who annihilated 8,000 troops of Emperor Akbar at the Karakar Pass in 1586 during the Afghan-Mughal wars.

Beside the Mandanr Isapzais, inhabitants include Akhundzadas, Wardaks, Syeds and Mians (considered as religious and spiritual families) who had come along with the former somewhere between 1490 and 1510 AD from the Kabul region of Afghanistan and got possession of these lands after successful tribal wars and pushing the previous local people across the river Indus.

Some other families living in this and surrounding villages are Awans, Kamangars, etc who may or may not be Afghans but were allotted lands after their good performances during the old tribal wars.

Family residences, Hujras and Mosques were built at a central raised ground which also served as a vantage point during ancient times.

This division of lands in the entire Isapzai country was completed by Sheikh Malli Baba in the early 1500s on the instructions of Malak Ahmed Khan, a Mandanr himself and the then chief of the tribe.