Sibi tehsil is predominately inhabited by Pashtun tribes of Panni, Khajjaks and Tareens (Silachi Nodhani and other Hasnis).
[3] Until the end of the 15th century the district had been a dependency of Multan and had been part of Ghaznavid Empire ruled by a petty chief named Nasiruddin Kubacha.
The Brahuis left the battlefield; the Pannis collected the booty, consisting of silken belts and horses of Turki and Tazi breed.
Kalhoras once again attacked SIWI and Dhadar and fought a battle with Pannis who were then being led by one Sardar Paniu Khan (his particulars are not known).
[5] During the rule of the Ahmad Shah Durrani, Panni chief Nawab Ismail Khan Barozai was handed the administration of Sibi and adjoining areas.
On the death in 1753 of Mir Nur Mohammad Kalhora, Ahmad Shah Abdali made the Panni Nawab a royal representative in the newly acquired Sind Province.
But unfortunately, Panni Afghan forces of Nawwab Ismail Khan indulged in unworthy conduct of plundering the local populace in Sindh.
The town, as well as the whole areas, benefited from this arrangement greatly because a brisk trade between Sindh and Siwi-Ouetta-Pishin Region on the one hand and Afghanistan and Central Asian cities on the other sprang up.
This trade was, afterwards, interrupted partly because of the poor law and order situation in the then southern Afghanistan during the twenty year's rule of Taimur Shah son of Ahmad Shah Abdali which lasted from 1772 to 1793 A.D. [5] In the possession of Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai present dejure head of Siwi Afghans,' there is a sunnud/letter of Ahmed Shah Abdali which is dated 28th Rabiul Awwal 1172 A.H (1758) and reads as recorded below: [5]" Before this I had, through separate written orders, awarded the government of Sibi territory to Isa Khan Durrani Panni ( Nawab Ismail khans son) and the government of the forts of Barah-Kam(Barkhan) and Khetran and Hasni to Mohammad Khan Durrani Panni (Nawab Ismail khans brother).
All the three will perform social, military and revenue functions in respect of these areas jointly and under the overall supervision of Ismail Khan becarse he is both aged, knowledgable and experiensed of all of them.
To Ismail Khan, I entrust the whole range of matters connected with the punishment, patronage and administration of Panni tribe- so that he attends to his duties with care and gives good performance.
State functionaries should also enforce above mentioned orders"[5] Another important fact which these letters bring to light is that, until the winters of 1758 A.D., Marri tribe had not as yet occupied Kahan and Kohlu areas – both of which tracts were still in the possession of the Hasni and Zarkun Afghans.
Two years after Isa Khan/Bakhtiar Khan Panni(3rd) of Sangan became the ruler of the Confederacy he, in 1764, was summoned by the Shah and, therefore, took out a force to assist him in a fight against Sikhs in Punjab.
While marching on the other side of Indus River the two Khans indulged themselves in game-hunting till they reached Sahiwal which is a tract of land enclosed by the Jhelum and the Chenab Rivers- says Qazi.
There the Khan of Kalat having received express summonses from Ahmad Shah Abdali left in haste to meet the latte.
The concentration of as many as five Brahvi women of the family of Khan of Kalat must have eroded the tenuous fabric of Afghan culture in the household of the Nawabs of Panni.
According to Moulvi Abdul Haleem of Kurk the news of the murder of Habib Khan was carried by one of his Silachi servants to village Talli.
As a result, a Silachi (Tarin Afghan) force rushed to the scene of murder where they found and attacked Haji Khan's party.
There are several battles such as that of Jangjah (near Nari Gorge) in which they attacked and brutally murdered other Pannis who were unarmed and were busy in clearing the main irrigation canal.
This was very unfortunate because it is stated to have happened in violation of a Quranic oath which the Khajjaks had taken earlier at the Safi's Mosque situated near the shrine of Akhund Sahib north of Kurak village.
This battle is stated to have been fought about three miles to the west of the Kurak village near a bridge (on a canal) commonly known as the bridge of the earcasses' In order to cut off the escape route and to take possession of the defenseless village at the time of victory, Fateh Khan Bahramzai had earlier divided his force into two parties.
This battle was fiercely contested for quite some time but, in the end resulted in a defeat for Khajjaks whose commander Fateh Khan was one of the many casualties.
Misri Khan himself was fatally wounded in the battle, died three days later and was buried at the Kurak village Graveyard of the Martyrs'.
Once on a secret information, Akhtiar Khan led a force which, much to their discredit, brutally murdered a small group of nine Khajjaks who were travelling, along with some Domkis, to the Bhag town to purchase much-needed articles of daily use.
Akhtiar khan was killed treacherously by his companion during the same fight and was succeeded by his cousin Sardar Muhammad khan Barozai (later on made member of British Shahi Jirga)[5] Between 1830 and 1878, for about half a century, Pannis of Sibi resisted successfully the repeated attacks of Marris for capturing the Sibi and Sangan - without any help from the Afghanistan of which they were an integral part.
[5] In 1879, through Treaty of Gandamak Jurisdiction over the Korram and Pishin valleys, the Sibi district, and the Khybar pass were transferred to the British.