The Muqaddams of Kot Najibullah were leaders of the Gujjars of the Hazara plain, the ancient inhabitants of these parts. The Khatana Gujjars of Kot Najibullah and the Jagal Gujjars were most prominent among the branches of the Gujjars in Hazara. In the time of Aurangzeb, the title of Muqaddam was given to Chaudhri Daulat Beg, then the head of the clan. The Tarins first became partners with the Gujjars and subsequently ousted them from many of their villages in the Hazara plain. At present the case is reversed, and the Gujjars have, for the most part, supplanted the Tarins. In 1760, Najibullah Khan Tarin became governor of Hazara under the Durranis. Najibullah Khan vigorously governed the greater part of the Hazara plain during the latter half of the eighteenth century up to his death in 1799. Kot Najibullah was founded by Najibullah Khan but is now the property of the Gujjars. His widow, Bari Begum, afterwards entrusted the management of her possessions to Muqaddam Musharraf, who filled Najibullah Khan's place for many years and administered the Tarin and Gujjar tappas, holding his own against the Tarkhelis, Utmanzais, Tanolis, and Gakhars. In 1803, the governor of Attock sent one of the qanungos of Chach to collect the revenue of the Hazara plain. He encamped at Sikandarpur, near which the Haripur town now stands, but the Tarin family, under the leadership of Muqaddam Musharraf, after some parleying and pretence of meeting his orders, made a night attack on his camp and killed him, such of his followers were able to escape fleeing back to Attock. The plain south of Haripur was formerly owned by small families of Tarins, Dilazaks, and Turks, but they have been gradually supplanted by the Gujjars.
Muqaddam Musharraf was succeeded by his eldest son Muqaddam Ahmad, on whose death in 1871 the estate devolved upon Muqaddam Mir Ahmad. Ghulam Muhammad Khan succeeded his father Mir Ahmad in 1880 and held a jagir of 1,884 rupees in Kot Najibullah and a large estate spread over seven villages assessed at 1,700 rupees. He was an honorary magistrate. He died in 1904 and was succeeded by his son Muqaddam Mir Abdullah. The land revenue assessment, which was assigned to Muqaddam Mir Abdullah, the lambardar and the leading Gujjar in the Haripur plain, was 2,700 rupees. One of his brothers was an extra-assistant commissioner and another a sub-inspector of police. Ata Muhammad Khan of Dehdar, son of Khair Muhammad Khan, also belonged to this family.
Sources:
Panni, Dr. Sher Bahadur Khan, Tarikh-i Hazara
Massy, Charles Francis, Chiefs and families of note in Delhi, Jalandhar, Peshawar and Derajat divisions of the Panjab
Watson, Hubert Digby, Gazetteer of the Hazara district, 1907
Raverty, Major Henry George, Notes on Afghanistan and part of Baluchistan
MacGregor, Sir Charles Metcalfe, Central Asia