Kotla Mohsin Khan

Kotla Mohsin Khan was constructed in the mid-16th century in the old city of Peshawar, and today consists of two domed tombs and the famous majestic gateway, it was also the residence of Mazullah Khan, a 17th-century Pashto poet. The last Mughal governor, Nawab Nasir Khan welcomed the Afghan King, Mohammed Nadir Shah and gave him the key to Peshawar in 1741 when he visited the city. This signaled the end of the Mughal Empire in Peshawar. According to an earlier legend, the foundation of the gate was laid down in the latter half of the 16th century in the presence of renowned personalities of the time, Sheikh Kaka Sahib and Akhund Derwaza Baba.

It is also recorded that Arbab Mustajab Khan, being the representative of the Mughals, settled disputes amongst the Ghori Khel tribes in the balconies of the building. When the Mughals arrested Khushal Khan Khattak, Arbab Mustajab Khan, secured his release from the dungeon, through his personal efforts and kept him as a guest in the castle. On the orders of the ruler of Peshawar, when Khushal Khan Khattak was sent to Delhi, Mustajab Khan also accompanied his friend. This verse by Khushal Khan Khattak says:

I was accompanied on my journey

To Hind by Mustajab,

Being a Khan, a Malik and an Arbab

The original name of this site was Kotla Mustajab Khan. It was renamed as Kotla Mohsin Khan due to the owner's close relationship with Mustajab Khan during the reign of Afghan King, Ahmad Shah Durrani. During the siege of Peshawar in 1830s, the Sikhs also burnt this site and it was later refurbished. The gate and minarets of Kotla Mohsin Khan are historical landmarks of the 16th- and 17th-century "Roshnai period". Bayazid Ansari alias Pir Rokhan started his religious and political movement against the Mughal emperor Akbar from this site. Allah Dad Doshani alias Rashid Khan constructed minarets at this site to conduct judicial duties. The "Village Kotla Mohsin Khan was founded by the forefathers of Afghan Mohib Khel family, some four to five centuries ago or even before. Afghan Mohib Khel is one of the famous castes and sects of Tapa Mohmand of the Pushtoon tribe of district Peshawar. 

The individuals of Afghan Mohib Khel family were and are respectable people and every member of the family with little or great social status called himself Malik. Therefore, every member of the Afghan Mohib Khel family of village Kotla Mohsin Khan was and is basically a malik. However, different Governments (Mughals and the British, etc.) in the past bestowed the title of Arbabi on some powerful individuals of this family and had also given them certain responsibilities/services which they had to render on behalf of the governments of the time. However, Malikee of the village revolved in the descendants of the two sons; Jehangir and Allou of Malik Karam Khan of the same family (Afghan Mohib Khel). In the 6th generation his great grandson Mushtaq Hussain S/O Abdul Hamid is a Malik of the Village Kotla Mohsin Khan.

Moreover, it may be understood that Arbab and Malik are two titles and not two separate castes/sects. Other families residing in the village are also respectable. They have their own castes and sects. However,it is clear that they had and have come to the village in the past from the different neighbouring areas/villages of Peshawar district or other districts in the province. Arbabs and Maliks of village Kotla Mohsin Khan are both Afghan Mohib Khel by caste and sect and have common genealogy . [see Naqal Shajara-i-Maleekan Muza Kotla Mohsin Khan, Tehsil Wa Zela Peshawar Sal-i-Bandubast-1870,Tawareekh-i-Peshawar by Gopal Dass and Revenue record of the village Kotla Mohsin Khan Peshawar].