Little is known about the Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname, in fact, some maybe amazed to learn that Afghans made their way to Guyana and Suriname among the Indian Muslims from 1838- 1916. When Indian indentured labourers began arriving in Guyana and Suriname from 1838, India was already conquered and assimilated by Persians, Central Asian Turks, Arabs, Afghans, Greeks, Hazaris, Baluchis, among other Muslim clans who settled in India's large cities. The dominant minority, the Muslims settled in large cities such as Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Delhi, Karachi, Lahore, Bihar, Ghazipur, Lucknow, and Hyderabad. These exotic people found great economic opportunities in India and they were encouraged to migrate to the Metropolis by the Mughal Emperors. In India in 1857 many Afghan Pathans, rose up against the British and many were executed, jailed or sent overseas. Many of these "trouble makers" were sent to Guyana and Suriname.

There was always strong Afghan presence in Bareilly, Muradabad and Badayun. These districts had strong Afghan Townships where over 9,000 Afghans settled. It was with the immigration of Daud Khan, an Afghan slave (who originally hails from Roh in Afghanistan) in the region that the Afghan Rohillas had come into prominence. His adopted son Ali Muhammad Khan succeeded in carving out an estate for himself in the district with his headquarter at Aonla. He was ultimately made the lawful governor of Kateher by the Mughal emperor, and the region was henceforth called "the land of the Ruhelas." Eventually after the end of the Mughal Empire many Pathans migrated from Rohilkhand. Bareilly as a ruined city became crowded with unemployed, restless Rohilla Pathans. Many urban cities in Uttar Pradesh were experiencing economic stagnation and poverty. Naturally, this led to heavy migration overseas.

The slightest weakening of the central authority provoked acts of defiance from the Katehriya Rajputs. Thus the Mughals initiated the policy of allotting lands for Afghan settlements in Katiher.7 Afghan settlements continued to be encouraged throughout the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) and even after his death. These Afghans, known as the Rohilla Afghans, caused the area to be known as Rohilkhand.8 The Mughal policy of encouraging Afghan settlements for keeping the Katehriyas in check worked only as long as the central government was strong. After Aurangzeb's death, the Afghans, having themselves become local potentates, began to seize and occupy neighbouring villages.

Immigration records indicate that the majority of Muslims who migrated to Guyana and Suriname came from the urban centres of Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Ahllahbad, Bahraich, Fyzabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Lucknow, Muradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, and Sultanpur. Small batches also came from Karachi in Sind, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi in the Punjab, Hyderabad, in the Deccan, Srinagar in Kashmir, and Peshawar and Mardan in the Northwest Frontier (Afghan areas). Immigration certificates reveal major details of Muslim migrants. Their place of origin such as district and village were recorded. Their physical features such as colour, height were recorded as well. Their Immigration Certificate indicated their caste/religion as well. Under caste Muslims are identified as Musulman, Mosulman, Musulman, Musalman, Sheik Musulman, Mahomedaan, Syed, Sheik, Jolaba, Mughal, Pathan, Pattian, and Musulman (Pathan). Religion and caste identified many Muslims. From looking at their district of origin one can tell of their ethnicity, whether they were Sindis, Biharis, Gujarati, Punjabi, Pathans or Kashmiri. The physical profile on the Immigration Certificate also helps in recognizing their ethnicity. There are enormous spelling mistakes on the Immigration Certificates. Musulman, the Urdu word for Muslim is spelled in many different ways and sometimes Muslims were referred to as Mahomedaan. Peshawar is spelled Peshaur and Nowsherra is Nachera, among many others.

Afghan Pathan clan was among the Muslim migrants. Immigration Certificates clearly indicate this under the category of "caste" Pathans, "Musulman Pathan" Pattan or Pattian. The fact that there were Pathan settlements in northern India explains this migration. Immigration Certificates further substantiate this. Pathans migrated from Peshawar, Nowsherra, and Mardan from the Northwest Frontier as well as Kashmir. Some Pathans also came from Dholpur, Rajasthan. From Uttar Pradesh they migrated from Agra, Bareilly, Lucknow, Rohtak, Janhora, Jaunpur, Gonda, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, and Delhi, among other cities in this provience. The Pathans also migrated from Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore in the Punjab. Again the spelling of districts, towns and villages varies. With considerable knowledge, the writer was able to recognize these places. A few places still remain an enigma. Here I mean that a few districts and villages are unrecognizable from looking at immigration certificates.