The tribe is found primarily in
Hashtnagar, an area in
Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, that borders the
Swat River's left bank. They were originally said to have resided in
Afghanistan, but moved to the Charsadda region, then called Hashtnagar, as a result of a war against the
Dilazak in which the Muhammadzai joined forces with
Yousafzai and
Gigyani and divided the lands between themselves. The Muhammadzai took control of Hashtnagar, the most fertile region, while the Gigyani took southern
Bajaur and
Doaba. because the branches of the tribe and the villages they each inhabited share the same names. The following breakdown comes from an 1878 report on what was then part of the Peshawar District:
Tangi (
Barazai and Nasratzai),
Sherpao,
Umarzai,
Turangzai,
Utmanzai, Dargai, all these tribes are living in
Charsadda, and
Prang. Rose's tribal glossary adds that "with them are settled a few descendants of Muhammad's brothers, from one of whom,
Kheshgi, one of their principal villages is named." Their irrigated, rice-bearing lands along the Swat River are known as the lowlands or . In contrast, the high lands are referred to as the . One sub division of Muhammadzai Hashtnagar arrived in
Ghwarband valley of district Shangla and settled there. Although mainly located in the Hashtnagar area of Charsadda, the Muhammadzai are also based in
Akora Khattak and
Peshawar. ==Politics and influence==