Login
Login

Barakzai

{{Short description|Pashtun tribe}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}

{{Infobox tribe

| name = Barakzai

| local name = بارکزئ

| type =

| image = Dost_Mohammad_Khan_of_Afghanistan_with_his_son.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| ethnicity = Pashtun

| nisba =

| location = Afghanistan, Iran

| varna =

| descended_label =

| descended =

| parent_tribe =

| population = 800

| demonym =

| branches = Mohammadzai, Sherzai, Achakzai

| language = Pashto, Dari

| religion = 18px Islam

| surnames =

}}

Bārakzai ({{langx|ps|بارکزی|Bārakzay}}, plur. {{lang|ps|بارکزي}}, {{Transliteration|ps|Bārakzī}}) is the name of a Pashtun tribe from present-day Kandahar, Afghanistan. '"Barakzai" is a common name among the Pashtuns and it means "son of Barak" in Pashto.{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Mike|title=An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict, 1978-2012|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199387984|page=321|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OENeBAAAQBAJ&q=Barak%2C+Alak+and+Popol&pg=PA321|access-date=26 July 2016|quote=In Pushtun folklore, Barak, Alak and Popol were brothers who went their separate ways to found tribes in their own namesake with the addition of the—zai (son of) suffix, for example, Barakzai.}} According to the Encyclopædia Iranica, "In the detailed Pashtun genealogies there are no fewer than seven instances of the ethnic name Bārakzī, at very different levels of tribal segmentation. Six of them designate simple lineages within six different tribes located in the Solaymān mountains or adjacent lands... The seventh instance, on the other hand, designates one of the most important Pashtun tribes in numbers and historic role, part of the Zīrak branch of the Dorrānay confederation.

History

Ludwig W. Adamec wrote that the Barakzai are "an important section of the Zirak branch of the Durrani to which the former Barakzai/Muhammadzai ruling family belongs. In numbers, economic, and political strength, the Barakzai were the paramount tribe of Afghanistan...They were soldiers in the service of Nadir Shah, founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty in Iran, and were settled on land seized from the Ghilzai. They continued to hold jagirs, fiefs, in exchange for their military services to Ahmad Shah Durrani. When Painda Khan, leader of the Barakzais, was assassinated, the Barakzai chiefs under Dost Muhammad ousted and replaced the Sadozai dynasty. The Barakzai continue to possess large areas of agricultural land and extensive flocks in the area between Herat and Kandahar."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAHna6aqtX4C&q=Barak+barakzai&pg=PA81|title=Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan 4th revised edition|date=2011|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810878150|page=81|last1=Adamec|first1=Ludwig W.|access-date=26 July 2016 |language=en}}

File:PedigreeOfDostMohammed.png

File:Barakzai Rulers of Afghanistan.png from the Barakzai dynasty.{{Cite book |last=Adamec |first=Ludwig W. |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3469 |title=Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan |date=1975 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |isbn=978-3-201-00921-8 |location=Graz |chapter=Genealogies of Afghan Families}}]]

Mohammadzai

Mohammadzai are the most prominent & powerful sub-tribe of Barakzai, they belong to the Zirak branch of the Durrani confederacy, and are primarily centered around Kandahar. They can also be found in other provinces throughout Afghanistan as well across the border in the Pakistan's Balochistan Province.

The Musahiban, originally the Yahya Khel clan,{{cite book|last1=Saikal|first1=Amin|title=Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival|date=2004|publisher=B. Tauris|isbn=978-1850434375|pages=47–49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RaTrVFoWvU8C&q=Musahiban+name&pg=PA48|access-date=31 May 2016}} are descendants of Sultan Mohammad Khan. Mohammadzai Barakzai are closely related to Amanullah Khan.

Dynasty

From 1826 to 1978, most rulers of Afghanistan belonged to the two branches of one Barakzai dynasty descending from the chiefs of the Barakzai tribe (belonging to the Mohammadzai sub-tribe).

Languages

The principal language of Barakzai is Pashto. Dari is also used as the language for records and correspondence.Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan By Rizwan Hussain Page 16page 64 India and Central Asia By J. N. Roy, J.N. Roy And B.B. Kumar, Astha Bharati (Organization)

Noteables

See also

References

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite encyclopedia|last=Balland |first=D. |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |title=BĀRAKZĪ |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barakzi-singular-barakzay-an-ethnic-name-common-in-the-entire-eastern-portion-of-iran-and-afghanistan-where-it-is-found |edition=Online |publisher=Columbia University |location=United States }}

[http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/38.htm Afghanistan – Ethnic Groups]

{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514122925/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/StudyofthePathanCommunitiesinF.shtml Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India]}}, Khyber.org (retrieved 30 January 2008)

}}

External links

  • {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20121220202043/http://www.khyber.org/pashtotribes/b/barakzai.shtml Article title]}}
  • http://magog.web-site.co.il/gog/e_tribes.shtml

{{Pashtun tribes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barakzai}}

Category:Durrani Pashtun tribes

Category:Sarbani Pashtun tribes

Category:Surnames

Category:Tribes of Afghanistan

Category:Ethnic groups in Kabul Province

Category:Pashtun tribes