Wazir (Pashtun tribe)

{{Short description|Pakistani-Afghan tribe}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Wazir

| native_name = {{Naskh|وزیر}}

| languages = Pashto

| religions = 18px

Islam
100% Sunni

| related_groups = Bannuzais{{·}}Khattaks{{·}} Zadrans{{·}}Afridis{{·}}Mangals{{·}}Mehsuds
and other Karlani Pashtun tribes

}}

The Wazirs or Waziris ({{langx|ps|وزير}}) are a Karlani Pashtun tribe found mainly in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The Utmanzai Wazir are settled in North Waziristan and Wazir Tehsil in Bannu, while the Ahmadzai Wazir and Mahsud Wazir are in South Waziristan, and in Domel, Bannu.{{cite web |publisher=Naval Postgraduate School |title=Tribe: Ahmadzai Wazir |url=http://www.nps.edu/programs/ccs/Docs/Pakistan/Tribes/Ahmadzai_Wazir.pdf}}{{cite book |title=Pakistan |first=Syed Farooq |last=Hasnat |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313346972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yeqwIs_NoTEC&pg=PA164 |page=164}}{{cite book |title=The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier |first=Imtiaz |last=Gul |publisher=Penguin UK |year=2010 |isbn=9780141962986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MU3VUC1qeLYC&pg=PT87 |page=44}} Those subgroups are in turn divided further, for example into Utmanzai tribes such as the Baka Khel and Jani Khel.{{cite book |title=A British Tale of Indian and Foreign Service: The Memoirs of Sir Ian Scott |first=Ian |last=Scott |editor-first=Denis |editor-last=Judd |publisher=The Radcliffe Press |year=1999 |isbn=9781860643804 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynErxAOIz9gC&pg=PA71 |page=71}} The Wazirs speak the Waziristani dialect of Pashto which is similar to the neighboring Banuchi and Dawari dialect but still distinct.

The common ancestor of the Ahmadzai and Utmanzai is believed by them to be the eponymous W also ancestor to the Mahsud wazir tribe that has since taken a distinct and divergent path. Through Wazir, the tribes trace their origins to Karlani and thence to the founder of the Pashtun lineage, Qais Abdur Rashid.{{cite book |title=The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam |first=Akbar |last=Ahmed |author-link=Akbar Ahmed |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780815723790 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_YMKlVfFLkC&pg=PT66 }} Some western ethnologists consider them of being mix of Arachosian or Tatar ethnicity.

Although the Utmanzai and Mehsud tribes have a traditional rivalry and live in geographically distinct regions,{{cite web |publisher=Naval Postgraduate School |title=Tribe: Utmanzai Wazir aka Utmanzai |url=http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Docs/Pakistan/Tribes/Utmanzai.pdf}} the Ahmadzai and Mehsud communities co-exist peacefully and many head men are connected by marriage.