The Achakzai or Achekzai ( ps, اڅکزی; fa, اچکزایی) is a
Pashtun tribe
The Pashtun tribes ( ps, پښتانه قبايل), historically also known as Afghan tribes, are the tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who use the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali code of conduct. They ar ...
that resides on both sides of the
Durand Line
The Durand Line ( ps, د ډیورنډ کرښه; ur, ), forms the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, a international land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to th ...
, centered on
Killa Abdullah District
Kila Abdullah District or Qilla Abdullah (Urdu and Balochi: , ps, قلعه عبدالله ولسوالی) is a district in the north west of Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Kila Abdullah was separated from Pishin District and made a new dist ...
in Pakistan with some clans as far away as Afghanistan's
Kandahar Province
Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan ...
.
Identity
The Achakzai is a section of the larger
Zirak
The Zirak is a tribal confederation of Durrani (Abdali) Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribes
Among the tribes that form a part of the confederation are:
* Popalzai
* Achakzai
* Alikozai
* Barakzai
* Mastay
* Mohammadzai
* Alakozai
...
Durrani
The Durrānī ( ps, دراني, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan, but ...
tribe.
Their name comes from the fact that they trace
agnatic
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
(
patrilineal
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
) descent from Achak Khan - the paternal grandson of Barak Khan, from whom are descended the
Barakzai
Bārakzai ( ps, بارکزی, ''Bārakzay;'' plur. ps, بارکزي, ''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. A ...
tribe of Pashtuns; thus, the Achakzai are a branch or sept of the Barakzai, who are themselves a branch of the
Zirak Durrani tribe.
They are divided into two sub-tribes, namely:
[Talebi, Abdul Latif Yaad. ''Pashtanay Qabeelay''. 2nd ed. Peshawar: Danish, 2007. Print. p.10-12]
* Gujanzai (whose branches are Hameedzai, Khawajazai, Ashezai, Nusratzai, Malezai, Usmanzai)
* Badinzai (whose branches are Yonus, Ghabizai, Kakozai, Shamshozai, Panizai, Piralizai Shabozai, (Badizai)
See also
*
Pashtun people
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
*
Pashtun tribes
The Pashtun tribes ( ps, پښتانه قبايل), historically also known as Afghan tribes, are the tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who use the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali code of conduct. They ar ...
References
*
External links
Encyclopedia Iranica: ACƎKZĪtribalanalysiscenter.com
(PDF)
{{Pashtun tribes
Durrani Pashtun tribes