The Afrīdī ( ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ) are a

Pashtun tribe The Pashtun tribes (), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...

present mostly in tribal areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The Afridis are most dominant in the Spin Ghar range west of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

in Tribal areas of modern-day

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, covering most of the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

and Maidan in

Tirah Tirah, also spelled Terah (), also called the Tirah Valley (), is a mountainous region located in the Orakzai District and the southern part of the Khyber District, positioned between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley in Pakistan. Due to ...

which is their Native Tribal Territory. They are the closest to Orakzai in their language, culture and geographic areas.

Etymology and origins

Etymology

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, in his

Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) ...

, mentions an Indian tribe named Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται) inhabiting the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

satrapy of

Arachosia Arachosia (; ), or Harauvatis ( ), was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. Mainly centred around the Arghandab River, a tributary of the Helmand River, it extended as far east as the Indus River. The satrapy's Persian-language name is the et ...

. Thomas Holdich and

Olaf Caroe Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe, (15 November 1892 – 23 November 1981) was an administrator in British India, working for the Indian Civil Service and the Indian Political Service. He served as the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India ...

have linked them with the Afridi tribe:

Origins

The origin of the Afridis is uncertain. Among the Afridi six Ḵaybar clans are generally distinguished: the Kūkī Ḵēl, Kambar Ḵēl, Kamar Ḵēl, Malek-dīn Ḵēl, Sepāh, and Zakkā Ḵēl (or Zəḵā Ḵēl), in the Khyber pass region. In addition, there are two "assimilated clans" not recognized by the first six, the Akā Ḵēl, settled south of the Bārā river in contact with the Ōrakzī, and the Ādam Ḵēl, occupying a mountainous region between Peshawar and Kohat. This complex clan structure, perhaps reflects the diversity of the origins of the different ethnic groups forming this great tribe.

History

Resistance against the Mughals

The Afridis and their allies Khalils were first mentioned in the

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

of Mughal Emperor

Babar Babar (), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ''babr'' (Persian ...

as violent tribes in need of subduing. The Afridi tribes controlled the Khyber Pass, which has served as a corridor connecting the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and Central Asia. Its strategic value was not lost on the Mughals to whom the Afridis were implacably hostile.''History of Khyber Agency: Gateway to the Subcontinent''
, Office of the Political Agent, Khyber Agency Over the course of Mughal rule, Emperors

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

and

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

both dispatched punitive expeditions to suppress the Afridis, with little success. Under the leadership of Darya Khan Afridi, they engaged in protracted warfare against the

Mughal army The army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 16th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselve ...

in the 1670s. The Afridis once destroyed two large

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

armies of Emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

: in 1672, in a surprise attack between

and

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, and in the winter of 1673, in an ambush in the mountain passes. The emperor sent his

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

general Rai Tulsidas with reinforcements into the mountains to suffocate the revolt and liberate the mountain. Allegedly, only five Mughal soldiers made it out of the battle alive and the rest of the Mughals were brutally slaughtered.

British Raj

During the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

, and

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a short war which began on 3 May and ended on 8 August 1919. The new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan declared a Jihad against the British in the hope to proclaim full independence, as well as ...

s, Afridis fought against the British; these skirmishes comprised some of the fiercest fighting of the

Anglo-Afghan War Anglo-Afghan Wars may refer to: * Expedition of Shah Shujah Durrani (1833–1834) * First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842) * Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) * Hazara Expedition (1888) * Chitral Expedition (1895) * Tochi Expedition (1897� ...

s. Ajab Khan Afridi was a well-known independence activist against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. The British colonial administration regarded the Pashtun Afridi tribesmen as "martial tribe" under the martial races theory. Different Afridi clans also cooperated with the British in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

First Kashmir War

Shortly after the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

and the

creation of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

, Afridi tribesmen were among the ranks of the Pashtun militias that invaded the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947, sparking the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the ongoing

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1 ...

. Today, Afridis make use of their dominant positions along the

Durand Line The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China. The D ...

in areas of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in armaments, munitions and goods. The excessive figure sometimes mentioned in Afghanistan reflects in a particular way the Afghan claim to

Pashtunistan Pashtunistan () or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun cu ...

and actually represents an estimate of the whole of the Afridi tribe on both sides of the frontier. Beside commercial activities, the Afridis also occupy substantial representation among

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...

and paramilitary forces such as Khyber Rifles.

Clans

The Afridi Tribe is subclassified into eight sub-tribes ( Ḵels), which reflect the different ethnic groups which joined to make the Afrīdīs: * Kūkī Ḵēl * Kambar Ḵēl * Zakkā/Zəḵā Ḵēl * Kamar/Kamraʾī Ḵēl * Malek-dīn Ḵēl * Sepāh * Akā Ḵēl * Ādam Ḵēl

Religion

Afridis follow the Sunni sect of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Their conversion to Islam is attributed to Sultan (Emperor)

Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

by Denzil Ibbetson and Haroon Rashid.

List of notable Afridis

In Sports

Shahid Afridi Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (, ; born 1 March 197is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman. Afridi made ...

, Pakistani

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and former national captain *

Shaheen Afridi Shaheen Shah Afridi (; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani cricket, international cricketer and former captain of the national T20I team. A left-arm fast bowler, he made his debut for Pakistan in 2018, and quickly became a leading figure, winning t ...

, Pakistani cricketer * Umar Gul, of Malak Din Khel; Pakistani International

* Abbas Afridi, Pakistani cricketer *

Riaz Afridi Riaz Afridi (; born 21 January 1985) is a Pakistani cricket coach and cricketer. He is the elder brother of Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was a right-handed batting (cricket), batsman and a right-arm seam bowling ...

, Pakistani cricketer and coach * Ashfaq Afridi, Pakistani cricketer *

Ahmed Shehzad Ahmed Shehzad (born 23 November 1991) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. He is an opening batsman who made his One Day International and Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan in April 2009 against Australia. He was a member o ...

, Pakistani cricketer * Sameen Gul, Pakistani cricketer *

Yasir Afridi Yasir Afridi (born 27 July 1988) is a Pakistani association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mehran FC, Mehran. Khan has been with Khan Research Laboratories F.C., Khan Research Laboratories where he won three Pakistan Premier ...

, Pakistani

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Politicians

Abbas Khan Afridi Abbas Khan Afridi (; 1 September 1970 – 6 June 2025) was a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the Federal Minister of Textile Industry in 2014-2015 and had been a member of the Senate of Pakistan. Afridi was the second-highest ...

, Pakistani politician who has been a member of senate, federal minister and state minister. He is also a reputable trader and businessman in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. *

Zakir Husain Zakir Husain Khan (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) was an Indian educationist and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1962 to 1967 and president of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born in H ...

, third

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

, from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969 * Malik Mehrun Nisa Afridi, twice member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

Asghar Khan Mohammad Asghar Khan (17 January 1921 – 5 January 2018) known as ''Night Flyer,'' held the distinction of being the first native and second C-in-C of the PAF, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1957 to 1965. He has been d ...

, Pakistani Air Marshal who built up the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

as its first Native Commander-in-Chief, served as President of

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier of Pakistan. With its primary hub at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the airline also operates from its secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport ...

and a

Pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

Human Rights Activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

Politician serving as Chairman of the

Solidarity movement Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

* Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Pakistani politician and senator, Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan and a member of

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

Combatants

* Ajab Khan Afridi, a rebel fighter during the

who carried out an attack on British forces, sparking the Afridi Redshirts Rebellion * Darya Khan Afridi, a national hero of Afghanistan who closed the gates of Khyber and ambushed the Mughal Invaders of

raining down their firepower onto the confused mass, reconquering the lands of the

, famed warrior of the Afghan-Mughal Wars * Sher Ali Afridi, former policeman from

who assassinated Lord Mayo, the Viceroy of British India, in 1872 * Mir Mast Khan Afridi, defected from the British Army during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and recruited fellow ethnic Pashtun soldiers of the Tribal Belt for the Ottoman cause operating from

* Malik Wali Khan Kuki Khel Afridi, Kashmir Jihad Veteran and Activist of the Pashtunistan Movement in Independent Pakistan. * Khushdil Khan Afridi, military general in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

Businessman

Javed Afridi Muhammad Javed Afridi (Urdu, ; born 14 August 1985) is an Emirati businessman. Business Interests He is best known as the CEO of Haier Pakistan and owner of MG Motors Pakistan. Afridi is also Chairman of the cricket franchise Peshawar Za ...

, owner of PSL team

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi (; ; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise Twenty20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The team is owned b ...

and owner of

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and se ...

Pakistan *

, a politician and Businessman, He is the founder and CEO of ''Afridi Traders'' and holds shares in other projects.

Martyrs

* Fareeda Kokikhel Afridi, Woman's rights activist who founded the Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas and assassinated by

religious extremists Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...

Others

* Monawar Khan Afridi, a brigadier in the British Indian Army, notably a doctor during the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

working against

Malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and later served as the third Vice-Chancellor for the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

* Khatir Afridi, Pashto poet from Pakistan * Shakeel Afridi, a physician from Pakistan * Ayub Afridi, a drug smuggler from Pakistan * Ahmad Kamal Faridi (Colonel Fareedi, Colonel Faridi), a character of Ibn-e-Safi, world renowned mystery writer/novelist of Pakistan. Ibn-e-Safi showed in his two novels (out of 125 novels) of '' Jasoosi Dunya'' (''The Spy World'') novel number 52 and novel number 117 that Colonel Fareedi belongs to Afridi tribe. * Malik Sher Muhammad Khan Afridi, Chief of

Sepah The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

. He along with the Maliks of the Khyber Agency visited

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

by train from

along with Political Agent, Colonel Robert Warburton. He also was a key figure in the relations between the Pathans especially the Afridis and the British Government during the 19th century, also mentioned in the book ''Eighteen Years in the Khyber''. * Malik Muhammad Akbar Afridi Sepah, 1946–1998, former Chieftain of the Bara of Khyber Agency, met

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

and former British Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

during their visits to

. * Zeek Afridi, a Pashto singer from Peshawar * Mangal Bagh, also known as Mangal Bagh Afridi, was the leader of

Lashkar-e-Islam Lashkar-e-Islam (, abbr. LI or LeI), also written as Laskhar-i-Islam, is a Deobandi jihadist militant group operating in Khyber District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan and the neighboring Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. LeI was fo ...

, a militant group operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. * Pir Atta Muhammad Afridi , chief of Akhorwal clan in Dara Adam Khel and chairman of Akhorwal coal company famous for his strong leadership. across the region of Dara Adam Khel to stabilize political and tribal instability.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Afridi people Karlani Pashtun tribes Pashto-language surnames Pakistani names Surnames