The Ghiljī ( ps, غلجي, ; fa, خیلجی, Xelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (), are one of the largest
Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
and
Qalati Ghilji in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt. The
Khilji dynasty was a dynasty in Delhi Sultanate founded by
Jalaluddin Khalji and expanded by
Alauddin Khalji
Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrativ ...
who were from Ghilji tribe. The modern nomadic
Kochi people are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes.
The Ghilji make up around 20-25% of Afghanistan's total population.
They mostly speak the
central dialect of
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
with transitional features between the
southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
and
northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
varieties of Pashto.
Etymology
According to historian
C.E. Bosworth
Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies.
Life
Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...
, the tribal name "Ghilji" is derived from the name of the ''
Khalaj'' () tribe.
According to historian
V. Minorsky, the ancient
Turkic form of the name was ''Qalaj'' (or ''Qalach''), but the Turkic /
q/ changed to /
kh/ in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
sources (''Qalaj'' > ''Khalaj''). Minorsky added: "''Qalaj'' could have a parallel form ''*Ghalaj''."
[The Khalaj West of the Oxus, by V. Minorsky: Khyber.ORG.](_blank)
; excerpts from "The Turkish Dialect of the Khalaj", Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol 10, No 2, pp 417-437 (retrieved 10 January 2007). The word finally yielded ''Ghəljī'' and ''Ghəlzay'' in Pashto.
According to a popular
folk etymology, the name ''Ghəljī'' or ''Ghəlzay'' is derived from ''Gharzay'' (; ''ghar'' means "mountain" while ''-zay'' means "descendant of"), a Pashto name meaning "born of mountain" or "
hill people
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with ...
."
Descent and origin
One theory of origin states that Ghiljis are likely to be descended from the
Khalaj people. According to historian
C.E. Bosworth
Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies.
Life
Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...
, it seems very likely that the Khalaj people of the Gazna formed the core of the Ghilji tribe,
who are usually referred to as
Turks.
The Khalaj were sometimes mentioned alongside
Pashtun
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 r ...
tribes in the armies of several local dynasties, including the
Ghaznavids (977–1186).
Many of the Khalaj of the Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji region very likely assimilated into the local, mostly Pashtun, population and they likely form the core of the Ghilji tribe. They intermarried with the local Pashtuns and adopted their manners, culture, customs, and practices. Minorsky noted: "In fact, there is absolutely nothing astonishing in a tribe of nomad habits changing its language. This happened with the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
settled among Turks and probably with some Turks living among
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
."
Mythical genealogy
The 17th-century
Mughal courtier
Nimat Allah al-Harawi
Ni'mat Allah al-Harawi (also known as Niamatullah; ) was a chronicler at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir where he compiled a Persian history of the Afghans, the ''Makhzan-i-Afghani''. Its translated copies appear as ''The History of the A ...
, in his book ''Tārīkh-i Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-i Afghānī'', wrote a mythical genealogy according to which the Ghilji descended from Shah Hussain Ghori and his first wife Bībī Matō, who was a daughter of Pashtun Sufi saint Bēṭ Nīkə (progenitor of the
Bettani
The Bettani ( ps, بېټني), also spelled Baittani or Bhittani, is a Pashtun tribe located mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Bettani are named after ''Shaykh Beṭ'', their legendary ancestor who is said to be the second son of Qais Abd ...
tribal confederacy), son of
Qais Abdur Rashid (progenitor of all Pashtuns). Shah Hussain Ghori was described in the book as a patriarch from
Ghor who was related to the Shansabani family, which later founded the
Ghurid dynasty. He fled Ghor when
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (
Umayyad governor of Iraq, 694–714) dispatched an army to attack Ghor and entered into the service of Bēṭ Nīkə, who made him an adopted son. The book further stated that Shah Hussain Ghori fell in love with the saint's daughter Bībī Matō, fathering a son with her out of wedlock. The child was named by the saint as ''ghal-zōy'' (), Pashto for "thief's son," from whom the Ghilzai derived their name. The 1595 Mughal account ''
Ain-i-Akbari'', written by
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, also gave a similar account about Ghiljis' origin. However, it named the patriarch from Ghor as "Mast Ali Ghori" (which, according to Nimat Allah al-Harawi, was the pseudonym of Shah Hussain Ghori), and asserted that the Pashtuns called him "Mati". After the illicit intercourse with one of the daughters of Bēṭ Nīkə, "when the results of this clandestine intimacy were about to become manifest, he preserved her reputation by marriage. Three sons were born to him, vis., Ghilzai (progenitor of the Ghilji tribe), Lōdī (progenitor of the
Lodi tribe), and Sarwānī (progenitor of the
Sarwani tribe)."
History
The Khalaj in medieval Islamic period
Medieval Muslim scholars, including 9th-10th century geographers
Ibn Khordadbeh and
Istakhri, narrated that the Khalaj were one of the earliest tribes to have crossed the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
from
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
and settled in parts of present-day Afghanistan, especially in the
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
,
Qalati Ghilji (also known as Qalati Khalji), and
Zabulistan regions. Mid-10th-century book ''
Hudud al-'Alam'' described the Khalaj as
sheep-grazing nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
s in Ghazni and the surrounding districts, who had a habit of
wandering through seasonal
pastures.
11th-century book ''
Tarikh Yamini'', written by al-Utbi, stated that when the
Ghaznavid Emir
Sabuktigin defeated the
Hindu Shahi
The Hindu Shahis (also known as Odi Shahis, Uḍi Śāhis, or Brahman Shahis, 822–1026 CE) were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabul Valley, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details ...
ruler
Jayapala in 988, the Pashtuns (Afghans) and Khalaj between
Laghman and
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
, the territory he conquered, surrendered and agreed to serve him. Al-Utbi further stated that Pashtun and Khalaj tribesmen were recruited in significant numbers by the Ghaznavid Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni (999–1030) to take part in his military conquests, including his expedition to
Tokharistan. The Khalaj later revolted against Mahmud's son Sultan
Mas'ud I of Ghazni (1030–1040), who sent a
punitive expedition to obtain their submission. During the time of the
Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia, many Khalaj and
Turkmens gathered in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
and joined the army of Saif al-Din Ighraq, who was likely a Khalaj himself. This army defeated the petty king of Ghazni, Radhi al-Mulk. The last
Khwarazmian ruler,
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, was forced by the Mongols to flee towards the
Hindu Kush. Ighraq's army, as well as many other Khalaj and other tribesmen, joined the Khwarazmian force of Jalal ad-Din and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongols at the 1221
Battle of Parwan. However, after the victory, the Khalaj,
Turkmens, and Ghoris in the army quarreled with the Khwarazmians over the booty, and finally left, soon after which Jalal ad-Din was defeated by
Genghis Khan at the
Battle of the Indus
The Battle of the Indus was fought on the banks of the Indus River, on 24 November 1221, by two armies commanded by Shah Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu of the Khwarezmian Empire, and Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire. The battle, which resulted in an ...
and forced to flee to India. Ighraq returned to Peshawar, but later Mongol detachments defeated the 20,000–30,000 strong Khalaj, Turkmen, and Ghori tribesmen who had abandoned Jalal ad-Din. Some of these tribesmen escaped to
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the ol ...
and were recruited into the army of the
Delhi Sultanate. 13th-century ''
Tarikh-i Jahangushay'', written by historian
Ata-Malik Juvayni
Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) ( fa, عطاملک جوینی), in full, Ala al-Din Ata-ullah (), was a Persian historian and an official of the Mongol state who wrote an account of the Mongol Empire entitled '' Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'' ( ...
, narrated that a levy comprising the "Khalaj of Ghazni" and the "Afghan" (Pashtuns) were mobilized by the Mongols to take part in a punitive expedition sent to
Merv
Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...
in present-day
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
.
Transformation of the Khalaj
Just before the
Mongol invasion
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
, Najib Bakran's geography ''Jahān Nāma'' (c. 1200–1220) described the transformation that the Khalaj tribe was going through:
Khalji Dynasty
The Khalji or Khilji dynasty ruled the
Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.
[Dynastic Chart]
The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 2, ''p. 368.'' Founded by
Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji as the second dynasty to rule the
Delhi Sultanate of India, it came to power through a revolution that marked the transfer of power from the monopoly of Turkish nobles to a heterogeneous Indo-Mussalman nobility. Its rule is known for conquests into present day South India
and successfully fending off the repeated
Mongol invasions of India.
Timurid raids
One year after the 1506
Battle of Qalati Ghilji, the
Timurid ruler
Babur marched out of
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) 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; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
with the intention to crush Ghilji Pashtuns. On the way, the Timurid army overran
Mohmand Pashtuns in
Sardeh Band, and then attacked and killed Ghilji Pashtuns in the mountains of Khwaja Ismail, setting up "a pillar of Afghan heads," as Babur wrote in his ''
Baburnama''. Many sheep were also captured during the attack. After a hunt on the plains of
Katawaz
Khairkot ( ps, خیرکوټ), also known as Zarghun Shar (), Zarghun Shahr (), or Katawaz (), is a town in and administrative seat of Khairkot District, Paktika Province, in eastern Afghanistan. The town is located within the heartland of the ...
the next day, where
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
and
wild asses were plentiful, Babur marched off to Kabul.
Hotak dynasty
In April 1709,
Mirwais Hotak
Mir Ways ibn Shah 'Alam, also known as Mirwais Khan Hotak ( Pashto/ Dari: ) (1673–1715) was an Afghan ruler from the Ghilji tribe of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and the founder of the Hotak dynasty.
In 1709, after overthrowing and assassinating ...
, who was a member of the
Hotak tribe of Ghiljis, led a successful revolution against the
Safavids and founded the
Hotak dynasty based in
Kandahar
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...
, declaring southern Afghanistan independent of Safavid rule. His son
Mahmud Hotak conquered
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 1722, and the Iranian city of
Isfahan remained the dynasty's capital for six years.
The dynasty ended in 1738 when its last ruler,
Hussain Hotak, was defeated by
Nader Shah Afshar at the
Battle of Kandahar.
Azad Khan Afghan
Azad Khan Afghan, who played a prominent role in the power struggle in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, belonged to the
Andar tribe of Ghiljis. Through a series of alliance with local
Kurdish and Turkish chieftains, and a policy of compromise with the
Georgian ruler
Erekle II—whose daughter he married—Azad rose to power between 1752 and 1757, controlling part of the
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
region up to
Urmia city, northwestern and northern
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and parts of southwestern
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
and eastern
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languag ...
.
[Perry, J. R. (1987), "Āzād Khan Afḡān", in: '']Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encyc ...
'', Vol. III, Fasc. 2, pp. 173-174
Online
(Accessed February 20, 2012).
Skirmishes with British forces
During the
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession di ...
(1839–1842), Ghilji tribesmen played an important role in the Afghan victory against the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
. On 6 January 1842, as the
British Indian garrison retreated from Kabul, consisting of about 16,000 soldiers, supporting personnel, and women, a Ghilji force attacked them through the winter snows of the
Hindu Kush and systematically killed them day by day. On 12 January, as the
British regiment reached a hillock near
Gandamak
Gandamak is a village of Afghanistan located between Kabul and Jalalabad, from Jalalabad on the old road to Kabul.
History
During the retreat from Kabul of General Elphinstone's army in 1842, a hill near Gandamak was the scene of the Battle of ...
, their last survivors—about 45 British soldiers and 20 officers—were killed or held captive by the Ghilji force, leaving only one British survivor, surgeon
William Brydon, to reach
Jalalabad at the end of the retreat on 13 January. This battle became a resonant event in Ghiljis' oral history and tradition, which narrates that Brydon was intentionally let to escape so that he could tell his people about the bravery of the tribesmen.
Barakzai period
The Ghilji rebelled against Afghanistan's ruler in 1886, after which a large number of them were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan by
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 ...
Emir
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/ Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Lin ...
.
Among those who were exiled was
Sher Khan Nashir, chief of the
Kharoti Ghilji tribe, who would become the governor of
Qataghan-Badakhshan Province Qataghan-Badakhshan Province ( prs, ولایت قطغن-بدخشان) was a province located in Afghanistan. The province was originally created in 1890 when the districts of Qataghan and Badakhshan was separated from the Afghan Turkestan province. ...
in the 1930s. Launching an industrialization and economic development campaign, he founded the Spinzar Cotton Company and helped making
Kunduz one of the wealthiest Afghan cities. Sher Khan also implemented Qezel Qala harbour on the
Panj River
The Panj (russian: Пяндж; fa, رودخانه پنج) (; tg, Панҷ, پنج), traditionally known as the Ochus River and also known as ''Pyandzh'' (derived from its Russian name "Пяндж"), is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river ...
at the border with
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, which was later named
Sher Khan Bandar
Sher Khan or Shir Khan ( ps, شیر خان بندر; prs, شیرخان بندر) is a border town in the northern Kunduz Province of Afghanistan, next to the Panj River. The town's main attraction is the Sher Khan Bandar, which is a dry port and ...
in his honour.
[Tanwir, Halim: ]
Contemporary period
More recently, the former Presidents of Afghanistan
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in ...
(2014–2021) and
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (1987–1992) belonged to the
Ahmadzai branch of the Ghilji tribe.
Two other former Presidents of Afghanistan,
Nur Muhammad Taraki (1978–1979) and
Hafizullah Amin (1979), belonged to the
Tarakai
The Tarakai or Taraki ( ps, تره کي) is a Khilji Pashtun tribe; mainly found in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. They are divided into several major clans/tribes: Nawrozkhel, Nakhel, Jamalkhel, Harunkhel, Malangkhel, Akhtarkhel, Daryakhel, ...
and
Kharoti branches of the Ghilji tribe, respectively.
Areas of settlement
In Afghanistan, the Ghilji are primarily concentrated in an area which is bordered in the southeast by the
Durand Line, in the northwest by a line stretching from
Kandahar
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...
via
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) 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; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
, and in the northeast by
Jalalabad. Large numbers were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan after the rebellion of 1886.
[ḠILZĪ]
- ''Encyclopaedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...
, December 15, 2001 (M. Jamil Hanifi)''
Before the 1947
partition of India, some Ghilji used to seasonally winter as nomadic merchants in India, buying goods there, and transporting them by
camel caravan in summer for sale or barter in Afghanistan.
Pashto dialect
The Ghilji of the central region speak
Central Pashto
Central Pashto ( ps, منځنۍ پښتو) () are the middle dialects: Dzadrāṇi, Banusi and Waziri. These dialects are affected by what Ibrahim Khan terms as "the Great Karlāṇ Vowel Shift".
Here is a comparison of Middle Dialects with So ...
, a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern
dialects of Pashto.
Subtribes
*
Ahmadzai
**
Jabbarkhel
Jabbarkhel or JabarKhil, sometimes spelled JabarKhel or JabarKhyl, Jabarkhail are a leading landowning clan of the Ahmadzai tribe of Pashtun people and consist of more than fifteen thousand families. Many of the families carry the surname "Jabba ...
*
Akakhel
The Akakhel, pronounced Akaa Khel or Akakhail (Pashto and Urdu: اکاخیل,آقاخیل), are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Ghilji/Ghilzais confederation. Their mother language is Pashto. In the early 20th century, the tribe was generally pastoral ...
*
Alikhel
*
Andar
*
Hotak
**
Babai
*
Hussainkhel
*
Ibrahimkhel
*
Ibrahimzai
*
Kharoti
**
Nasher
*
Lodi
**
Kundi
**
Niazi
***
Kharotakhel
**
Lohani
**
Marwat
**
Sarwani
**
Shirani
***
Harifal
***
Miani
****Mian Khel
**
Sur
**
Daulat Khel
**Dotani
**Khaisor
**Tattor
*
Nasar
Nasar ( el, Νάσαρ), originally baptized Basil ( el, Βασίλειος),. was a distinguished Byzantine military leader in the Byzantine–Arab conflicts of the latter half of the 9th century.
Biography
Not much is known about Nasar's family ...
*
Painda Khel
The Painda Khel is a clan of Tanoli origin which inhabits lands in Bajna and Mansehra and north of Mansehra District in Pakistan. In the 19th century they fought battles against the British with the Hazara Expedition of 1888
The Hazara Expedi ...
*
Stanikzai
*
Sakzai
Sakzai ( ps, سکزئ; fa, سکه زایی), also called Sakzi or Sakazay, are a Pashtun tribe of the Ghilji branch in Afghanistan located around the historical region of Sistan (modern day Nimroz, Helmand and Farah), as well as the Ghor region ...
*
Sulaimankhel
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Tarakai
The Tarakai or Taraki ( ps, تره کي) is a Khilji Pashtun tribe; mainly found in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. They are divided into several major clans/tribes: Nawrozkhel, Nakhel, Jamalkhel, Harunkhel, Malangkhel, Akhtarkhel, Daryakhel, ...
*Tarakhel
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Tokhi
See also
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Durrani
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Yusufzai
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Kakar
Notes
References
{{Pashtun tribes
Pashto-language surnames
Modern nomads
Pashtun tribes
Turkic people
Alauddin Khalji