Pashtun tribal structure

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 are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan and form the world's largest tribal society, comprising over 49 million people and between 350 and 400 tribes and clans. They are traditionally divided into four tribal confederacies: the Sarbani (), the Bettani (), the Gharghashti () and the Karlani ().

Folkloric genealogies trace the descendants of the Pashtuns to Qais Abdur Rashid and his three sons ''Saṛban'' (), ''Bēṭ'' (), and ''Gharghax̌t'' () as well as an adopted son, not directly adopted by Qais Abdul Rashid, therefore, the identity of Karlan himself and the man who adopted him, according to some books written on the history of the Pashtuns, is either unclear or controversial, the Karlani confederacy Ormur Baraki, who became the progenitor of the Karlani.

There are several levels of organisation of Pashtun tribes. The "tribe" is subdivided into kinship groups, each of which is a ''khel'' and ''zai''. A ''khel'' or ''zai'' is further divided into ''plarina'', each of which consists of several extended families. A large tribe often has dozens of subtribes whose members may see themselves as belonging to each, some or all of the sub-tribes in their family tree depending upon the social situation: co-operative, competitive or confrontational.

Etymologies

''Tarbur'' refers to a "tribe" split into two or more clans. ''Tarbur'' means "cousin" in Pashto, so tarbur could be an enemy as well in the Pashtun culture that they can occupy your land or property. Every Pashtun tribe is then divide into subtribes, also called ''khel'' or ''zai''. ''Zai'' in Pashto means "descendant".William Crooke has said that ''khel'' is from an Arabic word meaning "association" or "company".

A ''khel'' is often based in a single village, but it may also be based on a larger area including several villages, or part of a town.

''Plarina'' is related to the Bactrian term ''plār'', which derives from Old Iranian ''piðar'' (in Bactrian and Pashto, Old Iranian /ð/ usually yields /l/), and is related to Sanskrit ''pitar'' and English "father". The plural form of ''plār'' is ''plārina''. A ''plārina'' is considered only when the 7th generation is born, meaning the father of multiple families (''kahol''). Usually, the 7th forefather is assumed to take from one-and-a-half century to two centuries. ''Kul'' (plural ''kahol'') is the smallest unit in Pashtun tribal system, named after an ancestor of 1. ''Zāmon'' ("children"), 2. ''Lmasay / Nwasay'' ("grandchildren"), 3. ''Kaṛwasay'' ("great-grandchildren"), and 4. ''Kaoday'' ("great-great-grandchildren"). Once the fourth generation is born, it would be labelled a "family" or ''kūl''.

Dialects

The Bettani speak various Pashto dialects. The Ghilji or (Gharzai) of the central region around Paktika speak Central Pashto, a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern dialects of Pashto. The Lohani (Rohani, Nohani) Marwat, as well as some other minor Lodi tribes and the Bettani proper, speak the Marwat Lodi Bettani dialect, which is a southern Pashto variety, however, its phonetics are different from the southern Kandahari Pashto. The Sheerani tribe of the Bettani confederacy speaks another southern dialect. The northern Bettani clans speak the northern or "hard" Pashto variety. Some of the Bettani lineages, including some (but not all) clans of the Niazi, have abandoned Pashto. Today they speak other languages, like Urdu

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