Pashtuns
The Pashtun are not at peace unless they are at war.
Pashtun proverb
Pakistan contains an estimated 25 million ethnic Pashtuns. The estimated total population of Pakistan (167,762,040) in the CIA World Factbook, and 15.42 percent of Pakistan’s population claim Pashto as their mother tongue. Pashtuns also represent 42 percent or 13.75 million (the majority) of Afghanistan’s population.
The North-West Frontier Province is closely identified with Pashtuns [aka Pashtoons or Pakhtuns, also called Pathans], one of the largest tribal groups in the world. The Pakhtuns predominate in Balochistan and are also the major group in southern Afghanistan. The West has long been fascinated with the Pakhtuns, one of the few peoples able to defeat the advances of British imperialism. Authors as diverse as Rudyard Kipling and contemporary Pakistani anthropologist Akbar S. Ahmed wrote about them. More is written about Pakhtun norms, values, and social organization than any other ethnic group in Pakistan.
The vast majority are Muslims of the Hanafi Sunni tradition. A tiny minority of Pashtuns are Shiites, principally clustered in the Kurram river valley in Kurram Agency of the FATA. Virtually all members of the Turi tribe of the Karlanri Pashtuns in that valley are Shiites, as are some Bangash, Chamkanni, and Orakzai clans.
Most Pakhtuns are pious Sunni Muslims, and effective religious leaders often acquire a substantial following. However, there is a basic ambivalence on the whole toward mullahs, who have a formal role in leading prayers and in taking care of the mosque.
As one observer noted "By and large the Pukhtoons are deeply religious. The land of these highlanders has experienced the influence of religious leaders for a long time, who, after making their way into the mountains aroused the religious sentiments of the local people and rallied them under the banner of Islam against the enemies of their religion. Besides less known divines, who occasionally sprang up and played their short but spectacular part on the stormy stage of the Frontier, the names of Akhund of Swat, Hadda Mullah, Haji Sahib of Turangzai, Mullah Powindah, Faqeer of Ipi, Mullah Syed Akbar or Aka Khel Mullah, Gud Mullah, Lewaney (mad) Mullah, Karbogha Mullah, Faqir of Alingar and Chaknawar Mullah also figure prominently in the religio-political history of the Frontier. Saints and divines exercised immense spiritual and political influence over their minds and it was on account of their religious zeal and fervour that they proclaimed a holy war (Jehad) against infidels. They fought a number of battles against the Sikhs under the leadership of Syed Ahmed Barelvi Shaheed and Syed Ismael Shaheed and later under the influence of the above noted religious divines and stalwarts... Sometimes lunatics and impostors are also mistaken for saintly persons."
Khul, Khel, Kaum and Tribes
Kul means family. It is usually used to indicate an enlarged family. Koranai and Tabar is used for smaller family. koranai and tabar is used for smaller family. Sometimes Kul is used for a group of families closely related to each other. In this case kul may refer to khel as the pateh kul and Omar khan kul in Mangal tribe. Each family should obey its own natural head.
Pakhtuns are organized into segmentary clans (called khels), each named for a first migrant to their area to whom they trace their ancestry. Like all nomade tribes, they have long genealogies. They say themselves that they were anciently descended from one man. All the families of a Khel should obey a malik, and all be obedient to a khan, who leads the troops, and is answerable for the revenue, but should not act on important business without the sanction of a "jirga" or convocation of the elders of a tribe. Khel is an ethnographic unit forming the central point around which tribe moves. Khel is a unit of composed of kuls and koranai i. ie. families. The khel is a unit based on kinsship. In the southern tribes the term khel and in the western tribes, the term Zai are suffixed to the name indicating the basic ethnographic unit. It is the authority of the khel to admit someone into the tribe or refuse him. The decision on such matters will be taken in Jirgas in which the representive of each khel casts a predetermined number of votes.
Khel membership is tied to landownership as well as to descent. A person who loses his land is no longer treated as a full (adult) member of the community. He no longer may join or speak in the tribal jirga, or council of tribal leaders, at which issues of common interest are debated. But the amount of land owned has no bearing on the influence of the individual.
In the 19th Century, each of the tribes was divided into 'numerous Khels, and each Khel into a few families. Traditionally, the natural head of each family is implicitly obeyed ; the oldest by descent of these heads of families is usually, not always, the malik of the Khel, with a power but little obeyed. It was understood that the head of the senior Khel is chief of the tribe, and the king often granted him the title of khan. He dared not collect any income from his tribe, but lived on tho produce of his own lands ; and by appropriating by fraud part of the duties on infidels and merchandise, and in the obedient tribes, part of the royal taxes. Among the eastern tribes (who were always in rebellion, or rather, in a state of independence) he used his influence to head plundering expeditions and procure a good share in the spoil. His seniority in birth made the Afghans pay him the respect of an elder brother, but nothing more. If his character was disliked, he had not even that; the lowest of his tribe eat, drink, and smoke with him. In urgent danger the khan was often set aside, and a "Toelwashteo" or leader was chosen, and while the danger lasted he was pretty well obeyed.
Obscure genealogies, myths, historical alliances and conflicts, and folklore make it difficult make clear divisions. Pashtuns are divided into tribes, kaum or qabili, and sub-divided into Khel [sub-tribes or clans]. Tribes usually join a tribal confederation, a significant number are named after a legendary ancestor, to which the suffix khel (kin) or zai (son) is attached.
Qays Abd’ al-Rashid Pathan is the ancestor of all Pashtuns. They also claim lineage from King Saul (first King of Israel). The three sons of al-Rashid Pathan are Sarban, Bitan, and Ghurghusht. Sarban’s eldest son was Sharkhbun and his descendents are found in South Afghanistan. Sarban’s other son, Kharshbun, has descendants in the Peshawar valley.
The Pashtun’s of west Afghanistan are called the Durranis and are descended from Sharkhbun’s son Abdalis. The Pashtun in Pakistan are descended from Kharshbun’s son Yusufzay, and his descendents live north of Peshawar. The Shinwaris, Pashtun in the Jalalabad vicinity, are descended fron Kharshbun’s son Kasi. Bitan had a daughter, Bibi Mato who married a foreigner named Husayn Ghur. She conceived an illegitimate son before they were wed and the Ghaljis tribe is descended from them. This accounts for the lower status of the Ghaljis among the Pashto tribes. Pathan’s third son was Ghurghusht and two tribes are descended from him; the Kakars and the Safis.
The two main tribal confederations in Afghanistan are the Durranis and the Ghaljis, while a third, the Mohmand confederation, spans both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fourth branch of the Pashto are found throughout western Pakistan. They are descendants of Karran, who was either Pathan’s fourth son, or was adopted by Pathan. The tribes claiming Karran as an ancestor are the; Afridis, Bangash (Shi’a), Khataks, Mahsuds, Mangals, and the Waziris.
Thus there are five major Pashtun tribal groups: the Durrani, Ghilzai, Karlanri, Sarbani, and Ghurghusht, of which the Durrani and the Ghilzai are the most influential.
- Durrani tribal confederation, mostly concentrated in Southeast Afghanistan, has traditionally provided leadership in Pashtun areas since Ahmad Shah Durrani founded a monarchy in 1747. Afghans regard Ahmad Shah as the founder of modern Afghanistan because he united the factional tribes. The current president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is a Durrani. The Durrani are the most powerful and influential tribal confederation in Afghanistan. The King of Afghanistan has always been a Durrani. The Durrani are divided into two branches; the Zirak and the Panjpao. Tribes within the Zirak branch include the Popolzai (east of Kandahar and west of the Helmand River), the Alkozai (east of Kandahar and north of Helmand), the Barakzai (southwest of Kandahar in the Arghestan River Valley), and the Atsakzai (Zamindawar region and along the Kohdaman Ridge). Tribes within the Panjpaobranch include the Nurzai (southwest and western Afghanistan), the Alizai (Zamindawar and Helmand), and the Ishaqzai (west of Kandahar, Farah region, and in Seistan). The Saddozai is the senior tribe of Popalzai, and therefore of the Abdalis, who themselves are the elder branch of the offspring of Saraban, the eldest son of Kais Abdul Eashid, descended from Saul, Abraham, and Adam. This genealogy, however absurd, has procured the head of the Saddozais great respect.
- Ghilzai tribal group is concentrated mostly in eastern Afghanistan and has historically been the arch-rival of the Durranis. Some of the primary Taliban leaders, notably Mullah Omar, are Ghilzais. The Ghilzais are part of the Bitani tribal confederation. The Ghalji confederacy is divided into two groups, the Turan (western) and the Burhan (eastern). The Turan include the Nasir, Kharaoci, Hotaki, and Tokhi (Qalat-I Ghilzai) tribes. The Burhan includes the Sulaymen Khel (southeast of Kabal to Jalalabad), the Ali Khel(Mukur region), and the Tarakkis (Mukur) tribes. In the 18th Century, the Ghalji led a seriesof revolts against the Persian Safavid Empire. The Ghilzis had kings also when they were conquering Persia, and were not taxed for their support.
- Karlanris, or “hill tribes,” are the third largest group of Pashtuns. They straddle the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Waziristan, Kurram, Peshawar, Khost, Paktia, and Paktika.
- Sarbanis consist of two major geographically separated groups. The larger group, located north of Peshawar, includes tribes such as the Mohmands, Yusufzais, and Shinwaris, while the smaller segment consists of Sheranis and Tarins scattered in northern Balochistan. This faction comprises the traditional aristocracy of the Pashtun.
- Ghurghushts are found mostly in northern Balochistan and include tribes such as the Kakars, Mandokhels, Panars, and Musa Khel. Some of the groups’ sub-tribes, like the Gaduns and Safis, are found in the NWFP.
A country Afghan only approved of a king provided he never raises taxes or interferes with feuds. The whole people look on resistance to taxes not as a crime but as a virtue, to be admired and imitated if possible, like the sympathy the lower orders in England had with poachers and highwaymen.
Because brothers divide property among themselves, rivalry builds among the children of brothers who may have to subdivide increasingly unequal portions of an original estate. Hence, a man's greatest rival for women, money, and land (zan, zar, and zamin, respectively) is his first cousin -- his father's brother's son -- even though the same man may be his staunchest ally in the event of attack from the outside. Lineages themselves have a notable tendency to fragment; this tendency has contributed to the existence of a number of well-established clans among the Pakhtuns. At every level of Pakhtun social organization, groups are split into a complex and shifting pattern of alliance and enmity.
An intensely egalitarian ethos exists among Pakhtun men in a clan; the tribal leader is considered the first among equals. No man willingly admits himself less than any other's equal. Nor will he, unless driven by the most dire circumstances, put himself in a position of subservience or admit dependency on another. This sense of equality is evident in the structure of the men's council, composed of lineage elders who deal with matters ranging from disputes between local lineage sections to relations with other tribes or with the national government. Although the council can make and enforce binding decisions, within the body itself all are considered equals. To attempt or to appear to coerce another is to give grave insult and to risk initiating a feud.
In the mid-19th Century the people of the country, always with matchlocks across their shoulders, pursued their agricultural avocations. It spoke volumes for the state of a country, when men at the plough are armed to the teeth and ready for a fight. A Lashkar is a body of tribesmen raised or collected at the respons of drum beat to combat a large scale offensive. Its purpose is invariably to deal with a particular incident. The term is applied to dozen of men going to a nearby village for family feud and also to the fiftty thousand who poured into Kashmir in 1947-48. Since the Pathans are a warrior race, the lashkar is an inseparable part of thier life. The best English equivalent of the Pashto Lashkar is probably War panrty as was found among the Red Indians of America.
The millions of tribesmen who live within this system have no desire to have a new, alien system imposed on them by outsiders. Furthermore, Pashtuns are generally convinced that their system of social order produces men superior to those of the Western model.
