Popalzai
Encyclopedia
Durrani
Durrani or Abdali is the name of a chief Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Originally known by their ancient name Abdali later as Durrani they have been called Durrani since the beginning of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The number of Durranis are estimated to be roughly 16%...
(formerly called Abdali or Bor Tareen
Tareen
The Tareen are a prominent Sarbanri Pashtun tribe residing in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. They are one of the largest Pashtun tribes.-History:...
) Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
.
Origin
According to Hyat Khan's history of Afghanistan, from their progenitor Bor Tareen, otherwise known as Abdal, are descended two main divisions: the Zirak and the Panjpai. The term Abdal, however, gradually superseded Bor Tareen and came into special prominence when Ahmad Shah Abdali, commonly known as DurraniDurrani
Durrani or Abdali is the name of a chief Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Originally known by their ancient name Abdali later as Durrani they have been called Durrani since the beginning of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The number of Durranis are estimated to be roughly 16%...
, began his career of conquest. The Achakzai
Achakzai
Achakzai are Durrani primarily found in southern Afghanistan and northern regions of Balochistan Province, Pakistan.-Demographics:Achakzais of Afghanistan are mainly located in Spin Boldak, Reg, Kandahar, Helmand, Oruzgan and Herat...
s are strictly a branch of the Barakzai
Barakzai
- History :Barakzai is a common ethnic name among the Pashtuns of Afghanistan/Pakistan and it means . Barakzai is also a Pashtun tribe in Pakistan, and more predominantly, in Afghanistan...
but Ahmad Shah Durrani, himself an Abdal Tareen, fearing the growing numbers of the Barakzai, separated them from the parent stock, since which time they have remained distinct.
There are thousands of Popalzai living in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
as well, mainly in the city of Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
.
According to scholars and popular sources, the Popalzai clan consists of approximately 3,500,000 individuals and still growing, living on almost every continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
in the world. Ethnographers have classified Abdalis as peripatetic tribes. Abdal is a well known peripatetic tribe in Turkey.
Notable people of Popalzai tribe
- Ahmad Shah DurraniAhmad Shah DurraniAhmad Shah Durrani , also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī and born as Ahmad Khān, was the founder of the Durrani Empire in 1747 and is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan.Ahmad Khan enlisted as a young soldier in the military of the Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose...
– founder of the Durrani EmpireDurrani EmpireThe Durrani Empire was a Pashtun dynasty centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the Kashmir region, the modern state of Pakistan, and northwestern India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief...
(modern state of Afghanistan). - The Karzai familyKarzaiKarzai may refer to:*Abdul Ahad Karzai, father of Hamid Karzai*Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of Hamid Karzai*Habibullah Karzai, uncle of Hamid Karzai*Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan*Hekmat Karzai, cousin of Hamid Karzai...
- politicians and businessmen in Afghanistan - Naim PopalNaim PopalNaim Popal is an Afghan singer, songwriter, and composer.He is considered to be an influential artists in Afghanistan's musical history with a career that spans over four decades...
- Afghan singer living in the United States - Ghulam Jilani Popal - Leader of Afghan Social Democratic Party (Afghan Mellat)
- Mohammad ShafiqMohammad ShafiqLieutenant General Mohammad Shafiq is a career Pakistan Army soldier who served as the governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 1999 to 2000. He was appointed to that position on 21 October 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf after he overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government on 12 October. He was later...
– main leader of Popalzai tribe in Pakistan. - Shahkir Ullah Durrani - Former Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Chairman PIA
- Abdur Rahim Popalzai – twentieth-century Marxist freedom fighter and grand muftiGrand MuftiThe title of Grand Mufti refers to the highest official of religious law in a Sunni or Ibadi Muslim country. The Grand Mufti issues legal opinions and edicts, fatwā, on interpretations of Islamic law for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases...
in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly North-West Frontier Province) of Pakistan (according to celebrities of NWFP Area Study Centre, University of PeshawarUniversity of PeshawarThe University of Peshawar is a public sector university in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The university was established in October 1950 by Mr...
).
See also
- TareenTareenThe Tareen are a prominent Sarbanri Pashtun tribe residing in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. They are one of the largest Pashtun tribes.-History:...
- AbdaliAbdaliAbdali may refer to:* Abdali Urban Regeneration Project, district in Amman, Jordan* Durrani, one of the two largest Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan* Ahmed Shah Abdali, founder of the Durrani Empire...
- Sadozai (Pashtun tribe)
- Pashtun tribesPashtun tribesThe Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second largest in Pakistan. Pashtun, tribes are divided into four supertribal confederacies: the Arbanee , Betanee , Gharghasht, and Karlanee .Traditionally, according to folklore, all Pashtuns are said to have descended, at...
- PashtunistanPashtunistanPakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...
- Zahir Shah (last king of Afghanistan)
- BarakzaiBarakzai- History :Barakzai is a common ethnic name among the Pashtuns of Afghanistan/Pakistan and it means . Barakzai is also a Pashtun tribe in Pakistan, and more predominantly, in Afghanistan...
(another tribe) - {Hidayat ullah popalzi Prees of Aljazeera in Kandahar city}