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{{Short description|Pashtun tribe}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{For|the dynasties known as Khilji or Khalji|Khalji dynasty|Khalji dynasty of Bengal}}
{{original research|date=August 2016}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox tribe
| name = Ghilji
| local name =
| type =
| image = Sirdar Habibullah Gilzai and other Khans in 1879-80.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Ghilji chieftains in [[Kabul]] ({{circa|1880}})
| ethnicity = [[Pashtuns]]
| nisba =
| location = [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]]
| varna =
| descended_label =
| descended =
| parent_tribe =
| population =
| demonym =
| branches = [[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]], [[Akakhel]], [[Andar (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]], [[Hotak]], [[Ibrahimkhel]], [[Ibrahimzai]], [[Kharoti]], [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]], [[Nasar (Pashtun tribe)|Nasar]], Stanikzai, [[Sakzai]], [[Sulaimankhel]], [[Tarakai]], [[Tokhi]]
| language = [[Pashto]]
| religion = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|18px]] [[Islam]]
| surnames =
}}
}}
(Tarakai: ترہ کئ Taraki){{Pashtuns}}
The '''Ghilji''' ({{lang-ps|غلجي}} ''Ghəljī''), {{lang-fa|غل‌زایی}}), also called '''Khaljī''' ({{lang|ps|خلجي}}), '''Khiljī''', '''Ghilzai''', or '''Gharzai''' ({{lang|ps|غرزی}}; ''ghar'' means "mountain" and ''zai'' "born of"), are the largest [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] [[Pashtun tribes|tribal confederacy]].<ref name=" are ">{{cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Khaljies_are_Afghan.htm |title=Khaljies are Afghan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|accessdate=19 August 2012}}</ref>


The '''Ghiljī''' ({{langx|ps|غلجي}}, {{IPA|ps|ɣəlˈd͡ʒi|pron}};{{efn|name=name}} {{langx|fa|خیلجی|Xelji}}) also spelled '''Khilji, Khalji,''' or '''Ghilzai''' and '''Ghilzay''' ({{lang|ps|غلزی}}), are one of the largest [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] tribes. Their traditional homeland is [[Ghazni]] and [[Qalati Ghilji]] in [[Afghanistan]] but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Frye |first=R.N. |title = <u>GH</u>ALZAY| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Jonathan |date=12 November 2018 |title=Afghanistan, A History From 1260 To The Present Day |location=New Zealand |publisher=Reaktion Books |page=52 |isbn=9781789140101}}</ref> The modern nomadic [[Kochi people]] are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes.<ref name="are">{{cite web|url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Khaljies_are_Afghan.htm|title=Khaljies are Afghan|work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|access-date=19 August 2012}}</ref> The Ghilji make up around 20–25% of Afghanistan's total population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ghilzai Tribe |url=http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=556&task=view&total=2916&start=857&Itemid=2 |website=www.afghan-bios.info |date=September 2021}}</ref>
The Ghilji at various times became rulers of present Afghanistan region and were the most dominant Pashtun confederacy from c. 1000 AD until 1747 AD, when power shifted to the [[Durranis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/tribes/info/Ghilzai_Afghans.shtml|title=Ghilzai Afghans|website=Khyber.org|accessdate=7 February 2019}}</ref> The Ghilji tribes are today scattered all over [[Afghanistan]] and some parts of [[Pakistan]], but most are concentrated in the region from [[Zabul Province|Zabul]] to [[Kabul Province|Kabul]] province, with [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]] and [[Paktika Province|Paktika]] provinces in the center of their region.


They mostly speak the [[Central Pashto|central dialect]] of [[Pashto]] with transitional features between the [[Southern Pashto|southern]] and [[Northern Pashto|northern]] varieties of Pashto.{{fact|date=December 2022}}
The Ghilji tribes are also settled in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Frye |first=R.N. |title = <u>GH</u>ALZAY| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref> ' [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] and [[Hazara Division]] in Pakistan. Many of the migrating [[Kochi people]] of Afghanistan belong to the Ghilji confederacy.<ref name=" are " /> [[Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai]], the current President of Afghanistan, also belongs to the Ghilji tribe.

From 1709 to 1738, the Ghilji ruled the [[Hotak Empire]] based first in [[Kandahar]], Afghanistan and later, from 1722–1728, in [[Isfahan]], Persia.<ref name="Malleson">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce|authorlink=|volume=|year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London|isbn=1402172788|page=227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA227#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref><ref name=Ewans>{{cite book|last1=Ewans|first1=Martin|title=Afghanistan : a short history of its people and politics|date=2002|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=0-06-050507-9|edition=1st}}</ref> The founder of the Hotak Empire was [[Mirwais Hotak]]. Another famous Ghilji from the 18th century was [[Azad Khan Afghan]], who rose to power from 1752 to 1757 in western Iran.


== Etymology ==
== Etymology ==
According to historian [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], the tribal name "Ghilji" is derived from the name of the ''[[Khalaj people|Khalaj]]'' ({{lang|ps|خلج}}) tribe.<ref name="iri">{{cite encyclopedia | title = ḴALAJ i. TRIBE | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | author = Pierre Oberling | date = 15 December 2010 | access-date = 4 July 2020 | url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khalaj-i-tribe-turkistan |quote=Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj.}}</ref> According to historian [[Vladimir Minorsky|V. Minorsky]], the ancient [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] form of the name was ''Qalaj'' (or ''Qalach''), but the Turkic /[[voiceless uvular stop|q]]/ changed to /[[Voiceless velar fricative|kh]]/ in [[Arabic]] sources (''Qalaj'' > ''Khalaj''). Minorsky added: "''Qalaj'' could have a parallel form ''*Ghalaj''."<ref name="ms">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml The Khalaj West of the Oxus, by V. Minorsky: Khyber.ORG.]}}; 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).</ref> The word finally yielded ''Ghəljī'' and ''Ghəlzay'' in Pashto.
Etymologically the word ''Ghilji'' is derived from ''ghar-zai'' ({{lang|ps|غرزی}}), meaning "son of mountain".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Morgenstierne |first=G.|title = AF<u>GH</u>ĀN| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref>


According to a popular [[folk etymology]], the name ''Ghəljī'' or ''Ghəlzay'' is derived from ''Gharzay'' ({{lang|ps|غرزی}}; ''ghar'' means "mountain" while ''-zay'' means "descendant of"), a Pashto name meaning "born of mountain" or "[[hill people]]."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Morgenstierne |first=G.|title = AF<u>GH</u>ĀN| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref>
== Descent, origin, and history ==
The most plausible theory suggests that the Ghilji descended from the [[Khalaj people]],<ref>''Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province'', H. A. Rose, p. 241</ref><ref>''At the Court of Amîr: A Narrative'', by John Alfred Gray, p. 203.</ref><ref>[http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |date=June 13, 2011 }}</ref> who early settled in the Siah-band range of the [[Ghor]] mountains, and first rose into the notice in the time of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], whom they accompanied in his invasions of India.<ref name="Ibbetson 1883, pp.64">Ibbetson, D. (1883), ''Punjab Castes: reprint of the chapter on the races, castes and tribes of the people in the report on the Punjab census of 1881'', Simla, pp. 64</ref>


== Descent and origin ==
The German orientalist [[Bernard Dorn]], in volume 2 of his book "The History of Afghans" which is mainly based on ''Tārīkh-e Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-e Afghānī'' ({{lang|ps|تاریخ خان جهانی ومخزن افغانی}}) of [[Nimat Allah al-Harawi]], supports the Ghilji descent from ''Bibi Mato'', daughter of ''Shaykh Beṭ Nīkə'' (the folkloric leader or ancestor of all Bettani), in the following words:
One theory of origin states that Ghiljis are likely to be descended from the [[Khalaj people]]. According to historian [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], it seems very likely that the Khalaj people of the Gazna formed the core of the Ghilji tribe,<ref name="iri"/> who are usually referred to as [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].<ref name="ms"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sunil Kumar |s2cid=162388463 |title=When Slaves were Nobles: The Shamsi Bandagan in the Early Delhi Sultanate |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249767771 |journal= Studies in History |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=23–52 |year=1994 |doi= 10.1177/025764309401000102 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Peter Jackson |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC&pg=PA82 |year=2003 |page=82 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-54329-3 }}</ref> The Khalaj were sometimes mentioned alongside [[Pashtun]] tribes in the armies of several local dynasties, including the [[Ghaznavids]] (977–1186).<ref name="Nejatie">{{cite thesis |last1=Nejatie |first1=Sajjad |location=Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations |title=The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān |degree=PhD |date=November 2017 |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/80750 |publisher=University of Toronto |language=en}}</ref>
<Blockquote> "To Ghilzye, who belongs to the Matis, God Almighty granted three sons, Ibrahim, Toor([[Toran (Pashtun tribe)|Toran]]) and Poor(Boran). Ibrahim had two sons Haijub and Shabak. Haijub had thirteen sons, [[Sulaimankhel]], Alikhail, Omerkhail, Karikhail, Hameerkhail, Paroki, Varaki, Chani, Donyar and Tanokhel [[Tanoli]]. Sahbak had two sons, Bujikhail and Ismailkhail. Toor([[Toran (Pashtun tribe)|Toran]]), Ghilzye's son, had three sons, [[Tarakai]], Bakhtu, and Andar."<ref>Dorn, B 1836, The history of Afghans, Oriental, page.49</ref></blockquote>

According to [[The Cambridge History of Iran]] volume 3, Issue 1, the Ghilji tribe of Afghanistan are the descendants of Hephthalites.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=William Bayne |last2=Yarshater |first2=Ehsan |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |date=1968 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 |page=216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ko_RafMSGLkC&dq=the+cambridge+history+of+iran+pashtun+hephthalites&pg=PA216}}</ref>

=== Mythical genealogy ===
The 17th-century [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] courtier [[Nimat Allah al-Harawi]], in his book ''[[Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i Afghani|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]] tribal confederacy), son of [[Qais Abdur Rashid]] (progenitor of all Pashtuns).<ref>Dorn, B 1836, The history of Afghans, Oriental, page.49</ref> 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]] ([[List of Umayyad governors of Iraq|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''‌ ({{lang|ps|غل‌زوی}}), 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 (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]] tribe), and Sarwānī (progenitor of the [[Sarwani]] tribe)."<ref>Abū al-Fażl ʿAllāmī. ''Āʾīn-i Akbarī''. Edited by [[Heinrich Blochmann]]. 2 vols. in 1. Calcutta, 1867–77.</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Shah-Husain-Hotak.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hussain Hotak|Shah Hussain Hotak]] (1725–1738), the last ruler of the Hotak dynasty]]

===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]] from [[Central Asia]] and settled in parts of present-day Afghanistan, especially in the [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]], [[Qalati Ghilji]] (also known as Qalati Khalji), and [[Zabulistan]] regions. Mid-10th-century book ''[[Hudud al-'Alam]]'' described the Khalaj as [[pastoralism|sheep-grazing]] [[nomad]]s in Ghazni and the surrounding districts, who had a habit of [[transhumance|wandering]] through seasonal [[pasture]]s.

11th-century book ''[[Tarikh Yamini]]'', written by al-Utbi, stated that when the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid]] Emir [[Sabuktigin]] defeated the [[Hindu Shahi]] ruler [[Jayapala]] in 988, the Pashtuns (Afghans) and Khalaj between [[Laghman Province|Laghman]] and [[Peshawar]], 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]].<ref>R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3 - Page 18</ref> 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 conquest of Khwarezmia|Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia]], many Khalajs and [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkomans]] gathered in [[Peshawar]] 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 dynasty|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 Khalajs, [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkomans]], 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]] 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]] and were recruited into the army of the [[Delhi Sultanate]].<ref>Chormaqan Noyan: The First Mongol Military Governor in the Middle East by Timothy May</ref> 13th-century ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay]]'', written by historian [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]], 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]] in present-day [[Turkmenistan]].<ref name="ms"/>

====Transformation of the Khalaj====
Just before the [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|Mongol invasion]], Najib Bakran's geography ''Jahān Nāma'' (c. 1200–1220) described the transformation that the Khalaj tribe was going through:
{{Cquote|The Khalaj are a tribe of Turks who from the [[Khallukh]] limits migrated to Zabulistan. Among the districts of Ghazni there is a steppe where they reside. Then, on account of the heat of the air, their complexion has changed and tended towards blackness; the tongue too has undergone alterations and become a different language.
|author=Najib Bakran
|source=''Jahān Nāma''
}}

===Khalji Dynasty===
The '''Khalji''' or '''Khilji'''{{efn|name=different_names}} dynasty ruled the [[Delhi sultanate]], covering large parts of the [[Indian subcontinent]] for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.<ref name="Khalji Dynasty">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045252/Khalji-Dynasty |title=Khalji Dynasty |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=2014-11-13 |quote=This dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty, was of Turkish origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in Afghanistan. Its three kings were noted for their faithlessness, their ferocity, and their penetration to the South of India.}}</ref><ref name=gazet>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V02_403.gif Dynastic Chart] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], v. 2, ''p. 368.''</ref><ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=80–89}}</ref> Founded by [[Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji]] as the second dynasty to rule the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultanate of India]], and successfully fending off the repeated [[Mongol invasions of India]].<ref name="Mikaberidze">{{Cite book|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia: A Historical Encyclopedia |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-5988-4337-8|page=62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA62|access-date=2013-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The state at war in South Asia |last1=Barua |first1=Pradeep |year=2005|publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-1344-1 |page=437|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIIQhuAOGaIC |access-date=2010-08-23}}</ref>

===Timurid raids===
One year after the 1506 [[Battle of Qalat|Battle of Qalati Ghilji]], the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ruler [[Babur]] marched out of [[Kabul]] 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]] the next day, where [[deer]] and [[onager|wild asses]] were plentiful, Babur marched off to Kabul.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Verma|first1=Som Prakash|title=The Illustrated Baburnama|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1317338635 |edition=illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioGPCwAAQBAJ|page=24}}</ref><ref name="babur">{{cite book |last=Beveridge |first=Annette Susannah |author-link=Annette Beveridge |date=7 January 2014 |title=The Bābur-nāma in English, Memoirs of Bābur|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44608/44608-h/44608-h.htm |publisher=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>


===Hotak dynasty===
===Hotak dynasty===
{{main|Hotak dynasty}}
{{Main|Hotak dynasty}}
In April 1709, [[Mirwais Hotak]], who was a member of the [[Hotak]] tribe of Ghiljis, led a successful revolution against the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]] and founded the [[Hotak dynasty]] based in [[Kandahar]], declaring southern Afghanistan independent of Safavid rule. His son [[Mahmud Hotak]] conquered [[Iran]] in 1722, and the Iranian city of [[Isfahan]] remained the dynasty's capital for six years.<ref name="Malleson">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce|year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London |isbn=1402172788|page=227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&pg=PA227|access-date=2010-09-27}}</ref><ref name=Ewans>{{cite book|last1=Ewans|first1=Martin|title=Afghanistan : a short history of its people and politics|date=2002|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=0-06-050507-9|edition=1st|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00mart}}</ref> The dynasty ended in 1738 when its last ruler, [[Hussain Hotak]], was defeated by [[Nader Shah Afshar]] at the [[Siege of Kandahar|Battle of Kandahar]].
In the beginning of the 18th century, the Ghilji revolted against their Persian rulers, established themselves under Mir Wais as independent rulers at Kandahar and overrun Persia.<ref name="Ibbetson 1883, pp.64"/> When the Hotak tribe, under the leadership of [[Mirwais Hotak]] and [[Nasher clan|Nasher]] Khan of the Ghaznavid revolted against the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]] in 1709, the Ghilji came into conflicts with their western neighbors. Mir Wais, an influential Afghan tribal leader and founder of the [[Hotak dynasty]], had visited the Persian court and studied their military weaknesses. The Afghan tribes rankled under the ruling [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Safavids because of their continued [[attempts to convert]] the Pashtuns from [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] to Shiaism<ref name="Ewans" /> Spawning Afghan nationalism, Mir Wais succeeded in expelling the Safavids from [[Kandahar]]. His eldest son, [[Mahmud Hotak|Mahmud]], effected a successful invasion of Persia (now [[Iran]]) which culminated in the [[Siege of Isfahan|conquest]] of [[Isfahan]] and the deposition of the Safavid Shah [[Sultan Husayn]]. Mahmud was then crowned Shah and ruled for a brief period before being deposed by his own clansmen. His cousin and successor ([[Ashraf Hotak]]) reigned for nearly five years before being killed by [[Baloch tribes]] while fleeing towards Kandahar. Their rule ended after the [[Siege of Kandahar]] in 1738.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}


===Azad Khan Afghan===
== Ghilji location and economy ==
{{Main|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 (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]] tribe of Ghiljis. Through a series of alliance with local [[Kurds|Kurdish]] and Turkish chieftains, and a policy of compromise with the [[Georgians|Georgian]] ruler [[Erekle II]]—whose daughter he married—Azad rose to power between 1752 and 1757, controlling part of the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] region up to [[Urmia]] city, northwestern and northern [[Persia]], and parts of southwestern [[Turkmenistan]] and eastern [[Kurdistan]].<ref name="iranica">Perry, J. R. (1987), "Āzād Khan Afḡān", in: ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'', Vol. III, Fasc. 2, pp. 173-174. [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azad-khan-afgan-d Online] (Accessed 20 February 2012).</ref>


===Skirmishes with British forces===
=== Ghilji in Afghanistan ===
{{Main|1842 retreat from Kabul}}
[[File:Nomads in Badghis Province.jpg|thumb|left|Tents of Afghan [[nomad]]s in [[Badghis Province]] who are known in [[Pashto language]] as [[Kuchi people|Kuchans]]. They migrate from region to region depending on the season.<ref name=" are " /> Early peasant farming villages came into existence in [[Afghanistan]] about 7,000 years ago.<ref Name=Dupree3>{{Cite book|title=An Historical Guide to Afghanistan |last1=Dupree |first1=Nancy Hatch |authorlink=|volume=First Edition|year=1970|publisher=Afghan Air Authority, Afghan Tourist Organization |location=Kabul|isbn=|page=492|url=https://books.google.com/?id=T__DHAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:%22Nancy+Hatch+Dupree%22|accessdate=2012-06-17}}</ref>]]
During the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] (1839–1842), Ghilji tribesmen played an important role in the Afghan victory against the British [[East India Company]]. On 6 January 1842, as the [[1842 retreat from Kabul|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 [[44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot|British regiment]] reached a hillock near [[Gandamak]], 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.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gandamak|volume=11|page=450}}</ref><ref>Dalrymple, William Return of a King, London: Bloomsbury, 2012, pages 385.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Macintyre |first1=Ben |title=History repeats in Afghanistan |url=https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |access-date=24 August 2006 |work=[[The Australian]] |date=8 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714034945/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |archive-date=14 July 2006 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
[[File:Sirdar Habibullah Gilzai and other Khans in 1879-80.jpg|thumb|Photograph of a group of Afghan chieftains (Ghilzais) taken at Kabul in Afghanistan by John Burke in 1879–80]]


===Barakzai period===
In Afghanistan the Ghilji are scattered all over the country but mainly settled around the regions between Zabul and Kabul provinces. The Afghan province of [[Paktika Province|Paktika]] is considered to be a heartland of the Ghilji tribe. Ghilji sub-tribes in Paktika include the [[Kharoti]], especially in the [[Sar Hawza District|Sar Hawza]] and [[Urgun District|Urgon]] districts, the [[Andar tribe|Andar]] and the largest single Ghilji sub-tribe, the [[Suleimankhel]], who are the majority in northern and western areas of Paktika such as; [[Katawaz]].
After the great Ghilji rebellion in 1885–1886, led by Alam Khan Nasher, many members of the Ghilji tribe, such as; the Kharoti sub-tribe and particularly the [[Nasher clan]] were exiled from Loya Paktia ([[Paktia Province|Paktia]], Paktika and [[Khost Province|Khost]]) to [[Kunduz Province|Kunduz]] in the north by [[Emir|Amir]] [[Abdur Rahman Khan]] due to political reasons.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zz9_Ve29eL0C&pg=PA42&dq=abdur+rahman+khan+ghilzai++exiled&hl=en&sa=X&ei=u3R2T6OTEImW2QWkx8i1Bg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=abdur%20rahman%20khan%20ghilzai%20%20exiled&f=false Title The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers] Peter Tomsen, PublicAffairs, 2011</ref>
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 dynasty|Barakzai]] Emir [[Abdur Rahman Khan]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zz9_Ve29eL0C&dq=abdur+rahman+khan+ghilzai++exiled&pg=PA42 Title The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Peter Tomsen, PublicAffairs, 2011</ref>

Among those who were exiled was [[Sher Khan Nashir]], chief of the [[Kharoti]] Ghilji tribe, who would become the governor of [[Qataghan-Badakhshan 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.<ref>Wörmer, Nils (2012). "The Networks of Kunduz: A History of Conflict and Their Actors, from 1992 to 2001" (PDF). Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. Afghanistan Analysts Network. p. 8</ref><ref>Grötzbach, Erwin: Afghanistan, eine geographische Landeskunde, Darmstadt 1990, p. 263</ref><ref>Emadi, Hafizullah: {{Google books |title=Dynamics of Political Development in Afghanistan. The British, Russian, and American Invasions |id=JZ1gAQAAQBAJ |page=60 }}</ref> Sher Khan also implemented Qezel Qala harbour on the [[Panj River]] at the border with [[Tajikistan]], which was later named [[Sher Khan Bandar]] in his honour.<ref>Tanwir, Halim: {{Google books |title=AFGHANISTAN: History, Diplomacy and Journalism Volume 1 |id=oyQDAwAAQBAJ |page=253 }}</ref>

===Contemporary period===
[[File:Mohammad Najibullah 1986.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mohammad Najibullah]], of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992]]
[[File:160712-D-SK590-361 (28233988146).jpg|thumb|right|[[Ashraf Ghani]], of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021]]
More recently, the former Presidents of Afghanistan [[Ashraf Ghani|Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai]] (2014–2021) and [[Mohammad Najibullah|Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai]] (1987–1992) belonged to the [[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]] branch of the Ghilji tribe.{{fact|date=September 2024}}

Two other former Presidents of Afghanistan, [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] (1978–1979) and [[Hafizullah Amin]] (1979), belonged to the [[Tarakai]] and [[Kharoti]] branches of the Ghilji tribe, respectively.<ref name="ira2"/>

== Areas of settlement ==
[[File:Nomads in Badghis Province.jpg|thumb|right|Tents of Afghan [[nomad]]s in [[Badghis Province]] who are known in [[Pashto]] as [[Kochi people|''Kōchyān'']]]]

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]] via [[Ghazni]] to [[Kabul]], and in the northeast by [[Jalalabad]]. Large numbers were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan after the rebellion of 1886.<ref name="ira2">"[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gilzi- ḠILZĪ]" - ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]], December 15, 2001 (M. Jamil Hanifi)''</ref>

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.<ref name="bri">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ghilzay |title=Ghilzay |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>

== Pashto dialect ==
{{main|Central Pashto}}
The Ghilji of the central region speak [[Central Pashto]], a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern [[Pashto dialect|dialects of Pashto]].<ref name="UND">{{Cite thesis |type=Master's thesis |last=Coyle|first=Dennis Walter|date=2014|title=Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties|url=https://commons.und.edu/theses/1635 |publisher=University of North Dakota}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
!style="padding:5px;"|Dialects<ref name="Hallberg">Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.</ref>
!align = «center»|<span style="font-size:140%;">ښ</span>
!align = «center»|<span style="font-size:140%;">ږ</span>
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Central Pashto|Central (Ghazni)]]
|align = «center»|[ç]
|align = «center»|[ʝ]
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Southern Pashto|Southern (Kandahar)]]
|align = "center"|[ʂ]
|align = "center"|[ʐ]
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Northern Pashto|Northern (Kabul)]]
|align = «center»|[x]
|align = «center»|[ɡ]
|}

==Subtribes==
*[[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]]
**[[Jabbarkhel]]
*[[Akakhel]]
*[[Alikhel]]
*[[Andar (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]]
*[[Hotak]]
**[[Babai (Pashtun tribe)|Babai]]
*Hussainkhel
*[[Ibrahimkhel]]
*[[Ibrahimzai]]
*[[Kharoti]]
**[[Nasher (Kharoti clan)|Nasher]]
*[[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]]
**[[Kundi (Pashtun tribe)|Kundi]]
**[[Niazi]]
***[[Kharotakhel]]
**[[Lohani]]
**[[Marwat]]
**[[Sarwani]]
**[[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Shirani]]
***[[Harifal]]
***[[Miani (Pashtun tribe)|Miani]]
****Mian Khel
**[[Sur (Pashtun tribe)|Sur]]
**[[Daulat Khel]]
**Dotani
**Khaisor
**Tattor
*[[Nasar (Pashtun tribe)|Nasar]]
*[[Painda Khel]]
*[[Sakzai]]
*[[Sulaimankhel]]
*[[Tarakai]]
*Tarakhel
*[[Tokhi]]


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Pashtun tribes]]
* [[Durrani]]
* [[Tanoli]]
* [[Yusufzai]]
* [[Lohani]]
* [[Kakar]]

* [[Povindah]]
== Notes ==
* [[Ghiljo Bazar]], a settlement in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan
{{notelist|refs=

{{efn |name=different_names |In medieval Persian manuscripts, the word can be read as either "Khalji" or "Khilji" because of the omission of short vowel signs in orthography,<ref name="Gottschalk2005">{{cite book|author=Peter Gottschalk|title=Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from Village India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fl53OdhuU7YC&pg=PA99|date=27 October 2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976052-7|page=99 }}</ref> but "Khalji" is the correct name.<ref>{{cite book |author=Heramb Chaturvedi |title=Allahabad School of History 1915-1955 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqGaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 |year=2016 |publisher=Prabhat |isbn=978-81-8430-346-9 |page=222 }}</ref>}}

{{efn |name=name |In Pashto, "Ghilji" ({{lang|ps|غلجي}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒi]) is the plural form of the word. Its masculine singular is "Ghiljay" ({{lang|ps|غلجی}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒay]), while its feminine singular is "Ghiljey" ({{lang|ps|غلجۍ}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒəy]).}}
}}


== References ==
== References ==
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[[Category:Ghilji Pashtun tribes| ]]
[[Category:Ghilji Pashtun tribes| ]]
[[Category:Pashto-language surnames]]
[[Category:Pashto-language surnames]]
[[Category:Pakistani names]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Turkic people]]
[[Category:Alauddin Khalji]]
[[Category:Tribes of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kunar Province]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Logar Province]]

Latest revision as of 19:45, 27 October 2024

Ghilji
Ghilji chieftains in Kabul (c. 1880)
EthnicityPashtuns
LocationAfghanistan, Pakistan
BranchesAhmadzai, Akakhel, Andar, Hotak, Ibrahimkhel, Ibrahimzai, Kharoti, Lodi, Nasar, Stanikzai, Sakzai, Sulaimankhel, Tarakai, Tokhi
LanguagePashto
Religion Islam

The Ghiljī (Pashto: غلجي, pronounced [ɣəlˈd͡ʒi];[a] Persian: خیلجی, romanizedXelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai and Ghilzay (غلزی), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt.[1][2] The modern nomadic Kochi people are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes.[3] The Ghilji make up around 20–25% of Afghanistan's total population.[4]

They mostly speak the central dialect of Pashto with transitional features between the southern and northern varieties of Pashto.[citation needed]

Etymology

According to historian C.E. Bosworth, the tribal name "Ghilji" is derived from the name of the Khalaj (خلج) tribe.[5] 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 sources (Qalaj > Khalaj). Minorsky added: "Qalaj could have a parallel form *Ghalaj."[6] The word finally yielded Ghəljī and Ghəlzay in Pashto.

According to a popular folk etymology, the name Ghəljī or Ghəlzay is derived from Gharzay (غرزی; ghar means "mountain" while -zay means "descendant of"), a Pashto name meaning "born of mountain" or "hill people."[7]

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, it seems very likely that the Khalaj people of the Gazna formed the core of the Ghilji tribe,[5] who are usually referred to as Turks.[6][8][9] The Khalaj were sometimes mentioned alongside Pashtun tribes in the armies of several local dynasties, including the Ghaznavids (977–1186).[10]

According to The Cambridge History of Iran volume 3, Issue 1, the Ghilji tribe of Afghanistan are the descendants of Hephthalites.[11]

Mythical genealogy

The 17th-century Mughal courtier Nimat Allah al-Harawi, 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 tribal confederacy), son of Qais Abdur Rashid (progenitor of all Pashtuns).[12] 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 (غل‌زوی), 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)."[13]

History

Shah Hussain Hotak (1725–1738), the last ruler of the Hotak dynasty

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 from Central Asia and settled in parts of present-day Afghanistan, especially in the Ghazni, Qalati Ghilji (also known as Qalati Khalji), and Zabulistan regions. Mid-10th-century book Hudud al-'Alam described the Khalaj as sheep-grazing nomads 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 ruler Jayapala in 988, the Pashtuns (Afghans) and Khalaj between Laghman and Peshawar, 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.[14] 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 Khalajs and Turkomans gathered in Peshawar 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 Khalajs, Turkomans, 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 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 and were recruited into the army of the Delhi Sultanate.[15] 13th-century Tarikh-i Jahangushay, written by historian Ata-Malik Juvayni, 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 in present-day Turkmenistan.[6]

Transformation of the Khalaj

Just before the Mongol invasion, Najib Bakran's geography Jahān Nāma (c. 1200–1220) described the transformation that the Khalaj tribe was going through:

The Khalaj are a tribe of Turks who from the Khallukh limits migrated to Zabulistan. Among the districts of Ghazni there is a steppe where they reside. Then, on account of the heat of the air, their complexion has changed and tended towards blackness; the tongue too has undergone alterations and become a different language.

— Najib Bakran, Jahān Nāma

Khalji Dynasty

The Khalji or Khilji[b] dynasty ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.[16][17][18] Founded by Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji as the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India, and successfully fending off the repeated Mongol invasions of India.[19][20]

Timurid raids

One year after the 1506 Battle of Qalati Ghilji, the Timurid ruler Babur marched out of Kabul 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 the next day, where deer and wild asses were plentiful, Babur marched off to Kabul.[21][22]

Hotak dynasty

In April 1709, Mirwais Hotak, 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, declaring southern Afghanistan independent of Safavid rule. His son Mahmud Hotak conquered Iran in 1722, and the Iranian city of Isfahan remained the dynasty's capital for six years.[23][24] 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 region up to Urmia city, northwestern and northern Persia, and parts of southwestern Turkmenistan and eastern Kurdistan.[25]

Skirmishes with British forces

During the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), Ghilji tribesmen played an important role in the Afghan victory against the British East India Company. 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, 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.[26][27] 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.[28]

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 Emir Abdur Rahman Khan.[29]

Among those who were exiled was Sher Khan Nashir, chief of the Kharoti Ghilji tribe, who would become the governor of Qataghan-Badakhshan 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.[30][31][32] Sher Khan also implemented Qezel Qala harbour on the Panj River at the border with Tajikistan, which was later named Sher Khan Bandar in his honour.[33]

Contemporary period

Mohammad Najibullah, of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992
Ashraf Ghani, of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021

More recently, the former Presidents of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (2014–2021) and Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (1987–1992) belonged to the Ahmadzai branch of the Ghilji tribe.[citation needed]

Two other former Presidents of Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki (1978–1979) and Hafizullah Amin (1979), belonged to the Tarakai and Kharoti branches of the Ghilji tribe, respectively.[34]

Areas of settlement

Tents of Afghan nomads in Badghis Province who are known in Pashto as Kōchyān

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 via Ghazni to Kabul, and in the northeast by Jalalabad. Large numbers were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan after the rebellion of 1886.[34]

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.[35]

Pashto dialect

The Ghilji of the central region speak Central Pashto, a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern dialects of Pashto.[36]

Dialects[37] ښ ږ
Central (Ghazni) [ç] [ʝ]
Southern (Kandahar) [ʂ] [ʐ]
Northern (Kabul) [x] [ɡ]

Subtribes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In Pashto, "Ghilji" (غلجي, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒi]) is the plural form of the word. Its masculine singular is "Ghiljay" (غلجی, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒay]), while its feminine singular is "Ghiljey" (غلجۍ, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒəy]).
  2. ^ In medieval Persian manuscripts, the word can be read as either "Khalji" or "Khilji" because of the omission of short vowel signs in orthography,[38] but "Khalji" is the correct name.[39]

References

  1. ^ Frye, R.N. (1999). "GHALZAY". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
  2. ^ Lee, Jonathan (12 November 2018). Afghanistan, A History From 1260 To The Present Day. New Zealand: Reaktion Books. p. 52. ISBN 9781789140101.
  3. ^ "Khaljies are Afghan". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Ghilzai Tribe". www.afghan-bios.info. September 2021.
  5. ^ a b Pierre Oberling (15 December 2010). "ḴALAJ i. TRIBE". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj.
  6. ^ a b c The Khalaj West of the Oxus, by V. Minorsky: Khyber.ORG.[usurped]; 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).
  7. ^ Morgenstierne, G. (1999). "AFGHĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
  8. ^ Sunil Kumar (1994). "When Slaves were Nobles: The Shamsi Bandagan in the Early Delhi Sultanate". Studies in History. 10 (1): 23–52. doi:10.1177/025764309401000102. S2CID 162388463.
  9. ^ Peter Jackson (2003). The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-521-54329-3.
  10. ^ Nejatie, Sajjad (November 2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD thesis). Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations: University of Toronto.
  11. ^ Fisher, William Bayne; Yarshater, Ehsan (1968). The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9.
  12. ^ Dorn, B 1836, The history of Afghans, Oriental, page.49
  13. ^ Abū al-Fażl ʿAllāmī. Āʾīn-i Akbarī. Edited by Heinrich Blochmann. 2 vols. in 1. Calcutta, 1867–77.
  14. ^ R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3 - Page 18
  15. ^ Chormaqan Noyan: The First Mongol Military Governor in the Middle East by Timothy May
  16. ^ "Khalji Dynasty". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 13 November 2014. This dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty, was of Turkish origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in Afghanistan. Its three kings were noted for their faithlessness, their ferocity, and their penetration to the South of India.
  17. ^ Dynastic Chart The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 2, p. 368.
  18. ^ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 80–89. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
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