| Ghilzai |

Ghilji or Ghilzai are one of the most famous tribes of Afghanistan. They are a large and widespread Afghan tribe, occupying the high plateaus north of Qandahar (Qalat-e-Ghilzai) and extending eastwards towards the Suleiman Mountains, westwards towards the Gul Koh range, and the North of the Kabul River. They were in power in Afghanistan at the beginning of the 18th Century and for a time even possessed the throne of Isfahan (Persia).

Ethnologue

According to the Ethnologue Data from Languages of the World, 14th Edition, The Ghilzai speakers of Pashto are 24 % of the national population of Afghanistan.

Origins

Some modern-day historians trace the origin of the Ghilzais to the Turkish tribe of Kilji, who once occupied the districts bordering the upper course of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) and were brought into Afghanistan by the Turk Emperor Sultan Subaktagin in the 10th Century. According to a renowned historian Barry O'Connell:

The Ghilzai are the descendents of the Wu'chi (Indo-European/Turk) which absorbed the remnants of the Tocharian people (Indo-European) after the fall of the Tarim Basin to the Han (Chinese). - J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Traditional historians are however of a different view. According to them, Ghilji and Lodhi (Ibrahim Lodhi) were the offspring of Shah Hussain Ghauri off his first wife; Bibi Mato bint Bait Nikka bin Qais Abdul Rashid.

However the case may be, the Ghilzai clans now rank collectively as second to none in strength of military and commercial enterprise. They are a fine, manly race of people and it is from some of their most influential clans (the Suleiman Khel, Nasir Khel, Hotak, and Kharotis) that the main body of Powenda merchants are derived.

Ghilzai Family Structure

"Ghilzai lineages are diverse; some are organized with an institutionalised leadership position, while others coalesce around a charismatic male relative. Groups of related households unite and divide, depending upon which ancestor they choose to trace their ancestry. Lineage members have mutual obligations to assist each other and mutual liabilities. They are all fair game for retaliation should a feud erupt with another lineage or should a relative commit a crime.

Kin groups expand to become ever more inclusive. The next level above the minimal lineage is the maximal lineage, followed by the tribe and, finally, by the entire ethnic group. All these units are extensions of the nuclear family. All are based on real or reputed agnatic kinship. Tribes segment into smaller, sometimes mutually hostile, units, such as minimal or maximal lineages, depending on the purpose for which the unit is needed. Such smaller units are termed segmentary lineages. The principle of segmentation is succinctly summed up by the Arab proverb, "I against my brother. My brother and I against my cousin. My cousin, my brother, and I against the world." The potential for tension with agnatic kin is expressed in the Afghan adage, "Do you have an enemy? I have a cousin."

Competition for the same mates and inheritance of property cause much of the hostility between close agnates. Longtime Middle East specialist John Gulick explains kin relations in the Middle East as an expression of the "peril and refuge mentality." He observes that the kin who provide a person with social, emotional, and, if necessary, armed support are also competitors for the same resources. In the case of women, the same brothers and father with whom they are so close and who are their protectors are also their executioners, should the males doubt the daughter's or sister's chastity. These are also the relatives who know the person best and to whom he or she is consequently most vulnerable."

"Unlike the Hazaras, Ghilzai Pashtuns do not tolerate unrelated people in their kin communities. Should an impoverished Ghilzai man find it necessary to sell his patrimonial land, he should first sell to his closest neighbors. Among the Ghilzai, however, kin apply sanctions to punish relatives who sell to non-kin."

Tribal Structure in Ghilzai Pashtun Society

"Anderson has extensively described the meaning of qawm to the Ghilzai Pashtuns. His observations have theoretical significance for the meaning of tribe elsewhere. Among the Ghilzai the term qawm "can be applied to any category of common patrilineal descent that persists through time as a group identity from a particular community to the totality of Pashtun.

Informants emphasize, however, that most applications are metaphorical and comparative; that the idea refers to any larger category of common patrilineal descent; but that it usually designates the outer limit of common interest and sympathy, or at least the one with greatest salience."

Anderson also highlights the corporate nature of tribal responsibility. Fellow tribesmen share in the responsibility for offenses committed by members of the tribe. Revenge may be taken on any tribe member, although usually liability is greatest for those most closely related to the offender.

Nevertheless, "involvement in distant or minor affairs is all too imaginable and too often experienced to discount." Tribesmen also share the burden for revenging a wronged tribal member. Tribes stereotype themselves and each other in terms of customs, dress, appearance, and language.

Anderson also addresses the issue of tribal-state relations as:

The Ghilzai are historically a collection of tribes. They view their relation to the state not as an opposition of government to tribe, per se. Instead, they oppose seats of government with their hierarchical organization where there are rulers and ruled, to tribal lands where all are ideally equal and political organization is acephalous (without a paramount chief). Ideally, there are no differences among the members of a Ghilzai tribe.

Within the Ghilzai tribes are patrilineages that are segmentary and may be acephalous or may be headed by a leader whose position "amounts to an office.""

References:

• http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/260/1274/20011/2.html
• (1911 Encyclopedia, Under "G" Listing. PageWise, Inc., http://34.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GH/GHILZAI.htm)
• http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/Family.html Illinois Insititute of technology Library of Paul V. Galvin Government Publications Access
• http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/EthnicityAndTribe.html
• ChaiKhaana Forums @ http://www.pashto.org/chaikhaana
• http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=PBU

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