The Barakzai dynasty, also known as the Muhammadzai dynasty ("the ruling sub-clan of the Barakzai"),Ende in Islam in the World Today: A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society, p. 259Herbe in All in the family, Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in Middle Eastern Monarchies, p. 199Ahmed in Afghanistan Rising Islamic Law and Statecraft Between the Ottoman and British Empires, p. 23 ruled what is now Afghanistan from 1818 to 1978, when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammad Zahir Shah and de facto under his cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durrani Empire of Ahmad Shah Durrani was removed from power.
History and background
Alleged Israelite ancestry The Barakzai claimed descent from the children of Israel in a direct line through the first Israeli King Saul, whose family intermarried with the family of his successor King David.Kharnam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia 2005, publisher Global Vision, , page 20Socio-economic Behaviour of Pukhtun Tribes By Dipali Saha, Dipali Saha – 2006 – 282 pages – Page 124 King Saul's grandson the Prince (Malak) Afghana was grown up by King Solomon, acting as his commander in chief and Manager in the construction of the Temple Mount.The people of India By Herbert Risley, W. Crooke – 1999 – 472 pages – Page 64.Illustrations of prophecy, By Joseph Lomas Towers – 1796 – 799 pages – page 590. However Prince Afghana sought refuge in a place called "Takht-e-Sulaiman", where he settled as Exil Arch.Tadhkirat al-Muluk: A Manual of Safavid Administration, Translated by V. Minorsky, Publisher: Gibb Memorial Trust; 2nd edition (December 1, 1980) Language: English, ISBN 978-0906094129, Paperback: 360 pages. A direct descendant of Prince Afghana in the 37th generation called Qais heard of the message of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and visited him in Medinah. Qais regarded Muhammad as the awaited Moschiach and embraced Islam under him. He changed his name Qais to Abdul Rashid Pathan and married a daughter of Khalid bin Walid.Niamatullah's history of the Afghans, Volume 1, Niʻmat Allāh, Nirod Bhusan Roy, Santiniketan Press, 1958.Settling the frontier: land, law and society in the Peshawar valley, 1500–1900, Robert Nichols, Robert Nichols (PhD.), Oxford University Press, 2001 – 321 pages.Imperial gazetteer of India, Volume 5, Sir William Wilson Hunter, Great Britain. India Office, Clarendon Press, 1908.
Qais Abdur Rashid's descendant Sulaiman, also known as "Zirak Khan", is regarded as the forefather of the Durrani Pashtuns to whom the Barakzai also belonged, next to the Popalzai and Alakozai. It is through Sulaiman's son Barak, that the Barakzai derive their name from, because Barakzai means "children of Barak".Alikozai in a Conside History of Afghanistan, p. 355, Trafford 2013
History The Barakzai dynasty was the line of rulers in Afghanistan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Following the fall of the Durrani Empire in 1823, chaos reigned in the domains of Ahmad Shah Durrani's Afghan Empire as various sons of Timur Shah struggled for supremacy. The Afghan Empire ceased to exist as a single nation state, disintegrating for a brief time into a fragmented collection of small units. Dost Mohammad Khan gained preeminence alongside his brother, Sultan Mohammad Khan in 1823. Dost Mohammad Khan would found the Barakzai dynasty in about 1837. Thereafter, his descendants ruled in direct succession until 1929, when King Amanullah Khan and his brother Inayatullah Khan abdicated and their cousin Mohammed Nadir Shah secured the throne after defeating Habibullah Kalakani. The most prominent and powerful sub-clan of the Barakzai Pashtun tribe is the Mohammadzai, from which the 1823–1973 Afghanistan ruling dynasty comes.
Prior the seizing of the Durrani empire by the Barakzai dynasty, Loy Qandahar was captured by the Dil Brothers, Sher Dil Khan, Pur Dil Khan, Kohan Dil Khan, Mehr Dil Khan and Rahim Dil Khan, in the year 1818 and declared their independence, which lasted as an independent state until 1855, when Amir Dost Mohammad Khan unified Qandahar with Kabul.
At the start of Barakzai rule over Emirate of Kabul in March 1823, the Afghans lost their former stronghold of the Peshawar Valley to the Sikh Khalsa Army of Ranjit Singh at the Battle of Nowshera. The Afghan forces in the battle were supported by Azim Khan, half-brother of Dost Mohammad Khan. During the Barakzai era, Afghanistan saw much of its territory lost to the British in the south and east, Persia in the west, and Russia in the north. There were also many conflicts within Afghanistan, including the three major Anglo-Afghan wars and the 1928–29 civil war.
Definition and cadet branches
The Royal Barakzai or "Muhammadzai" are the descendants of the founder of the Barakzai dynasty the Emir ul Umara (Emir of all Emirs) Payindah Mohammed Khan, who plotted against the Durrani Imperial Family, proclaiming himself Emir. The hereditary title Sardar (Prince) is bestowed upon all descendants of Emir Payindah Mohammed.
Seraj
The Seraj cadet-branch are the descendants of Emir Dost Mohammed Khan, who alongside his predecessor and brother Sultan Mohammad Khan consolidated Barakzai rule in Afghanistan. The Seraj were mainly the Emirs of the first Emirate of Afghanistan that ended with the Saqqawist Coup led by Habibullah Kalakani. With support from the royal family, the Telai cadet branch killed Kalakani and re-established the second Barakzai Kingdom.
Telai The Telai cadet-branch are the descendants of Sultan Mohammad Khan "Telai", 2nd Emir of Afghanistan succeeding his father Payindah Mohammed Khan. The descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Yahya Khan Telai (Yahya-Khel) to whom Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah belonged were closely related to Amanullah Khan through marriages.Hadi in Afghan Experiences, Greenville 2016
Another Telai branch that had immense power in Afghanistan's military was that of His Royal Highness Field Marshal Prince Abdul Aziz Khan Telai and his children. Prince Abdul Aziz Telai was son of the Afghan King HM Sultan Mohammed Khan Telai and acted as a Field Marshal of the Afghan Army, preceding his grand-nephew Muhammad Nadir Shah as Minister of war under his other grand-nephew King Amanullah Khan. Prince Abdul Aziz additionally acted as Governor of Kandahar and Badakhshan. His eldest son was Prince Abdul Qayyum Khan, who acted as Governor of many central Afghan Provinces. Prince Abdul Qayyum Khan's son was the Afghan father of physics and Royal Afghan UN ambassador Professor Prince Abdul Khalek Khan Telai, who was a Murid (religious novice) of his father-in-law Mir Muhammad Jan son of Mir Fazlullah Agha. Prince Abdul Khalek's descendants consequently call themselves the Mir Muhammad Jan Khel and chose the surname Dakik (Persian for "Exact") after the Saur Revolution. Next to the title Sultan (above Sardar/Prince but below Shah/King),Buyers in Royal Ark, Afghanistan, Glossary they also bear the title Mir and Sayyid to denote their descent to Muhammad through General Mir Muhammad Jan.Buyers in Royal Ark, Chapter: Telai IIIAdamek in Who is Who in Afghanistan
Another known son of Prince Abdul Aziz was Field Marshal Prince Amir Muhammad Khan Telai, who proclaimed himself Shah in exile in Peshawar contesting the rule of his rival cousin Mohammad Nadir Shah, siding with the British. His son Assadullah, whose nickname was "Sharza" became a general in the US Air Force, representing Telai interests in Washington DC.
Another well known son of Prince Abdul Aziz was Brigade General Sardar Abdul Ghafar Khan, who acted as commander of the Personal Royal Brigade of his cousin King Nadir Shah. Prince Abdul Ghafar Khan executed the Amanist Charkhi family, who had plotted against his cousin HM King Nadir Shah. These executions made by Prince Abdul Ghaffar Khan led to Ghulam Nabi Khan Charkhi's daughter convincing a Hazara Amanist called Abdul Khaliq Hazaragi to take revenge for the Charkhi family's massacre and murder King Nadir Shah.
Shaghasi
The Shaghasi cadet-branch is another prominent and powerful sub-tribe of Barakzai, descending from the brothers of Emir Sultan Mohammed Khan and Emir Dost Mohammed Khan.
Shaghasi Khel are descendants of Mirdaad Khan Barakzai, Işik Aqasi (Minister of the Royal Court "Chemberlain") during the reign of the Kandahari Sardars (Dost Muhammad Khan's brothers), as well as the reign of Dost Muhammad Khan 1863 – 1866 and 1868 – 1879. His father, Bazar Khan Barakzai was a local Barakzai chief, and his grandfather was Sardar Yasin Khan Omar Khanzai (Barakzai), resident of Maruf District (at that time part of Arghistan District) of Kandahar, and one of the notable Sardars of Kandahar during the reigns of Timur Shah Durrani and brother to Muhammad of the Mohammadzai. The Shaghasi's were even more powerful than the Mohammadzai's during the ruling of Emir Sher Ali Khan – Emir of Afghanistan, and Emir Amanullah Khan – Emir of Afghanistan (February 28, 1919 – 1926), later King of Afghanistan (1926 – January 14, 1929). Prominent Afghan historian, Abdul Hai Habibi denotes that during King Amanullah Khan's reign, the former governor of Kabul was Mahmoud Khan Yawar and the later one was Ali Ahmad Khan (both Shaghasi) Barakzai. Abdul Aziz Khan (later Minister of war, and Prime Minister, Mohammad Sarwar Khan and Abdul Karim Khan were Naib -ul- Hukuma's (all of them were Shaghasi) Barakzai. In Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat Abdul Karim and Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (later Minister) were also Khan Naib -ul- Hukuma's, and Abdul Rahman and Nik Mohammad Khan were Firqa Meshar (all of them were Shaghasi) Barakzai. Abdul Karim Khan in Paktya, and Dost Mahammad Khan Nazim (later Naib Salar, Sipah
Salar, Dar-ul-Adalat, and Hakim-e-Ala) in Ghazni, Uruzgan and Kandahar
were equally (Shaghasi) Barakzai, Mohammad Alam Khan in Lugar and Kuchi and other governors were the same. To the Shaghasi Khel is related King Amanullah Khan's mother Queen Sarwar Sultana Begum, Siraj ul-Khwatin, the Aliya Hazrat (b. at Kabul, 1875; d. at Istanbul, Turkey, 1965), eldest daughter of Loinab Sher Dil Khan Shaghasi, by his third wife, Benazir Begum, a lady from the Popalzai clan.
Ali Ahmad Khan Shaghasi (1883–1929) who was declared Emir of Afghanistan twice in 1929 son of General Loinab Khushdil Khan, sometime Governor of Kabul and Kandahar, by his wife Sahira Begum, daughter of Amir al-Mumenin, Amir al-Kabir, Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, by his wife, a daughter of Agha Muhammad Qizilbash was also Shaghasi Barakzai. Ali Ahmad's sister, the Ulya Mukhadara Zarin Jan Begum was the mother of Humaira Begum who was the Queen consort of Afghanistan.
List of Barakzai rulers
Principality of Kandahar (1818–1855)
Emirate of Afghanistan (1823–1926)
Kingdom of Afghanistan (1926–1929)
Saqqawist Emirate and the 1928–1929 civil war
Kingdom of Afghanistan (restored; 1929–1973)
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)
Heads of the House of Barakzai since 1973 Mohammad Daoud Khan As first president of Afghanistan, renouncing the title Shah after taking power (1973–1978) Abdul Khaliq Khan, for Saratanists as the lone Barakzai survivor of the Saur Purge (1978–1992) Mohammad Zahir Shah (17 July 1978 – 23 July 2007) Crown Prince Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan (1964 Constitution of Afghanistan) (23 July 2007 – 4 June 2024) Prince Muhammad Zahir Khan (4 June 2024 – present)
Languages