Tarakai
Encyclopedia
The Tarakai are a Ghilzai
Pashtun
tribe; many are found in Ghazni
(their traditional powerbase) and Zabol provinces of Afghanistan. They are divided into six khel
s: the Firoz, Suhail, Gurbuz, Badin, Saki, and Na.
The Tarakai were one of the Pashtun tribes resettled under the rule of king Abdur Rahman Khan
in the late 19th century. While clearing the Hazara people of Bamiyan to make way for the Tarakai Pashtuns, the ethnic cleansing was so extreme that "not even the dogs remained behind."
Ghilzai
Ghilzai are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are also known historically as Ghilji, Khilji, Ghalji, Ghilzye, and possibly Gharzai...
Pashtun
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...
tribe; many are found in Ghazni
Ghazni Province
Ghazni is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Babur records in his Babur-Nama that Ghazni is also known as Zabulistan It is in the east of the country. Its capital is Ghazni City...
(their traditional powerbase) and Zabol provinces of Afghanistan. They are divided into six khel
Khel
Khel is a Hindi and Urdu word meaning "game" or "sport"; as well as a Pashtu word meaning "followers of". It may refer to:* Khel , a Pashtun tribal division, see Pashtun tribal structure...
s: the Firoz, Suhail, Gurbuz, Badin, Saki, and Na.
The Tarakai were one of the Pashtun tribes resettled under the rule of king Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.The third son of Mohammad Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan, Abdur Rahman Khan was considered a strong ruler who re-established the writ of the Afghan government in Kabul after the disarray that followed the second...
in the late 19th century. While clearing the Hazara people of Bamiyan to make way for the Tarakai Pashtuns, the ethnic cleansing was so extreme that "not even the dogs remained behind."
Notable people
- Nur Muhammad TarakiNur Muhammad TarakiNur Muhammad Taraki was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Taraki was born near Kabul and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his political career as a journalist...
president of the communist Democratic Republic of AfghanistanDemocratic Republic of AfghanistanThe Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...
from 1978 to 1979