Pashtun tribal structure

The Pashtun tribes in Asia are divided into four confederacies: Sarbani, Bettani, Ghurghakhti, and Karlani. The oral tradition of the Pashtuns holds that these are descended from three own sons (Sarbaṇ, Beṭtan, and Ghurghasht) and one adopted son (Orməṛ), respectively, of Qais Abdur Rashid, the folkloric ancestor of the Pashtun people.

There are several levels of organisation of Pashtun tribes the ("tribe") is subdivided into kinship groups, each of which is a khel and Zai. A khel or Zai is further divided into 'PLARINA' each of which consists of several extended families.

A large tribe often has dozens of sub-tribes whose members may see themselves as belonging to each, some, or all of the sub-tribes" in their family tree depending upon the social situation: co-operative, competitive, or confrontational.

Etymologies

• Tarbur refers to a "tribe" split into two or more clans and Tarbur mean cousin in Pashto so Tarbur could be enemy as well in the Pashtun culture that they can occupied your land or property. Every Pashtun tribe is then divide into subtribes, also called khel or zai. Zai in Pashto means "descendant". In Avestan it is similar to Pashto "Zoi" mean Son ("offspring").

• William Crooke said that khel is from an Arabic word meaning "association" or "company". However, it is suggested that khel comes from the Avestan word khuail, meaning "uncountable" or "over-populated", such as the counting of stars or counting grains of rice. The word is a cognate of the Persian word kheleh, meaning "lots" or "too much". In usage, the word khel is placed after the name of the common ancestor or leader; thus, Mūsākhel would be the "followers or descendants of Mūsā". Similarly, subtribes also commonly give their names to settlements; thus, "Musakhel" is not only the name of a subtribe, but also of a settlement. A khel is often based in a single village, but it may also be based on a larger area including several villages, or part of a town.

• Plarina is related to the Bactrian term plār, which derives from Old Iranian piðar (in Bactrian and Pashto, Old Iranian /ð/ usually yields /l/), and is related to Sanskrit pita and English "father". The plural form of plār is plārina. A plārina is considered only when the 7th generation is born, meaning the father of multiple families (kahol). Usually, the 7th forefather is assumed to take from one-and-a-half century to two centuries.

• Kul (plural kahol) is the smallest unit in Pashtun tribal system, named after an ancestor of 1. Zāmon ("children"), 2. Lmasay / Nwasay ("grandchildren"), 3. Kaṛwasay ("great-grandchildren"), and 4. Kaoday ("great-great-grandchildren"). Once the fourth generation is born, it would be labelled a "family" or kūl.

References

• Wardak, A. (2004) "The Tribal and Ethnic Composition of Afghan Society" in Girardet, Edward and Walter, Jonathan (2004) Afghanistan: Essential Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones (2nd ed.) Crosslines Ltd., Geneva, ISBN 2-9700176-1-X

External links

• Pashtun Tribe, Clan, & Ethnic Genealogies, US Naval Postgraduate School