Wazir (Pashtun tribe)

This article is about the tribe found in Waziristan. For the tribe found in Nangarhar Province, see Wazir (Khogyani).

The Wazirs or Waziris (Pashto: وزير‎) are a Karlani Pashtun tribe found in Pakistan and on its border with Afghanistan. The tribe comprises two geographically separate subgroups and are found in the Waziristan region that takes its name from them. The Utmanzai are settled in the North Waziristan Agency and the Ahmadzai are in the South Waziristan Agency. Those subgroups are in turn divided further, for example into Utmanzai tribes such as the Bakka Khel and Jani Khel.

The common ancestor of the Ahmadzai and Utmanzai is believed by them to be the eponymous Wazir, who is also ancestor to the Mehsud tribe that has since taken a distinct and divergent path. Through Wazir, the tribes trace their origins to Karlani and thence to the founder of the Pashtun lineage, Qais Abdur Rashid. Some western ethnologists consider them of being mix of Scythian or Tatar ethnicity.

Although the Utmanzai and Mehsud tribes have a traditional rivalry and live in geographically distinct regions, the Ahamdzai and Mehsud communities co-exist peacefully and many head men are connected by marriage.