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Ghilzai (Pashto: غرزی 'Ghar-Zai') (meaning: Hill-man) are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are also known historically as Ghilji, Khilji, Ghalji, Ghilzye, and possibly Gharzai. These Pashtun people are located mainly in southeastern Afghanistan, between Nangarhar and Kabul, and extending eastwards towards the Suleiman Mountains into Pakistan.^[1] In Afghanistan per se, they are the second largest Pashtun tribal confederation after the Abdali/Durrani.

Etymology[link]

One theory states that the name of the Ghilzai is derived from Gharzai (غلزې), (Ghar-zai)meaning "son of mountain"^[2] or "swordsman."^[3]

The folk story is that the ancestor of the who married with the daughter of a local ruler. The couple are identified as "either Shah Hussain, a Ghurid prince, and Bibi Mato, a granddaughter of Qays Abdar Rasheed, the putative ancestor of all Pashtuns, or Mokarram Shah; Hussain from Ghor, and the daughter of a Pashtun noble."^[4]

History and origins[link]

The Arachosia Satrapy and the Pactyan people during the Achaemenid Empire in 500 B.C.

The Ghilzais are a confederation of Pashtun tribes whose origin is unknown. They are reputed by some to be descended at least in part from the Ghurids.

Ḡalzī tribal genealogies in general trace their early descent from the union of either Shah Ḥosayn, a Ghurid (q.v.) prince, and Bībī Mātō, a granddaughter of Qays ʿAbd al-Rašīd, the putative ancestor of all Pashtuns, or Mokarram Shah, a Pashtun prince from Ḡūr, and the daughter of a Persian notable...^[5]

—M. Jamil Hanifi

Others suggest that they descended from the Khalaj or Khilji Turks,^[6][7][8] who entered Afghanistan in the 10th century. According to Elphinstone, the Khilji, "though Turks by descent...had so long settled among the Afghans that they had almost identified with that people."^[9]

Ghilzais have played an important role in creating Afghan history. Afghan history would be incomplete without a complete understanding of them.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, various Ghilzai Afghan (Pashtun) dynasties took control over vast areas of India. The Lodi Dynasty ruled over the Delhi Sultanate during its last phase. The dynasty, founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi ruled from 1451 to 1526 when the last Lodi ruler, Ibrahim Lodi died. Other Ghilzai dynasties included the Suri Dynasty who was founded by the powerful medieval conqueror, Sher Shah Suri (Shere Khan), who defeated the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Chausa in June 1539 and again in Bilgram in May 1540.

Qalat-i-Ghilzai, historically know as Qalat-i-Tokhi, shown in this 1840s Lithograph by James Rattray (1818-1854)

When the Hotak tribe, under the leadership of Mir Wais Hotak revolted against the Safavid dynasty in 1709, the Ghilzai came into conflicts with their western neighbors. Mir Wais Hotak, an influential Afghan tribal leader and founder of the Hotaki dynasty, had visited the Persian court and studied their military weaknesses. The Afghan tribes (Pashtun tribes) rankled under the ruling Shia Safavids because of their continued attempts to convert the Pashtuns from Sunni to Shia Islam.^[10] Spawning Afghan nationalism, Mirwais succeeded in expelling the Safavid Georgian Governor of Kandahar, Gurgin Khan, and assumed the post for himself. His eldest son, Mahmud, effected a successful invasion of Persia (now Iran) which culminated in the conquest of Isfahan and the deposition of the Safavid Shah Sultan Husayn. Mahmud was then crowned Shah and ruled for a brief period before being deposed by his own clansmen. His cousin and successor (Ashraf Khan) reigned for nearly five years before being killed by Baloch tribes while fleeing towards Kandahar. The Safavid dynasty in Iran was then restored in the person of Sultan Husayn's only surviving son, Tahmasp II.

During their short but violent occupation of Persia, the Hotakis mismanaged the state funds and administration, massacred civilians, caused famine, and largely destroyed the world-renowned imperial city of Isfahan. In just short seven years of their occupation of Isfahan (1722–1729), the population of the metropolis had dropped from around 1.2 million to just around 10,000 souls. In 1738 Nader Shah of Persia, on his way to occupy the Mughal India, overthrew Hussein, the last of the Hotakis at Kandahar, dispersed the Ghilzai and destroyed both Kandahar and Qalat-i-Ghilzai. Nader Shah then supported the rise of the rival Durrani Pashtuns, extinguishing the aspirations of the Ghilzais for the next three centuries.

In more recent times, three of the pro-communist presidents were Ghilzais, Nur Muhammad Taraki (of the Taraki tribe), Hafizullah Amin (of the Kharoti tribe), and Mohammed Najibullah (of the Ahmadzai sub tribe of suleimankhail). Although the Khalq was dominated mostly by Ghilzais, many of the Mujahideen were also Ghilzais during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, including the violent warlords, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. The Taliban leadership, such as the headman, Mullah Omar and most of the Taliban functionaries have been likewise of the Ghilzai tribal confederacy, generating much ill will and disrepute for the Ghilzais.

Ghilzais are known to be extensively hospitable yet remain one of the most troubled and troublesome people among the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan and continue to be subject of controversy and violence, concurrently, owing to their warlike nature.

Location and economy[link]

The Ghilzais are concentrated in an area spanning Ghazni and Qalat-i-Ghilzai eastward into western Pakistan, but are predominantly a nomadic group unlike the Durranis who can be found in permanent settlements. They regularly cross over between the two countries often being exempted from customs due to the acceptance of their nomadic traditions by officials from both countries. Population estimates vary, but they are most likely around 20% to 25% of the population of Afghanistan and probably number over 9 million in Afghanistan alone with 4 million or more found in neighboring Pakistan. Most Ghilzais are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school, often devout to their faith and intensely follow the Pashtun code of honor known as Pashtunwali. Most Ghilzais work as herdsmen as well as construction workers and in other jobs that allow them to travel. Often possessing great mechanical aptitude, the Ghilzai nonetheless have an extremely low literacy rate hovering below 10% in Afghanistan but this improving especially in Pakistan where their literacy rate is fast approaching the national average of 58%.

The Afghan province of Paktika is considered to be a heartland of the Ghaljai tribe. Ghilzai sub-tribes in Paktika include the Kharoti, especially in the Sar Hawza and Urgon districts, the Andar and the largest single Ghilzai sub-tribe, the Suleimankhel, who are the majority in Northern and Western areas of Paktika such as Katawaz.

Many members of the Ghilzai tribe, such as the Kharoti sub-tribe and particularly the Nasher clan were exiled from Loya Paktia (Paktia, Paktika and Khost) to the Afghan North (Qunduz province) by the ruling Abdali tribe of the Afghan Royal family due to their rebellious nature.^{[citation needed]}

Abdur Rahman Khan also perpetrated a Population transfer of Ghilzais in the 1880s to the North. ^[11][12]

The tribesmen own several, tightly bound carpet and fabric businesses in the Middle East and Pakistan, especially Karachi.

The Ghilzai remain a somewhat divided family, with the Kharoti and the Suleimankhel being traditional rivals.

References[link]

See also[link]

• Pashtun people
• Khilji dynasty
• Tokhi
• Niazi
• Suri dynasty
• Lodi dynasty
• Khalaj
• Povindah
• Gill (clan)

Khaled Hosseini خالد حسینی
Khaled Hosseini at the White House
Born	Khaled Hosseini (1965-03-04) March 4, 1965 (age 47) Kabul, Afghanistan
Occupation	Novelist, physician
Language	English
Citizenship	American
Period	2003 – present
Genres	Fiction
Notable work(s)	The Kite Runner A Thousand Splendid Suns
Spouse(s)	Roya Hosseini
www.khaledhosseini.com

Khaled Hosseini (Persian: خالد حسینی‎ [ˈxɒled hoˈsejni]; English: /ˈhɑːlɛd hoʊˈseɪni/;^[1] born March 4, 1965), is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician.^[2][3] He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, with the paperback spending 101 weeks on the bestseller list (#1 for 4 of those weeks).^[4] His second, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was released on May 22, 2007.^[5] A Thousand Splendid Suns has spent 21 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list for paperback fiction ^[6] and 49 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction (#1 for 15 of those weeks).^[7] The two novels have sold more than 38 million copies internationally.

Biography[link]

Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1970 Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973, Hosseini's family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini's youngest brother was born in July of that year.

In 1976, Hosseini's father obtained a job in Paris, France and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April 1978. Instead, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California.

Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1996. He practiced medicine for over ten years, until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner.

Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).^[8] He has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for The Khaled Hosseini Foundation was inspired by the trip to Afghanistan that Hosseini made in 2007 with the UNHCR. He lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and their two children.

Influences[link]

Khaled Hosseini with actors from The Kite Runner, Bahram and Elham Ehsas.

When Khaled Hosseini was a child, he read a great deal of Persian poetry as well as Persian translations of novels ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series. Hosseini's "very fond memories of [his] childhood" in peaceful pre-Soviet era Afghanistan,^[9] as well as his personal experiences with Afghanistan's Hazara people led to the writing of his first novel, The Kite Runner. One Hazara man, named Hossein Khan, worked for the Hosseinis when they were living in Iran. When Khaled Hosseini was in third grade, he taught Khan to read and write. Although his relationship with Hossein Khan was brief and rather formal, Hosseini's fond memories of this relationship served as an inspiration for the relationship between Hassan and Amir in The Kite Runner.

Novels[link]

• The Kite Runner is the story of a young boy, Amir, struggling to establish a closer rapport with his father and coping with memories of a haunting childhood event. The novel is set in Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy until the collapse of the Taliban regime, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically in Fremont, California. Its many themes include ethnic tensions between the Hazara and the Pashtun in Afghanistan, and the immigrant experiences of Amir and his father in the United States. The novel was the number three best seller for 2005 in the United States, according to Nielsen BookScan.^[10] The Kite Runner was also produced as an audiobook read by the author. The Kite Runner has been adapted into a film of the same name released in December, 2007. Hosseini made a cameo appearance towards the end of the movie as a bystander when Amir buys a kite which he later flies with Sohrab.

• Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is also set in Afghanistan. The story addresses many of the same issues as Hosseini's first, but takes a more feminine perspective. It follows the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entwined. The story is set during Afghanistan's tumultuous thirty-year transition from Soviet occupation to Taliban control and post-Taliban rebuilding. The novel was released by Riverhead Books on May 22, 2007, at the same time as the Simon & Schuster audiobook. Movie rights have been acquired by producer Scott Rudin and Columbia Pictures.^[11]

Biographical and critical sources[link]

• Booklist, July, 2003, Kristine Huntley, review of The Kite Runner, p. 1864.
• Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2003, review of The Kite Runner, p. 630.
• Library Journal, April 15, 2003, Rebecca Stuhr, review of The Kite Runner, p. 122; November 15, 2003, Michael Adams, review of The Kite Runner (audio version), p. 114.
• New York Times Book Review, August 3, 2003, Edward Hower, review of The Kite Runner, p. 4.
• Publishers Weekly, May 12, 2003, review of The Kite Runner, p. 43.
• School Library Journal, November, 2003, Penny Stevens, review of The Kite Runner, p. 171.
• Stuhr, Rebecca. Reading Khaled Hosseini. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press, 2009.
• Times (London, England), August 30, 2003, review of The Kite Runner, p. 17

See also[link]

	Novels portal
	Afghanistan portal

• List of best-selling fiction authors
• Afghan American

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Khaled Hosseini

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Khaled Hosseini

• Official website of Khaled Hosseini
• Official website of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Khaled Hosseini on Charlie Rose
• Khaled Hosseini at the Internet Movie Database
• Khaled Hosseini collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Khaled Hosseini collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Khaled Hosseini collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Khaled Hosseini in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Khaled Hosseini at the Notable Names Database
• Khaled Hosseini at Bloomsbury Publishing
• "The Kite Runner Author Returns Home, Lev Grossman, Time, 17 May 2007