Sāpī ( ''Sāpai''; plur. ساپي ''Sāpī'') is a
Pashtun tribe situated mostly in Afghanistan. Many former
Pashayi speakers have also adopted the ethnonym Safi in Afghanistan.
According to a work published by Jeffrey H.P Evans-von Krbek at the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
in 1977, the origins of the Sapi lies in the region of ancient
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
.
The exact population number of this clan is not known; however, it is estimated to be around 2.5 million in Afghanistan. Sapis have played an important role in Afghanistan. The Sapi tribe is well known for its resistance to the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
regime, and many fierce clashes have broken out between the two.
People
*
Amanul Mulk, leader of the
tribal revolts under rebel King
Salemai
*
Amanat Lewana, rebel Prime Minister of Afghanistan's
Eastern Provinces
*
Jamil al-Rahman, Afghan Salafist and Amir of the
Islamic Emirate of Kunar
*
Amanullah Sailaab Sapi, Afghan poet and writer
*
Turabaz Khan, Royal Afghan Army General and served as Kabul’s Police Commander
*
Mohammed Asif Safi, Afghan army serviceman during the
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
and
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
References
{{Authority control
Pashai people
Pashtun tribes
Pashto-language surnames