Alakozai ( - meaning ''descendant of Alako'' in

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

) is a Pashtun tribe in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. They are one of the four tribes of the Zirak tribal confederacy of

Durrani The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

Variations

Spelling variations include Alakozi, Alakoozi, Alekozai, Alekuzei, Alikozai, Alakozay, Alkozai, Alokzai, Hulakozai, Alecozay, Alikusi, and Alakuzei.

History

Their eponymous ancestor is claimed to be Alako, son of King Zirak Khan, son of Abdal, son of Tareen.

Distribution

The Alkozay people are found primarily in Helmand, Kandahar,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Laghman, Kunar Sarkani District and

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

provinces in Afghanistan, and form the majority of the population in the Sangin District. Jaldak, which is located 110 km northeast of Kandahar, is the original domicile of the Alkozay tribe. The Alkozay people stretch from Farah to Kandahar, and constitute a majority in the Arghandab District of Kandahar. The Arghandab district was given to the Alkozay tribe by King Nadir Shah, who brought down the Safavid empire of Persia with the help of the Alkozay in 1738.Chayes, Sarah (2007-11-18). "A Mullah Dies, and War Comes Knocking". The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-07-20.
/ref> Arghandab was referred to by the Greek historians as Alkozay, or the "Land of Arako/Alako".Afghanistan, Volumes 25-26 By Anjuman-i Tārīkh-i Afghānistān
/ref>

Notable individuals

* Mullah Naqib (c.1950 – October 11, 2007), famous

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

, politician and peace maker from Kandahar. He was one of the most respected elders of the Alakozai Pashtun tribe in the Kandahar area. * Queen Zarghoona Alakozai (mother of King Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire, colloquially known as the Afghan Empire, or the Saddozai Kingdom, was an Afghanistan, Afghan empire founded by the Durrani tribe of Pashtuns under Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, which spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian ...

). *Abdul Ghani Alakozai, governor of Nadirabad and chieftain of the

, under King Nader Shah. *Juma Khan Alakozai, governor of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

(1788–1792). His administration was faced by serious floods, Shia–

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

riots and rioting by the Bambas. He died of

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

in 1792.''Kashmir: A Wailing Valley''
M. L. Gupta; Anmol Publications PVT. LTD., 2001; ; p. 65 *Abdullah Khan Alakozai, governor of Kashmir (1795–1807, under King Zaman Shah Durrani). *Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai (Died June 11, 1851) Minister under King Shahzada Kamran Durrani. Minister-regent at

, he served as

Vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of Herat from 1829 to 1842. In Early 1842 he deposed Kamran Shah and ruled Herat until his death on June 11, 1851. He was the son of 'Ata Mohammad Khan Alakozai, vizier of Herat from 1818 to 1829. *Sa'id Mohammad Khan Alakozai, son of Yar Muhammad Khan and ruled Herat from June 11, 1851, to September 1855. Herat was briefly occupied by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in the spring of 1852 due to an attempted invasion of the Kandahar Sardars. *'Abd al-Ghani Khan Alakozai (maternal uncle of King Ahmad Shah Durrani), governor of Kandahar during Ahmad Shah Durrani's reign. *Queen Alakozai, stepmother of King

Dost Mohammad Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/; 23 December 1792 – 8 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of ...

of Afghanistan,Life of the amir Dost Mohammed Khan of Kabul: with his political proceedings towards the English, Russian and Persian governments, including the victory and disasters of the British army in Afghanistan. By Mohan Lal, 1846; p. 22
/ref> and wife of Sardār Pāyenda Khan, chief of the Barakzai clan.

References

External links

Alikozai Tribal Dynamics
from the Tribal Analysis Center {{Pashtun tribes Durrani Pashtun tribes