Muhammad Umar Babrakzai ( 1980 – present) is the tribal chief of the

Zadran tribe The Zadran ( ''dzadrāṇ''; pronounced ''dzādroṇ'' in the Khost-Paktia dialect), also spelled Dzadran or Jadran, Jandran, zadroon, is a Pashtun tribe that inhabits the Loya or greater Paktia region in southeastern Afghanistan (Khost, Paktia, ...

and Afghan

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Background and early life

Babrakzai is the grandson of Babrak Khan, a previous Zadran chieftain who died in 1924 or 1925, though it's unclear through what father. It is unknown who preceded Babrakzai as chieftain. It was possibly Abdulla Khan Jadran Yawan, who was chieftain as of 1969, although it's unclear if Babrakzai was Abdulla's immediate successor or if someone else was chieftain between them. At some point, Babrakzai moved to France where he received an education. Upon returning to Afghanistan, he became part of

Kingdom of Afghanistan The Kingdom of Afghanistan (; ) was a monarchy in Southern Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the ...

's elite. At some point after King

Mohammed Zahir Shah Mohammad Zāhir Shāh (15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Ruling for 40 years, Zahir Shah was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since t ...

initiated a period of democratic reforms with the 1964 constitution, Babrakzai served as

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

justice.

Tribal chief

Reagan_sitting_with_people_from_the_Afghanistan-Pakistan_region_in_February_1983

Babrakzai opposed the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invasion of

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 ...

in 1979. The authors of ''Out of Afghanistan'' describe him as being the "prime mover" of the initial Afghan resistance, due to him forming a "national council" to map out an Afghan response. He joined the

National Islamic Front of Afghanistan National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (Mahaz-e Milli-ye Islami-ye Afghanistan, Mahaz-i Milli-yi Islami-yi Afghanistan) is a political party in Afghanistan. It has been led, since its founding, by members of a prominent Sufi family, the Gail ...

, became the chairman of a pro-resistance ''

loya jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

'', and also organized a ''

jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

'' in Peshawar. In addition, Babrakzai maintained contacts with France during this period, and helped French activists to set up a International People's Tribunal in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Babrakzai continued to resist the Soviets during the rest of 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 ...

. In 1983, he attended a meeting with US president

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. An image of this meeting later became an internet meme, where Babrakzai and other members of the meeting were falsely described as

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) ...

officials, even though the Taliban had not been formed yet by that time. Despite his regional influence, however, Babrakzai had little control over the militants in his tribal territories, over whom

Jalaluddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani () (1939 – 3 September 2018) was an Afghan insurgent commander who founded the Haqqani network, an insurgent group who fought in guerilla warfare against US-led NATO forces and the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan g ...

gained more control. Babrakzai continues to be tribal chief as of 2019.

Family

{{Babrak Khan family tree

References

Afghan rebels Pashtun people Afghan tribal leaders