The Zazi (), also spelled Zazai, zarakzai or Jaji, are a

Karlani Karlāṇī or Karrani () is a Pashtun tribal confederacy. They primarily inhabit the FATA region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and certain parts of eastern Afghanistan. In the 16th century the Karlani founded the Karrani dynasty, th ...

(کرلاڼي)

Pashtun tribe The Pashtun tribes (), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...

. They are found 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 ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

They are most prominent in the

Paktia Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,0 ...

and

Khost Khōst () is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram Agency, Kurram i ...

provinces in the

Loya Paktia Lōya Paktiā (; lit. Greater Paktia) is a historical and cultural region of Afghanistan, comprising the modern Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika, as well as parts of Logar

region of southeastern

but also have a presence in

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 ...

, Logar,

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

, Nangharhar,

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

, and

Baghlan Baghlan (Pashto and Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in t ...

in Afghanistan and neighbouring

Kurram District Kurram District () is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The name Kurram comes from the river ''Kwarma'' () in Pashto, which itself derives from the Sanskrit word ''Krumu'' (). Until 2018, it funct ...

and

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

across the border.

Ethnicity and geography

The (Zazai) ځاځی Jaji جاجی are

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 ...

Muslims. The tribe is inhabited in Six major geographic locations in Afghanistan and Pakistan: *Aryob Zazi: in Paktia province *Ahmadkhail : in Paktia province *Dand Pathan: in Paktia province *Kabul: in Kabul province * Maidan Zazi or Jaji Maidan: district in Khost province

Notable Zazai

Qutbuddin Hilal Qutbuddin Hilal (Pashto language, Pashto: قطب الدين هلال) (born 1952) is an politics of Afghanistan, Afghan politician, who served as the Deputy prime minister in 1993 and 1996 during the tenure of Burhanuddin Rabbani when Gulbuddin ...

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

during the period of Mujahideen (

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...

) and member of

Hezbi Islami Hezb-e-Islami (also ''Hezb-e Islami'', ''Hezb-i-Islami'', ''Hezbi-Islami'', ''Hezbi Islami''), lit. Islamic Party, was an Islamist organization that was commonly known for fighting the Communist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally ...

from

Zazi Maidan district Zazai Maidan District (), may also be spelled as Jajai Maidan or Dzadzai Maidan, is located in the northeastern part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. The two "z" letters in Zazai are pronounced the same like in the first name of Hollywood star, Zs ...

. *

Nabi Misdaq Nabi Misdaq () is an Afghan author and a journalist. He was the founder and head of the Pashto Section at BBC World Service in the early 1980s. In 2015, bspecial decree and under the 64th article of the constitution, President Ashraf Ghani Ahma ...

, founder of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Pashto service. *

Najibullah Zazi Najibullah Zazi (, ; born August 10, 1985) is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two o ...

(born 1985), Afghan-born man imprisoned in the US for terrorist offenses; father is

Mohammed Wali Zazi The 2009 New York City Subway and United Kingdom plot was a plan to bomb the New York City Subway as well as a target in the United Kingdom. In September 2009, several individuals fell under suspicion and were arrested due to fears that a suspe ...

. *

Mustafa Zazai Mustafa Zazai (born 9 May 1993) is an Afghan association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Cambodian club Riel Phnom Penh and formerly the Afghanistan national football team, Afghanistan national team. Early life Zazai was ...

(born 1993), professional footballer * Hazratullah Zazai (born 1998), Afghan cricketer *

Zala Zazai Zala Zazai is a former Afghan police officer who worked in Khost Province. In 2021, she was named on the BBC 100 Women list. Early life Zazai was born into a Zazai Pashtun family that did not support girl's education; however, her mother pushe ...

, Afghan police officer

References

{{Pashtun tribes Karlani Pashtun tribes Tribes of Afghanistan Ethnic groups in Khost Province

Ethnicity and geography

Notable Zazai

See also

References