View source for Ghilji

{{Short description|Pashtun tribe}}
{{For|the dynasties known as Khilji or Khalji|Khalji dynasty|Khalji dynasty of Bengal}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox tribe
| name            = Ghilji
| local name      =
| type            =
| image           = Sirdar Habibullah Gilzai and other Khans in 1879-80.jpg
| image_size      =
| alt             =
| caption         = Ghilji chieftains in [[Kabul]] ({{circa|1880}})
| ethnicity       = [[Pashtuns]]
| nisba           =
| location        = [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]]
| varna           =
| descended_label =
| descended       =
| parent_tribe    =
| population      =
| demonym         =
| branches        = [[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]], [[Akakhel]], [[Andar (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]], [[Hotak]], [[Ibrahimkhel]], [[Ibrahimzai]], [[Kharoti]], [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]], [[Nasar (Pashtun tribe)|Nasar]], Stanikzai, [[Sakzai]], [[Sulaimankhel]], [[Tarakai]], [[Tokhi]]
| language        = [[Pashto]]
| religion        = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|18px]] [[Islam]]
| surnames        =
}}
The '''Ghiljī''' ({{langx|ps|غلجي}}, {{IPA|ps|ɣəlˈd͡ʒi|pron}};{{efn|name=name}} {{langx|fa|خیلجی|Xelji}}) also spelled '''Khilji, Khalji,''' or '''Ghilzai''' and '''Ghilzay''' ({{lang|ps|غلزی}}), are one of the largest [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] tribes. Their traditional homeland is [[Ghazni]] and [[Qalati Ghilji]] in [[Afghanistan]] but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Frye |first=R.N. |title = <u>GH</u>ALZAY| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Jonathan |date=12 November 2018 |title=Afghanistan, A History From 1260 To The Present Day |location=New Zealand |publisher=Reaktion Books |page=52 |isbn=9781789140101}}</ref> The modern nomadic [[Kochi people]] are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes.<ref name="are">{{cite web|url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Khaljies_are_Afghan.htm|title=Khaljies are Afghan|work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|access-date=19 August 2012}}</ref> The Ghilji make up around 20–25% of Afghanistan's total population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ghilzai Tribe |url=http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=556&task=view&total=2916&start=857&Itemid=2 |website=www.afghan-bios.info |date=September 2021}}</ref>
They mostly speak the [[Central Pashto|central dialect]] of [[Pashto]] with transitional features between the [[Southern Pashto|southern]] and [[Northern Pashto|northern]] varieties of Pashto.{{fact|date=December 2022}}
== Etymology ==
According to historian [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], the tribal name "Ghilji" is derived from the name of the ''[[Khalaj people|Khalaj]]'' ({{lang|ps|خلج}}) tribe.<ref name="iri">{{cite encyclopedia | title = ḴALAJ i. TRIBE | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | author = Pierre Oberling | date = 15 December 2010 | access-date = 4 July 2020 | url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khalaj-i-tribe-turkistan |quote=Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj.}}</ref> According to historian [[Vladimir Minorsky|V. Minorsky]], the ancient [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] form of the name was ''Qalaj'' (or ''Qalach''), but the Turkic /[[voiceless uvular stop|q]]/ changed to /[[Voiceless velar fricative|kh]]/ in [[Arabic]] sources (''Qalaj'' > ''Khalaj''). Minorsky added: "''Qalaj'' could have a parallel form ''*Ghalaj''."<ref name="ms">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml The Khalaj West of the Oxus, by V. Minorsky: Khyber.ORG.]}}; excerpts from "The Turkish Dialect of the Khalaj", Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol 10, No 2, pp 417-437 (retrieved 10 January 2007).</ref> The word finally yielded ''Ghəljī'' and ''Ghəlzay'' in Pashto.
According to a popular [[folk etymology]], the name ''Ghəljī'' or ''Ghəlzay'' is derived from ''Gharzay'' ({{lang|ps|غرزی}}; ''ghar'' means "mountain" while ''-zay'' means "descendant of"), a Pashto name meaning "born of mountain" or "[[hill people]]."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Morgenstierne |first=G.|title = AF<u>GH</u>ĀN| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| edition = CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0| publisher = Koninklijke Brill NV| location = Leiden, The Netherlands| year = 1999}}</ref>
== Descent and origin ==
One theory of origin states that Ghiljis are likely to be descended from the [[Khalaj people]]. According to historian [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], it seems very likely that the Khalaj people of the Gazna formed the core of the Ghilji tribe,<ref name="iri"/> who are usually referred to as [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].<ref name="ms"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sunil Kumar |s2cid=162388463 |title=When Slaves were Nobles: The Shamsi Bandagan in the Early Delhi Sultanate |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249767771 |journal= Studies in History |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=23–52 |year=1994 |doi= 10.1177/025764309401000102 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Peter Jackson |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC&pg=PA82 |year=2003 |page=82 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-54329-3 }}</ref> The Khalaj were sometimes mentioned alongside [[Pashtun]] tribes in the armies of several local dynasties, including the [[Ghaznavids]] (977–1186).<ref name="Nejatie">{{cite thesis |last1=Nejatie |first1=Sajjad |location=Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations |title=The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān |degree=PhD |date=November 2017 |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/80750 |publisher=University of Toronto |language=en}}</ref>
According to [[The Cambridge History of Iran]] volume 3, Issue 1, the Ghilji tribe of Afghanistan are the descendants of Hephthalites.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=William Bayne |last2=Yarshater |first2=Ehsan |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |date=1968 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 |page=216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ko_RafMSGLkC&dq=the+cambridge+history+of+iran+pashtun+hephthalites&pg=PA216}}</ref>
=== Mythical genealogy ===
The 17th-century [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] courtier [[Nimat Allah al-Harawi]], in his book ''[[Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i Afghani|Tārīkh-i Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-i Afghānī]]'', wrote a mythical genealogy according to which the Ghilji descended from Shah Hussain Ghori and his first wife Bībī Matō, who was a daughter of Pashtun Sufi saint Bēṭ Nīkə (progenitor of the [[Bettani]] tribal confederacy), son of [[Qais Abdur Rashid]] (progenitor of all Pashtuns).<ref>Dorn, B 1836, The history of Afghans, Oriental, page.49</ref> Shah Hussain Ghori was described in the book as a patriarch from [[Ghor]] who was related to the Shansabani family, which later founded the [[Ghurid dynasty]]. He fled Ghor when [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] ([[List of Umayyad governors of Iraq|Umayyad governor of Iraq]], 694–714) dispatched an army to attack Ghor and entered into the service of Bēṭ Nīkə, who made him an adopted son. The book further stated that Shah Hussain Ghori fell in love with the saint's daughter Bībī Matō, fathering a son with her out of wedlock. The child was named by the saint as ''ghal-zōy''‌ ({{lang|ps|غل‌زوی}}), Pashto for "thief's son," from whom the Ghilzai derived their name. The 1595 Mughal account ''[[Ain-i-Akbari]]'', written by [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak]], also gave a similar account about Ghiljis' origin. However, it named the patriarch from Ghor as "Mast Ali Ghori" (which, according to Nimat Allah al-Harawi, was the pseudonym of Shah Hussain Ghori), and asserted that the Pashtuns called him "Mati". After the illicit intercourse with one of the daughters of Bēṭ Nīkə, "when the results of this clandestine intimacy were about to become manifest, he preserved her reputation by marriage. Three sons were born to him, vis., Ghilzai (progenitor of the Ghilji tribe), Lōdī (progenitor of the [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]] tribe), and Sarwānī (progenitor of the [[Sarwani]] tribe)."<ref>Abū al-Fażl ʿAllāmī. ''Āʾīn-i Akbarī''. Edited by [[Heinrich Blochmann]]. 2 vols. in 1. Calcutta, 1867–77.</ref>
== History ==
[[File:Shah-Husain-Hotak.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hussain Hotak|Shah Hussain Hotak]] (1725–1738), the last ruler of the Hotak dynasty]]
===The Khalaj in medieval Islamic period===
Medieval Muslim scholars, including 9th-10th century geographers [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] and [[Istakhri]], narrated that the Khalaj were one of the earliest tribes to have crossed the [[Amu Darya]] from [[Central Asia]] and settled in parts of present-day Afghanistan, especially in the [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]], [[Qalati Ghilji]] (also known as Qalati Khalji), and [[Zabulistan]] regions. Mid-10th-century book ''[[Hudud al-'Alam]]'' described the Khalaj as [[pastoralism|sheep-grazing]] [[nomad]]s in Ghazni and the surrounding districts, who had a habit of [[transhumance|wandering]] through seasonal [[pasture]]s.
11th-century book ''[[Tarikh Yamini]]'', written by al-Utbi, stated that when the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid]] Emir [[Sabuktigin]] defeated the [[Hindu Shahi]] ruler [[Jayapala]] in 988, the Pashtuns (Afghans) and Khalaj between [[Laghman Province|Laghman]] and [[Peshawar]], the territory he conquered, surrendered and agreed to serve him. Al-Utbi further stated that Pashtun and Khalaj tribesmen were recruited in significant numbers by the Ghaznavid Sultan [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] (999–1030) to take part in his military conquests, including his expedition to [[Tokharistan]].<ref>R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3 - Page 18</ref> The Khalaj later revolted against Mahmud's son Sultan [[Mas'ud I of Ghazni]] (1030–1040), who sent a [[punitive expedition]] to obtain their submission. During the time of the [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia]], many Khalajs and [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkomans]] gathered in [[Peshawar]] and joined the army of Saif al-Din Ighraq, who was likely a Khalaj himself. This army defeated the petty king of Ghazni, Radhi al-Mulk. The last [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarazmian]] ruler, [[Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu]], was forced by the Mongols to flee towards the [[Hindu Kush]]. Ighraq's army, as well as many other Khalaj and other tribesmen, joined the Khwarazmian force of Jalal ad-Din and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongols at the 1221 [[Battle of Parwan]]. However, after the victory, the Khalajs, [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkomans]], and Ghoris in the army quarreled with the Khwarazmians over the booty, and finally left, soon after which Jalal ad-Din was defeated by [[Genghis Khan]] at the [[Battle of the Indus]] and forced to flee to India. Ighraq returned to Peshawar, but later Mongol detachments defeated the 20,000–30,000 strong Khalaj, Turkmen, and Ghori tribesmen who had abandoned Jalal ad-Din. Some of these tribesmen escaped to [[Multan]] and were recruited into the army of the [[Delhi Sultanate]].<ref>Chormaqan Noyan: The First Mongol Military Governor in the Middle East by Timothy May</ref> 13th-century ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay]]'', written by historian [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]], narrated that a levy comprising the "Khalaj of Ghazni" and the "Afghan" (Pashtuns) were mobilized by the Mongols to take part in a punitive expedition sent to [[Merv]] in present-day [[Turkmenistan]].<ref name="ms"/>
====Transformation of the Khalaj====
Just before the [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|Mongol invasion]], Najib Bakran's geography ''Jahān Nāma'' (c. 1200–1220) described the transformation that the Khalaj tribe was going through:
{{Cquote|The Khalaj are a tribe of Turks who from the [[Khallukh]] limits migrated to Zabulistan. Among the districts of Ghazni there is a steppe where they reside. Then, on account of the heat of the air, their complexion has changed and tended towards blackness; the tongue too has undergone alterations and become a different language.
|author=Najib Bakran
|source=''Jahān Nāma''
}}
===Khalji Dynasty===
The '''Khalji''' or '''Khilji'''{{efn|name=different_names}} dynasty ruled the [[Delhi sultanate]], covering large parts of the [[Indian subcontinent]] for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.<ref name="Khalji Dynasty">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045252/Khalji-Dynasty |title=Khalji Dynasty |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=2014-11-13 |quote=This dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty, was of Turkish origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in Afghanistan. Its three kings were noted for their faithlessness, their ferocity, and their penetration to the South of India.}}</ref><ref name=gazet>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V02_403.gif Dynastic Chart] [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], v. 2, ''p. 368.''</ref><ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=80–89}}</ref> Founded by [[Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji]] as the second dynasty to rule the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultanate of India]], and successfully fending off the repeated [[Mongol invasions of India]].<ref name="Mikaberidze">{{Cite book|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia: A Historical Encyclopedia |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-5988-4337-8|page=62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA62|access-date=2013-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The state at war in South Asia |last1=Barua |first1=Pradeep |year=2005|publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-1344-1 |page=437|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIIQhuAOGaIC |access-date=2010-08-23}}</ref>
===Timurid raids===
One year after the 1506 [[Battle of Qalat|Battle of Qalati Ghilji]], the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ruler [[Babur]] marched out of [[Kabul]] with the intention to crush Ghilji Pashtuns. On the way, the Timurid army overran [[Mohmand]] Pashtuns in [[Sardeh Band]], and then attacked and killed Ghilji Pashtuns in the mountains of Khwaja Ismail, setting up "a pillar of Afghan heads," as Babur wrote in his ''[[Baburnama]]''. Many sheep were also captured during the attack. After a hunt on the plains of [[Katawaz]] the next day, where [[deer]] and [[onager|wild asses]] were plentiful, Babur marched off to Kabul.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Verma|first1=Som Prakash|title=The Illustrated Baburnama|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1317338635 |edition=illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioGPCwAAQBAJ|page=24}}</ref><ref name="babur">{{cite book |last=Beveridge |first=Annette Susannah |author-link=Annette Beveridge |date=7 January 2014 |title=The Bābur-nāma in English, Memoirs of Bābur|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44608/44608-h/44608-h.htm |publisher=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>
===Hotak dynasty===
{{Main|Hotak dynasty}}
In April 1709, [[Mirwais Hotak]], who was a member of the [[Hotak]] tribe of Ghiljis, led a successful revolution against the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]] and founded the [[Hotak dynasty]] based in [[Kandahar]], declaring southern Afghanistan independent of Safavid rule. His son [[Mahmud Hotak]] conquered [[Iran]] in 1722, and the Iranian city of [[Isfahan]] remained the dynasty's capital for six years.<ref name="Malleson">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce|year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London |isbn=1402172788|page=227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&pg=PA227|access-date=2010-09-27}}</ref><ref name=Ewans>{{cite book|last1=Ewans|first1=Martin|title=Afghanistan : a short history of its people and politics|date=2002|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=0-06-050507-9|edition=1st|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00mart}}</ref> The dynasty ended in 1738 when its last ruler, [[Hussain Hotak]], was defeated by [[Nader Shah Afshar]] at the [[Siege of Kandahar|Battle of Kandahar]].
===Azad Khan Afghan===
{{Main|Azad Khan Afghan}}
[[Azad Khan Afghan]], who played a prominent role in the power struggle in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, belonged to the [[Andar (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]] tribe of Ghiljis. Through a series of alliance with local [[Kurds|Kurdish]] and Turkish chieftains, and a policy of compromise with the [[Georgians|Georgian]] ruler [[Erekle II]]—whose daughter he married—Azad rose to power between 1752 and 1757, controlling part of the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] region up to [[Urmia]] city, northwestern and northern [[Persia]], and parts of southwestern [[Turkmenistan]] and eastern [[Kurdistan]].<ref name="iranica">Perry, J. R. (1987), "Āzād Khan Afḡān", in: ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'', Vol. III, Fasc. 2, pp. 173-174. [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azad-khan-afgan-d Online] (Accessed 20 February 2012).</ref>
===Skirmishes with British forces===
{{Main|1842 retreat from Kabul}}
During the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] (1839–1842), Ghilji tribesmen played an important role in the Afghan victory against the British [[East India Company]]. On 6 January 1842, as the [[1842 retreat from Kabul|British Indian garrison retreated from Kabul]], consisting of about 16,000 soldiers, supporting personnel, and women, a Ghilji force attacked them through the winter snows of the [[Hindu Kush]] and systematically killed them day by day. On 12 January, as the [[44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot|British regiment]] reached a hillock near [[Gandamak]], their last survivors—about 45 British soldiers and 20 officers—were killed or held captive by the Ghilji force, leaving only one British survivor, surgeon [[William Brydon]], to reach [[Jalalabad]] at the end of the retreat on 13 January.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gandamak|volume=11|page=450}}</ref><ref>Dalrymple, William Return of a King, London: Bloomsbury, 2012, pages 385.</ref> This battle became a resonant event in Ghiljis' oral history and tradition, which narrates that Brydon was intentionally let to escape so that he could tell his people about the bravery of the tribesmen.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Macintyre |first1=Ben |title=History repeats in Afghanistan |url=https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |access-date=24 August 2006  |work=[[The Australian]] |date=8 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714034945/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |archive-date=14 July 2006 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
===Barakzai period===
The Ghilji rebelled against Afghanistan's ruler in 1886, after which a large number of them were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan by [[Barakzai dynasty|Barakzai]] Emir [[Abdur Rahman Khan]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zz9_Ve29eL0C&dq=abdur+rahman+khan+ghilzai++exiled&pg=PA42 Title	The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Peter Tomsen, PublicAffairs, 2011</ref>
Among those who were exiled was [[Sher Khan Nashir]], chief of the [[Kharoti]] Ghilji tribe, who would become the governor of [[Qataghan-Badakhshan Province]] in the 1930s. Launching an industrialization and economic development campaign, he founded the Spinzar Cotton Company and helped making [[Kunduz]] one of the wealthiest Afghan cities.<ref>Wörmer, Nils (2012). "The Networks of Kunduz: A History of Conflict and Their Actors, from 1992 to 2001" (PDF). Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. Afghanistan Analysts Network. p. 8</ref><ref>Grötzbach, Erwin: Afghanistan, eine geographische Landeskunde, Darmstadt 1990, p. 263</ref><ref>Emadi, Hafizullah: {{Google books |title=Dynamics of Political Development in Afghanistan. The British, Russian, and American Invasions |id=JZ1gAQAAQBAJ |page=60 }}</ref> Sher Khan also implemented Qezel Qala harbour on the [[Panj River]] at the border with [[Tajikistan]], which was later named [[Sher Khan Bandar]] in his honour.<ref>Tanwir, Halim: {{Google books |title=AFGHANISTAN: History, Diplomacy and Journalism Volume 1 |id=oyQDAwAAQBAJ |page=253 }}</ref>
===Contemporary period===
[[File:Mohammad Najibullah 1986.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mohammad Najibullah]], of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992]]
[[File:160712-D-SK590-361 (28233988146).jpg|thumb|right|[[Ashraf Ghani]], of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021]]
More recently, the former Presidents of Afghanistan [[Ashraf Ghani|Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai]] (2014–2021) and [[Mohammad Najibullah|Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai]] (1987–1992) belonged to the [[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]] branch of the Ghilji tribe.{{fact|date=September 2024}}
Two other former Presidents of Afghanistan, [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] (1978–1979) and [[Hafizullah Amin]] (1979), belonged to the [[Tarakai]] and [[Kharoti]] branches of the Ghilji tribe, respectively.<ref name="ira2"/>
== Areas of settlement ==
[[File:Nomads in Badghis Province.jpg|thumb|right|Tents of Afghan [[nomad]]s in [[Badghis Province]] who are known in [[Pashto]] as [[Kochi people|''Kōchyān'']]]]
In Afghanistan, the Ghilji are primarily concentrated in an area which is bordered in the southeast by the [[Durand Line]], in the northwest by a line stretching from [[Kandahar]] via [[Ghazni]] to [[Kabul]], and in the northeast by [[Jalalabad]]. Large numbers were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan after the rebellion of 1886.<ref name="ira2">"[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gilzi- ḠILZĪ]" - ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]], December 15, 2001 (M. Jamil Hanifi)''</ref>
Before the 1947 [[partition of India]], some Ghilji used to seasonally winter as nomadic merchants in India, buying goods there, and transporting them by [[camel caravan]] in summer for sale or barter in Afghanistan.<ref name="bri">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ghilzay |title=Ghilzay |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>
== Pashto dialect ==
{{main|Central Pashto}}
The Ghilji of the central region speak [[Central Pashto]], a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern [[Pashto dialect|dialects of Pashto]].<ref name="UND">{{Cite thesis |type=Master's thesis |last=Coyle|first=Dennis Walter|date=2014|title=Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties|url=https://commons.und.edu/theses/1635 |publisher=University of North Dakota}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" align="center"
!style="padding:5px;"|Dialects<ref name="Hallberg">Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.</ref>
!align = «center»|<span style="font-size:140%;">ښ</span>
!align = «center»|<span style="font-size:140%;">ږ</span>
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Central Pashto|Central (Ghazni)]]
|align = «center»|[ç]
|align = «center»|[ʝ]
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Southern Pashto|Southern (Kandahar)]]
|align = "center"|[ʂ]
|align = "center"|[ʐ]
|- style="background:LightGrey"
!align = «left»|[[Northern Pashto|Northern (Kabul)]]
|align = «center»|[x]
|align = «center»|[ɡ]
|}
==Subtribes==
*[[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]]
**[[Jabbarkhel]]
*[[Akakhel]]
*[[Alikhel]]
*[[Andar (Pashtun tribe)|Andar]]
*[[Hotak]]
**[[Babai (Pashtun tribe)|Babai]]
*Hussainkhel
*[[Ibrahimkhel]]
*[[Ibrahimzai]]
*[[Kharoti]]
**[[Nasher (Kharoti clan)|Nasher]]
*[[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]]
**[[Kundi (Pashtun tribe)|Kundi]]
**[[Niazi]]
***[[Kharotakhel]]
**[[Lohani]]
**[[Marwat]]
**[[Sarwani]]
**[[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Shirani]]
***[[Harifal]]
***[[Miani (Pashtun tribe)|Miani]]
****Mian Khel
**[[Sur (Pashtun tribe)|Sur]]
**[[Daulat Khel]]
**Dotani
**Khaisor
**Tattor
*[[Nasar (Pashtun tribe)|Nasar]]
*[[Painda Khel]]
*[[Sakzai]]
*[[Sulaimankhel]]
*[[Tarakai]]
*Tarakhel
*[[Tokhi]]
== See also ==
* [[Durrani]]
* [[Yusufzai]]
* [[Kakar]]
== Notes ==
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn |name=different_names |In medieval Persian manuscripts, the word can be read as either "Khalji" or "Khilji" because of the omission of short vowel signs in orthography,<ref name="Gottschalk2005">{{cite book|author=Peter Gottschalk|title=Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from Village India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fl53OdhuU7YC&pg=PA99|date=27 October 2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976052-7|page=99 }}</ref> but "Khalji" is the correct name.<ref>{{cite book |author=Heramb Chaturvedi |title=Allahabad School of History 1915-1955 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqGaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 |year=2016 |publisher=Prabhat |isbn=978-81-8430-346-9 |page=222 }}</ref>}}
{{efn |name=name |In Pashto, "Ghilji" ({{lang|ps|غلجي}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒi]) is the plural form of the word. Its masculine singular is "Ghiljay" ({{lang|ps|غلجی}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒay]), while its feminine singular is "Ghiljey" ({{lang|ps|غلجۍ}}, [ɣəlˈd͡ʒəy]).}}
}}
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Pashtun tribes}}
[[Category:Ghilji Pashtun tribes| ]]
[[Category:Pashto-language surnames]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Turkic people]]
[[Category:Alauddin Khalji]]
[[Category:Tribes of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kunar Province]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Logar Province]]