The Barakzai dynasty (, "sons of Barak") ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978 when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah and de facto under his cousin Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durrani dynasty of Ahmad Shah Durrani was removed from power.
Prior the seizing of the Durrani empire by the Barakzai dynasty, Loy Qandahar was captured by the Dil Brothers, Sardar Pur Dil Khan, Sardar Kohan Dil Khan, Sardar Sher Dil Khan, Sardar Mir Dil Khan, Sardar Rahim Dil Khan, in year 1818 and declared their independence, which lasted as an independent state until 1855, when Amir Dost Mohammad Khan unified Qandahar with Kabul. At the start of Barakzai rule over Emirate of Kabul in March 1823, the Afghans lost their former stronghold of Peshawar Valley to the Sikh Khalsa Army of Ranjit Singh at the Battle of Nowshera. The Afghan forces in the battle were supported by Azim Khan, half-brother of Dost Mohammad Khan. During the Barakzai era, Afghanistan saw much of its territory lost to the British in the south and east, Persia in the west, and Russia in the north. There were also many conflicts within Afghanistan, including the three major Anglo-Afghan wars and the 1928–29 civil war.
History and background
Ancestrial background
The Barakzai claim descent from the children of Israel in a direct line through the first Israeli King Saul, whose family intermarried with the family of his successor King David. King Saul's grandson the Prince (Malak) Afghana was grown up by King Solomon, acting as his commander in chief and Manager in the construction of the Temple Mount. However Prince Afghana sought refuge in a place called "Takht-e-Sulaiman", where he settled as Exil Arch. A direct descendant of Prince Afghana in the 37th generation called Qais heard of the message of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and visited him in Medinah. Qais regarded Muhammad as the awaited Moschiach and embraced Islam under him. He changed his name Qais to Abdul Rashid Pathan and married a daughter of Khalid bin Walid.
Qais Abdur Rashid's descendant Sulaiman, also known as "Zirak Khan" is regarded as the forefather of the Durrani Pashtuns to whom the Barakzai also belonged, next to the Popalzai and Alakozai. It is through Sulaiman's son Barak, that the Barakzai derive their name from, because Barakzai means "children of Barak".
Naming Afghanistan
It was in honor of their ancestor Prince Afghana of Israel, whom some Muslims venerate as a Saint that the first Barakzai King Sultan Mohammed Khan and his brother Dost Mohammed Khan have named their Kingdom "Afghanistan", a fact some Afghans tried to hide because of international antisemitic sentiments that were present in the late 19th century, reaching its peak in World War II in the form of Fascism.
Political background
The Barakzai dynasty was the line of rulers in Afghanistan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Following the fall of the Durrani Empire in 1823, chaos reigned in the domains of Ahmad Shah Durrani's Afghan Empire as various sons of Timur Shah struggled for supremacy. The Afghan Empire ceased to exist as a single nation state, disintegrating for a brief time into a fragmented collection of small units. Dost Mohammad Khan gained preeminence alongside his brother, Sultan Mohammad Khan in 1823. Dost Mohammad Khan would found the Barakzai dynasty in about 1837. Thereafter, his descendants ruled in direct succession until 1929, when King Amanullah Khan abdicated and his cousin Mohammed Nadir Shah was elected king. The most prominent & powerful sub-clan of the Barakzai Pashtun tribe is the Mohammadzai, of which the 1823–1973 Afghanistan ruling dynasty comes.
Mohammadzai
Mohammadzai are the most prominent & powerful sub-tribe of Barakzai, they belong to the branch of the Durrani confederacy, and are primarily centered around Kandahar. They can also be found in other provinces throughout Afghanistan as well across the border in the Pakistan's Balochistan Province.
Payendah Khel are descendants of Payendah Khan, head of the Mohammadzai branch of the Barakzai tribe during the reigns of Timur Shah Durrani and Zaman Shah Durrani, who became rulers of Afghanistan with the decline of the Sadduzai. Popular Payindah Khel are the Tarzis, to which King Amanullah Khan's consort Queen Soraya Tarzi belonged.