Wazir (tribe)

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The Wazirs or Waziris are a Pashtun tribe settled in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, the North West Frontier Province and also across the border in Afghanistan. The tribal agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan are named after them. There are also sizeable communities of Waziri established in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi.

1 Origins
2 Language
3 Tribes and Sub-Tribes
4 Transport Industry
5 Famous Personalities

[edit] Origins

The Waziris are an isolated tribe and have lived in the Pashtun tribal belt region for many centuries. Like most other Pashtun tribes, the Waziris are predominantly the descendants Scythians with some Hephthalite and Kushan admixture. Others claim that the Waziri are an indigenous tribe who have resided in the mountainous region for several thousand years in a similar fashion to the Afridis. According to their own traditions, the Waziris call themselves the descendants of Waziri who was the son of Sulaiman, the son of Kuki, the son of Karlan and grandson of Qais Abdur Rashid. So they are usually described as being a tribe of Karlani Pashtuns.

From this common origin come the Wazirs, a title which properly includes the Wazirs, Gurbaz, Lalawazir in Kugiani in the area of the Sufed Koh in afghanistan and Mahsuds but the word Wazir has now practically been appropriated by the former.

[edit] Language

The two agencies have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Wazir Tribe and speak a common Wazirwola language, which is in fact a dialect of the Pashto language.

[edit] Tribes and Sub-Tribes

The Wazirs dominate the hilly tracts; Khaisora, Sherathala Plain, Kaitu valley, Lower stretches of the Kurram River, and upper parts of the Tochi Valley beyond Kharakamar. They are divided into two tribes Ahmadzai and othmanzai, Ahmad zai has two main branches, sain khel(Husain khel) and kalokhel, the othmanzai are divided in to three main sections namely: Ibrahim Khel, Wali Khel and Mamit Khel. These sections are further divided into several sub-sections.

The Wazir tribes are divided into sub-tribes governed by male village elders who meet in a tribal jirga. Socially and religiously Waziristan is an extremely conservative area. Women are carefully guarded, and every household must be headed by a male figure. Tribal cohesiveness is also strong through so-called Collective Responsibility Acts in the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

They have a formidable reputation as warriors and are known for their frequent blood feuds. Traditionally, feuding local Waziri religious leaders have enlisted outsiders while this is not the reality as quoted by the local people who claim they are totally against the the foreign militants living here.

[edit] Transport Industry

The Wazir tribes have managed to monopolize the transport industry of Pakistan running commercial trucks loaded with goods throughout the country. Due to the relative limited resources of the Waziristan region, many Wazir as well as Mahsud send back valuable income to their respective families by working outside of the region. Wazir's have earned a reputation for assuring the arrival of shipments on time through some of the most treacherous and dangerous routes (eg. Karakorum Highway) and as such, are considered the country's lifeline in commercial goods transport. Furthermore, Wazir are prominent businessmen in almost all of Pakistan's major urban centres including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Multan.