Popalzai or Popalzay (Pashto: پوپلزی - also known as Popal) are Durrani (formerly called Abdali or Bor Tareen) Pashtuns.
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According to Hyat Khan's history of Afghanistan, from their progenitor Bor Tareen, otherwise known as Abdal, are descended two main divisions: the Zirak and the Panjpai. The term Abdal, however, gradually superseded Bor Tareen and came into special prominence when Ahmad Shah Abdali, commonly known as Durrani, began his career of conquest. The Achakzais are strictly a branch of the Barakzai but Ahmad Shah Durrani, himself an Abdal Tareen, fearing the growing numbers of the Barakzai, separated them from the parent stock, since which time they have remained distinct.
There are thousands of Popalzai living in Pakistan as well, mainly in the city of Peshawar.
According to scholars and popular sources, the Popalzai clan consists of approximately 3,500,000 individuals and still growing, living on almost every continent in the world. Ethnographers have classified Abdalis as peripatetic tribes. Abdal is a well known peripatetic tribe in Turkey.