Kandahar Province

Governor Assadullah Khalid

Provincial Overview (PDF)

Kandahar Province is located in southern Afghanistan. Kandahar borders Pakistan in the east and south, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces in the north, and Helmand in the west. The topographyy is composed of deserts in the south, hills in the north, and mountaineous terrain along the Pak border in Spin Boldak.

The population of over 900 thousand are primarily Durrani and Ghilzai Pashtun. Their are also Baluch, Hazara, Tajik, and a variety of other ethnicities. Primary occupations within Kandahar are agriculture and animal husbandry, while narcotics production remains a highly profitable but illegal profession. Their are 365 provincial aid projects planned in the area with over $US 39 million in planned costs.

Click to view Tribal Map

Human Terrain:
Achekzai: Formerly part of the Barakzai grouping, the Achekzai were separated from the rest of the tribe by Ahmad Shah Durrani for management purposes, and the Achekzai remained one of the most troublesome tribes in the province. Traditionally nomadic, they further divide themselves into two large sub-groupings, the Gujanzais and the Badinzais, and had a reputation for disunity and predation. They now primarily live in Spin Boldak District.

Alizai:  Major branch of the Panjpay Durrani Pashtuns with two main sub-tribes, Jalozai and Hasanzai.  Clashes between the Jalozai and Hasanzai have been a major source of tension in northern Helmand province.  Present Governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada is Jalozai while Abdul Wahid, a major figure in Baghran district, Helmand province is Hasanzai.  The feud between Abdul Wahid and the father of Sher Mohammad dates back to the Jihad period.

Baluch: The Baluch, thought to number over a million in Afghanistan, are an Indo-Iranian ethnic group spread over Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Significant numbers also exist abroad. In Pakistan, Baluchi independence groups have fought with Islamabad over the revenues from natural resources in Baluchistan. The capital of Pakistani Baluchistan is Quetta, where many of the Taliban are thought to have fled after their fall from power, but Qalat, further south, has traditionally been the seat of the Baluch Khans. The Baluch are overwhelmingly but not entirely Sunni Muslims. Their power-structures, based on the khan, are generally perceived to be more concentrated than those of the more fractious Pashtuns. In Afghanistan they are primarily nomadic, roaming the southernmost districts of the three southernmost provinces. In Kandahar they are found mostly in Shorabak and Reg districts. Baluch Tree (PDF)

Barakzai: From the Zirak division of Durrani Pashtuns, the Barakzai primarily inhabit the (relatively) quiet districts of Arghistan and Maruf. They rose to prominence with Dost Mohammad Shah (the British East India Company’s adversary in the first Anglo-Afghan War) and furnished a string of kings through the current aspirant to the throne, Heir Apparent Ahmad Shah. Accordingly, they are one of the most respected tribes in the country. Barakzai Tree (PDF)

Barech: A Durrani Pashtun tribe found almost exclusively in the district of Shorawak in southern Kandahar province.  There appears to be little ethnographic literature on the Barech beyond the observations of some 19th and early 20th century British civil and military personnel (see Adamec, Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5, Kandahar and South-Central Afghanistan” 1980, Akademische Druck-u.Verlaganstalt, Graz-Austria).  Despite the Barech claims of Durrani kinship (see Pashtun Genealogies attached), there is reason to believe that the Barech have a different ethnic origin, perhaps Baloch, and transferred their ethnic/tribal identity during a shift in the power balance between the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the Emirate of Qalat.

Brahui: Numbering around a quarter million in Afghanistan, almost entirely in Kandahar, the Brahui are a small tribal group more usually found in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Predominantly Sunni, Brahui are descended from Dravidian tribes that once spanned across India before the Aryan invasions of 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. The Brahui language still retains the Dravidian grammatical structure, although most vocabulary is at this point Indo-Iranian in origin. Having lived amongst the Baluch for centuries, they are in many cases indistinguishable, and even provided the Khans of Qalat. In Kandahar they primarily inhabit Shorabak District.

Kiral: A very small Durrani Pashtun tribe located in Maruf district, Kandahar province.  Affiliation with larger tribe or tribal confederation unknown.

Noorzai: Although usually categorized and self-identified as Panjpay Durranis, many Zirak Durranis dismiss the Noorzai as Ghalji or Ghilzai, not Durrani at all.  At this point in time, it is not clear whether this is a long-standing belief or has arisen out the turmoil of the past three decades, particularly the close partnership between the Noorzai and the Ghalji-dominated Taliban leadership.  Given the numbers and importance of the Noorzai in the south, this attitude may have consequences for long-term tribal politics.

To contact us about our program:  ccsinfo@nps.edu | Last Updated: 06 May 2008.