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.^[7][8] 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.^[9][10] However Prince Afghana sought refuge in a place called "Takht-e-Sulaiman", where he settled as Exil Arch.^[11] 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.^[12][13][14]

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".^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

Seraj

Emir Habibullah Khan, member of the Seraj cadet branch and Emir of Afghanistan

The Seraj cadet-branch are the descendants of Emir Dost Mohammed Khan, who alongside his predecessor and brother Sultan Mohammad Khan consolidated Barakzai rule in Afghanistan. The Seraj were mainly the Emirs of the first Emirate of Afghanistan that ended with the Saqqawist Coup led by Habibullah Kalakani. With support from the royal family, the Telai cadet branch killed Kalakani and re-established the second Barakzai Kingdom.

Telai

HRH Field Marshal Prince Abdul Aziz Khan Telai. Minister of war and interior affairs under his grand-nephew King Amanullah Khan. Mentor and predecessor as minister of his other grand-nephew King Nadir Shah.

The Telai cadet-branch are the descendants of Sultan Mohammad Khan "Telai", 2nd Emir of Afghanistan succeeding his father Payindah Mohammed Khan. The descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Yahya Khan Telai (Yahya-Khel) to whom Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah belonged were closely related to Amanullah Khan through marriages.^[19]

Another Telai branch that had immense power in Afghanistan's military was that of His Royal Highness Field Marshal Prince Abdul Aziz Khan Telai and his children. Prince Abdul Aziz Telai was son of the Afghan King HM Sultan Mohammed Khan Telai and acted as a Field Marshal of the Afghan Army, preceding his grand-nephew Muhammad Nadir Shah as Minister of war under his other grand-nephew King Amanullah Khan. Prince Abdul Aziz additionally acted as Governor of Kandahar and Badakhshan. His eldest son was Prince Abdul Qayyum Khan, who acted as Governor of many central Afghan Provinces. Prince Abdul Qayyum Khan's son was the Afghan father of Physics and Royal Afghan UN ambassador Professor Prince Abdul Khalek Khan Telai, who was a Murid (religious novice) of his father in law Mir Muhammad Jan son of Mir Fazlullah Agha. Prince Abdul Khalek's descendants thus call themselves the Mir Muhammad Jan Khel and chose the surname Dakik after the Saur Revolution. Next to the title Sultan (Above Sardar/Prince but below Shah/King),^[20] they also bear the title Mir and Sayyid to denote their descent to Prophet Muhammad through General Mir Muhammad Jan.^[21][22]

Another known son of Prince Abdul Aziz was HRH Field Marshal Prince Amir Muhammad Khan Telai, who proclaimed himself Shah in exile in Peshawar contesting the rule of his rival cousin Mohammad Nadir Shah, siding with the British. His son Assadullah, whose nickname was "Sharza" became a General in the US Air Force, representing Telai interests in Washington DC.^[21][22]

Another well known son of Prince Abdul Aziz was Brigade General Sardar Abdul Ghafar Khan, who acted as Commander of the Personal Royal Brigade of his cousin King Nadir Shah. It was Prince Abdul Ghafar Khan who executed the Amanist Charkhi family, who plotted against his cousin HM King Nadir Shah. These executions made by Prince Abdul Ghaffar Khan led to Ghulam Nabi Khan Charkhi's daughter convincing a Hazara Amanist called Abdul Khaliq Hazaragi to take revenge for the Charkhi family's massacre and murder HM King Nadir Shah.^[21][22]

Shaghasi

Loynab Shir Dil Khan Shaghasi' son of Shaghasi Mirdaad Khan Barakzai, grand son of Bazar Khan Barakzai, and great-grandson of Sardar Yasin Khan Barakzai. Işik Aqasi (Minister of the Royal Court "Chemberlain") to Dost Mohammad Khan 1856, and Sher Ali Khan. Regional Sardar, Governor of Turkistan and Balkh, and the first and only Loynaad of Afghanistan during the Barakzai dynasty.

The Shaghasi cadet-branch is another prominent and powerful sub-tribe of Barakzai, descending from the brothers of Emir Sultan Mohammed Khan and Emir Dost Mohammed Khan.^[23]

Shaghasi Khel are descendants of Mirdaad Khan Barakzai, Işik Aqasi (Minister of the Royal Court "Chemberlain") during the reign of the Kandahari Sardars (Dost Muhammad Khan's brothers), as well as the reign of Dost Muhammad Khan 1863 - 1866 and 1868 - 1879. His father, Bazar Khan Barakzai was a local Barakzai chief, and his grandfather was Sardar Yasin Khan Omar Khanzai (Barakzai), resident of Maruf District (at that time part of Arghistan District) of Kandahar, and one of the notable Sardars of Kandahar during the reigns of Timur Shah Durrani^[24][25] and brother to Muhammad of the Mohammadzai. The Shaghasi's were even more powerful than the Mohammadzai's during the ruling of Emir Sher Ali Khan - Emir of Afghanistan, and Emir Amanullah Khan - Emir of Afghanistan (February 28, 1919 – 1926), later King of Afghanistan (1926 - January 14, 1929). Prominent Afghan historian, Abdul Hai Habibi denotes that during King Amanullah Khan's reign, the former governor of Kabul was Mahmoud Khan Yawar and the later one was Ali Ahmad Khan (both Shaghasi) Barakzai. Abdul Aziz Khan (later Minister of war, and Prime Minister, Mohammad Sarwar Khan and Abdul Karim Khan were Naib -ul- Hukuma's (all of them were Shaghasi) Barakzai. In Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat Abdul Karim and Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (later Minister) were also Khan Naib -ul- Hukuma's, and Abdul Rahman and Nik Mohammad Khan were Firqa Meshar (all of them were Shaghasi) Barakzai. Abdul Karim Khan in Paktya, and Dost Mahammad Khan Nazim (later Naib Salar, Sipah Salar, Dar-ul-Adalat, and Hakim-e-Ala) in Ghazni, Uruzgan and Kandahar were equally (Shaghasi) Barakzai, Mohammad Alam Khan in Lugar and Kuchi and other governors were the same.^[26] To the Shaghasi Khel is related King Amanullah Khan's mother H.M. Queen Sarwar Sultana Begum, Siraj ul-Khwatin, the Aliya Hazrat (b. at Kabul, 1875; d. at Istanbul, Turkey, 1965), eldest daughter of Loinab Sher Dil Khan Shaghasi, by his third wife, Benazir Begum, a lady form the Popalzai clan.^[27]

Ali Ahmad Khan Shaghasi (1883–1929) who was declared Emir of Afghanistan twice in 1929 son of General H.E. Loinab Khushdil Khan, sometime Governor of Kabul and Kandahar, by his wife Sahira Begum, daughter of H.H. Amir al-Mumenin, Amir al-Kabir, Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, by his wife, a daughter of Agha Muhammad Qizilbash was also Shaghasi Barakzai.  Ali Ahmad's sister, the Ulya Mukhadara Zarin Jan Begum was the mother of Humaira Begum who was the Queen consort of Afghanistan.^[28]

Heads of the House of Barakzai since 1973

• Mohammed Daoud Khan As first president of Afghanistan, renouncing the title Shah after taking power (1973-1978)
• Mohammed Zahir Shah (17 July 1978 - 23 July 2007)
• Crown Prince Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan (1964 Constitution of Afghanistan)

Custodianship of the Hazrat Ali Mazar

As Sufis the Barakzais are devotees of Muhammad's cousin and son in law Ali ibn Abi Talib, who according to Afghans is buried in Mazar Sharif. The Emirs and Kings acted as custodians of the "Hazrat Ali Mazar". Kings who are buried in the Hazrat Ali Shrine Complex are the following:^[41]

• Dost Mohammed Khan
• Wazir Akbar Khan
• Sher Ali Khan

It is because of this emphasis made by the Barakzai that some claim that the Mosque in the Afghan Flag stands for the Hazrat Ali Mazar.

Anti-fundamentalism

Although many Barakzai were practicing the faith of Islam, and integrating conservative Sharia Law in their legal system, they were known for their Anti-Fundamentalist policies, regarding them as politically motivated in the first line. Abdur Rahman Khan's Chief Justice and Naqib al Ashraf Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha (father of Sayyid Mir Muhammad Jan) contributed essentially to the definition of the conservative ratio legis of the Emirate of Afghanistan, that was later adopted in the Kingdom. Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha was especially supsicious towards Fundamentalist Shiite Movements, whom he regarded as fundamentalist proxies of the Shiite Qajar Dynasty. He was also credited for Anti-Corruption enforcement and rule of law in Afghanistan by forcing Abdur Rahman Khan to adhere to the Law despite being a King.^[42] Under Prince Daoud Khan's regime, Fundamentalists were regarded as political enemies of the regime, being suppressed next to Communists.

National flags

• 
  Flag of Afghanistan before 1901
• 
  Flag of Afghanistan after 1901
• 
  Flag of Afghanistan during His Majesty King Zahir Shah's Kingdom
• 
  Flag of Afghanistan under His Royal Highness Prince Daoud Khan's regime

Coat of arms

• 
  Emblem of the Emirate of Afghanistan
• 
  Emblem of the Kingdom of Afghanistan
• 
  Emblem of Prince Daoud Khan's regime

Private Standards

• 
  Private Standard of His Majesty King Zahir Shah and Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan
• 
  Presidential seal of Daoud Khan