Mohammadzai (Pashto: محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul and Ghazni in Afghanistan as well as in the city of Charsadda in neighbouring Pakistan. The Mohammadzai ruled Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978, for a total of 155 years. Their rule ended under Daoud Khan when the Communists took power via a Soviet-backed coup.
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👉 Mohammadzai in the context of Dost Mohammad Khan
Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai, (23 December 1792 – 9 June 1863) nicknamed the Great Emir, was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani dynasty, he succeeded his brother Sultan Mohammad Khan, and became the Emir of Afghanistan in 1826. An ethnic Pashtun, he belonged to the Mohammadzai branch of the Barakzai tribe. He was the 11th son of Payandah Khan, chief of the Barakzai Pashtuns, who was killed in 1800 by King Zaman Shah Durrani.
At the beginning of his rule, the Afghans lost their former stronghold of Peshawar Valley in March 1823 to the Sikh Khalsa Army of Ranjit Singh at the Battle of Nowshera. The Afghan forces in the battle were led by Mohammad Azim Khan, half-brother of Dost Mohammad Khan. By the end of his reign, he had reunited the principalities of Kandahar and Herat with Kabul. Dost had ruled for a lengthy 36 years, a span exceeded only by Mohammad Zahir Shah more than a century later.
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Mohammadzai in the context of Sultan Mohammad Khan
Sultan Mohammad Khan Barakzai, (1795 – 1861) also known as Ghazi Sardar Sultan Mohammad Talaei, through his epithet as the Golden Sultan, was an Afghan chief minister and regent. He was a powerful half-brother of Dost Mohammad Khan, the eventual ruler of Afghanistan who seized control of Kabul from him. Prior to and during the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan, Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai was chief minister and governor of various regions of Afghanistan, including Kabul, Peshawar and Kohat. He was the first of the Musahiban, a Mohammadzai dynasty that began with him and ruled Afghanistan for more than 150 years, in various forms such as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978.
An ethnic Pashtun, Mohammad Khan Talaei was the 15th son of Sardar Payeida Khan (chief of the Barakzai tribe), who was killed in 1799 by Zaman Shah Durrani. Sultan Muhammad Khan's grandfather was Hajji Jamal Khan.
Mohammadzai in the context of Sardar
Sardar (Persian: سردار, romanized: Sardâr, pronounced [sæɹˈdɒːɹ]; lit. 'commander, headmaster') is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, kings, and other aristocrats. It has also been used to denote a chief or leader of a tribe or group. It is used as a Persian synonym of the title Emir of Arabic origin.
The term and its cognates originate from Persian sardār (سردار) and have been historically used across Persia (Iran), the Ottoman Empire and Turkey (as "Serdar"), Afghanistan (as "Sardar" for a member of the royal Mohammadzai clan in meaning of noblemen), Mesopotamia (now Iraq), Syria, South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal), Central Asia (in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as "Sardor"), the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Egypt (as "Sirdar").
Mohammadzai in the context of Musahiban
The Musahiban (mus-hi-been; the name derives from Persian مصاحب Muṣāḥib, meaning "courtier" or "aide de camp") are a Mohammadzai family who founded the Afghan Barakzai dynasty, and members of the royal lineage that ruled Afghanistan as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978. They descend from Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai (1795–1861) and his older brother Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (1792–1863), and were the last rulers of the Mohammadzai dynasty before being overthrown in the Saur Revolution in April 1978.