Afghan Biographies

Pashtun Ghilzai Hotak Tribe


Name Pashtun Ghilzai Hotak Tribe
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background
History and Biodata

Background:
The Hotak is a tribe of the Ghilzai Ghilji confederacy of the Pashtun people. The Hotak started centuries ago as a political family. The first king to take power in Kandahar, Afghanistan, was Mirwais Hotak (1673–1715). After his death many different Hotaks took the throne, such as Mahmud Hotak, Ashraf Hotak, and Hussain Hotak, eventually losing control.

The Hotak dynasty was an Afghan monarchy of the Ghilji Pashtuns, established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak after leading a successful revolution against their declining Persian Safavid overlords in the region of Loy Kandahar ("Greater Kandahar") in what is now southern Afghanistan. It lasted until 1738 when the founder of the Afsharid dynasty, Nader Shah Afshar, defeated Hussain Hotak during the long siege of Kandahar, and started the reestablishment of Iranian souverainty over all regions lost decades before against the Iranian archrival, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire. At its peak, the Hotak dynasty ruled briefly over an area which is now Afghanistan, Iran, western Pakistan, and some parts of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The Ghilji (Pashto: غلجي‎ Ghəljī), Persian: غل‌زایی‎), also called Khaljī (خلجي), Khiljī, Ghilzai, or Gharzai (غرزی; ghar means "mountain" and zai "born of"), are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy.

Last Modified 2018-06-22
Established 2018-06-22