View source for Kakar

{{Short description|Pashtun tribe}}
{{About|the Pashtoon tribe|the Indian Kakar/Kakkar (Khatri) surname|Kakkar|the village in Iran|Karkar, Selseleh|the deer|Muntjac}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox tribe
| name = Kakar
| local name = کاکړ ۔ کاکڑ
| type = 
| image = A Kakar Pashtun.png
| alt = 
| caption = a Kakar, circa 1840
| ethnicity = [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]]
| nisba = 
| location = [[Afghanistan]], [[Iran]] ([[Razavi Khorasan province|Razavi Khorasan]]), [[Pakistan]] ([[Balochistan]])
| varna = 
| descended_label = 
| descended = 
| parent_tribe = Gharghasht
| population = 
| demonym = 
| branches = [[Bazai]], [[Jalalzai]], [[Khudiadadzai]] [[Musakhel tribe|Musakhel]]
| language = [[Pashto]], [[Arabic]]
| religion = [[file:Allah-green.svg|18px]] [[Islam]]
}}
The '''Kakar''' ([[Pashto]]: کاکړ) is a Gharghashti [[Pashtun tribe]], based in [[Afghanistan]], parts of [[Iran]], and northern [[Balochistan]] in [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCs/Docs/Tribal%20Trees/Kakar_supertribe.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Kakar Super Tribe (Pashtun)|website=Naval Postgraduate School, Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, United States Navy (nps.edu) website|archive-date=23 February 2015|access-date=12 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223024433/http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCs/Docs/Tribal%20Trees/Kakar_supertribe.pdf}}</ref>

==Origins of the tribe==
Kakars are descendants of Dani (or Daani) who was the son of Gharghasht. Gharghasht was the son of [[Qais Abdur Rashid|Qais Abdul Rashid]], the founder of the Pashtuns who himself was the descendant of Afghana (or Avagana) the progenitor of modern-day Pashtuns. 

In [[Herat province|Herat]], the Kakar are sometimes referred to as Kak. Historically, the tribe has been called Kakar but may have been referred to as Kak-kor (lit. family of Kak). The tomb of Kakar is in front of [[Herat]] central [[Jami masjid herat|Jamia Masjid]]'s gate. Some historians{{who|date=August 2018}} argue that Kakar was first buried in [[Kohistan District, Kapisa|Kohistan]], but [[Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad|Ghiyath al-Din Ghori]] brought the body to be re-buried in a mosque in the city of Herat.

==History==
[[File:Kakar Pashtun 1929.jpg|alt=Zarin Khan with son and Allah Nur|thumb|1929 - Kākaṛ Pashtuns pictured by [[Georg Morgenstierne]]]]
Until the fifteenth century, Kakars along with [[Tajiks]], [[Baloch people|Baloch]] and [[Farsiwan|Farsiwans]] mainly inhabited the [[Kandahar|Qandahar]] region and because of the predominant position of [[Durrani|Abdali]] and [[Ghilji|Ghilzai]] Pashtuns in [[Kandahar|Qandahar]] region during and around 14th century, Tajiks, [[Hazaras]], Kakars and Baloch lost their previous possessions and were forced to pay tax or revenue to warlords from either Abdali or Ghilzai tribal divisions. Eventually, some of these indigenous people assimilated and became part of dominant Pashtun confederacy, while others moved further west or to north Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book |author=Christine Noelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf2cvE5jYrYC&pg=PA161 |title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan Shah (1826–1863) | date=20 March 1997 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |page=161| isbn=978-0-7007-0629-7 }}</ref><ref>Dupree 1980: 377–378</ref><ref>Durand 1879: 83–84</ref><ref>Norris 1967: 295</ref> 

Prior to the [[partition of British India]], [[Hindu]] members of the Kakar tribe, known as Sheen Khalai, resided in the [[Qila Abdullah]] and [[Qila Saifullah]], [[Quetta]], [[Loralai]] and Maikhter regions of [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|Baluchistan]] now in [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Haider2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tattooed-blue-skinned-hindu-pushtuns-look-back-at-their-roots/article22645932.ece|title=Tattooed 'blue-skinned' Hindu Pashtuns look back at their roots|last=Haider|first=Suhasini|date=3 February 2018|work=The Hindu (newspaper)|language=en|access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref>

The Kakar also took part in anti-colonial resistance against the [[British Indian Army]] fighting alongside neighbouring [[Baloch people|Baloch]] tribes.

After 1947, they migrated to Unniara, [[Rajasthan]] and other parts of independent India.<ref name="Haider2018"/>

==Notable people==
*[[Abdul Waheed Kakar]], Chief of Army Staff Pakistan Army (1993–1996)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1710702 |author=Abbas Nasir|title=Name the chief, then what? |newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|date=18 September 2022|access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref>
*[[Anwaar ul Haq Kakar]], ex-Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan (2023-2024) 
* [[Abdul Hai Habibi]], Afghan historian
*[[Muhammad Hashim Kakar]], Justice of the Supreme court of Pakistan 
*[[Nawab Ayaz Jogezai]], Pashtun Nawab and member of [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]]
*[[Nashenas]], Afghan Singer
*[[Faizullah Kakar]], Afghan epidemiologist and public leader
*[[Kader Khan]], Indian Actor
*[[Dadullah]] Afghan Taliban senior commander
*[[Mohammad Fazl]] Afghan Taliban Deputy Defense Minister 
*[[Muhammad Sarwar Khan Kakar]], was a Pakistani Senator
*[[Hafiz Sahar]], Editor-in-Chief of national newspaper in Afghanistan (1970s), Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Journalism and Mass communication in Afghanistan and USA.
*[[Mohammad Rabbani]], [[Prime Minister of Afghanistan]] under Taliban regime.
*[[Abdur Rab Nishtar]], Muslim League member, Pakistani movement activist and politician.
*[[Safwat Ghayur]], commandant of Pakistan's [[Frontier Constabulary]]
*[[Mullah Bakht]] alias [[Mansoor Dadullah]], Senior Afghan [[Taliban]] Commander
*[[Owais Ahmed Ghani]], Governor of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] ([[North-West Frontier Province|N-W.F.P.]]), Governor of [[Balochistan]], Federal Minister, Provincial Minister (N-W.F.P), [[Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf]] political party founding member
*[[Palay Khan]] (Palay Shah), was from Khosthi Syed Tribe anti-Raj fighter
*[[Fariba Ahmadi Kakar]], Afghan lady politician 
*[[Rozi Khan Kakar]], Pakistani Senator from Quetta<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.gov.pk/en/profile.php?uid=778|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2017|website=Senate of Pakistan website|title=Member Profile (Rozi Khan Kakar)               |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707035354/http://senate.gov.pk/en/profile.php?uid=778 |access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref>
*[[Usman Kakar]], Pakistani politician and Senator from Muslim Bagh<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/1631876 Judicial commission to probe Usman Kakar's death] Dawn (newspaper), Published 28 June 2021, Retrieved 12 March 2023</ref>
*[[Arfa Siddiq|Arfa Siddiq Kakar]], Pakistani politician and Pashtun human rights activist from Muslim Bagh<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pabalochistan.gov.pk/index.php/members/profile/en/27/495|url-status=dead|title=Member Profile (Arfa Siddiq Kakar)|website=Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, Government of Pakistan website|archive-date=15 January 2018|date=19 May 2014|access-date=12 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184513/http://www.pabalochistan.gov.pk/index.php/members/profile/en/27/495}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* [https://pashtunhistory.com/kakar-tribe/ History of the Kakar tribe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908041433/https://pashtunhistory.com/kakar-tribe/ |date=8 September 2024 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150325003701/http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/FamilyTrees.html Afghan tribes, including Kakar Super Tribe]
*''History of Pashtoons'' by Sardar Sher Muhammed Gandapur {{in lang|fa}}
*''A History of Afghan'', 1960, by Abdul-Hai Habibi {{in lang|fa}}
*''The Pathans'', 1967, by [[Sir Olaf Caroe]]
*''Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i Afghani'', 1500–1600, by Khwaja Nimatullah Heravi and Hebat Khan Abubakarzai Kakar.{{in lang|ps|fa}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Kakar |volume=15 |short=x}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Notelist}}

{{Pashtun tribes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kakar people|Kakar people]]
[[Category:Gharghashti Pashtun tribes]]
[[Category:Pashto-language surnames]]
[[Category:Pakistani names]]
[[Category:Tribes of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Tribes of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kandahar Province]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Balochistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Iran]]