Kakar

The Kakar (Pashto: کاکړ) is a Gharghashti Pashtun tribe, based mostly in Northern Balochistan, Pakistan and Loy Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Legendary origin

Kakars are sons of Gharghashti who was the son of Qais Abdul Rashid. In Herat, the Kakar are locally called Kak. Historically, the tribe has been called Kak-kor (lit. family of Kak). The tomb of Kakar (or Kak) is in front of Herat central Jamia Masjid’s gate. Some historians argue that Kakar was first buried in Kohistan, but Ghiyath al-Din Ghori brought the body to be re-buried in a mosque in the city of Herat.

History

Until the fifteenth century, Kakars along with Tajiks, Baloch and Farsiwans mainly inhibited the Qandahar region and because of the predominant position of Abdali and Ghilzai Pashtuns in Qandahar region during and around fourteenth 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. In these areas, the locals were not displaced yet subjugated. They were reduced to the status of peasant “riay’at” or tenants “himsaya“. Eventually, some of these indigenous people assimilated and became part of dominant Pashtun confederacy, while others moved further west or north Afghanistan.

Prior to the partition of British India, Hindu members of the Kakar tribe, known as Sheen Khalai, resided in the Qila AbdullahQila SaifullahQuetta, Loralai and Maikhter regions of province of Baluchistan now in Pakistan. After 1947, they migrated to Unniara, Rajasthan and other parts of India.