Qila Niazi

Qila Niazi (Niazi Fort, Qalaye Niazi, Niyāzī Kalā,^[1] نیازی کلا) is a village located near kabul Afghanistan. It is about 135 kilometres (84 mi) south of Kabul.^[2]

It was an ancient fortified area belonging to Niazi tribal chieftains who had married into the Barakzai Dynasty and settled in Paktia Province.^{[citation needed]}

Named after its creators the Khans of Niazi, translated into English the name literally meant "Fort of the Niazis". The area originally housed a mud brick fort. Although Niazis had inhabited the area as far back as 1500 BC^[3] it is impossible to determine the date the fort was founded, since available oral evidence is contradictory.

The fort was inhabited until the late 1930s, when the Great Khan Niazi migrated to Pakistan as a result of the political turmoil in Afghanistan, which caused the nation to practically disintegrate into chaos. Today a village inhabited by Niazi tribesmen stands on the grounds of the fort.^[4]

Niazi Kala in Pashto (د نيازيو کلا) is the area from the Salih Kheel village and upto Rabat Village of Paktia Gardez. Thousands of Niazi families live in the Qila Noazi. The Niazi which lives in this Qila is divided into Mostiwal, Janakheel, Agarwal, Nazarkhil, Azgharkhil and more. These people are mostly business related and on a very little quantity to political activities. They've flighted against British, Russian and US forces. A well-known influential Sufi named Sufi Bismillah Jan Niazi and a tribal leader Malak Nasrullah Jan Niazi were heads of Qila Niazi. They were brothers to one another. This tribe have tribal culture and rules which are implemented by Malakan and Ulama of the Masajids.

During Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, Haji Abdul Rauf Khan Niazi tried to negotiate with Taliban and Republic government for peace and security. In the government of Ashraf Ghani, Malak Abdul Rauf Khan Niazi inaugurated Loya Jirga of all tribal leaders of Loya Paktia (Paktia, Khost, Logar, Paktika and Ghazni) for peace dialogue at his Hujra.

References

• Tribes and Turbulence
• Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province
• Niazi's and Awan
• Government of Pakistan Gazetteer

33°38′37″N 069°12′37″E / 33.64361°N 69.21028°E / 33.64361; 69.21028