Pashtun tribes

The Pashtun tribes (Pashto: پښتانه قبايل), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan and form the world's largest tribal society, comprising over 60 million people and between 350 and 400 tribes and clans. They are traditionally divided into four tribal confederacies: the Sarbani (سړبني), the Bettani (بېټني), the Ghurghushti (غرغښت), the Karlani (کرلاڼي) and a few allied tribes of those that are Ismailkhel, Khel, Ludin, Sakzai, and Zai. Folkloric genealogies trace the ancestors of the Pashtuns to Qais Abdur Rashid and his three sons Saṛban (سړبن), Bēṭ (بېټ), and Gharghax̌t (غرغښت) as well as an adopted son, not directly adopted by Qais Abdul Rashid, but the identity of the adoptee, Karlāņ (کرلاڼ), as well as the man who adopted him. According to some books written on the history of the Pashtuns, it is either unclear or controversial. The Karlani confederacy Ormur Baraki, who became the progenitor of the Karlani. There are several levels of the Pashtun tribal organization. The "tribe" is subdivided into kinship groups, each of which is a khel and zai. A khel or zai is further divided into plarina, each of which consists of several extended families. A large tribe often has dozens of subtribes whose members may see themselves as belonging to each, some or all of the sub-tribes in their family tree depending upon the social situation: co-operative, competitive or confrontational.