Pashtun Tarkani

The Tarkani's roots go back to Laghman, in present day Afghanistan, from where they accompanied the Yusufzai toward Kabul in the fifteenth century. Under the leadership of chief Malik Sarkhabi, around 1508 the people helped the Yusufzai defeat the Dilazak at Bajaur; expelled from Laghman by the Mughals shortly afterward, the Tarkani then settled in the valleys of Bajaur, under the protection of the Yusufzai.

From there, the Tarkani spread through neighboring valleys, dividing into subclans, among them the Salarzai and the Mamund, who to this day organize the social life of the region and preserve the memory of this shared origin.

Life revolves around the land: families farm small plots and raise animals in narrow valleys between high mountains, with snow in winter, moving as the seasons allow for cultivation. Work is divided by gender and age, and harvest time usually brings neighbors and relatives together in work parties that strengthen clan ties. Villages are organized by subclans, each with its own leadership and territory recognized by the others.

Hospitality toward visitors and the defense of family honor are non negotiable values, traditionally settled in councils of elders. Living in Bajaur today still means living by rules that have crossed centuries with little change.

The Tarkani are Sunni Muslims, like practically the whole Pashtun people. The Islamic faith is not merely a personal belief: it is interwoven with tribal belonging itself, so that being Tarkani and being Muslim are, in the community’s eyes, practically the same thing. Attending the mosque and observing Ramadan are part of the routine, but faith is expressed above all in daily life, in how one treats guests, neighbors and rivals.

Islam exists side by side with Pashtunwali, the code of honor that governs hospitality, revenge and loyalty to the clan. For many, obeying this code is as much a part of religious identity as praying or fasting.

The Tarkani speak Northern Pashto, a language into which the New Testament and much of the Old Testament have already been translated, with a new complete translation released in recent years. Audio recordings, mobile apps and satellite broadcasts have been extending the reach of the Word among Pashto speakers, even in mountain regions where illiteracy still limits direct reading of the Scriptures.

Among the Tarkani, tribal identity and Islam are intertwined: abandoning the faith is seen as betraying the clan and dishonoring the family, a wound that Pashtunwali does not forgive easily. Decades of conflict and instability that have struck Bajaur and neighboring areas have further isolated these mountain communities, making any sustained contact with a witness of the gospel difficult.

Years of armed conflict in the region have left deep marks: displaced villages, a weakened farming economy and an entire generation growing up under insecurity. There is a concrete need for rebuilding, for access to education and for stability for families who depend on the land in hard to reach valleys.

On the spiritual front, the lack is just as great: there is no local Christian community among the Tarkani, and anyone who came to believe in Jesus would face total isolation, with no brothers and sisters in the faith nearby to walk alongside.

Among Pashto speaking peoples, a growing number of accounts describe people who say they encountered Jesus through dreams, a path many describe as decisive in contexts where hearing the gospel from another person is rare. The most recent translation of the Bible in Northern Pashto and its growing availability in audio have been bringing the Word into homes that previously had no access to it at all.