Marriage amongst tribal Pashtuns in the Afghan borderland is central element of family and clan life. It constitutes an important political element in patterns of alliance, truce and engagement between families and clans within a tribe. It is a principal source of izzaat, and potentially of paighore or tor, all central features of the social standing of a khan or malik and his kor. The frequency and extent of patterns of marriage across the Durand Line are a reflection of the border’s impact upon the social and political life of the borderland tribes. This study thus explores patterns of cross-border marriage amongst the tribes of the borderland.
Marriage is a means through which two kor or khel are bound through forming blood ties, the determinant of the political order among Pashtun tribes, and is thus determined by political realities faced by a clan or family. If a clan or family finds its position weakened on account of the death of a leader or heir, or suffers a setback financially, militarily or in terms of land, it will place great value on marriage into a clan with a stronger social position, more wealth, land or with greater martial strength to deter predation and enhance its security.55 Marriage is also a modality of conflict resolution. Thus, marriage may result from a settlement where the
54 The initial proposal of two concurrent jirgaey, one in Pakistan and one in Afghanistan, was rejected by most participants, resulting in the convening of a single loya jirga in August 2007 in Kabul.
55 Barth (1959: 20-1, 31-41, 96) has treated the issue of the political aspect of marriage among Swat Pashtun clans.
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side found to have committed a transgression presents a female for marriage with a male from the aggrieved side.56 Alternatively, it can be the result of a resolution to a long-standing dispute where a marriage insures the integration of blood lines, therefore mitigating the likelihood of conflict to emerge between the two closely related families or clans.57 It should be pointed out that in this context, the bonds arising from marriage are stronger than agnatic bonds, where tarboorwali or agnatic rivalry is a commonly observed phenomenon (Ahmed 1976: 43).
Accurate data related to the frequency of marriage and the spatial context within which it occurs across FATA has not been compiled.58 Among Pashtun tribes, data relating to women remains unverifiable. The names, ages and marital status of women, particularly widows or those yet unmarried, is kept secret by families, as is information relating to a woman expecting a child.59 Marriage is announced only immediately prior to its conduct, as any indication that a man is interested in a woman preceding an announcement of marriage creates the possibility of paighore, or an affront to zan. Based upon the same concerns, pregnancies are never announced, and are known only through the successful birth of a child.
As a result, any census data relating to women remains unreliable and incomplete.
Consequently there is no accurate statistical information regarding patterns of marriage among FATA residents. Official documents, where they establish the domicile of the individual, will record him or her as married. These are in the cases of the relatively few tribal individuals who pursue further education or employment with the Government of Pakistan, the KP administration or the office of the Political Agent. The vast majority of FATA residents remain outside the scope of officialdom, and their births, deaths and marriages remain unrecorded by official statistics. However, through interviews with individuals resident in FATA, and with those in administrative positions in FATA and KP, a picture of the main trends of marriage across the various agencies emerges.60
56 Harmful Traditional Practices and Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan UNAMA, Kabul and OHCHR, Geneva, December 2010, pp. 11-14.
57 Ibid.
58Statistics relating to FATA are largely projections based upon estimates provided by Political Agents and their officers. Due to the prevalence of conflict among tribes and between tribes and the military, information provided by tribal leaders and informants is often inaccurate and occasionally misleading.
Seeking information about women – even a name - is a great offence to the family and clan of the women in question leading to particularly dubious estimates regarding women‟s statistics.
59 Observed by the author in Tanda, KP in January 2000, in the determination of Eid fitrana payments due on each household member, male or female, of the killi, according to hanafi jurists.
60 Given the lack of reliable statistics and records, interviews with concerned and informed individuals who have lived among the tribesmen of FATA were used as a modality through which to develop an
4.5.2 Trends in cross-border marriage
This picture suggests that the impact of Durand Line upon marriage is negligible.61 Cross-border marriages occur within clans living astride the Cross-border, and within clans resident in Peshawar and Kabul, Jalalabad and Khost. Marriage is a family, clan and tribal affair and proceeds according to those criteria regardless of the border.62
Among tribal Pashtuns, the frequency of cross-border marriage is highest in the Parachinar area of the Kurram Agency,63 contiguous with Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Paktiya provinces.
Parachinar is closely linked with Jaji in Paktiya through trade and familial ties between the towns. Although the Turi tribe is the most significant tribe in Kurram and is found in the immediate vicinity of the Durand Line, marriages among the Turi tend to be confined to within the immediate vicinity of the Turi zai on account of the Turi being predominantly Shia and surrounded by predominantly hanafi Sunni tribes.64 Hence, there is limited cross-border marriage among the Turi. The Mangal, Muqbil and Jaji tribes, however, do conduct marriages within the tribe across the border. These tribes lie in both Kurram and Paktiya. Interaction between them across the border is of a high frequency as are patterns of marriage.
Cross-border marriages are also frequent among the Mohmand.65 The Mohmand agency is contiguous with Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Kunar provinces with the Durand Line remaining un-demarcated in the agency. Cross-border interaction among the Mohmand is as frequent as interaction between the Mohmand within the geographic limits of the agency.66 In terms of spatial spread, more Mohmand territory lies in Afghanistan than in FATA, although the concentration of Mohmand population is greater in FATA. Due to the availability of agricultural land in the Mohmand Agency and in the contiguous Peshawar FR which is predominantly populated by the Mohmand, the balance of economic influence within the tribe lies with the insight into marriage trends. While this did not provide a statistical map of marriage trends, it did enable a comparative analysis to be made between areas within FATA. The bulk of the following analysis is based on information gained through interviews with Jamil Ahmed, District Commissioner Kohat and former Assistant Political Agent Mohmand Agency, Muhammad Nawaz Afridi, an official from Khyber Agency, and Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Director of the Area Study Centre Peshawar.
61 Study on Cross-Border Population Movements Between Afghanistan and Pakistan UNHCR and Altain Consulting, Kabul, June 2009 p.13.
62 Interview with Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Director, Area Study Centre, Peshawar University, 5th August 2008. Also, Interview with Muhammad Nawaz Afridi of Khyber agency, August 2008.
63 Interview with Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Director, Area Study Centre, Peshawar University, 5th August 2008.
64 Comments by Mariam Abou Zahab at the Jamestown Foundation , 15th April, 2009.
65 Interview with Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Director, Area Study Centre, Peshawar University, 5th August 2008.
66 Interview with Jamil Ahmed, District Commissioner Kohat and Assistant Political Agent Mohmand, conducted on 26th August, 2008.
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Mohmand resident in FATA. This suggests that Mohmand clans in Nangarhar and Kunar value maintaining clan ties with those Mohmand in FATA and Peshawar FR through marriage.
Cross-border marriages are very common among the Shinwari, particularly between those in the Khyber Agency and Nangarhar province.67 The Shinwari are resident in the both Kurram and Khyber agencies, and Nangarhar province. Where the balance of clan and tribal influence lies is unclear, although the area populated by the Shinwari in Nangarhar is greater than the area they populate in Khyber and Kurram. This suggests that the tribe is based primarily in Nangarhar, and has claim to parts of Khyber and Kurram on account of the Shinwari clans resident in those agencies. The fact that the Shinwari, along with the Afridi, are a principal beneficiary of the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) suggests that the tribe places great importance upon the Shinwari clans resident in FATA. Hence marriage is a means through which to maintain the close affiliation of the Shinwari in Nangarhar with those clans present in Khyber and Kurram, an association that has a direct economic bearing upon the tribe.
Marriages across the Durand Line are very frequent among the Waziri.68 Waziri territories extend from Paktiya through northern Baluchistan and the two Waziristans into KP. The Waziri are particularly averse to allowing a cross tribal marriage to occur, and place great value upon the preservation of bloodlines.69 The intensification of military operations in South Waziristan through 2010 has reduced the frequency of border crossings between Warsak and Gula Din Kot, an area mostly populated by the Darwesh Khel. Cross border interaction and marriages, however, continue to occur across other stretches of the border in North Waziristan.70
Although the Afridi are resident on both sides of the border, the concentration of Afridi population remains in the immediate vicinity of the Khyber Pass and the Khyber Agency. Afridi presence in Nangarhar is limited to the areas just north of the western mouth of the Khyber Pass. Here the Afridi clans populate extremely hilly areas and tend to confine marriage to within particular clans in a given killi.71 Hence the Afridis are less given to cross-border marriages than other tribes bisected by the border.72 It should be noted that this is a result of the spatial arrangement of the Afridi and the topography of their territory, not the
67 Interview with Muhammad Nawaz Afridi of Khyber agency, 23rd August 2008.
68 Interview with Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Director, Area Study Centre, Peshawar University, 5th August 2008.
69 Interview with NCO-A, upper Pakhli, KP, 3rd September 2008.
70 Interview with NCO-A, upper Pakhli, KP, 3rd September 2008.
71 Interview with Muhammad Nawaz Afridi, official from the Khyber Agency, August 2008.
72 Interview with Muhammad Nawaz Afridi, official from the Khyber Agency, August 2008.
effectiveness of the Durand Line as a political boundary. This is evidenced by the fact that those Afridi residing at the eastern mouth of the Khyber Pass, in the vicinity of the Peshawar Valley, do engage in marriage across clan lines,73 suggesting that the situation on the western mouth of the Khyber Pass is primarily a function of topography.
Marriage is a central theme within the political life of the tribes of the Afghan borderland. It is conceived of principally as a political endeavour, and secondarily as fulfilment of the obligations arising from nang-o-namus, where a marriage may be conducted between families as part of a larger settlement to a dispute or conflict involving other aspects such as bequeathing land or money (Barth 1959: 96). A picture of cross-border marriages emerges in which clans of the Afridi, Shinwari, Mohmand, Muqbil, Mangal, Jaji and Waziri conduct marriages across the Durand Line, unimpeded by it. This phenomenon demonstrates that the larger social context of the Pashtun tribes transcends the territorial limits of the state, and reinforces the identification with a larger, cross-border social substructure. This phenomenon also demonstrates a distinct borderland cultural identity within the larger Pashtun identity, characterised by norms wherein cross-border blood-ties supersede the nominal imposition of the state and affiliation with its identities. This distinct borderland identity, occurring within a larger Pashtun identity, is further reinforced by the structure of economic flows across the borderland.