Shirani (Pashtun tribe)
The Shirani (also spelled Sherani) are a Pashtun tribe that belongs to the Sarbani group. They live mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, most Shirani people are in Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in the Sherani District in Balochistan. Some clans also live in nearby districts of Balochistan, and in the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Ghazni, and Kandahar.
Traditional origins tell of the tribe’s forefather Sherani, who had four sons: Abubakar, Hassan, Marhal, and Kaif. The descendants of Abubakar, Hassan, Marhal, and Kaif form different clans (Oba Khail, Hassan Khail, Marhail, and Kapip). Abubakar and Hassan were born to Sherani’s first wife, while Marhal and Kaif were from his second wife. A tale says the second wife urged Sherani to marry a serving woman so their son would have equal rights; the child Soharh, meaning “son of serving women,” started the Soharh Khail line, living near Sherani District in Balochistan.
Another old story says that about four hundred years ago Bargha lands were ruined by war with the Bettani. A Syed boy from Pishin helped the Shirani win, and the leading men sent some Shirani to settle Bargha. The Syed’s horse ran all day and died as he prayed, and he later married into the Shirani and became the ancestor of the Harifal tribe, which now occupies that land.
A British scholar once suggested the Shirani might have roots in Rajput Hindu origins, but the Shirani people themselves call all Harifal “Neeka,” meaning grandfather, a term of deep respect. The 19th-century observer Mountstuart Elphinstone described a Neeka who led the Shirani with religious and military authority.
Historically, the Shirani lived on the northwest border of Punjab, in what was then the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of British India. They formed the Sherani Agency, an area that the British noted in the late 1800s. A local hero, Masho Khan Sherani, led Shirani warriors against the British and was killed in fighting in Zhob district.
Geographically, the Shirani country is a high, rugged area around Takht-e-Sulaiman (the “Throne of Solomon”) in the Suleiman mountain range. The Shirani district today is split into two main groups: the Largha Shirani in the east, under Dera Ismail Khan, and the Bargha Shirani in the west, under the Sherani district. The modern Sherani district was created in 2006 from Zhob District and lies near Zhob, DI Khan, and Balochistan. The main language is Pashto.
There are Shirani communities beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan. For example, Shirani Abad is a village in Nagaur district, Rajasthan, India, with several smaller Shirani communities. The Shirani family has produced notable figures, such as the Urdu poet Akhtar Sheerani; his father Hafiz Mehmood Khan Sherani was a well-known writer, and the family has ties to several cities in Pakistan and India. Some Shirani Pathans also historically lived in Gujarat, India, and migrated during Mughal times.
In summary, the Shirani are a prominent Pashtun tribe with deep roots in the Afghan-Pakistani border areas, a rich set of clan lineages and legends, and a presence that reaches into parts of India through historical migration and diaspora.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:37 (CET).