Burki

The Burkis --who are based out of South Waziristan for the last 800 plus years-- are bilingual with their "mother tongue" consisting of the softer Waziri Pushto and Ormuri. Ormuri is a language supposedly of West Iranian extraction. They are all Sunni (Hanafi fiqh) Muslims.

The Burkis primarily inhabit Kaniguram --the most populous habitation in SWA-- at around 6300 to 6500 feet above sea level.Due to being embedded within the Mahsudi territory in SWA, the Burkis are considered by Mahsudis as brethren of sorts except when "war" or minor skirmishes occur between the two from time to time. The two "tribes" share an intimate, yet complex, relationship that is hard for an outsider to understand.

The Burkis are known in the FATA as being great Pushtun warriors whose ancestor, Bayazid Khan, fought a major insurgency against Emperor Akbar. They are considered hot tempered, yet intelligent and excellent negotiators/peace makers by fellow Pushtuns of the area. More importantly, they are considered as the armory of the Mahsuds due to their small arms cottage industry which, however, doesn't rival Darra Adam Khel's.

Kaniguram, the "village," actually resembles a small town and is distinctive from other settled hamlets in SWA in that most of the houses are interconnected rather than being set apart. Traditionally, and for security purposes, most of the adobe type "homes" in SWA are compounds with very high adobe type walls(12 foot or higher) with gun turrets. Kaniguram is accessible from the north via the Razmak road and south from Wana on a narrow metalled road that is one of the few roads in SWA. Access from this main "road" is limited to a foot bridge across a ravine that separates Kaniguram from the main road and is easy to guard as behind it are mountains which limits access from the north.

Many of the Burkis of SWA spend the winters in second homes in D.I. Khan, where some work at the D.I. Khan airport, PIA or as traders. They are very involved in Pakistan's trucking industry based out of Karachi. Unlike the other SWA "tribes," the Burkis are known to treat their women better and to encourage their girls(when possible) to obtain an education. But they are also, like other Pashtun tribes, very protective of both their womenfolk and their other tribesmen regardless of their origin/home base. When Imran Khan's (a famous Pakistani cricketer turned politician)now former wife, Jemima (nee Goldsmith), was a target of rumors/smear campaign, these Burki tribesmen of Kaniguram, who'd never met her as she commuted between London and Lahore during her marriage to Imran, rushed to defend her "honor" as noted in the press. This despite the fact that Imran's mother, a Burki, wasn't even born in Kaniguram. Marriage generally for Burkis of both Kaniguram and those elsewhere was between cousins, often first cousins. When Burkis moved away from Kaniguram, they continued to reach back for brides from the tribe. Until recently, marrying a non-Burki, was not an option. Marriage with another Pashtun was acceptable but not encouraged. This had a lot to do with inheritance issues and keeping the blood line pure.

As mentioned Burkis also live in other parts of Pakistan and there are pockets in Afghanistan near Ghazni and in Logar province. Some "khels" of the Burki settled in the Indian Punjab during the 17th and 18th centuries but maintained marital and other ties to their home turf around Kaniguram right up till the partition of India in 1947. Although most of the Burkis of the Punjab adopted "Punjabi" as their mother tongue, many of them continued to speak Pashto at home but not Urmari. Since independence in 1947, many of these "punjabi" Burkis have played a public role in Pakistan's civilian and military life.

Many Burkis have served, and serve, in Pakistan's military at senior, even flag, levels. Burkis are known in the sports world as besides Imran Khan, his cousins (sons of his mother's sisters)Majid Khan and Javed Burki also spent their careers playing cricket at Oxford and professionally as did Imran. Sandhurst trained, General Wajid Khan Burki was General Ayub Khan's second in command as a Lieutenant General in the 1950s. Today, Burkis are also found in the West, and are well educated and involved in professional fields like medicine or economics. For example, Shahid Javed Burki, an economist, was a Vice President at World Bank before he retired.