Loya Jirga - History

History

The ancient Aryan tribes, who are hypothesized to have spoken Proto-Indo-Iranian, came down in intermittent waves from Central Asia and Afghanistan and then moved to ancient India (in the early 2nd millennium BC). They practiced a sort of jirga-system with two types of councils – simite and sabhā. The simite (the summit) comprised elders and tribal chiefs. The king also joined sessions of the simite. Sabhā was a sort of rural council. It was used over time for the selection of rulers and headmen and the airing of matters of principle. From the time of the great Kushan ruler Kanishka to the 1970s, there were sixteen national loya jirgas and hundreds of smaller ones. The institution, which is centuries old, is a similar idea to the Islamic "shura", or consultative assembly.

The phrase loya jirga is Pashto and means "grand council". The institution, which is centuries old, is a similar idea to the Islamic "shura", or consultative assembly, BBC world.

In the Afghan society, the loya jirga is still maintained and very strongly practiced, mostly in front of tribal chiefs or with them to solve internal and external tribal problems or disputes with other tribes.

When the Afghans took the power they tried to legitimize their power with such a Jirga. While in the beginning only Pashtuns were allowed to participate in the Jirgas, later other ethnic groups like Tajiks and Hazaras were allowed to participate as well, however they were little more than observers. The member of the Jirgas were mostly members of the Royal Family, religious leaders and tribal chiefs of the Afghans. King Amanullah Khan institutionalized the Jirga. From Amanullah until the reign of Mohammed Zahir Shah (1933–1973) and Mohammed Daoud Khan (1973–1978) the Jirga was recognized as a common meeting of regional Pashtun leaders.

The meetings do not have scheduled occurrences, but rather are called for when issues or disputes arise.

There is no time limit for a Loya Jirga to conclude, and the meetings often take a long time because decisions can only be made as a group and arguments can drag out for days. Many different problems are addressed, like foreign policy, declarations of war, the legitimacy of leaders, and the introduction of new ideas and laws.