The Musahiban (mus-hi-been; the name derives from Persian مصاحب Muṣāḥib, meaning "courtier" or "aide de camp"[1]) are a Mohammadzai family who founded the Afghan Barakzai dynasty, and members of the royal lineage that ruled Afghanistan as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978.[2] They descend from Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai (1795–1861) and his older brother Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (1792-1863), and were the last rulers of the Mohammadzai dynasty before being overthrown in the Saur Revolution[3] in April 1978.
The family are descendants of Sultan Mohammad Khan (1795–1861), nicknamed "Telai" which means "possessor of gold"[4] or "golden" (a nickname he was given because of his wealth and love of fine clothing),[5] and his older brother was Dost Mohammad Khan who gained control of Afghanistan and became its ruler. Telai had a son named Yahya and Yahya's son, Sardar Mohammad Yusuf Khan, founded the Yahya-khel clan which was later named the Musahiban.[4] According to Amin Saikal, "by 1905, Yossef and his brother, Asef, became the Amir's Musahiban-e Khas (Attendants par Excellence), from which originated the tribe name Musahiban".[4]
The Musahiban have historically been known for a step-by-step, culturally progressive and tribally sensitive, evolution for the modernization and opening up of Afghanistan[6] in contrast to the often more radically accelerated strategies promoted in the past.