The Tarakai or Taraki (Pashto: تره کي) is a Khilji^[1] Pashtun tribe; mainly found in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan and large numbers of tribe mans are also settled in Pakistan mainly in Quetta, Piashine, Zhob, Lorallai, Dukki, Sherani and Swabi. They are divided into several major clans/tribes: Nawrozkhel, Nakhel, Jamalkhel, Harunkhel, Malangkhel, Akhtarkhel, Daryakhel, Mullakhel, Lilizai, Mul, Gurbuz, Badin, Saki, and MurekKhel. These tribes are further divided into more sub-tribes within the above-mentioned clans/tribes.^[2]

The Tarakai were one of the Pashtun tribes resettled under the rule of king Abdur Rahman Khan in the late 19th century.^[3] The first Communist leader of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki was from the Taraki tribe.

Notable people

• Nur Muhammad Tarakai, Afghan Communist Revolutionary who served as President of the Marxist-Leninist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and led the Saur Revolution on the 28th of April, 1978
• Shahram Khan Tarakai, served as Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Najeeb Tarakai, late Afghanistan cricketer died on 6 October 2020. Afghanistan national cricket team