Qila Niazi
Qila Niazi (Niazi Fort, Qalaye Niazi, Niyāzī Kalā,[1] نیازی کلا) is a village located in the north of the city of Gardez, capital of Paktia Province, Afghanistan. It is about 135 kilometres (84 mi) south of Kabul.[2]
It was an ancient fortified area belonging to Niazi tribal chieftains who had married into the Barakzai Dynasty and settled in Paktia Province.[citation needed]
Named after its creators the Khans of Niazi, translated into English the name literally meant "Fort of the Niazis". The area originally housed a mud brick fort. Although Niazis had inhabited the area as far back as 1500 BC[3] it is impossible to determine the date the fort was founded, since available oral evidence is contradictory.
The fort was inhabited until the late 1930s, when the Great Khan Niazi migrated to Pakistan as a result of the political turmoil in Afghanistan, which caused the nation to practically disintegrate into chaos. Today a village inhabited by Niazi tribesmen stands on the grounds of the fort.[4]