Sayed Jafar Naderi comes from a highly political family background. His father Sayed Mansur Naderi has been both the religious and political leader of Afghan Ismaili sector in the past 50 years. Jafar's younger brother Sadat Mansoor Naderi who is a business person who has served in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's cabinet as Ministers at Urban Development and Housing and State Ministry for Peace.[4] Sayed Jafar's younger sister Farkhunda Zahra Naderi was a member of Afghan Parliament and a well-known rights activist in the country. His one cousin Sayed Dawood Naderi was another parliamentarian elected from Kunduz province of Afghanistan.[5][6][7]
According to The World's Most Dangerous Places, Jafar was rich when he returned to Afghanistan. He is considered one of the country's most brutal and notorious warlords.[8]
He was quoted in The World's Most Dangerous Places as saying that he came to help the people of Baghlan, and the rest of the country. He risked his life to help his people, inspired by his father and grandfather who helped protect Afghanistan.
The 80th Division (Afghanistan) was reportedly formed from tribal militia in the second half of the Soviet–Afghan War.[9] In 1989 it was the major formation in Baghlan Province, under Jafar's command, then 25 years old.[10]
During the critical juncture following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sayed Jafar Naderi emerged as a pivotal figure in the sequence of political and military upheavals that culminated in the ousting of President Najibullah's administration. A leading figure in the Ismaili community, Naderi, in collaboration with Abdul Rashid Dostam, Ahmad Shah Massoud and other leaders from non-Pashtun ethnic groups, spearheaded a mutiny that decisively compromised Najibullah's regime by severing its primary supply route from the erstwhile Soviet Union. This strategic maneuver precipitated the collapse of Najibullah's government, marking a watershed moment in the fraught history of Afghanistan.[12]
In the wake of these events, Sayed Jafar Naderi, alongside his father, Sayed Mansur Naderi, an esteemed leader within Afghanistan's Ismaili community, played an instrumental role in founding the National Islamic Movement (NIM). The NIM was established as a political entity dedicated to championing the rights and representation of ethnic minorities that had historically been sidelined in the northern regions of Afghanistan. Advocating for the adoption of a federal governance structure, the movement aimed to facilitate a more equitable distribution of power within Afghanistan, mirroring the nation's rich ethnic and religious diversity. This endeavor represented a significant stride toward reshaping Afghanistan's political landscape, underscoring the critical need for inclusivity and the protection of minority rights as cornerstones of the country's path toward enduring stability and peace.[13]
Family political background
Sayed Jafar Naderi comes from a highly political family background. His father Sayed Mansur Naderi has been both the religious and political leader of Afghan Ismaili sector in the past 50 years.
Sayed Jafar's younger sister Farkhunda Zahra Naderi was a member of Afghan Parliament (2010-15) and a well-known rights activist in the country. She was then appointed as a senior advisor to the president Ashraf Ghani.
One of his cousin Sayed Dawood Naderi was another parliamentarian elected from Kunduz province of Afghanistan.[5][6][7]
Jafar himself was appointed as security advisor to first vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum.[14]
Warlord of Kayan is a significant and popular documentary movie, filmed in 1989 by Jeff B. Harmon, featuring the political and social landscape of Baghlan during the civil wars. The former governor of Baghlan Sayed Jafar Naderi was chosen as the central character in this documentary. He, who was also known as Jeff Naderi outside the borders of Afghanistan, is the son of Sayed Mansur Naderi, an influential political and religious figure.[15][16] The film won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.[17][18]
The documentary Warlord of Kayan is further complemented by revelations about Sayed Jafar Naderi's early years, particularly his transition from a youth in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to a key figure in Afghanistan's military and political arena. The Los Angeles Times article unveils Naderi's life from his schooling at Hiram W. Naderi's anecdotes from his time in Allentown—ranging from his involvement with local motorcycle gangs to his affinity for AC/DC's "Highway to Hell", and his claim of making the best french fries in Kayan—offer a unique glimpse into the personal history behind the warlord. These details not only humanize Naderi but also illustrate the complex interplay of cultural, familial, and geopolitical factors that propelled his eventual return to Afghanistan. By the age of 24, Naderi's leadership skills had propelled him to significant roles, including the governorship of Baghlan province and command of a substantial opposition force, underscoring his strategic and pragmatic approach in the midst of Afghanistan's turbulent politics and conflict.[19]
The film was also was featured in the Sunday Times magazine and a picture of Sayed Jafar Naderi taken by Jeff B. Harmon during one of the filmmaking scenes had gone on the magazine's front cover. Hard copies of magazine collected by Magazine Canteen are still available.[20]
↑ Antonio Giustozzi, War, Politics, and Society in Afghanistan, 2000, 220. See also Afghanistan Justice Project, 'War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity 1978–2001, 2005, http://www.afghanistanjusticeprojectorg.
Baghlan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634.
Sunni Islam (Hanafi/Deobandi) is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 85% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.
Baghlan is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the northern Hindu Kush. Baghlan's capital, Pul-e-Khumri, is known to be an economic hub connected to eight other provinces by the Kabul-North highway.
Jeff B. Harmon is an American film director, writer, and producer. He is also an actor, photographer, and song writer.
Kayan is a town in Baghlan Province in north eastern Afghanistan It is located in the valley of Kayan, some 30 kilometres west of Dushi. It is the official seat of Sayed of Kayan; a ruling Historical title of Northern Afghanistan. The residents of Kayan valley are mostly members of Sadat and Hazara tribes loyal to Sayed Kayan who has been the official representative of Aga Khan in Afghanistan. These Sayyids follow Isma'ili Islam.
Sayed Kayan or Sayed of Kayan is a ruling title in northern areas of Afghanistan. Ismaili community in Afghanistan is led by this family of Syeds hailing from the historical valley of Kayan Baghlan.
Sayed Mansur Naderi is incumbent Sayed of Kayan; leader of Ismaili Shi'a community of Afghanistan centred in Baghlan Province and also in other parts of Afghanistan. This community although Shia is smaller than the mainstream Twelver Shia community in Afghanistan.
Shia Islam in Afghanistan is practiced by a significant minority of the population. According to a PEW 2021 survey, 7% of Afghans followed Shia Islam, but other estimates have put the number as high as 35%. Afghanistan's Shia are primarily the Twelvers, while a minority are Ismailis.
Naderi is a surname pupular in Afghanistan and Iran. Notable people with the surname include:
The National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan or some other places written as National Unity Party of Afghanistan is a political party representing the Afghanistan's Ismaili Shia minority, largely found in Kabul Province, Baghlan Province, Bamyan Province, Balkh Province and Badakhshan province. As recently as 2020 it was one of 84 political parties registered with the Afghan Ministry of Justice, and headed by Sayed Mansur Naderi.
The 6th Corps was a corps of the Afghan Army, seemingly active from 1990 to around 2003–2004. Created as a military formation of the PDPA's standing army, it degraded into a grouping of militias by its last years.
Farkhunda Zahra Naderi is an Afghan politician and women's right activist. She has been a member of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) chaired by Abdullah Abdullah. Previously she served as a senior advisor to president Ashraf Ghani in United Nations Affairs. Before that she served as a member of Parliament from 2010–2015.
Khushnood Nabizada is an Afghan journalist, diplomat, peace campaigner, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and owner of Khaama Press, an Afghanistan-based news agency that reports specific political issues of the Afghanistan region.
The Ahmadzai is a Pashtun tribe of the Ghilji confederacy. As their influence grew, this original subtribe of Sulaimankhel got recognition as a tribe of its own and are considered to be good leaders and fighters, also lauded for their knowledge of Pushtunwali. The Ahmadzai homelands are primarily in the historic Loya Paktia, but they can be found in many places between Logar to Jalalabad. Due to the history of deportations, pockets of Ahmadzai can also be found in Kunduz, Baghlan, and Balkh provinces.
Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi is an entrepreneur and politician. He was Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace from 2020 to 2021 and Minister of Urban Development and Housing from 2015 - 2018.
Rawnaq Naderi also known as Sayed Nooruddin Rawnaq Naderi was a distinguished Afghan poet whose works have contributed significantly to Persian literature. As the son of Sayed Kayan, a prominent religious leader of the Afghanistan Ismailis, Naderi's upbringing was deeply influenced by a rich cultural and religious environment.
Warlord of Kayan is a documentary film directed by Jeff B. Harmon in 1989, focusing Sayed Jafar Naderi, also known as Jeff Naderi. Sayed Jafar is the elder son of Sayed Mansur Naderi, an Ismaili leader in Afghanistan. The film delves into Sayed Jafar's life journey from a former hippie motorcycle gang member and heavy metal drummer in the United States to a political and military figure in Afghanistan. The film won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The Eagle of Kayan, also known as the Kayan Eagle, was an architectural structure situated in the Kayan Valley of northern Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. Constructed in the early 1990s, this structure became a landmark, symbolizing cultural strength and architectural ingenuity. The Eagle of Kayan was officially inaugurated on December 10, 1996, in a grand ceremony attended by political and cultural figures from across Afghanistan.
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