Jirgas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A traditional assembly of tribal leaders to make decisions or resolve disputes within a community
2. A gathering of influential individuals from a specific group to discuss matters of governance or social issues
3. An informal council where members come together to deliberate on collective concerns and negotiate resolutions

Etymology: "Jirgas" is simply the plural of "jirga", so the story belongs to the singular. "Jirga" was borrowed from Pashto, the language of the Pashtun peoples of Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, where the Pashto word "jərga" (written جرګه) names a council of elders gathered to talk through a problem. The word has a long-standing place in Pashtun custom, where a jirga might settle a land dispute, a feud, or a quarrel between families without recourse to courts. English adopted the term in the twentieth century, when accounts of Afghan and frontier affairs began to describe these councils to English-speaking readers. Because the word arrived with its institution rather than as a general-purpose term, it has kept its specific sense of a gathering of community leaders convened for decisions and dispute resolution.