(Pashto, from Turkic) a tribal or clan council; literally circle, denoting the equality of participants. The institution of jirga has, over the centuries, operated as an important mechanism of collective decision-making and dispute settlement in Afghanistan, and has contributed to the maintenance of social order in the country significantly.
A jirga (occasionally jirgah) (Urdu: Ø¬Ø±Ú¯Û ) is a tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by consensus, particularly among the Pashtun ethnic group, but also in other ethnic groups near them; they are most common in Afghanistan and among the Pashtun in Pakistan near its border with Afghanistan.