The difficulties of forming a new Afghan statehood determine the relevance of analyzing the political tradition of Afghanistan and the foundations on which it is based. In this article, for the first time in the Russian scientific literature, an attempt is made to consider the manifestation of tribal institutions in the political system. It will focus, in particular, on the local community, which is a combination of a clan and a clientele, and its role in the state. In addition, the author examines the institution of the khan and the role of the ruler, whose status in many ways resembled that of the khan. In addition, the article analyzes the direct borrowing of tribal institutions by the state, in particular the jirg, as well as the impact of tribal organization on the tax system and the armed forces of the country. The creation of the state by the Khans of the Afghan tribes led, in addition to preserving the tribal organization of all ethnic groups, except the Tajiks, to the spread of tribal institutions at the national level. CLAN, CLIENTELE AND THEIR COMBINATION (KAUM) IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM Power centers in tribes that exist independently of state power and in parallel with it are related communities, for which the French researcher O. Roy uses the word kaum - "tribe"," people " (Roy, 1986, p. 12). From our point of view, kaum is a specific Afghan community that combines the features of a clan and a clientele. It is with this group that a person primarily identifies himself. Even M. Elphinstone noted that the Afghans are devoted more to the community than to its head (Elphinstone, 1815, p. 166). As O. Roy correctly pointed out, all three attempts to break with the past and form a state (the formation of a tribal federation in 1747, the coup of 1978, and the victory of the Mujahideen in 1992) were marked by a universal ideology (nationalism, Marxism, and fundamentalism), but the forms they took indicate the survivability of the groups formed by the Mujahideen. ... Read more