[citation needed] Tarzi's family belonged to the royal sub-tribe known as the Mohammadzai, the most powerful and prominent of the Barakzai Dynasty.
Evidence shows Tarzi as a Chief in southern Afghanistan, most likely holding the majority of the region his father held.
He took the pen-name "Tarzi" (the stylist/the intellectual) as he wrote religious, mystic and secular poetry in a personal style that became known from Syria to Turkmenistan to India.
He tired of India and moved his family to Baghdad, as invited guests of Sheikh Abdul-adar Ghilani.
Soon thereafter, the family moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where the Sultan bestowed royal favours and had them stay at a government house with a large monthly allowance.
He and his son Mahmud Tarzi became valuable academic sources in Western countries in the early 19th century.