Tracing the history of the hazaras was not an easy task. Mar 29, 2009 a study of historical records indicates that the hazaras are descended from mongols who entered what is now the hazarajat in central afghanistan at various times between a. Hazaras can usually be recognised by their physical appearance see background and demography. Timeline world history documentaries 154,633 views. Hundreds of thousands of hazara have settled as refugees in europe, the americas, and australia. Some of the ethnic groups of the afghanistan are pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aimak, turkmen, baloch, pashai and many more. The hazaras and their role in afghanistan the hazaras. Largely following shia sect of islam, hazara also has minority which consists of ismailia and sunnis. A general description on the history of the hazara people in afganistan. The giant buddha statues had long been central to the identity of the hazara community. The hazaras have recently come into a more influential position largely shiia by religion and farsispeaking, the hazaras traditionally inhabited central afghanistan. The hazaras are twelver shia muslims and are the third largest ethnic group in afghanistan and a significant majority group in pakistan.
Consequently, hazaras formed part of the northern alliance forces that opposed the taliban and took power after the taliban fell in 2001. Western and eastern hazara speak different dialects of persian and differ in faith. The 2004 afghanistan constitution pdf granted hazaras equal rights, and they were wellrepresented in the administration of former afghan president hamid karzai. At the gateway between asia and europe, this land was.
Jul 26, 2016 isil killed at least 80 from afghanistans hazara community and wounded more than 230 during a peaceful protest on saturday. The soviet invasion of december 1979 has been the major determining factor in afghanistan s ethnic relations since that point in time. The number of hazaras worldwide is unknown, but estimates range from 5 to 8 million. In both cases the victims were primarily hazaras, a. The hazara are an afghan ethnic minority group of mixed persian, mongolian, and turkic ancestry. Hazaras have developed a strong unified sense of identity. Pdf the hazaras of afghanistan and their shia orientation. This report documents two massacres committed by taliban forces in the central highlands of afghanistan, in january 2001and may 2000.
Hazaras settled in other areas of afghanistan as early as the th century and were forced into their current location by pashtun and sunni expansionism in the 18th and 19th century. Pashtuns and hazaras in afghanistan by j ewa on prezi. The history of afghanistan is a history of war and conflict even up to present day. Hazaras form a majority of the population in the central highland region of afghanistan known as hazarajat, and are a significant minority in the cities of kabul and mazari sharif. Understanding the agonies of ethnic hazaras message from the chairman the past two decades of pakistans history have been plagued by the scourge of violent religious extremism. A key moment in recent hazara history is the destruction of the bamyan buddhas by the taliban in 2001.
By the end of the day, the protest had been devastated by violence and the minority hazara community in afghanistan had been shaken. The darispeaking hazara people live in afghanistan, pakistan and iran, and are believed to be of turkmongol descent. The soviet invasion of december 1979 has been the major determining factor in afghanistans ethnic relations since that point in time. Central asia, including both mongolia and afghanistan, lies on the fringes of the historical world. They largely avoided interfering in each others affairs during all these years. The discrimination and violence against the hazaras in.
Thay are owerwhelmingly twaler shia muslims an mak up the third lairgest ethnic group in afghanistan. Islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack. In a single incident in 1998, iranian forces killed more than 630 refugees, mostly hazaras, in the safed sang camp detention center. Three revolts over the last 15 years of the century ended with as many as 65% of the hazara population being either massacred or displaced to pakistan or iran. The hazara historical narrative of oppression focuses on the groups rural hinterland, and recollections of collusion between centrally appointed pashtun. However, we do hold resentment towards the genocide of our people.
An analytical historical survey article pdf available march 2014 with 861 reads how we measure reads. Modern history reveals that, king nader shah afshar, ruler of iran, after having occupied afghanistan, took away with him a number of efficient hazara cultivators of badghis region of afghanistan to asfareen in iran and granted them fertile. An historical, cultural, economic and political study. Because of the war they are now scattered across the country and in neighboring countries in large numbers as well. Most speak dari, a form of persian, or many other languages. The hazara and the 2004 constitution justin desautelsstein introduction it seems rather natural to respond with ambivalence to the news of afghanistans recent foray into constitutionmaking. In 1976, khaleds family was relocated to paris, france, where. It is one of the most wartom, most ravaged, and most besieged of all nations. The hazaras form a minority group of afghanistan, and thus are persecuted by the majority groups. September 28, 2018 marked 20th anniversary of hazara.
Millions of hazara people throughout history have been forced to leave their original homeland today called afghanistan hazaristan. Hazara nation, however, the details are well beyond the scope of this article. This is a study of the second largest but least wellknown ethnic group in afghanistan. Central asian cultural intelligence for military operations. Afghanistan that is persianspeaking and of the shia or ismaili sects of islam. History of the hazaras free download as powerpoint presentation. Theyre opinion of someone who wants to portray the hazaras and history in a bad way. Difference between hazara and pashtun hazara vs pashtun. The hazara people are nomads that were forced to live in the kazarasjat mountains by the government. Hazaras are one of the national ethnic minorities recognized in the.
A reason that the government loathed the hazara people. On july 23, 2016, several hundred hazaras were protesting the development of a power line, disagreeing with the route that had been chosen by the government. Afghanistans hazara minority flexes its political muscles. A sketch of some modern trends by klaus ferdinand research and publish date. Through the discussion of a history of religious and ethnic persecution in afghanistan i show how the. The conflict between the hazara and the pashtun started when abdur rahman khan became the ruler of afghanistan. This study is also important in terms of how external forces and internal conflicts combined to have disastrous consequences for the hazara community in afghanistansas humayun sarabi. This is an excellent description of how sectarian politics in afghanistan offered foreign powers an opportunity to intervene in afghanistan s politics. Over 80 members were killed and another 230 were injured in the kabul attack. Over half a million hazaras live in neighboring pakistan, native to the region of quetta and also. The majority of ethnic hazaras are shia muslims and 90% of shia muslims are hazaras. Hazara people in pakistan and afghanistan the hazara mongols of afghanistan represent one of the last surviving mongol remnants in western asia of the vast empire which was conquered by the armies of chinggis khan in the early thirteenthcentury and consolidated by his descendants. Consequently hazaras formed part of the northern alliance forces that opposed the taliban and took power after the taliban fell in 2001. However, the government made efforts to address historical tensions.
The religious identity of the hazaras of afghanistan and modernday. On the one hand, the emergence of a national charter allegiant to the united nations, international law, and. For people living here, it is clear there was an understanding between hazaras and the taliban for the past 17 years, he told radio free afghanistan. Why are the taliban attacking hazaras in afghanistan. What are some of the reasons behind the hazara pashtun. Life of abdur rahman khan amir of afghanistan, 1900. The inquiry into the history of the hazara mongols of afghanistan by e.
In both cases the victims were primarily hazaras, a shia muslim. They are mostly shiite muslims and comprise the third largest ethnic group of afghanistan, forming about 18% according to other sources up to 25% of the total population. Pashtun leaders, with occasional support from uzbek and tajik leaders, have denounced hazaras as. Introduction the response of afghanistans hazaras to the. Political mobilization among the hazara of afghanistan. Central asian cultural intelligence for military operations hazara in. The hazaras now constitute about 9% of afghanistan s population. The hazara have experienced discrimination at the hands of the pashtundominated government throughout the history of modern afghanistan. It said the hazaras had tried to rise against the pashtuns in the nineteenth century, but the. Books journals articles list of other books on afghanistan and hazaras nomad expansion and commerce in central afghanistan. Hazaras are considered as persian speaking people and they mainly inhabit central afghanistan. As afghanistans third largest ethnic group, a sizable majority are shia muslims with some sunnis and ismailis, the latter affiliated with the aga khan. Their status political, economic and cultural has been precarious in modern history due to their being both an ethnic and a religious minority.
Afghanistan can affect the hazaras security situation negatively, descriptions of the various groups and their agendas are included in the report. They primarily occupy the central, mountainous region of afghanistan and make up the third largest ethnic group in the nation, accounting for about 1219% of. Over the past three years, insurgents have specifically targeted hazaras traveling on rural roads for kidnap or killing. Khaled hosseini was born in kabul, afghanistan in 1965. Afghanistan can affect the hazaras security situation negatively, descriptions of the various groups. What are some of the reasons behind the hazara pashtun conflict. They are mostly shia, with small sunni and ismaili minorities. The hazaras of afghanistan and their shia orientation. Afghanistans shia hazara suffer latest atrocity human. For afghanistan we have the tabakati nasiri of minhajuddin. According to qaseem akhgar, a prominent afghan historian and political analyst, hazara people have been living in afghanistan for more than 2,000 years. The land that is now afghanistan has a long history of domination by foreign conquerors and strife among internally warring factions. Prolonged, unchecked dogmatic bigotry has led to a sharp increase in sectarian violence in pakistan, particularly between shia and sunni sects.
Theres facts, assumptions, unclear anaalysis all over the place, and it all doesnt make sense. In 1747, the pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in afghanistan, established their dynasty. Hazaras are members of an afghan ethnic minority group, whereas the pashtuns are a united group of tribes composing the largest ethnic group of afghanistan. On 23 july 2016, a peaceful protest by hazaras in afghanistan ended in tragedy. The hazaras were among those who fought against the communist government and they succeeded in liberating much of their homeland early on in the.
In search of the lost buddhas with david adams bamiyan valley documentary timeline duration. Hazara, people possibly of mongol descent who at the beginning of the 21st century dwelled primarily in the mountains of central afghanistan. The hazaras and their role in afghanistan the hazaras and their role in afghanistan by rauf zeerak introduction the history of afghanistan is a very tragic one in so many ways. Thay are owerwhelmingly twaler shia muslims an mak up the third lairgest ethnic group in afghanistan the dialect o persie which thay speak is cried hazaragi, which is mair precisely a pairt o the dari dialect continuum ane o the twa main. Apr 07, 2014 history of oppression in the early 1890s their ancestral homeland of the hazara, the hazarajat, which corresponds to the central highlands of todays afghanistan, was violently integrated into. In 1229 a mongol army was is patched to the west, of which a part was stationed in the region of ghazni until 1241. A short history of hazaras in iran pdf iranians use derogatory term berberis i. Shia identity make them a minority in sunni afghanistan. Overall, hazaras have no hatred towards any group least of all tajiks from afghanistan. On august 8, 1998, the taliban, alqaeda, and affiliated terrorist network massacred thousands of unarmed hazara civilians in a weeklong killing frenzy october 29, 2018 comments off on hazara. Research on history of hazaras, 2000 tehran, page 11 2 history of qums page 16, asfahan 1983. In the opinion of a leading expert on afghanistan, professor william maley of the australian national university, this attack has profound implications.
The hazaras and their role in afghanistan the hazaras and. His father worked for the afghan foreign ministry and his mother was a teacher of farsi and history at a large girls high school in kabul. Isil killed at least 80 from afghanistans hazara community and wounded more than 230 during a peaceful protest on saturday. Hazaras are another ethnic group who resides in afghanistan.
Largely shia by religion and farsispeaking, the hazaras traditionally inhabited central afghanistan although because of the war they are now scattered in large numbers across the country and in neighbouring countries as well. They contribute to 20 to 25% of the population of afghanistan and are one of the largest ethnic minority groups, which is concentrated in the central region of afghanistan known as hazarajaat and in baluchistan, province of pakistan. Pdf this paper presents an analytical historical survey of the emergence of shi ism among the hazaras of modernday afghanistan. This is an excellent description of how sectarian politics in afghanistan offered foreign powers an opportunity to intervene in afghanistans politics. Nov 16, 2018 this man, he said, was the main contact between hazaras and the insurgents in jaghori. Barbaric, to refer to hazaras shia personal status law aka rape law the shia personal status law or the rape law was passed in a back room wheeling and dealing between president karzai and the iranianbacked shia cleric. At least 80 people died, and more than 230 were injured, in a bomb blast. For the mongols we have the secret history, originally compiled by anonymous mongol authors ca. The hazaras now constitute about 9% of afghanistans population. Afghanistan is one of the most indigent and impoverished nations of the world.
History of the hazara people researchers cannot fully reconstruct the origin of the hazaras, but due to their physical appearance, it is believed that they might have a close relationship with the turkic and. Report hazaras and afghan insurgent groups landinfo. This man, he said, was the main contact between hazaras and the insurgents in jaghori. Current issues since the overthrow of the taliban in 2001 the situation of hazaras in afghanistan has improved considerably. Abdur rahman khan favored the pashtun people and despised the hazara people. In it, i read that my people, the pashtuns, had persecuted and oppressed the hazaras. Modern history reveals that, king nader shah afshar, ruler of iran, after having occupied afghanistan, took away with him a number of efficient hazara cultivators of badghis region of afghanistan to asfareen in iran and granted them fertile lands for cultivation. Hazaras are the most discriminated ethnic groups in afghanistan and somehow around the world. In 2014 there were6,864,056 hazaras in afghanistan with 1. History of oppression in the early 1890s their ancestral homeland of the hazara, the hazarajat, which corresponds to the central highlands of todays afghanistan, was violently integrated into. The hazaras claim to have descended from mongol troops, who were left behind in presentday afghanistan as the mongols retreated from their failed invasion of india at the end of the th century. They may be remnants of the troops that carried out the siege of bamiyan in 1221. The hazara mongols of afghanistan represent one of the last surviving mongol remnants in western asia of the vast empire which was conquered by the armies of chinggis khan in the early thirteenthcentury and consolidated by his descendants. The arabs introduced islam in the 7th century and the turks briefly made afghanistan the center of islamic power and civilization at the beginning of the 11th century.
Hazaras and pushtons are two different ethnic groups of afghanistan. There is a serious conflict between these two groups which started shortly after the founding of afghanistan in 1747. The topics addressed are comprehensive, and the report does not intend to provide an. The hazara backed the wrong candidate in a succession struggle in the late 19th century, and ended up rebelling against the new government. The mongol origin ofthe hazaras is attested by their high cheekbones and sparse beards, which readily distinguish. The hazaras are culturally and religiously linked to iran.
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