Pashtuns & Hazaras

1. Pashtuns & Hazaras By: Julie Gregg

2. Hazara People • The Hazāra are a Persian-speaking people residing in the central region of Afghanistan (referred to as Hazarajat) and northwestern Pakistan. The Hazara are predominantly Shia Muslims and are the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising 9% of the population. Hazaras can also be found in large numbers in neighboring Iran and Pakistan, primarily as refugees, and as diaspora around the world.

3. Hazaras Features • The strongly Mongoloid appearance of the Hazara makes it easy to distinguish them from the neighboring populations. Most Hazara have broad faces with flat noses and narrow eyes, scant facial hair, and are shorter of build than their neighbors. It remains unclear what their origin are, but Eastern Turkic or Mongol descent have been suggested.

4. Hazara Land • Hazarajat, the land of the Hazara, comprises the mountainous central areas of Afghanistan. Its has distinct boundaries; a traveler knows when Hazara territory is entered. While other areas of Afghanistan are multiethnic, only Hazara live permanently in Hazarajat. While other ethnic territories extend into neighboring nation-states, Hazarajat is landlocked in the middle of Afghanistan. The geographical boundary arguably coincides with a political boundary between distinct populations.

5. Hazara Origin • Hazaras are among few races on the face of the earth about whose origin so little is known. Some research done on Hazara background suggests that they are the descendants of Genghis Khan, the great Mongol warrior of 13th Century. This theory is supported by the similarities in the language and words that Mongols and Hazaras use even today. Another plausible theory is that Hazaras were Buddhists that actually lived in Afghanistan for the known history at least since the time of the Kushan Dynasty some 2000 years ago prior to the arrival of Islam.

6. Pashtun People • Also known as Pathans, Pushtuns, or Pakhtuns, the Pashtuns are an extremely proud people comprising nearly 42% of Afghanistan’s  population (11-12 million) and 12% of Pakistan’s population (18-19 million).  The Pashtuns reside  primarily  in Eastern  and Southern Afghanistan, and the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and consist of about 608 different tribal groups.  Their reputation as a fierce, independent, hot tempered, bold, and fearless people is legendary.  The name “Afghan” was given to the Pashtuns by their Persian neighbors and means “unruliness” or “upheaval”.  Pashtun culture is expressed in the Pashtunwali, an unwritten, undefined code of ethics which lies at the heart of the Pashtun ethos. 

7. Pashtun Features • Pashtuns are Caucasians, of medium height, with strong, straight noses and black hair. Many Pashtuns have dark eyes, although there is also a high incidence of blue, green, and gray eyes.

8. Pashtun Origin • Though their origin is unclear, their legends say that they are the descendants of Afghana, grandson of King Saul. Most scholars, however, believe that the Pashtuns probably arose from an intermingling of ancient and subsequent invaders.

9. Pashtun Fierce Fighters • Pashtuns are fierce fighters and are known for their marksmanship. They are accustomed to hardship and poverty and can prevail in conditions that would easily defeat others. At the same time, though deeply dedicated to their religious beliefs, they also cultivate nonreligious cultural traditions.

10. Pashtun Levels • Different levels are valid in different contexts. The royal family of Afghanistan belongs to the Mohammadzai clan of the Barakzai tribe, within the Durrani confederation the Pashtun. Political power in Afghanistan has always been in the hand of the Pashtuns: in fact Afghan means Pashtun, and Afghanistan means the land of the Pashtuns. However, whether the ruler ship was regarded as Pashtun, Durrani, Barakzai or Muhammadzai would depend on the context.

11. Treatment • The Hazarajat had remained virtually independent until 1893 when it was conquered by the Pashtun King Abdul Rehman, who initiated the first anti-Hazara program. He did this by killing thousands of Hazaras, moving thousands more to Kabul where they lived as indentured serfs and servants, and destroying their mosques (place of worship).

12. Treatment continued • Hazaras are the largest Shia Muslim group in Afghanistan, estimated to be 3-4 million. The sectarian enmity between the Sunni Pashtuns and the Shia Hazaras went back a long way, but the Taliban had brought a new edge to the conflict for they treated all Shias as munafaqeen or hypocrites and beyond the pale of true Islam.

13. Conflict • The Hazara suffered under the rule of the Taliban.The Taliban had Hazarajat totally isolated from the rest of the world going as far as not allowing the United Nations to deliver food to the provinces. During the years that followed, Hazaras suffered severe oppression and many large ethnic massacres and rapes were carried out by the predominately ethnic Pashtun Taliban.These human rights abuses not only occurred in Hazarajat, but across all areas controlled by the Taliban. Particularly after their capture of Mazar-e Sharif in 1998, where after a massive killing of some 8000 civilians, the Taliban openly declared that the Hazaras would be targeted.

14. Conflict Continued • Over the past century, the two peoples have fought periodically, and the Hazaras, who are thought to make up between nine and nineteen percent of Afghanistan’s population—the Pashtuns make up nearly half—have usually lost. On the border between the Hazara heartland, in the country’s mountainous and impoverished center, and the Pashtun plains in the south and east, conflicts over grazing land are common. But, working alongside NATO soldiers, Hazara police units are now operating far to the south of these traditional battlegrounds and deep into Pashtun territory.

15. Hazara People

16. Pashtun People