Hazaras

Hazaras
	Hazara children
Regions with significant populations
	Afghanistan:; 8,000,000 ; Iran:; 300,000; Pakistan:; 300,000;
Languages
	Persian (Hazaragi dialect), also Dari
Religion
	Shi'a( Some Ismaili), some Sunni
Related ethnic groups
	Iranian, Turkic, Mongol;

The Hazara are an ethnic group who reside mainly in the central Afghanistan mountain region called Hazarajat or Hazaristan. They make up anywhere between 19-25% of Afghanistan's population, but an accurate census has not been taken in decades so there is little information to verify at present. There are also significant populations of Hazaras in Pakistan and Iran.

History and origins

Historically, the Hazara seem to have mainly Mongoloid origins with some Caucasoid admixture, as evidenced by physical attributes and parts of the culture and language. It is commonly believed that the Hazara are descendants of Genghis Khan's army, which marched into the area during the 12th century, but there are also beliefs holding Hazaras as descendents of the Koshanis, the ancient dwellers of Afghanistan famous for constructing the Buddhas of Bamiyan; or Hazaras as people of Turckic origin. Proponents of the Mongolid view hold that many of the Mongol soldiers and their families settled in the area and remained there after the Mongol empire dissolved in the 13th century, converting to Islam and adopting local customs.

However, the main Mongolid theory is contested on the basis of historical events surrounding Genghis Khan's invasion of what today constitutes Central Afghanistan. The invading Mongol armies encountered fierce resistance from the locals around Bamiyan, who had Asian features like the invading Mongols. This suggests that people with Mongoloid features inhabited Central Afghanistan, possibly of Uyghur Turkic origin, long before Genghis Khan's invasion and probably arrived there in much earlier waves of migration out of Central Asia.

Historical records also mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson Motochin was killed. He ordered Bamiyan burnt to the ground in retribution, renaming it Ma-Obaliq ("Uninhabitable Abode").

After the fall of the Il-Khan empire in Persia, the Safavid Shah Abbas drove out the 'Infidel Mongols' from Persia to Khorasan (present day Afghanistan). Some sources say he drove out the Uzbeks but the distinction is unclear. Around the year ad 1550, the first mention of 'Hazaras' are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas, as well as in the Baburnama distinguishing Hazaras from the Chughtai Uzbeks. This is when the national identity of Hazaras apparently began.

The 'Global Gene Project' reported over a quarter of their sample Hazara males in Pakistan to have the Y-Chromosome of Genghis Khan.

Language

The Hazaragi language is a unique dialect of the Persian language, with some Mongolian and Turkish vocabulary. Hazaragi is categorized in the Indo-European language family, and 16% to 20% of Afghanistanis speak it. Many of the urban Hazaras in the larger cities of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif speak Dari, while Hazaras from the Dai Kundi and Dai Zangi regions have the many admixture of the Mongolian in their language. Hazaras in Pakistan date back to around 1890, and use more Urdu and English words.

Religion

Hazaras are predominantly Shi'a Muslims, although there are significant populations of Sunni and Ismaili Hazaras in north and northwestern Afghanistan. Often Sunni Hazaras can blur the lines with the Tajiks and Pashtuns. The Aimagh (Chahar Aimaq) Hazaras for instance are predominantly Sunni.

Political

Since the early 1990s, most Hazaras are members of the Hizb-e-Wahdat political party. The most influential member, prior to his capture and execution by the Taliban, was Abdul Ali Mazari. His death made him the symbolic leader of many of the Hazara people.

Migration

Besides the major populations of Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan and Iran, there are signifiant ones in Australia, Canada, the UK and particularly the Northern European countries such as Sweden and Denmark. Many Hazara youth have migrated in particular to Australia, legally through education or work visas and illegally as well (the news story about the Afghan immigrants rescued by the Norwegian freighter MV_Tampa and subsequently rejected by Australia failed to mention that many of the men on board were Hazara). These youth have set up a remittance economy in Quetta which has lead to the opening of foreign money exchange places to handle the currency coming in.

A recent anthropological book, War and migration : social networks and economic strategies of the Hazaras of Afghanistan by Alessandro Monsutti argues that migration is in fact the default state of the Hazara people, referring to the seasonal and historical migrations which have never ceased and do not seem to be dictated only by emergency situations such as war.

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