Hazara people



Hazara people

The Hazāra are a Persian-speaking people residing in the central region of Afghanistan 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. Their native homeland is referred to as Hazarajat.

Genetics

Genetically, the Hazara are primarily a mixture of eastern Eurasian[6][7][8][9] and western Eurasian[6][7][8][9][10] peoples. The genetic research suggests that they are closely related to the Mongols[11] and the Uygurs of Western China.[12]

Origin theories

One theory of the origins of the Hazaras is that they are descended from Mongolians. Other theories are that they are native to the region or are of mixed origin. At least partial Mongol descent is difficult to reject, because the Hazaras' physical attributes and parts of their culture and language resemble that of the Mongolians. Thus, it is widely accepted that Hazaras do have Mongolian ancestry, if not being direct male-line descendants of Genghis Khan, as some Hazaras consider themselves to be.[14] A Mongol element in the ancestry of the Hazara is supported by studies in genetic genealogy, which have identified a particular lineage of the Y-chromosome characteristic of people of Mongolian descent ("the Y-chromosome of Genghis Khan"). This chromosome is virtually absent outside the limits of the Mongol Empire except among the Hazara people, where it reaches its highest frequency anywhere. About two thirds of the sample Hazara males carry a Y chromosome from this lineage.[15][16] Additionally, some Hazara tribes are named after notable Mongol generals, including the Tulai Khan Hazara named after Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. The theories of Mongol descent or partial Mongol descent, are further strengthened given that the Il-Khanate Mongol rulers, beginning with Oljeitu, embraced Shia Islam. Today, almost all Hazaras adhere to Shiism, whereas Afghanistan's other ethnic groups are mostly Sunni. Another theory proposes that Hazaras are descendants of the Kushans[17], the ancient dwellers of Afghanistan famous for constructing the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Proponents of this view find the location of Hazara homeland and the similarity in the facial features of the Hazaras and those on the frescoes and Buddha's statues in Bamiyan suggestive. However, this belief is vitiated not only by the fact that the Kushans were Indo-European Tocharians, but also by historical records which mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson, Mutugen, was killed, and he ordered Bamiyan burnt to the ground in retribution,[18] renaming it Ma-Obaliq ("Uninhabitable Abode") while replacing the local population with his armies and settlers.

The third theory maintains that Hazaras are a much more mixed race. The mixed race theory is not entirely inconsistent with descent from Mongol military forces since many of the Mongol allies were from Turkic tribes. According to one version of the mixed origins theory, Nikudari Mongols settled in eastern Persia and mixed with the native populations that spoke various Iranian languages.[13] Another version suggests that Chaghatai Mongols first came from Central Asia and were followed by other Mongols, Turko-Mongols, Ilkhanates (that were driven out of Persia), and Timurids all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local Persian population forming a distinct group.[13]

History

In the late 1500s, the first mention of Hazaras are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas of the Safavid dynasty and by Babur (Emperor of the Mughal Empire) in his Baburnama, referring to the people living from west of Kabul to Ghor, and south

18th century

In their modern history, Hazaras have faced several wars and forced displacements. Since the beginnings of modern Afghanistan in the mid 18th century, Hazaras have faced persecution from the Pashtuns and have been forced to flee from many parts of today's Afghanistan to Hazarajat.[13] In the mid 18th century they were forced out of Helmand and the Arghandab basin of Kandahar.[13] During Dost Mohammad Khan's rule, Hazaras in Bamiyan and the Hazarajat area were heavily taxed. However, for the most part they still managed to keep their regional autonomy in Hazarajat.[13] This would soon change as the new Emir, Abdur Rahman Khan, was brought to power.

Subjugation by Abdur Rahman Khan

As the new Emir, Abdur Rahman set out a goal to bring Hazarajat under his control. After facing resistance from the Hazaras, he launched several campaigns in Hazarajat with many atrocities and ethnic polarization.[13] The southern part of Hazarajat was spared as they accepted Abdur Rahman's rule while the other parts of Hazarajat rejected Abdur Rahman and were supporting his uncle Sher Ali Khan and as a result had a war waged against them.[13]

The first Hazara uprising was in 1888. Abur Rahman's cousin, Mohammad Eshaq, revolted against him and the Hazaras joined the revolt. The revolt was short lived and crushed as the Emir extended his control over large parts of Hazarajat. Heavy taxes were imposed and Pashtun administrators were sent to Hazarajat where they subjugated the people with many abuses.[13] The people were disarmed, villages were looted, local tribal chiefs were imprisoned or executed, and the best lands were confiscated and given to Pashtun nomads (Kuchis).[13]

Another uprising occurred in 1892. The cause of the uprising was the rape of the wife of a Hazara chief by 33 Afghan soldiers. The soldiers had entered their house under the pretext of searching for weapons and raped the chief's wife in front of him.[19] The families of the Hazara chief and his wife retaliated against the humiliation and killed the soldiers and attacked the local garrison where they took back their weapons. Several other tribal chiefs who supported Abdur Rahman now turned against him and joined the rebellion which rapidly spread through the entire Hazarajat. In response to the rebellion, the Emir declared a "Jihad" against the Shiites and raised an army of 40,000 soldiers, 10,000 mounted troops, and 100,000 armed civilians (most of which where Pashtun nomads).[19] He also brought in British military advisers to assist his army.[19]

The large army defeated the rebellion at its center, in Oruzgan, by 1892 and the local population was severely massacred. According to S. A. Mousavi, thousands of Hazara men, women, and children were sold as slaves in the markets of Kabul and Qandahar, while numerous towers of human heads were made from the defeated rebels as a warning to others who might challenge the rule of the Amir.

In response to the harsh repression, the Hazaras revolted again by early 1893. This revolt had taken the government forces by surprise and the Hazaras managed to take most of Hazarajat back. However even after months of fighting, they were eventually defeated due to a shortage of food. Small pockets of resistance continued to the end of the year as government troops committed atrocities against civilians and deported entire villages.[19]

Abdur Rahman's subjugation of the Hazaras during this period gave birth to strong hatred between the Pashtuns and Hazaras for years to come.[19] Massive forced displacements, especially in Oruzgan and Daychopan, continued as lands were confiscated and populations were expelled or fled.[19] Some 15,000 families fled to northern Afghanistan, Mashhad (Iran), Quetta (Pakistan), and even as far as Central Asia. It is estimated that over half the Hazara population was massacred or displaced during Abdur Rahman's campaign against them. Hazara farmers were often forced to give up their property to Pashtuns and as a result many Hazara families had to leave seasonally to the major cities in Afghanistan, Iran, or Pakistan in order to find jobs and a source of income. Pakistan is now home to one of the largest settlements of Hazara particularly in and around the city of Quetta.[19]

Hazaras in the 20th century

In 1901, Habibullah Khan, Abdur Rahman's successor, granted amnesty to all people who were exiled by his predecessor. However, the division between the Afghan government and the Hazara people was already made too deep under Abdur Rahman and as a result Hazaras continued to face severe social, economic and political discrimination through most of the 20th century.

Mistrust of the central government continued by the Hazaras and local uprisings also continued. In particular, in the 1940s, during Zahir Shah's rule, a revolt took place against new taxes that were exclusively imposed on the Hazaras.[13] The Pashtun nomads meanwhile not only were exempted from taxes, but also received allowances from the Afghan government.[13] The angry rebels began capturing and killing government officials. In response, the central government sent a force to subdue the region and later removed the taxes.

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Hazarajat region did not see as much heavy fighting like other regions of Afghanistan. However, rival Hazara political factions had internal conflicts during this period. The division was across the Tanzáim-e nasl-e naw-e Hazara, a party based in Quetta of Hazara nationalists and secular intellectuals, and the pro-Khomeini Islamist parties backed by the new Islamic Republic of Iran.[13] By 1979, the Iran backed Islamist groups liberated Hazarajat from the central Soviet-backed Afghan government and later these Islamist groups took entire control of Hazarajat away from the secularist groups. By 1984, after severe fighting, the secularist groups lost all their power to the Islamist groups. Later as the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the Islamist groups felt the need to broaden their political appeal and turned their focus to Hazara ethnic nationalism.[13] This led to establishment of the Hezb-e Wahdat, an alliance of all the Hazara resistance groups (except the Harakat-e Islami). In 1992, with the fall of Kabul, the Harakat-e Islami took sides with Burhanuddin Rabbani's government while the Hezb-e Wahdat took sides with the opposition. The Hezb-e Wahdat was eventually forced out of Kabul by 1995 as the Pashtun Taliban movement treacherously captured and killed their leader Abdul Ali Mazari.

With the Taliban's capture of Kabul in 1996, all the Hazara groups united with the new Northern Alliance against the common new enemy. However, it was too late and despite the fierce resistance Hazarajat fell to the Taliban by 1998. 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 of Bamiyan, Ghor, Wardak, and Ghazni.[20] During the years that followed, Hazaras suffered severe oppression and many large ethnic massacres were carried out by the predominately ethnic Pashtun Taliban and are documented by such groups as the Human Rights Watch.[21] 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. Mullah Niazi, the commander of the attack and governor of Mazar after the attack, similar to Abdur Rahman Khan over 100 years ago, declared the Shia Hazara as infidels: Hazaras are not Muslim, they are Shi’a. They are kofr [infidels]. The Hazaras killed our force here, and now we have to kill Hazaras... If you do not show your loyalty, we will burn your houses, and we will kill you. You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan... wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up, we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair.

Hazaras in post-Taliban Afghanistan

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, British and American forces attacked Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power and effectively saved the Hazaras from ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Taliban. Since then, the situation for Hazaras in Afghanistan has changed drastically and has much improved in a very short time. Today, due to the NATO involvement, Hazaras enjoy much more freedom and equality than ever before. Hazaras can now pursue higher education, enroll in the army, and have top government positions.[23] For example, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a Hazara from the Hezb-e Wahdat party, was able to run in the 2004 presidential election in Afghanistan. However, discrimination still lingers.[23] A clear indication of such discrimination is the current trend of allocating international help by the Afghan government. Hazarajat historically has been kept from any improvement by past governments. Since ousting the Taliban, there have been several billions of dollars poured into Afghanistan for reconstruction and numerous mega scale reconstruction projects took place in Afghanistan. But effectively a very small portion of international aid was allocated in central regions of Afghanistan Hazarajat.

For example, there have been more than 5000 kilometers of road pavement and construction in Afghanistan, of which almost none happened in central Afghanistan Hazarajat. Another indication of such discrimination is that Kochis (Afghan nomads from western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) are allowed now to use Hazarajat pastures in summer time. This practice started during the rule of Amir Abdurahman Khan for punishing Hazaras.

Living in mountainous Hazarajat where little farm land exists, Hazara people rely on these pasture lands for their livelihood and survival during long and harsh winters. In 2007 heavily armed Kochis moved into Hazarajat for grazing their livestock, and when the local people resisted, it is reported that they killed several Hazara people, mostly women and kids, looted and burned several villages.[citation needed] Such a practice happened in 2008, and the government appears to approve this practice by disarming local Hazaras and allowing Kochis to remain heavily armed.[citation needed] It is also reported that Kochis acted for the Taliban army when they defeated Hazara resistance against Taliban in Hazarajat and massacred the local Hazaras.[citation needed] Hazaras suspect that Kochis have ties with the Taliban. Kochis like Taliban belong to the Pashtun ethnicity. Traveling with heavy armor and automatic weapons, and using military tactics like Taliban, support this theory.[citation needed]

Culture

The Hazara, outside of Hazarajat, have adopted the cultures of the cities where they dwell, and in many cases are quite Persianized. Traditionally the Hazara are highland farmers and although sedentary like the Tajiks, in the Hazarajat, they have retained many of their own customs and traditions, some of which are more closely related to those of Central Asia than to Iran.[28][29][9] For instance, many Hazara musicians are widely hailed as being skilled in playing the dambura, a lute instrument similarly found in other Central Asian nations such as Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Interestingly, a skilled Hazara dambura musician, Dawood Sarkhosh sang a notably traditional Hazara folk song entitled, "Moghul Dokhtar," Persian for "Mongol Girl."

Language

Hazaras often speak Hazaragi which is a distinctive variety of the Persian language. It is closer to the Persian spoken in Afghanistan than to that spoken in Iran.[31] The differences include a distinctive accent[32] and a significant number of words of Mongolian and Turkic origin.[33][31] In particular, Hazaragi in the DaiKundi and Dhaizangi (also spelled as Daizangi) regions has a significant admixture of Mongolian influence in the language. Many of the urban Hazaras in the larger cities such as Kabul and Mazari Sharif no longer speak Hazaragi but speak Kaboli or regional varieties of Dari Persian, and in western region of Herat speak in the Khorasani dialect. Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan often include Urdu and English words as part of their language, which they adopted since 1890 when they served in the British Indian Army in regiments such as the 106th Hazara Pioneers.[34][35]

Religion

Hazaras are predominantly Shi'a Muslims, mostly of the Twelver sect.[34] Most of Afghanistan are not of the Twelver Shi'a denomination and this fact has probably contributed to the discrimination against the Hazaras.[5] Some Hazaras are also Shi'as of the Ismaili denomination. Hazaras probably converted from Sunnism to Shi'aism during the reign of the Il-Khanate ruler Oljeitu. Nonetheless, a small number of Hazaras are Sunni,[5] primarily among the Taymani Hazara and the Hazara Aimaks.[36]

Hazara tribes

The Hazara people have been organized by various tribes. However more recently and since the inclusion of the Hazaras into the "Afghan state", the tribal affiliations have been disappearing and former tribal names (e.g. Besudh, Daykundi, or Jaghori) today more commonly refer to territorial designations.[37]

Pashtun people

Pashtuns are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of western Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is a traditional code of conduct and honor.[14]

Pashtun society consists of many tribes and clans which were rarely politically united,[15] until the rise of the Durrani Empire in 1747. Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and Russian empires. For over 250 years, they reigned as the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan. They gained world-wide attention after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and with the rise and fall of the Taliban, since they were the main ethnic contingent in the movement. Pashtuns are also an important community in Pakistan, where they are prominently represented in the military and are the second-largest ethnic group.[16]

The Pashtuns are the world's largest (patriarchal) segmentary lineage ethnic group.[17] The total population of the group is estimated to be around 42 million, but an accurate count remains elusive due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979.[18] There are an estimated 60 major Pashtun tribes and more than 400 sub-clans.[19]

Demographics

The vast majority of Pashtuns are found in an area stretching from southeastern Afghanistan to northwestern Pakistan. Additional Pashtun communities are found in the Northern Areas of Pakistan and in Khorasan Province of eastern Iran. There is also a sizeable community in India, that is of largely putative ancestry.[20][7] A large migrant-worker community resides in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and in smaller communities in Europe and North America. Important metropolitan centers of Pashtun culture include Peshawar and Kandahar. Quetta and Kabul are ethnically mixed cities with large Pashtun populations. With 1.5 million ethnic Pashtuns, Karachi hosts one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world.[21]

Pashtuns comprise over 15.42% of Pakistan's population or 25.6 million people.[1] In Afghanistan, they make up an estimated 39%[22] to 42% of the population or 12.4 to 13.3 million people. The exact numbers remain uncertain, particularly in Afghanistan, and are affected by approximately 3 million Afghan refugees that remain in Pakistan, of which 81.5% or 2.49 million are ethnic Pashtuns.[2] An unknown number of refugees continue to reside in Iran.[23] A cumulative population assessment suggests a total of around 42 million across the region.[1][3][2]

History and origins

The history of the Pashtuns is ancient, and much of it is not fully researched. Since the 2nd millennium BC, regions now inhabited by Pashtuns have seen invasions and migrations, including by Aryan tribes (Iranian peoples, Indo-Aryans), Medes, Persians, Mauryas, Scythians, Kushans, Hephthalites, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and Mongols. There are many conflicting theories about the origins of the Pashtun people, some modern and others archaic, both among historians and the Pashtuns themselves.

Genetics

Research into human DNA is as a new way to explore historical movements of populations by studying their genetic make-up. Some recent genetic genealogy studies show Pashto-speaking Pashtuns are mainly related to Iranian peoples and to the Burusho who speak a language isolate.[47][46] There is evidence of a small Greek contribution to the Pashtun gene pool that will likely require further testing in order to ascertain its pervasiveness.

Modern era

The Pashtuns are intimately tied to the history of modern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Following Muslim Arab and Turkic conquests from the 7th to 11th centuries, Pashtun ghazis (warriors for the faith) invaded and conquered much of northern India during the Khilji dynasty (1290-1321), Lodhi dynasty (1451-1526) and Suri dynasty (1540-1556). The Pashtuns' modern past stretches back to the Hotaki dynasty (1709-1738) and later the Durrani Empire (1747-1823).[49] The Hotakis were Ghilzai tribesmen, who defeated the Safavid dynasty of Persia and seized control over much of the Persian Empire from 1722 to 1738. This was followed by the conquests of Ahmad Shah Durrani who was a former high-ranking military commander under the ruler Nadir Shah of Persia. He founded the Durrani Empire that covered most of what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Indian Punjab, and Khorasan province of Iran.[50][51] After the fall of the Durrani Empire in 1818, the Barakzai clan took control of Afghanistan. Specifically, the Mohamedzai subclan ruled Afghanistan from 1826 to the end of Mohammad Zahir Shah reign in 1973. This legacy continues into modern times as Afghanistan is run by President Hamid Karzai, who is an ethnic Pashtun from Kandahar. The Pashtuns in Afghanistan resisted British designs upon their territory and kept the Russians at bay during the so-called Great Game. By playing the two empires against each other, Afghanistan remained an independent state and maintained some autonomy (see the Siege of Malakand). But during the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan (1880-1901), Pashtun regions were divided by the Durand Line, and what is today western Pakistan was ceded to British India in 1893.[52] In the 20th century, some Pashtun leaders living under British Indian rule in the North-West Frontier Province supported Indian independence, including Khan Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (both members of the Khudai Khidmatgar, popularly referred to as the Surkh posh or "the Red shirts"), and were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent method of resistance.[53] Later, in the 1970s, Khan Wali Khan pressed for more autonomy for Pashtuns in Pakistan.

Pashtuns in Afghanistan attained complete independence from British intervention during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, following the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The monarchy ended when Sardar Daoud Khan seized control of Afghanistan in 1973. This opened the door to Soviet intervention and culminated in the Communist Saur Revolution in 1978. Starting in the late 1970s, many Pashtuns joined the Mujahideen opposition against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They fought for control of Afghanistan against the Communist Khalq and the Parcham factions. More recently, the Pashtuns became known for being the primary ethnic group that comprised the Taliban, which was a religious movement that emerged from Kandahar, Afghanistan.[55] In late 2001, the Taliban government was removed from power as a result of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Pashtuns have played an important role in the regions of South and Central Asia and the Middle East. In neighboring Pakistan, ethnic Pashtun politicians, notably Ayub Khan and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, have also attained the Presidency, as well as high government posts such as Army Chief (Gul Hasan Khan) and Ministries. The Afghan royal family, now represented by Muhammad Zahir Shah, is also of ethnic Pashtun origin. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century warrior poet Khushal Khan Khattak, Afghan "Iron" Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, and in modern times U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad and former Afghan Astronaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand among many others.

Pashtuns defined

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly is a Pashtun. The most prominent views are:

Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people who are speakers of the Pashto language and live in a contiguous geographic location across Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the generally accepted academic view.[56]

Pashtuns are Muslims who follow Pashtunwali, speak Pashto and meet other criteria.[57]

In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded as progenitor of the Pashtun people, Pashtuns are those whose related patrilineal descent may be traced back to legendary times.

These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition, respectively.

Ethnic definition

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun.[58] Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsmen. Thus, tribes that speak disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe to certain dialects as "proper", such as the Pukhtu spoken by the Yousafzai and the Pashto spoken by the Durrani in Kandahar.[59] These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Cultural definition

The religious and cultural definition is more stringent and requires Pashtuns to be Muslim and adhere to the Pashtunwali code.[60] This is the most prevalent view among more orthodox and conservative tribesmen who do not recognize anyone of the Jewish faith as a Pashtun, even if they themselves claim to be of Hebrew ancestry as some tribes do. Pashtun intellectuals and academics tend to be more flexible and sometimes define who is Pashtun based on other criteria.

Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion: most Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, while some follow Shia Islam or other sects. Pakistani Jews and Afghan Jews, once numbering in the thousands, have largely relocated to Israel.

Ancestral definition

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which mainly requires that only those who have a Pashtun father are Pashtun. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage. This definition places less emphasis on what language one speaks, such as Pashto, Persian, Urdu or English. For example, the Pathans in India have lost both the language and presumably many of the ways of their putative ancestors, but trace their fathers' ethnic heritage to the Pashtun tribes.

Some believe that Pashtun tribes are descendants of the four grandsons of the legendary Qais Abdur Rashid.[61] The legend says that after Qais heard of the new religion of Islam, he traveled to meet the Muslim Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)in Medina and returned to Afghanistan-Pakistan area as a Muslim. He purportedly had many children, and his son Afghana produced up to four sons who traveled east towards Swat, Lahore, Multan and Quetta respectively. This legend is one of many traditional tales among the Pashtuns regarding their disparate origins that remain largely unverifiable.

Putative ancestry

There are various communities who claim Pashtun descent but are largely found among other groups in South and Central Asia who generally do not speak Pashto. Those communities are often considered overlapping groups or are simply assigned to the ethno-linguistic group that corresponds to their geographic location and mother tongue. They include various non-Pashtun Afghans who often speak Persian rather than Pashto.[3]

Many claimants of Pashtun heritage in South Asia have mixed with local Muslim populations and refer to themselves (and to Pashto-speaking Pashtuns and often to Afghans in general) as Pathans, the Hindi-Urdu variant of Pashtun.[62] These populations are usually only part-Pashtun, to varying degrees, and often trace their Pashtun ancestry putatively through a paternal lineage, and are not universally viewed as ethnic Pashtuns (see section on Pashtuns Defined for further analysis).

Some groups claiming Pashtun descent live close to Pashtuns, such as the Hindkowans who are sometimes referred to as Punjabi Pathans in publications such as Encyclopedia Britannica.[63] The Hindkowans speak the Hindko language and are considered to have mixed Pashtun and local origins.[64] Culturally similar to Pashtuns, they often practice Pashtunwali in Pashtun-majority areas. They are a large minority in major cities such as Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan, and Dera Ismail Khan and in mixed districts including Haripur and Abbottabad where they are often bilingual in Hindko and Pashto.

Many Indian Muslims claim descent from Pashtun soldiers who settled in India and married local Indians during the Muslim conquest of India.[20] No specific population figures exist, as claimants of Pashtun descent are spread throughout the country. Notably, the Rohilla Pashtuns, after their defeat by the British, are known to have settled in parts of North India and intermarried with local Indians. They are believed to have been bilingual in Pashto and Urdu until the mid-19th century. Also, the repression of Rohilla Pashtuns by the British in the late 19th century caused thousands to flee to the Dutch colony of Guyana and Suriname in South America. The vast majority later re-settled in Pakistan and are referred to as Mohajirs.[65]

Culture

Pashtun culture was formed over the course of many centuries. Pre-Islamic traditions, probably dating back to as far as Alexander's conquest in 330 BC, survived in the form of traditional dances, while literary styles and music largely reflect strong influence from the Persian tradition and regional musical instruments fused with localized variants and interpretation. Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native customs and strong influences from Central, South and West Asia.

Religion

Most Pashtuns follow Sunni Islam, almost completely the Hanafi school. A minority of Twelver Shi'a Pashtuns exist in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Studies conducted among the Ghilzai reveal strong links between tribal affiliation and membership in the larger ummah (Islamic community). Most Pashtuns believe that they are descendants of Qais Abdur Rashid who is purported to have been an early convert to Islam and thus bequeathed the faith to the Pashtun population.[70] A legacy of Sufi activity remains common in Pashtun regions, as evident in song and dance. Many Pashtuns are prominent Ulema, Islamic scholars, such as Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan who translated the Noble Quran and Sahih Al-Bukhari and many other books to English.[71] Lastly, non-Muslim Pashtuns are virtually non-existent as there is limited data regarding irreligious groups and minorities.

Women

19th Century Lithograph of Begum Jan, known as "lady of rank" in Kandahar.

The lives of Pashtun women vary from those who reside in conservative rural areas, such as the tribal belt, to those found in relatively freer urban centers.[98] Though many Pashtun women remain tribal and illiterate, others have become educated and gainfully employed.[98] The ravages of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the Afghan wars, leading to the rise and fall of the Taliban, caused considerable hardship among Pashtun women, as many of their rights were curtailed in favor of a rigid interpretation of Islamic law. The difficult lives of Afghan female refugees gained considerable notoriety with the iconic image of the so-called "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat Gula) depicted on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine.[99] The male-dominated code of Pashtunwali often constrains women and forces them into designated traditional roles that separate the genders.[100] The pace of change and reform for women has been slow due to the wars in Afghanistan and the isolation and instability of tribal life in Pakistan.

Modern social reform for Pashtun women began in the 20th century. During the early 20th century, Queen Soraya Tarzi of Afghanistan was an early feminist leader whose advocacy of social reforms for women was so radical that it led to the fall of her and her husband King Amanullah's dynasty.[101][dead link] Abandoning the Wardrobe and Reclaiming Religion in the Discourse on Afghan Women's Islamic Rights], Leela Jacinto,[102] Civil rights remained an important issue during the tumultuous Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, as feminist leader Meena Keshwar Kamal campaigned for women's rights and founded the Revolutionary Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) in the 1980s.[103]

Today, Pashtun women vary from the traditional housewives who live in seclusion to urban workers, some of whom seek or have attained parity with men.[98] But due to numerous social hurdles, the literacy rate remains considerably lower for Pashtun females than for males.[104][105] Abuse against women is widespread and increasingly being challenged by women's rights organizations which find themselves struggling with conservative religious groups as well as government officials in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to researcher Benedicte Grima's book Performance of Emotion Among Paxtun Women, "a powerful ethic of forbearance severely limits the ability of traditional Pashtun women to mitigate the suffering they acknowledge in their lives."[106]

Pashtun women often have their legal rights curtailed in favor of their husbands or male relatives. For example, though women are officially allowed to vote in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many have been kept away from ballot boxes by males.[107] Traditionally, Pashtun women have few inheritance rights and are often charged with taking care of large extended families of their spouses.[108] Another tradition that persists is swara, the giving of a female relative to someone in order to rectify a dispute. It was declared illegal in Pakistan in 2000 but continues in tribal regions.[109]

Despite obstacles, many Pashtun women have begun a process of slow change. A rich oral tradition and resurgence of poetry has inspired many Pashtun women seeking to learn to read and write.[79] Further challenging the status quo, Vida Samadzai was selected as Miss Afghanistan in 2003, a feat that was received with a mixture of support from those who back the individual rights of women and those who view such displays as anti-traditionalist and un-Islamic. Many Pashtun women have attained high political office in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, following recent elections, the proportion of female political representatives is one of the highest in the world.[110] Pashtun women are now TV hosts, journalists, actors and singers on AVT Khyber and other Pashto TV outlets.[78] A Pashtun woman, Khatol Mohammadzai, recently became a paratrooper in the Afghan National Army and another became a fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force.[111]

Substantial work remains for Pashtun women to gain equal rights with men, who remain disproportionately dominant in most aspects of Pashtun society. Human rights organizations continue to struggle for greater women's rights, such as the Afghan Women's Network and the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan which aims to protect women from domestic violence.[112][113] Due to recent reforms in the higher education commission (HEC) of Pakistan, a number of competent Pashtun female scholars have been able to win Masters and PhD scholarships. Most of them have proceeded to USA, UK and other developed countries with support from their families.

Hazaras

Ethnic Minority

Oppressed by Taliban/

Pashtuns

Shiite Muslims

Mongolian Descent

Poorer

Pashtuns

Ethnic Majority

Wealthier

Taliban

Sunni Muslims

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