Hazara
The Hazaras, an isolated group of Shiʿa Muslims who lived in the mountainous regions of central Afghanistan until political upheavals forced them to scatter, were once the second-largest, although least-known, ethnic group in the country. Many scholars believe that the Hazaras are descendants of the Mongol army of Genghis Khan (c. 1162–1227), which invaded this area of Afghanistan in the thirteenth century. According to other theories, the Hazaras' ancestors were Buddhist monks who lived in the city of Bamian in central Afghanistan, when it became a center of Buddhism some two thousand years ago, but this explanation ignores the fact that the Hazaras are now Shiʿa Muslims. Their physical characteristics suggest a Mongol ancestry, yet their language, called Hazaragi, is a unique, archaic version of Persian, albeit with remnants of Mongolian vocabulary.
Hazara children stand in front of the alcove that housed a statue of Buddha destroyed by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. (REUTERS NEWMEDIA INC./CORBIS)The Hazaras lived mainly as sheepherders in the center of the Hindu Kush mountain range. In recent Afghan history, they have become an oppressed minority, partly because of their Shiʿite beliefs. Due to the lack of arable land in this harsh, mountainous region, as well as the recent political developments limiting their access to trade routes in the Hindu Kush, many moved to the cities to work as menial laborers to provide food for their families.
During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the Hazaras suffered massive losses from starvation and massacres by the Taliban, who brutally slaughtered thousands of Hazaras in an attempt to eradicate Shiʿa Muslim believers. Most Hazaras now live as refugees in Pakistan, India, China, and Mongolia.
Further Reading
Elphinstone, Mountstuart. ([1814] 1972) An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul. 3d ed. New intro. by Sir Olaf Caroe. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.
Ewans, Martin. (2002) Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics. New York: HarperCollins.
Ghobar, Mir Gholam Mohammad. (2001) Afghanistan in the
Course of History. Trans. by Sherief A. Fayez. Alexandria, VA: Hashmat K. Gobar.
Mousavi, Sayed Askar. (1998) The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic, and Political Study. Richmond, U.K.: Curzon.
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