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Hazara people

The Hazāra (Persian: هزاره) are a people indigenous to Afghanistan who mainly live in the central highlands known as Hazarajat, and in southwestern Pakistan.[10] They are mostly Muslims with a Shia majority.

Hazāra
هزاره‎
File:Hazara boys - Afghanistan.jpg
Hazara boys in Afghanistan.
Total population
12–14 million
Regions with significant populations
22x20px Afghanistan10,000,000[1]
 Pakistan2,000,000 including 500,000 in Quetta[2][3]
File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran1,000,000[4]
22x20px Europe130,000[5]
 Turkey26,000[6]
 Australia41,766[7]
 Canada10,300[8]
22x20px Indonesia3,800[9]
Languages
Dari and Hazaragi
(eastern varieties of Persian)
Religion
Mostly Shia Islam
File:Hazara boys - Afghanistan.jpg
Hazara boys in Afghanistan

Hazaras are the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, forming between 18% and 30% of the population depending on the source.[11][12][13] They are also a smaller ethnic group in Pakistan, especially in Quetta and northern Balochistan, and communities exist in Iran, Turkey, Europe, Australia, Canada, and Indonesia.[14]

Origins and ancestry

The Hazaras are widely recognized as having **Turko‑Mongol ancestry**, descending from Mongol soldiers and Turkic tribes who settled in Afghanistan during the time of the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate.[15] Genetic studies show that Hazaras share close markers with Central Asian Turkic peoples, especially Uzbeks and Uyghurs.[16]

Many Hazara tribes trace their ancestry to earlier Turkic and Mongolic groups. Historical traditions and ethnographic studies record lineages such as:

  • **Turkoman Hazaras** – linked to Ghazanvid soldiers who settled in Afghanistan during medieval times.[17]
  • **Qarluq Hazaras** – connected to the Karluk confederation, which played a major role in Central Asia between the 8th and 10th centuries.[18]
  • **Lachin/Tatar Hazaras** – associated with Tatar and Mongol groups who settled in Afghanistan after the Mongol invasions.[19]

These tribal names reflect the deep blending of Turkic and Mongolic elements in Hazara identity. Oral traditions, genealogies, and linguistic evidence in Hazaragi preserve many of these connections, showing that Hazara ancestry is closely tied to the broader history of Central Asian nomadic peoples.[20]

Language

Hazaras speak Hazaragi, a dialect of Dari (Persian). Hazaragi contains many loanwords from Turkic languages and Mongolic languages, showing their deep historical connections to Central Asian peoples.[21]

History

After the rise of the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate, many settlers of Turko‑Mongol origin established themselves in central Afghanistan. These groups mixed with local Iranian and Indo‑Afghan populations, contributing to the formation of the Hazara identity.[22]

Early sources describe the Hazaras as distinct for their Central Asian features and Turko‑Mongol heritage. The Mughal emperor Babur wrote in the Baburnama that the Hazaras of central Afghanistan were a separate people, noting their unique appearance and their descent from earlier Turko‑Mongol settlers.[23]

In the 16th–19th centuries, Hazaras were often autonomous in the Hazarajat region. They maintained tribal structures and local leadership, but later faced persecution under Afghan rulers such as Abdur Rahman Khan in the late 19th century, when many were displaced or enslaved.[24]

Modern communities

Today, Hazaras are known for their strong cultural identity, Shia religious traditions, and close ties to Central Asian peoples. They have produced notable figures in politics, literature, and sports. Despite facing discrimination, Hazara communities remain an important part of Afghanistan and the wider Central Asian cultural sphere.[25]

Hazara People Media

  • Hazara girl from Afghanistan.

  • A Hazara horseman engages in battle against Babur's troops along the Herat-Kabul Road in February 1507

  • A painting of armed Hazara tribesmen in 1892

  • Abdul Khaliq, a school student, assassinated King Nadir Shah of Afghanistan

  • Ibrahim Khan, known as "Ibrahim Gawsawar", the leader of an armed Hazara uprising against excessive taxation during Zahir Shah's rule

  • Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of Hazaras during and following the Soviet–Afghan War

  • Dozens of women from Afghanistan's Hazara community have held a protest following a suicide bombing that took place in an educational center and killed more than 20 young women.

  • Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

References

  1. ↑ "Afghanistan |Data". data.worldbank.org.
  2. ↑ "Hazaras of Pakistan". Retrieved 22 Dec 2022.
  3. ↑ Census of Afghans in Pakistan 2005, UNHCR Statistical Summary Report (retrieved August 14, 2016)
  4. ↑ Smyth, Phillip (3 June 2014). "Iran's Afghan Shiite Fighters in Syria". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Austria holds refugee talks as young Hazaras flee persecution to make 'dangerous' journey to Europe – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". mobile.abc.net.au. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  6. ↑ "Afghan Hazara Refugees Seek Justice in Turkey". 3 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Cultural Diversity". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  8. ↑ The population of people with descent from Afghanistan in Canada is 48,090. Hazara make up an estimated 30% of the population of Afghanistan depending t on the source. The Hazara population in Canada is estimated from these two figures. Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada Archived 2013-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Afghan Hazaras' new life in Indonesia: Asylum-seeker community in West Java is large enough to easily man an eight-team Afghan football league, Al Jazeera, 21 March 2014, retrieved 5 August 2016
  10. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 630: attempt to index field 'known_free_doi_registrants_t' (a nil value).
  11. ↑ L. Dupree, Afghanistan: Ethnography, in Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition 2006.
  12. ↑ "CIA World Factbook". Archived from the original on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  13. ↑ A Survey of the Afghan People, Asia Foundation, 2006.
  14. ↑ Al Jazeera, "Afghan Hazaras' new life in Indonesia," 2014.
  15. ↑ David Morgan, The Mongols, Blackwell, 1990, pp. 180–185.
  16. ↑ Qasim Ayub et al., "Y-chromosome diversity in Hazara and other Central Asian populations," *European Journal of Human Genetics*, 2003.
  17. ↑ Richard N. Frye, The Heritage of Central Asia, Princeton University Press, 1996, pp. 210–212.
  18. ↑ Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, Otto Harrassowitz, 1992, pp. 145–150.
  19. ↑ Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Hazāra," 2006 edition.
  20. ↑ Thomas Barfield, Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, Princeton University Press, 2010, pp. 145–150.
  21. ↑ Brian Spooner and William L. Hanaway, eds., Persian Language, Literature and Culture: New Directions in Iranian Studies, Routledge, 2014.
  22. ↑ David Morgan, The Mongols, Blackwell, 1990, pp. 180–185.
  23. ↑ W.M. Thackston (trans.), The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 120–122.
  24. ↑ Thomas Barfield, Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, Princeton University Press, 2010, pp. 145–150.
  25. ↑ Anthony Hyman, Afghanistan under Soviet Domination, 1964–91, Macmillan, 1992.

Template:Ethnic groups in Pakistan

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