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Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral, eastern Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the term's meaning had become a demonym for members of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan.
The Tatars, formerly also spelled Tartars, is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" across Eastern Europe and Asia.
Pashtunistan or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, and identity have been based. Alternative names historically used for the region include Pashtūnkhwā or Pakhtūnkhwā (پښتونخوا), Pathānistān, or simply the Pashtun Belt.
The population of Afghanistan is around 43.4 million as of 2024. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. Ethnic groups in the country include Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, as well as smaller groups such as Baloch, Nuristani, Turkmen, Aimaq, Mongol and some others which are less known. Together they make up the contemporary Afghan people.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, was a totalitarian Islamic state led by the Taliban that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At its peak, the Taliban government controlled approximately 90% of the country, while remaining regions in the northeast were held by the Northern Alliance, which maintained broad international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
Balkh is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The city of Mazar-i-Sharif is the capital and largest city of the province. The Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport and Camp Marmal sit on the eastern edge of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jozjan is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of villages. It has a population of about 613,481, which is multi-ethnic and mostly agriculturalists. Sheberghan is the capital of Jozjan province.
Habib Yunich was a Chinese Tatar educator, journalist, and politician. He served as the Second East Turkestan Republic's first education minister, from the state's establishment in 1944 until his sudden death from typhus in 1945. He was succeeded by his deputy Saifuddin Azizi.
The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly connected to nearby Persia, including the same religion, as the people of both countries have lived together for thousands of years. Its location at the crossroads of Central, South and Western Asia historically made it a hub of diversity, dubbed by one historian as the "roundabout of the ancient world".
Pashtun diaspora comprises all ethnic Pashtuns. There are millions of Pashtuns who are living outside of their traditional homeland of Pashtunistan, a historic region that is today situated over parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the (erstwhile) Pashtunistan is home to the majority of Pashtun people, there are significant local Pashtun diaspora communities scattered across the neighbouring Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab, particularly in their respective provincial capital cities of Karachi and Lahore. Additionally, people with Pashtun ancestry are also found across India; particularly in Rohilkhand, a region in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; and in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Outside of South Asia, significant Pashtun diaspora communities are found in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the United States, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Iran, Australia, Canada, and Russia.
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Sunni Islam (Hanafi/Deobandi) is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. According to The World Factbook, Sunni Muslims constitute between 84.7 and 89.7% of the population, and Shia Muslims between 10 and 15%. Other religions are followed by 0.3% of the population.
Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostly tribal society. The population of the country consists of numerous ethnolinguistic groups: mainly the Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek, as well as the minorities of Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Gujjar, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Moghol, and others. Altogether they make up the Afghan people.
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Anti-Pashtun sentiment refers to dislike and hostility towards Pashtuns, Pashtun culture, or the Pashto language. The Pashtun anti-sentiment has roots from brittish colonial period where Pashtuns fought against brittish empire. Overtime Pakistani establishment has also adapted similar sentiment due to Pashtuns determination for having independent land. This sentiment is also shared by ethnic Hazara and Tajiks that has led to persecution,killing,torture of Pashtuns in Tajik&Hazara dominated areas in Afghanistan..
Tatar Hazara is a tribe consisting mostly of Sunni and some Shia Hazaras in Afghanistan. They live mainly in northern parts of Afghanistan and Bamyan. They speak the Hazaragi dialect of Persian.
Afghan Turkmens or Turkmens of Afghanistan are Turkmen people who live in the north-west of Afghanistan along the border with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, surrounded by a larger group of Afghan Uzbeks. The number of Turkmens in Afghanistan is estimated at 1 million people or roughly 2-3% of the population of Afghanistan.
Abdul Salam Hanafi is an Afghan Uzbek political and Deobandi-Islamic religious leader who is a senior leader of the Taliban, an acting second deputy prime minister, alongside Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Kabir, of Afghanistan since 2021, and was a central member of the negotiation team in the Qatar office. He has also served as deputy minister of education in the Taliban government from 1996–2001. After the Taliban government collapse in 2001, following the United States invasion of Afghanistan, Hanafi was appointed by the Taliban leadership as a top general to oversee the Taliban’s military activities in Jowzjan Province, Northern Afghanistan from May 2007 until sometime in 2008.
References
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- ↑ مزارشریف, حیات شیبان بی بی سی. "افغانستان تاتارلری نیگه هزاره گی تیلده گپلشماقده لر؟ - BBC O'zbek". www.bbc.com (in Uzbek). Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 3 "Afghanistan Recognizes Long Forgotten Ethnic Tatar Community". www.rferl.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 "تاتارهای افغانستان در تلاش بازیابی فرهنگ فراموش شدۀ شان". da.azadiradio.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 "Now living conditions of the Tatars in Afghanistan remind those of emigrants — RealnoeVremya.com". m.realnoevremya.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ Semple, Michael (2011-03-02). "Guest Blog: Why the Buddhas of Bamian were destroyed". Afghanistan Analysts Network - English (in Pashto). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ↑ Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan, Thomas H. Johnson, Ludwig W. Adamec, 2021, pp. 485
- ↑ Рушан, Лукманов. "The delegation of the Tatars of Afghanistan visited their historical homeland – the city of Bolgar". Всемирный конгресс татар. Retrieved 2023-12-13.