During the reign of amir abdullah rahman 18801901, who is considered the founder of modern afghanistan, a thousand hazaras were massacred, enslaved and banished. Muhammad zakirya rated it it was amazing jun 03, 2014. The conflict between the pashtuns and hazaras in the kite runner directly reflects the real life issues in afghanistan starting in the late 70s and continuing on past 2001. There is a serious conflict between these two groups which started shortly after the founding of afghanistan in 1747. Discover librarianselected research resources on afghan history from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals, magazines. The hazara people are nomads that were forced to live in the kazarasjat mountains by the government. In february of 20, the asian human rights commission issued a report declaring that a religiously motivated genocide against the hazaras was being carried out.
Assef even told hassan that amir and him were not really friends and that he will always be the hazara servant. Pashtuns and hazaras in the kite runner 823 words bartleby. Hassan pouladi in his book about hazaras of afghanistan mentions that the theory of. In it, i read that my people, the pashtuns, had persecuted and oppressed the hazaras.
I love the website,however, i was looking on your description on the hazara people and it said that there is an unknow census as to how many hazara people live in afghanistan. A brief history of hazara people 3 1 the origin of hazara ethnic group. Current numbers suggest that roughly 42 per cent of afghans consider themselves pashtun, whereas the rest of the population is constituted of tajik sunni persianspeakers 27 per cent, the shiite hazara also persianspeakers, but of another. Curtius was not accepted by any anthropologist and historians of 19th and. Current numbers suggest that roughly 42 per cent of afghans consider themselves pashtun, whereas the rest of the population is constituted of tajik sunni persianspeakers 27 per cent, the shiite hazara also persianspeakers. Report hazaras and afghan insurgent groups refworld. Afghan ethnic tensions rise in media and politics the. An historical, cultural, economic and political study 9780312173869. Pashtun and hazara are two words that are use a fair amount in the novel. Hazaras are mostly shia, with a history of ties to iran, whereas most.
Pashtun, hazara, and aimaqs the 2 main races in the kite runner were hazaras and pashtuns. In august 1998, the taliban killed more than ten thousand hazaras in the northern city of mazarisharif. Were you surprised to learn about the racial tension. The difference between pathan and pashtun dear readers. Some of the ethnic groups of the afghanistan are pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aimak, turkmen, baloch, pashai and many more. The history between hazaras and pashtuns has been very rough.
What are some of the reasons behind the hazara pashtun. Why do pashtuns dislike nonpashtuns in afghanistan. Many pashtuns are prominent ulema, islamic scholars, such as muhammad muhsin khan who has helped translate the noble quran, sahih albukhari and many other books to the english language. Pashtun as the majority race and ethnic in afghanistan is sunni moslem while hazara is shia. List of books and articles about afghan history online research. Other reason why the hazaras have been discriminated by pashtun is their appearance that look like chinese people. Traditionally, the hazaras were placed as the lower class while.
As the hazara people do not have a written history of their own, nothing can be proven, but this. The ethnically mixed karzai administration has a history of. As a matter of fact, pashtuns are the immigrants in afghanistan as the land belonged to hazaras and the biggest proofs were the buddhas of bamyan which were destroyed by talibans. The persecution of hazara people refers to discrimination against the hazaras, who are. What are the differences between the pashtuns and the.
The hazaras often suffered social injustice and were massacred after the talibans took over. Ethnic composition of afghanistan afghanistan is a multiethnic country with an estimated population of about 30 million world fact book, 2012. Pashtuns are intimately tied to the history of modern afghanistan, iran, pakistan and northern india. Conflicts driving off traditional niche class have lit a spark between these two groups. He skimmed through a couple of pages, snickered, handed the book back. Hazaras, uzbeks, and baloch who live in afghanistan as well as afghan pashtuns.
Isil killed at least 80 from afghanistans hazara community and wounded more than 230 during a peaceful protest on saturday. It is barely true, everything has been tailored to show pashtuns as superior. On some crucial times in history, pashtuns and hazaras have been allies such as during the final days of amanullah when hazaras of ghazni came to his help or during the civil war when hazaradominated hezbewahdat sided with pashtundominated hezbeislami. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in afghanistan, comprising nearly half of the countrys estimated 30 million people, while hazaras make up some 10 percent of the population and have been persecuted historically. Racism, ethnic, afghans, pashtun, hazara, kite runner. Houses were burnt down, people and animals killed, many fled the area. Alessandro monsutti argues, in his recent anthropological book, that migration is the traditional way of life of the hazara people. I checked wikipedia though that might not be a reliable source and found that wikipedia said the hazara makes up about 9 percent of the afghan population.
Why are the taliban attacking hazaras in afghanistan. Similar bloodbaths quickly spread to other parts of afghanistan. The author in this book goes into depth about the fascism and racism from other writers, afghan and nonafghans regarding hazaras. The conflict between the hazara and the pashtun started when abdur rahman khan became the ruler of afghanistan. For years, that was all i knew about the hazaras, that they were mogul descendants, and that they. They constitute the majority of the population of afghanistan and bore the exclusive name of afghan before that name. It also said some things i did know, like that people called hazaras miceeating. Embroidery is used by pashtuns to decorate a wide range of objects. The history of hazara people in pakistan dates back to the 1840s, when hazara tribesmen from hazarajat began migration to.
The pashtuns pushed the hazara out of uruzgan and reoccupied it. The hazaras have a long history of being targeted by pashtun tribes, beginning at least since the xvi century. Hazaras connecting to the kite runner continued they called him flatnosed because of ali and hassans characteristic hazara mongoloid features. Amir discovers differences between hassan and himself from one of his mothers books, the book said part of the reason pashtuns had oppressed the hazaras was that pashtuns were sunni muslims, while hazaras were shia hosseini 9. The book said a lot of things i didnt know, things my teachers hadnt mentioned. Pashtun introduction, location, language, folklore. This is a great accomplishment for our hazara people. History comes to know them as the people who never allowed themselves to be ruled by any great power until the last quarter of the 20th century after which they came at the receiving end of the ravages of the cold war which devoured afghanistan completely once the soviets invaded it in 1979. When amir showed the history book on the hazaras to his teacher, he reacted with disgust, the following week, after class, i showed the book to my teacher and pointed to the chapter on the hazaras. The pashtun element in afghan society openedition books. While my focus will be on them, dont forget that there are many other races that will appear on this website. Amir and baba were pashtun while ali and hassan were hazara.
The history of the hazaras therefore offers a unique perspective into the deep. The conflict between two groups has gone on for centuries, and it began shortly after the founding of afghanistan in 1747. The unresolved key to the future of pakistan and afghanistan abubakar siddique on. Get an answer for define shia and sunni muslim, hazara, pashtun and farsi from the kite runner. Sectarian politics in afghanistan independent study course fall 2005. The fighting is tinged by ethnic tensions as many taliban leaders and cadres are ethnic pashtuns. Pashtun, pashtospeaking people residing primarily in the region that lies between the hindu kush in northeastern afghanistan and the northern stretch of the indus river in pakistan.
Get an answer for were you surprised to learn about the racial tension between the pashtuns and hazaras in afghanistan. There was a great social clash between the hazaras. As every year around this time, violent clashes have erupted between local hazaras and incoming pashtun kuchis in the pastures of eastern hazajarat. Abdur rahman khan favored the pashtun people and despised the hazara people. An historical, cultural, economic and political study. Hazara shias are being persecuted in pakistan justice because of afghans history, people were defined by their tribal ancestors. Most contemporary journalistic and scholarly accounts of the instability gripping afghanistan and pakistan have argued that violent islamic extremism. In the kite runner, the main character, amir, is a pashtun and his best friend hassan, who is also one of his familys servants, is a hazara. Following muslim conquests from the 7th to 11th centuries, many pashtun ghazis warriors invaded and conquered much of the northern parts of south asia during the periods of the suris and durranis. The book said part of the reason pashtuns had oppressed the hazaras was that pashtuns were sunni muslims, while hazaras were shia. In quetta, pakistan, about 2,000 hazaras have died, 4,000 have been injured, and 200,000 have attempted to flee the country. Hazaras are considered as persian speaking people and they mainly inhabit central afghanistan. The difference, however, is that pathan is a term imposed on pashtuns by outsidersinvaders, and many pashtuns argue that its not their original name and is therefore not authentic. Its also often used as a derogatory term against pashtuns.
Hazara lands in kandahar, helmand, ghazni, urozgan, zabul and maydan invaded by pashtun tribes. Hazaras are members of an afghan ethnic minority group, whereas the pashtuns are a united group of tribes composing the largest ethnic group of afghanistan. Most hazaras are illiterate and have never been educated. The sunni and shia muslims have had a history of conflict. Theyre opinion of someone who wants to portray the hazaras and history in a bad way. At the heart of afghanistan is an empty space, a striking absence, where the larger of the colossal bamian buddhas once stood. Most accounts claim that the instability gripping afghanistan and pakistan is either rooted in pashtun history and culture or finds willing hosts among pashtun communities on both sides of the afghanistanpakistan border. But the level of violence seems to be higher than ever. Can you think of any culture in the world without a history of oppression. Hazaras and pushtons are two different ethnic groups of afghanistan. A legacy of sufi activity may be found in some pashtun regions, especially in the khyber pakhtunkhwa area, as evident in songs and dances. Theres facts, assumptions, unclear anaalysis all over the place, and it all doesnt make sense. The outsiders set apart by geography and beliefs, oppressed by the taliban, the hazara people could be afghanistans best hope.
Amir has the opportunity to attend school and to receive an education. They are distinct ethnic groups and, as said before, the hazara are a minority group in afghanistan. The battle of uruzgan was between the pashtun and the hazara people. The history of the hazaras is not taught in school solely because of their beliefs. In the history book, amir reads that a confrontation between the hazaras and the pashtuns occurred in the 19th century. When amir showed the history book on the hazaras to his teacher, he reacted with disgust. It is used for household objects such as table cloths, mats, towels, curtains, bags, prayer cloths, as well. Mousavi also goes into depth about the detailed massacre, murder, killings, rape, butchering, etc. Pashtun culture and history pashtun embroidery pashtun em broidery is very beautiful. The history of the hazaras is not even taught in school solely because of their beliefs.
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