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Origin and History of Hazaras
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***Part one***
Much of the information about the Hazaras has been based almost solely on reports drawn up by agents of various countries with an interest in Afghanistan, such as Britain, and Russia. Much of this is a doubtful academic value as it is mostly derived from secondhand sources for political rather anthropological or historical purposes. Often it is based on information from Western and other freeing travelers and adventurers. Second, few of the scholars who have written about the Hazaras or are familiar with Hazaragi dialect, and so have always relied on interpreters or second-hand texts, while some writers have never even visited Afghanistan. Third, the monopoly of power and racial discrimination by the Pashtun people against the Hazaras over the post two hundred years has not only led to a lack of political and economic development in the Hazaristan, but also to a lack of cultural and historical cohesion in Afghanistan. Fourth, systematic and academic research on the history of the Hazaras is further complicated by the fact that much of what has been written on these people is incorporated into wider and more general studies in Iran, Afghanistan and India (and today Pakistan). Since research on the Hazaras has never been approved of, let alone encouraged, by the ruling powers in Afghanistan, little if any attention has been pad to the subject by scholars from Afghanistan, while research carried out by western scholars has been inevitably been limited by political problems on the one hand, and regional and tribal complexities on the other, all of which have contributed to making it virtually impossible for foreign scholars to obtain permission to visit central Afghanistan for most of the past 200 years. Fifth, because of continuous discrimination against the Hazaras by the central government, most of the first hand and valuable political and historical documents available are safeguarded by various Hazara families and individuals, and so is simply inaccessible to most scholars.
There is much about the history of Afghanistan and in particular the history and identity of the Hazaras that remains unrevealed and unknown to this day.
Finally, it is a fact that very little work at all has been carried out on Afghanistan its people in general. What little work has been done by scholars of Afghanistan itself, is unfortunately based, for the most part, on analyses of, and is more than, the repetition or review of works by western scholars who have many shortcomings. Consequently, little if any original or academically reliable work exists by social scientists from Afghanistan. This, in my opinion, is the most significant reason for the existence of diverse theories and inconclusive social scientific research, in particular in the field of anthropology and ethnology, on Afghanistan. The reasons mentioned above are no doubt not entirely exhaustive.
***Part two***
The theory of the Mogol origin is based more on non- or ill-documented assumptions and guesswork than anything else. That the Mogols invaded today’s Iran and Afghanistan is a historical fact; that Hazaras bear great physical resemblance to the Moghols is beyond doubt. However, these are insufficient grounds for classifying the Hazaras as Moghols. Furthermore, the advocates of this theory fall into different categories. Firstly, there are those believe the Hazaras to be descendants of Changhis Khan’s soldiers. This is highly questionable and unacceptable; no first-hand documents so far discovered confirm that either Changhiz or his commanders ordered their respective troops to settle Down in what is the Hazaristan(Bacon, 1951:241).
Secondly, there others who believe the Hazaras to be descendants of Nikoudari soldiers and not of Changhiz Khan’s; an equally unfounded theory. For the Nikoudaris first settled in the Hazaristan several years after Changhiz’z invasion, after being defeated at the hands of Timur-e Lang’s soldiers.
"It is not until 1383, after invading Sistan, that Timur ordered his commanders Miran Shah and Amir Mohammed to attack the Nikoudaris, who at the time were in the lowlands of Qandahar" (timorkhanov, 1980:21).
Thus, while it is true that the Nikoudaris have influenced the formation of the Hazara peoples, there is no evidence to suggest that they were their original ancestors. Nor is there enough evidence for the view that the Hazaras are a mixed race of Moghols and Turks only. Once again, while Moghol and Turkic influence in the formation of the Hazara race cannot be denied, it is not accurate to consider them as the original or only ancestors of the Hazaras.
A fundamental point in relation to Hazarology which must not be overlooked is that no document has as yet been found that actually speaks of "Moghol Hazaras"; nor has any scholar come across Moghol-speaking Hazaras. Of course, this is not to deny the influence of the Moghols on the Hazara peoples, for the dominant influence of the Moghols, Tajiks, and the Turks, more than any other peoples, is self-evident. However, as Schurmann points out, "the Hazaras, Moghols and Aimaqs are three distinct peoples"(1962:110). As such it is not correct to regard the Hazaras either just Moghol or Turco-Moghol.
The theory of the Hazaras as amixed race, while much more plausible than the two mentioned, remains incomplete and ambiguous as it stands. On the one hand, it is of course possible to generalize such a theory to apply to virtually all ethnic groups worlwide [in opposition to the theory of 'pure race' as propounded by Nazi Germany and present day South Africa]. On the other hand, the identity and role of the various mixed races said to make up the Hazara race is not clearly discussed. For example, no mention is made of the historical geography of the region, and in particular of the identity of the ancient inhabitants of present-day Hazaristan. Nor is there serious consideration of the various migratory waves across Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Northern India.
Any anthropological research on the ethnography of the peoples of the region requires a step by step academic journey back into, and along, the migratory patterns, and ensuing geographic boundaries of the region. Historically speaking, at least 1000 years before the incursion of the Moghols in Khorasan (present day Afghanistan), Buddhism reigned strong in the Central, Northern and Eastern Hindu Kush (Habibi, 1988:7-10). As such it attracted thousands of Chinese pilgrims annually to Bamiyan. More significantly still, the region had for some centuries been the settling ground for generations of members of the 'yellow race'. One is example is the Ephthalites(425-566 A.D.), a tribe of Moghols who, at the time of the reign of the Sassanids, invaded Balkh and Khiva, and gained access via Takharistan to kabul and Zabul. In 420 A.D., they attacked iran and succeeded in conquering the whole of presentd-day Afghanistan and to extend their rule to Kashmir and Central India. In time they mixed with the viarous peoples of these areas and gave rise to the Khawarazm poeple (Ghobar, 1980:54; Alawi, 1975:6; Habibi, 1988;29). Thus it becomes possible, if not irrefutable, to trace the Mogholi appearance of the Hazara inhabitants of Northern Afganistan much further back in history, long before the incursion of Chaniz Khan and Amir Timur, whose appearance on the historical scene in this part of the world becomes relatively recent within this context.
It is also possible to extend the Ephthalite conneciton to the presence of Turkish words in Hazaragi: Al Biruni traces the Ephthalites back to the Tibetan Turks, and identifies their first ruler as Barha Tageen or Barah Tageen who was the first of no less than 60 successive rulers from the same line of descent (1958:349). The last of the Tageen rulers were the Ghaznavids, who reigned in tehir capital of Ghazni, in Khorasan, some 1000 years ago. Most interesting of all, is that the term Moghol is itself new; the Moghols were Turks:
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"The qaums khown at this time (1310 AD) as Moghols were not originally known as Moghols, but were given that name later...the Moghos were one of the many Turkish qaums,..[It was] only after the multiplication of the Moghol peoples and their majority over other qaums, that name "Moghol" replaces Turk in usage, as had the name Tatar, previously, during the dominance of the Tatars" (Rashid, 1959:25-27)
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Turkish words are not only to be found in Hazaragi, but in many other languages of the arean, and to more or less the same extent: in Farsi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi. This linguistic amalgamation is the result of the cultural amalgamation that has inevitably taken place over some 2000 years. This ethnic composition, most evident in language, religion, social structure and relations, is explained very well by Canfield:
"The Indo-Aryan peoples who in ancient times occupied the region now called Afghanista were invaded, mostly from the north, by more kinds of people then anyone will count--epoples whose identities, if they are known at all, are only vaguely familiar to most of us: Seythians, Massagetae, Sakas, Dards, Huns, and Ephthalites. In the more recent past Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and Persians invaded the region. These many and diverse kinds of people passed through, hid in, or were trapped in this territory. And they left behind the melange of modern Afghanistan” (1986:89).
***Part three***
On the basis of what has been said in the previous sections, it can therefore be concluded that the Hazaras, like the other peoples of Afghanistan, are: a) one of the oldest inhabitants of the region, and are b) of a mixture of races and ethnic groups, of which Changiz Khan and Amir Timur’s Moghol soldiers are but one, and c) whose main influence has been on the tribal and linguistic structure of the Hazaras (in the same as the influence of the Arabs has been on their religious structure, and of Farsi on their culture). Further, this Turkic influence is not restricted to the period only of the Moghol invasion, but also to much longer periods of Turkish incursion and settlement in the region of peoples such as: the Gharj, Ghaz and the Ghouris, who established, respectively , the Gharjistan, Ghaznavi and Ghuri dynasties in Central Afghanistan; and the Ephthalites, the pre-Islamic inhabitants of the area.
However, in the most recent past, the ethno-tribal mixture of the Hazaras with others can be described as follows:
Moghol influence on the Hazaras is undeniable. Given the recurrent attacks by Moghol soldiers on the area, and the ensuing settlement amongst, and contact with, the people of this area of Central Asia, it is inevitable that the Moghols must have played a formative role in the culture and development of the Hazara people. These soldiers first spoke only Moghol and their influence on the language of the Hazaras was very distinct, even up until the beginning of this century, and can be seen in many Farsi writings by Hazaras; today more than 10 percent of Mogholi terms are still used by the Hazaras. The Hazaras are also of Moghol physical appearance. Furthermore, the Hazaras are partly descended from relatives of Moghol warriors, serfs, and descendants of Moghol feudal lords, themselves related to Changiz’z commanders. To this day, many Hazara tribal and family names are taken from Moghol leaders and commanders, for example: one Hazara group is named “Day Choupan”, after one of the landlords close to Abu Sa’id, known as ‘Amir Choupan’, who led his army into eastern Khorasan and settled there (eastern Khorasan possibly referring to the area known today as Orozgan) (Temirkhanov, 1980:19; Orazgani, 1913:29).
During the 19th century, R. Leech, the English traveler who met the “Day Chopan” Hazaras, was taken by them to Gereshk, a nearby town, to visit the tomb of Amir Chopan, whom they regarded as having first brought their ancestors to the area (1845:333). The Behsudis, another major Hazara tribe, are named after Behsud or Bisud, one of Changiz’z relatives, also known as Jigou Hakou (Faiz, 1912, vol.3:887;Orazgani, 1913:56).
Tajik influence on the Hazaras is also undeniable, for the Tajiks were the previous inhabitants of Afghanistan, and Farsi was their language. Many Tajiks still live amongst or in close proximity to the Hazaras; in Ghazni, Bamyan and Panjshir, Tajiks and Hazaras live amongst one another. This peaceful co-existence has, over the centuries, resulted in the penetration of the Farsi language and culture amongst the Hazaras. The Hazaras have also taken up farming, cattle breeding, and other skills from the Tajiks. Indeed, Farsi culture has played a fundamental role in the formation of the Hazara people. Hazara Khans built durbars or dewans(courts) resembling Persian palaces, and adopted education techniques from them; classical Farsi writings such as the Ferdausi’s Shah Nama, and poetical collections by Hafez and Sa’di, are perhaps studied with more fervor by them than by many other Farsi speakers (Temirkanov, 1980:25). Intermarriage with Tajiks is still more common than with any other people, followed by intermarriage with Uzbacks.
Turkish influence on the Hazaras dates back to the incursions of Amir Timur and his army into this area. As mentioned before, the inhabitants of Jaghouri regard themselves as being descended from Amir Timur, while the Sheikh Ali Hazaras believe themselves to be of Turkish ancestry, most probably of the Khalaj and Qarloq Turks. Along the main road through the Sheikh Ali area and near Qalloq, there is a tomb in honor of Baba Qallogh, regarded by the Sheikh Ali people to have been their forefather. In the travelogues of Oghouz, the original ancestor of the Moghols, the people of this area are referred to as Qarloq, meaning the “children of snow”, because of its cold climate (ibid:23). The common Turkish root of these names, Qarloq, Qalloq and Qallogh, indicative of Turkish influence on the Hazaras. Indeed more Turkish terms can be found in Hazargi dialect than in Farsi, in particular amongst the names of herbs and roots, which are virtually all Turkish.
The Afghans(Pashtuns), neighboring the Hazaras on the East, have also had their impact on the Hazaras. Abdali, the name of one of the major Pashtun tribes of Qandahar, also refers to one of the Hazara tribes of Behsud: the Abdal. Similarly, the Hazaras of Gonbad end their names In zai, used by Pashtuns meaning ‘son of’, such as Dawzai and Mohammadzai of the Dai Choupan tribes. Pashto is also the name of a sub-section of the Polada [Foladi] Hazara (Adamec, 1995, vol.6:648), while the Pashayes or Pashai are also a sub-section of the Jaghouri Hazaras. The Pashtun nomads were also the first people in modern times to enter Hazaristan, with the permission of the central government in Kabul, in order to take up trade with the Hazaras. While this development was to bring about the destruction of existing economic, social and political relations amongst the Hazaras, it nevertheless opened up the closed trading and barter economy, and the generally feudal socio-economic system of the Hazaras.
Cultural amalgamation with Uzbacks has taken place as a result of the undefined nature of the boundaries separating the Hazara areas from Uzbak areas; this has led to the predominance of inter-marriage between the two nations, which explains the similarity of appearance between the two groups. Relations with the Uzbaks have been at times both peaceful and bloody. In more recent times, intermarriage between different peoples living in the same area has been a common phenomenon, encouraged in order to establish peaceful co-existence; this has been particularly the case between the Hazaras and other peoples of Northern Afghanistan, and the Baluchis of Quetta, Pakistan. During the first half of the 19th century, fusion took place as a result of inter-tribal feuds. While this was the case between all tribes in Afghanistan, it was particularly frequent between the Uzbaks and the Hazaras. After defeat, the victorious tribe always took slaves. These were sold at slave markets such as the one in Kunduz, and sent to India for trading, or exchanged for Tatar horses, or used as farming labour and servants in the houses of Khans (Harlan, 1939:82, 83, 126, 127).
Fusion has also taken place between Hazaras and Arab Shia Sayyeds considered to be descendants of Imam Ali, himself related to the prophet by marriage to Fatima, the prophet’s daughter. While marriage between Sayyed women and Hazara men is rare, inter-marriage with Hazara women is very common; hence, the existence of Sayyeds with Hazara features, referred to as Hazara Sayyeds.
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