Afghanized Mongols?

 

Good Post! 

 

Actually I am aware of Mantu and Buzkashi being Turkish/Mongolian.  But Mantu in Afghanistan is something special.  I have had Mantu from Uzbekistan and its very plain (lots of black pepper and onions) and without any flavor, (but this may have been due to the cook).

 

Another dish that has Uzbek/Turkish history is the famous Afghani "Qaboli Palou" (aka Kabuli Palao) which in fact is a variation of famous Uzbeki Polov.  Afghani variations of all Central Asian dishes are very good by the way.

 

 

 

It seems the more south Central Asian food goes, the more spicier it gets.  Afghanistan I would say has food ranging from mild to semi-spicy, while in Northern Pakistan and India the food becomes very spicey and seldomly mild.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very true, Bozkashi is only played by the Turkic people, like Turkmens, Uzbeks and Hazara, with the exception of a few Tajiks and Pashtuns. As you said, it originated in Mongolia, but there is another myth or story i should say, behind the origin of this game/sport in North Afghanistan, among the Pashtuns.

 

It is said that when the Turkic people would attack Afghan villages from the North of the Amu River, they would loot, destroy houses, and kidnap the women, and while riding a horse, they would pick the kids from ther neck/heads and take them away. When the locals became stronger, the Turkic intruders could no longer do that, thus they started doing that with the goats, as we see it today in the form of sport. This is what has been told to us by our elders in North Afghanistan.

 

Regarding the Hazara people, there are a few thousand of them in Central Afghanistan, in the South of Wardag province, they are Pashtunzied Hazaras. They look Mongolian but speak as pure Pashto as a original Pashtun would, my dad told me about this, and i found it quiet interesting.

I've heard a couple Hazara brothers say that they are descendants of Kushans.  However,  the Kushans, and the Ephtalites, and other people who lived in Bamian  up until the time Chenghiz Khan entered the valley of Bamian were all killed by Genghis Khans armies.  He killed every living being Bamian, it's written in historical texts.  He made mounds of heads of every living man, women, child, cat and dog.  Nothing was spared. 

 

We know for a fact that the Mongols created a garrison town in Bamian and those people did not just dissapear, they exist today.  This is not to say that some Hazara brothers are not mixed today.  Many Hazaras have intermarried with Tajiks, Pashtuns, and Uzbeks and those that live in the major cities don't even speak Hazaragi Farsi anymore.

 

Genetics also proved it.  The Hazaras that moved to Pakistan after fleeing from Emir Abdur Rahman Khan were studied by genetecists.  Their oral traditions claim they are Mongolian (something some Hazaras today deny).   (BTW, this is not to be mistaken for the other Hazara that are indigenous to Pakistan)

 

Here is  an excerpt on the Hazara:

"

The population that is genetically most distinct, the Hazaras, claims descent from Genghis Khan�s army; their name is derived from the Persian word �hazar,� meaning �thousand,� because troops were left behind in detachments of a thousand. Toward the end of the 19th century, some Hazaras moved from Afghanistan to the Khurram Valley in Pakistan, the source of the samples investigated here. Thus, their oral history identifies an origin in Mongolia and population bottlenecks ~800 and ~100 years ago. Of the two predominant Y haplogroups present in this population, haplogroup 1 is widespread in Pakistan, much of Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and so provides little information about the place of origin. Haplogroup 10, in contrast, is rare in most Pakistani populations (1.4%, when the Hazaras are excluded) but is common in East Asia, including Mongolia, where it makes up over half of the population.  Admixture estimates (table 3) are consistent with a substantial contribution from Mongolia. BATWING analysis of the Hazara-specific haplotype clusters in haplogroups 1 and 10 suggested TMRCAs of 400 (120�1,200) and 100 (6�600) years (table 8), respectively. Thus, the genetic evidence is consistent with the oral tradition and, in view of its independent nature, provides strong support for it (fig. 7)."

 

 

Full article can be read here: 

 

 

 

I came across this topic for two reasons, one my older brother happened to be raised by a Hazara family in Quetta(Pakistan) while my parents were away and 2, I went to school in Hazara district Pakistan.. lol!! 

 

an interesting combination nonetheless...  anyhow, Whats the general concensus here on the history/origins of the Hazara in the first place?  I've heard that many believe them to be decendants of chengiz khan's troops who came in their 'thousands' (persian =  Hazar) hence Hazara's... but I remember having a conversation with my bro's foster grandfather in quetta which has the largest urban concentration of Hazara's in the world, and he told me that this story is not true and that the Hazara people have always inhabited the central Afghan plains of Bamiyan for the longest of times.  He never heard of place of origin theory from his family as many people in the region often project.  He recounted oral traditions of how the neighbooring tribes have always been against the Hazara people and the cruelty they have suffered hence the arrival of his clan to the safety of Quetta some 4 generations ago.  One story involved the Pashtuns of Wardak(A province adjacent to Bamiyan) who on conquering vast swathes of Hazara territory captured all the women and girls and killed the men.  I remember him saying that, history has played a cruel joke on the Wardak tribe of Pashtuns, as now they have strong Hazara features..and we have conquered them from within..  Anyhow thats another story..

 

About Hazara district in Pakistan,  It was known to have been settled by Hazara's(dont know when) and I've personally come across them on several occasions.  The funniest thing was when I saw an Afghan Hazara standing beside a local Hazara in Juggian Bazaar (main road to Kaghan) and they both looked at each other in a confuzed gaze.  I must say, in retrospect,  they didnt look identical as one would expect but there were some subtle differences.  Ironically, the further away you go from the main road (korakoram highway) the more Hazara features become noticeable.  There has been considerable admixture with the dominant Pashtuns as well as the Kohistani's in the area (North/West) and with the Panjabi's/Kashmiri(South and South east)  In any case, im quite sure that district of Hazara contained a small percentages of Hazara's that have been considerably mixed with the surrounding tribes.  The district in general is a melting pot of several ethnic groups including Afghan refugees that live in considerable peaceful coexistance and is often multi-lingual.

 

Also, on another side note.. has anyone ever seen the late great singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan..?  he looked kinda hazara'ish didnt he??  (I know this is off topic but heck.. thought I wud throw it in since I've written this much so far!)

Marco Polo,

 

You ask a very good question and unfortunately it does not have a simple answer.  I will explain the deep hatred and ignorance that has been Hazara history in Afghanistan, but you may not like it.

 

 

In Afghanistan, where land is scarce, water is scarce, and cities are far and wide apart, it is survival of the fittest unfortunately.  The Shiite factor can't be thrown out completely, it has been used a reason to persecute them. 

 

Historically, they lived in Central Afghanistan and outerlying regions that were taken by Genghis Khans army, ie. Jowzjan, Bamian, Wardak, (which used to be Iranic), Ghazni and Ghor.  There they constantly clashed with Afghan Merchants and nomads who travelled through their lands to reach the different cities.

 

 

They were documented for raiding caravans crossing through their territory.  For vengeance, the Afghan tribes around them shouted Jihad against the Shiites and raids were done by Afghan tribes into Hazara villages and vice versa.   Their attack of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan's army and caravans ensued the wrath of the Iron Amir who subjugated them completely and jailed their Mirs (tribal chiefs).   The Hazaras further isolated themselves in Afghanistan by allying with the British against the Afghan Kings during the Afghan wars.  This led to tribal assaults into Hazarajat and many Hazaras were taken as permenant slaves and servants.  To make things worse, the Afghan tribes moved into their territory and the Hazaras were pushed into more mountainous regions.

 

Due to the severe climate in the mountanious regions, and persecution by the Afghans, many Hazaras moved out of those mountains and into Iran, and Afghan towns like Ghazni, Mazar, Kandahar, Quetta (under British protection), looking for jobs and a better life.  In major cities they played a very meager role in Afghan society, they played the role of servants, water carriers and other demeaning and poor jobs.  Racial stereotyping and slurs spread about Hazarajat being a land of monsters, and cannibals, and rat eaters. 

 

Not all Hazaras faced trouble ofcourse, the Jaghori Hazara tribe have had good relationships with the Afghan royal family and sent their sons into Afghan military service.  Today they still hold much power in Ghazni, and in their own district named after them - Jaghur.  Some Afghan kings showed some support towards the Hazaras,  one of them even sent an official apology letter to them while some invited them to enter into the framework of Afghan society, including the Communist governments.   Many Hazaras moved to Kabul at this point and many of their dreams were crushed by empty promises by various Afghan regimes. 

 

 

One of these disgruntled Hazaras accomplished in assassinating King Nadir Shah.   This brave Hazara Afghan did not show any emotion and did not resist any arrest.  Zahir Shah, son of Nadir Shah personally tortured him before killing him by gouging out his eyes and pouring hot oil over his head before dismembering parts of him and finally killing him.

 

During the Russian war, the Hazaras were helped by Iran to represent Shiite Islam in Afghanistan and clashed with Sunni militias in Afghanistan in Kabul where they, along with other militant Islamic groups destroyed Kabul. 

 

 

When the Taliban entered the framework, they invited the Hazara militant leader in negotiating a peace.  Unfortunately, the Taliban assassinated the leader and conquered Hazarajat instead while the  Hazaras were left leaderless and allied with the Northern Alliance.  The Taliban began a religious war against Ismaili Shiite Hazaras and Kohistanis.  The Taliban installed a Pashtun governor of Hazarajat and Afghan nomad/merchants were given free acess to Hazarajat lands for grazing of their animals which destroyed lots of Hazara farm lands.

 

When the Taliban entered Mazar e Sharif under a truce with the Uzbek warlord Abdur Rashid Dostum, the Hazaras rallied to take revenge and with the help of Dostums forces, closed the gates and trapped the Taliban into Mazar where the Talib forces were massacred, over 2,000 of them in all.  Many of the Taliban were buried alive or thrown down wells where bulldozers were used to bury them.  Some of them were left unburied and left for the dogs.  Dostum knowing he was in trouble offerred to arrest the Hazaras and transport the dead Taliban soldiers for burial, but the Taliban refused vowing revenge.

 

The Hazaras fearing a full scale attack on them, raided Afghan villages and homes around Mazar e Sharif in Balkh and Qondoz fearing their support to the Taliban.  Scores of Afghan males were killed , women raped and dishonored and many of them fled their villages.  Unfortunately, this made things worse because now Afghan villagers in Mazar e Sharif were also vowing revenge against the Hazaras.  Those men that survived most likely aided or joined the Taliban. 

 

The following summer, the Taliban invaded Mazar e Sharif with the help of the local Afghans who were attacked by the Hazaras.  They easily defeated the Northern Alliance and Dostum fled the country, and then to Turkey.   The Taliban killed any Hazara they could find.  According to some reports, over 4,000 Hazaras were killed, mostly men, but their their women were also raped, and many of their children sold as slaves.  During this process 9 Iranian Shiite Diplomats were also killed who were considered spies by the Taliban and aids of the Hazaras.

 

After that massacre the Hazaras, the Hazara's back was still not broken and they were still resisting the Taliban.  The Taliban now under the leadership of overzealos Mullahs and Pashtun fascists, waged an ethnic cleansing campaign on the Hazara villagers and burned down their villages and raized their crops.  A book that was in circulation in the tribal areas said that any Afghan who fought with the Taliban were promised land in Hazarajat, a wife, and money.  

 

 

When the Taliban were finally removed from power by the USA, the Hazaras reclaimed back their lands in Hazarajat and kicked out many of Nomads and joined the Uzbeks in committing ethnic atrocities against Pashtuns in Mazar e Sharif.

 

The new government in Kabul installed Hazara leaders in power in many sectors and they are finally experiencing some peace and progress in their lives.  Unfortunately, they are still looked down upon by other Afghans and there are still unfortunate discrimination against them. 

 

As you can see, most of the problems stem from water and land rights, but also some because of Religious persecution.

 

If you want to read further into some of these Battles, try: