There has been a debate as to who qualifies to be pashtun but the widely agreed view is that pashtuns are eastern iranian people who speak pashto as their first language. The population of afghanistan includes many different ethnic groups. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. In those books, there was a different sense of the humanity of the people compared to what is seen on the nightly news, and it was difficult to align the two in my mind.
Ethnicity denotes the persons ethnic identity, on the basis of descent attributes and cultural inheritance. The pashtun element in afghan society openedition books. Ethnic groups in iran world factbook ethnic groups percent persians incl. This authoritative, clearly written volume covers all aspects of the conflicts that have taken place in afghanistan from 1747 to the present. Especially those that enjoy targeting afghanistan in order to disrupt its ethnic. Discover the best afghan war military history in best sellers. Top 10 largest ethnic groups in the world omg top tens list. Mounting evidence indicates that racial ethnic differences in morbidity and mortality are tied to socioeconomic resources hayward, crimmins, miles, and yu, 2000. Afghanistan is a multiethnic country the ethnic groups are such as. Raceethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health critical. To understand afghan society, read before taliban and heroes of the age by david edwards, and afghanistan. The total number of tajiks in afghanistan was around 4. Largely because of data availability, most of this evidence is based on the health experiences of blacks and whites, with much less evidence on. Afghanistan is comprised of a lot of different ethnics off the top of my head.
The history of afghanistan is a history of war and conflict even up to present day. Jul 30, 2019 pashtun is an ethnic group predominant in afghanistan and pakistan characterized as warriors. Most entities are compared with the entire us or one of the 50 states based on area measurements 1990 revised provided by the us bureau of the census. Maybe, in the end, hosseini portrays the hazaras of afghanistan and afghanistan itself through hassan. Afghanistan is bordered by iran on the west, by pakistan on the east and south, and by turkmenistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan on the north. Jan 20, 2018 the difference between ethnicity and nationality can be drawn clearly on the following grounds. Pashtuns are an indoeuropean ethnicity from the subgroup of eastern iranians.
Accurate analysis requires a careful look at the complicated social lives and local politics in which members of these ethnic groups operate. If so, theres more than a hint of martyrdom about hassans people and, conversely, hosseinis afghanistan. The iranian people are on the seventh spot in our list of the top ten largest ethnic groups in the world. Tajiks are the major ethnic group in neighboring tajikistan, a country that was created north of afghanistan in 1991.
History and conflict between ethnic groups in afghanistan. The following is a list of contemporary ethnic groups. Pakistan and saudi arabia seemed to be bankrolling a pashtun takeover in the region simply by assisting the taliban mujtaba, 20. Afghanistan, iran, and pakistan ali banuazizi, myron weiner syracuse university press, aug 1, 1988 history 404 pages. The history of the hazaras therefore offers a unique perspective into the deep contradictions of afghanistan as a modern state, and how its ethnic and religious dynamics continue to undermine the. Afghanistans ethnic diversity does not mean that the members of the different ethnic groups do not interact. These people live in the parts of the countries such as iran, afghanistan, tajikistan, iraq, pakistan, turkey iraq and caucasus. Conrad schetter, ethnicity and the political reconstruction of afghanistan, center for development studies zef university of bonn, germany, working paper 3, 2004. Sep 10, 2019 afghanistans beautiful architecture is seen in their mosques and homes. The tool used to assess the availability of studies on afghanistan s ethnic groups is the most recent edition of the afghanistan analyst bibliography, which covers sources from the late 1950s to the present. Afghan ethnicities presentation notes flashcards quizlet. The smaller entities are compared with washington, dc 178 sq km, 69 sq mi or the mall in washington, dc 0. Take the very short story the field 1988 by the pashto writer sher zaman taizi 19312009 as an example.
Mention afghanistan to someone and all they usually come up with is the notorious. Gilaks and mazandaranis 61% azerbaijanis 16% kurds 10% lurs incl. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aimaq, turkmen, baloch, pashayi, nuristani, gujjar, arab, brahui. Hindkowans is a general term applied to the inhabitants of the hazara division of khyber pakhtunkhwa province of pakistan. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. Different aspects of afghan culture in the kite runner. The issue of ethnic representation has long been a subject of research in the us, where the university of wisconsinmadison has charted the relatively minuscule proportion of childrens books by. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. The taliban were in power, and this drives amir and baba to flee to a better life in america. The number of people in the iranian ethnic group is believed to be between 160,000,000 and 190,000,000. Pashtuns population location there are approximately 50 million pashtuns in this world. It is also important to study the culture and language of different countries and groups in order to fully understand their true heritage before the tribal jews from khazaria a turkic race originally from central asia and related to the hun, uigur and magyar tribes and their new relatives. Many unrecognised ethnic groups exist, the largest being the burmese chinese and panthay who together form 3% of the population, burmese indians who form 2% of the population, angloburmese and gurkha.
Accordingly, this article will try to examine the root of ethnic prejudices and oppression among the afghan people in the novel and the reasons for their. Learn about the war in afghanistan and keep up with recent developments on the center for preventive actions global conflict tracker. Starting from the war of state construction and establishing a centralized authority between 18801901. It isnt for nothing that in 1980s afghanistan, the arab fighters osama cobbled together to fight the soviets were called the brigade of the ridiculous. The contributions are pertinent and valuable to students of comparative politics generally, as well as to specialists on the selected countries. In afghanistan, a growing uproar over ethnicity pashtun, tajik, hazara and. Why afghanistans war defies solutions the new york times.
A cultural and political history princeton studies in. Afghanistan ethnic groups by raisa razzaque on prezi. In khaled hosseinis the kite runner, we are introduced into a world of privilege in afghanistan for the main character, amir, combated with his best friend. Ethnic groups in afghanistan simple english wikipedia, the. Khaled hosseini goodreads author shelved 1182 times as afghanistan. Pashtuns pashtuns before the soviet invasion of 1978 they made up about 51 percent of the population about 85 percent of the 6. List of books and articles about afghan history online. Difference between ethnicity and nationality with examples. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and.
Ethnic groups of pakistan simple english wikipedia, the. For more than 3,000 years, kabul has occupied a strategic location along central and southern asian trade routes. In only three sentences, taizi manages to develop an equation which says much more about the roots of todays crisis than many books on afghanistan do. It has numerous ethnic groups with enduring and ancient rivalries. Anthropologists who studied afghanistan before the soviet invasion. Ethnic composition of afghanistan afghanistan is a multiethnic country with an. Jan 09, 2017 there are several books that are excellent in covering different aspects of afghanistans history. We are not aware of any research done about afghan hindus, their origins, culture and languages. They look different and practise a different school of islam in a country that is prone to internal conflict and the machinations of external powers. What is most remarkable in the study of afghanistan s ethnic groups is the disparity in who gets studied and who does not.
Afghan ethnic tensions rise in media and politics the new. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in afghanistan, contributing to over twofifths of the entire population. Ethnic difference is a faultline around the symbols of which group. The kite runner reading for leisure provides valuable insight into the authors imagination or prior experience giving the reader a different perspective on a certain topic or culture. Even when i translate them, the iraqi mindset is different from an american mindset. People of different social statuses lead lives that differ in almost all aspectschildhood circumstances, educational experiences, work careers, marriage and family experiences, leisure, neighborhood conditions, and health care williams and collins, 1995. Pashtuns make up an estimated 42% of the population of contemporary afghanistan. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aymaq, turkmen, baloch, pashai, nuristani, gujjar, arab, brahui, pamiri, kyrgyzand a few others. Still, he says he believes the other ethnic groups in afghanistan. These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Afghanistan has been at the heart of warring factions and shifting values for years, but through it all, a sense of independence and esteem for custom in the afghanistan people remain intact. The afghan pushtun heartland roughly covers a large crescentshaped belt following the afghanpakistani border on the east, southward from nuristan, across the south, and northward.
History of ethnic relations in afghanistan, an outline essay. But what is actually known about these ethnic groups in terms of their culture. The national sport of afghanistan is buzkashi, or polo, an ancient rough and tumble game, played with the carcass of a goat or cow. The kite runner and the problem of racism and ethnicity. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, baloch, turkmen, nuristani, pamiri, arab, gujar, brahui, qizilbash, aimaq, and pashai. There has been constant debate over the classification of ethnic groups. Afghanistan s ethnic diversity does not mean that the members of the different ethnic groups do not interact. List of ethnic groups if youre in a government service team, theres a design pattern for asking users for their ethnic group. The arabs introduced islam in the 7th century and the turks briefly made afghanistan the center of islamic power and civilization at the beginning of the 11th century. Afghan ethnic tensions rise in media and politics the new york. Pakistan has the highest population of pashtuns following with afghanistan. Some of the best books out there about the wars in iraq and afghanistan score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
French and german and does not take into consideration books and. Sep 10, 2014 from voting blocs to the share of power in government ministries to the composition of the insurgency, references to ethnic groups are frequently made in reporting and analysis. Their homeland lies south of the hindu kush, but pashtun groups live in all parts of the country. Ethnicity, space, and politics in afghanistan scholarlycommons. Thus, it is a transitional area where the hindko dialect, or language, is mostly spoken, with a little pashto and other languages. Yet the osama mystique lives on, empowered in large part, wright argues, by american insistence on treating osama and what he represents as this young centurys greatest threat. Pashto and persian dari, both indoeuropean languages, are the official languages of the country. Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostlytribal society. History of ethnic relations in afghanistan, an outline. Afghanistan is a large country in south asia and is home to many different ethnic groups. Interestingly, aimaq women are not as restricted as other women in rural afghanistan.
Despite a plethora of books about afghanistan in the last few years, a good book on the. Although soviet union occupation plays a role in the disaster, afghanistan has many different ethnic groups, resulting in the major struggles between them, which leads towards violence, and. The people of afghanistan form a complex mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. In england and wales, there are 18 ethnic groups recommended for use by government when they ask for someones ethnicity. Afghanistan ethnic origins and languages afghanistans web site. In afghanistan, there were different ethnic groups. Bellew was the author of other books on afghanistan and neighboring countries, of grammars and dictionaries of several afghan languages, and of studies of. There are no official statistics regarding the population of the latter two groups, although unofficial estimates place around 52,000 angloburmese in burma with around 1.
Tribalism is not a feature of every ethnic group in afghanistan. Afghanistan is a warzone, filled with treachery and hatred spewing from different ethnic groups. May 08, 20 afghans confront sensitive issue of ethnicity afghanistan is set to issue new national ids that will have a persons ethnicity embedded in it electronically but not printed on it. Here are perfunctory examples of how young, history, and honor taken from two perspectives, have an opposite understanding in each culture. Afghanistan s 2004 constitution recognizes 14 ethnic groups. In those books, there was a different sense of the humanity of. Afghanistan s ethnic diversity, though once stable, has provided another set of fault lines along which the country has atomized. They do not have overly positive relations with other afghans or pakistanis and. The afghan national anthem and the afghan constitution mention a total of 14 ethnic. Bakhtiari people 6% turkmens and other tribal turks in iran 2% arabs 2% baloch 2% others 1% ethnicities and religions in iran the majority of the population of iran approximately 6780% consists of iranian peoples. William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan books the. The war in afghanistan should be studied in relation to political culture, political economy and broader national and regional history.
This article contrasts afghanistans golden age, the period between 1963 and 1973, with the state of the country in the years that followeda period that was the most destructive and tragic in the nations history. Feb 19, 2014 in afghanistan, a growing uproar over ethnicity pashtun, tajik, hazara and uzbek has many concerned about possible violence, especially those who remember the countrys civil war. A comprehensive az study of the history of conflict in afghanistan from 1747 to the present. They have different cultural meanings in iraq than in america. Ethnic definition is of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background. On the other hand, nationality is the persons membership in the nation, which reveals the individuals relationship with the nation. Other major ethnic groups in afghanistan include turkmen 3% and balochi baluch 2%. The population of the country is divided into the following ethnolinguistic groups. Best nonfiction war books, around the world one book from each country, best iraq and afghanistan war books, best books on special forces m. Mar 27, 20 william dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan. Thus we are privileged to see the landscape, the people, and rulers, the events through different eyes.
Pages in category ethnic groups in afghanistan the following 53 pages are in this category, out of 53 total. Heres an ethnic minority thats been persecuted and massacred. Although soviet union occupation plays a role in the disaster, afghanistan has many different ethnic groups, resulting in the major struggles between them, which leads towards violence, and hatred. They practice subsistence farming and also keep livestock. Pashtunspakhtuns indo european language tadjiks darifarsi persian speakers hazara mongol shiite dari speakers baluch indoeuropen baluch speakers. The pashtuns pushtuns, who make up more then half the population, have traditionally been the dominant ethnic group. The kite runner by khaled hosseini, a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini, and the mountains echoed by khaled hossein. Afghanistan and pakistan ethnic groups national geographic. They take part in group discussions with men and have a say in the choice of a groom for them. Though each of the ethnic groups of afghanistan has unique cultural traits, there are certain things that are common to national life like love for poetry. Ethnic identity and genealogies program for culture and conflict. More than twofifths of the population speak pashto, the language of the pashtuns, while about half speak some dialect of persian. Amirs thoughts touch upon the ethnic pride of the afghanistan people, a pride that baba exhibits and represents throughout the book. By vivian nemenyi afghanistan is a warzone, filled with treachery and hatred spewing from different ethnic groups.
What are the cultural differences in the kite runner. There is very little told about them in history books. Pashtun culture pashtuns are the most common out of all the different ethnic groups in afghanistan. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political. Available also through the library of congress web site as a raster image. Many of the effects of ses on health outcomes are indirect through a variety of life. There is a substantial amount of intermarriage between the ethnic groups. Like a number of other afghan ethnic groups, the pushtun extend beyond afghanistan into pakistan where they constitute a major ethnic group of about 14 million. Much has been made of the differences between iraqs ethnic and religious groups. The study and understudy of afghanistans ethnic groups. Contributors to the volume are established scholars in their fields and successfully focus on the pertinent issues with a good mix of facts, analysis, and theoretical orientation. Afghans confront sensitive issue of ethnicity afghanistan is set to issue new national ids that will have a persons ethnicity embedded in it electronically but not printed on it.
What is most remarkable in the study of afghanistan s ethnic. After the formation of the modern nationstate between 18801929, afghanistan has witnessed at least seven major conflicts. Popular afghanistan books showing 150 of 2,594 the kite runner paperback by. The area falls in between the proper pashtun districts of the province, the northern punjab and kashmir. Afghanistan is the land of many ethnic groups, which is why the country has so many different cultures yet they are all call themselves proudly an afghan. Pashtun make up the largest ethnic group in afghanistan, followed by tajiks, hazara, uzbek, aimaks, baloch, and others. In the late eighteenth century, kabul was established as afghanistan s capital. Cultural differences between iraq and america coffee shop. There are several books that are excellent in covering different aspects of afghanistan s history.
A cultural and political history by thomas barfield is a learned, detailed, well written book by an anthropologist, not a historian. Afghan ethnic tensions rise in media and politics the. They are sunni muslims and speak many versions of pashto language. In 1747, the pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in afghanistan, established their dynasty.