International peacemakink in tajikistan and afghanistan compared. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in tajikistan, and the second largest in afghanistan which constitutes over half of the global tajik population. Although historically, some followed buddhism and zoroastrianism. Though their exact numbers are uncertain and as with other communities are contested, previous estimates have suggested that tajiks make up around 27 per cent of the population, making them the second largest ethnic group in afghanistan after the pashtuns. Other varieties besides tajik include dari, farsi and hazaraji. Prayfor followers of jesus who already speak the persiandari language to be called and sent out among afghantajiks.
How close are tajiks from afghanistan and tajikistan. Uzbeks are farmers and stockmen, breeding the karakul sheep and an excellent type of turkman horse. Can tajiks, hazaras and baloch of afghanistan speak or. Life is difficult for people who dont speak the local language and may not have the right job skills. Bozor sobir, is considered to be one of tajiks finest poets. Pashto is the native tongue of the pashtuns, the dominant ethnic group in afghanistan. The government of tajikistan considers all citizens of tajikistan as tajiks. The standard language is based on the northwestern dialects of tajik region of old major city of samarqand. The people of afghanistan form a complex mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. Uzbeks speak a turkic language, most closely related to uyghur.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country that became an independent state in 1747 under ahmad shah durrani who, seizing the opportunity provided by the fall of the safavid dynasty of iran, the weakness of the mughals of india, and the fragmentation of the uzbeks into small khanates, managed to carve out an extensive pashtunruled territory. Tajik scholars have written books about ahmad shah massud and. Speakers of tajik live mostly in tajikistan, uzbekistan, afghanistan, and western pakistan. Are there tajik tribes like there are pashtun tribes i. Dari, the language and culture of afghanistan english and dargwa edition accent on languages on. For some reason, the dari language isnt even mentioned in this book. But being sunni, tajiks and afghan tajiks seem to have a bit more in common. They are believed to be akin to indoeuropean peoples. More than twofifths of the population speak pashto, the language of the pashtuns, while about half speak some dialect of persian. The short answer is no, they consider themselves persian the long answer is slightly more complex.
The tajiks are believed to be the original persian population of afghanistan and central asia. Tajikistan is the poorest of the central asian nations. The afghani tajik of afghanistan the tajiks are believed to be the original persian population of afghanistan and turkmenistan. They live predominantly in the northeast and in the west. In tajikistan the writing script is russian based while in afghanistan it is farsinastaliq. It is west of china, north of afghanistan and pakistan, that is separated by a narrow 14 km strip of tajik claimed land known as the wakhan corridor in the pamirs, east of uzbekistan and south of kyrgyzstan tajikistan is landlocked in the middle of the continent of asia its total area is only about. Soviets renamed the name of persian spoken in tajikistan to cut off the link between tajiks and iran. Hazaras occupy the lowest socioeconomic bracket in afghanistan. Pashto was declared the national language of the country during the beginning of king mohammad zahirs reign, however, dari has always been used for business and government transactions. The kite runner by khaled hosseini, one bullet away.
The uzbek and tajik languages are unrelated to each other as far as modern linguistics is concerned. Do tajiks and afghan tajiks view themselves as exactly the. The tajik and uzbek ethnic groups in both countries are also predominately sunni muslim of the hanafi school, although there is a small minority of shia tajiks. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aymaq, turkmen, baloch, pashai, nuristani, gujjar, arab, brahui, pamiri, kyrgyzand a few others. Do tajiks and afghan tajiks view themselves as exactly the same people. Thawing of sovietiranian relations led to evercloser iraniantajik cultural relations. Nestorian missionaries first brought christianity to the tajiks during the 12th century. The revival of the tajiki language was one of their most sacred goals. Well you see all tajiks are tajik but only some afghans are tajik. Tajiks in afghanistan, though the numbers of mothertongue speakers of persian in afghanistan, in all its various dialects, may be two to three million more.
Iranians of the east and millions of other books are available. The majority of tajiks live in tajikistan, which is one of the central asian republics of the former soviet union. They are a central asiatic people that are typically sunni muslim but some living in dominantly hazara areas could be shia, and speak dari persianfarsi, or a variant, tajiki. Tajik is an offspring of the persian language, and belongs along with afghanistan s dari to the eastern dialects of persian. Tajikistan and afghanistan institute for the study of war. While many tajik refugees settled in pakistan, others remained in refugee camps, waiting for the situation in afghanistan to stabilize enough for them to return home. Both dari also called farsi and pashto belong to the indoeuropean family of languages. Why did afghanistan and tajikistan change the name of the. They speak the dari language, which was spoken by king darius, mentioned in the book of daniel.
Tajik, the original persianspeaking population of afghanistan and turkistan. Hoopoe minority bilingual editions will enable afghan children to learn to read their own traditional stories in the language they speak at home. The authors have decided to focus mainly on six languages. Tajiks are town dwelling traders, skilled artisans, farmers and herders. Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostlytribal society. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, the tajiks were divided. Books in dari and pashto arthur paul afghanistan collection. Pashto and persian dari, both indoeuropean languages, are the official languages of the country. The tajik of tajikistan has diverged from persian as spoken in afghanistan and iran due to political borders, geographical isolation, the standardization process and the influence of russian and neighboring turkic languages. Ask god to restore political peace and stability to afghanistan. He writes in tajik, but his poetry has been translated into many of the languages of the former ussr. Slender and light skinned, the tajiks have aquiline noses and usually black hair. Tajik people simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bozor sobir completed his studies in philosophy at the national university of tajikistan in 1962 and has. Unfortunately, only about onetenth of the tajiks are able to read. In the present study, eight ethnic groups were examined, with a focus on the largest four groups. The tajiks constitute almost fourfifths of the population of tajikistan. Prayer points ask god to restore political peace and stability to afghanistan. Many tajiks are prosperous enough to be regarded as middle and upper class citizens. The status of the dari and pashto languages has always been a sensitive issue in afghanistan. Afghan minority language editions books for afghanistan. Afghan ethnicities presentation notes flashcards quizlet. In this comprehensive and up to date history, from prehistoric protoindoiranian times to the postsoviet period, richard foltz traces the complex linguistic, cultural and political history of the tajiks, a persianspeaking iranian ethnic group from the modernday central asian states of tajikistan, afghanistan, and uzbekistan.
Most of them are sunni muslims and according to 2017 government estimates, ethnic tajiks total 1,544,700 people 4. Afghan tajik live mainly in the panjsher valley north of kabul and in the northern and northeastern provinces of parwan, takhar, badakhshan, and also baghlan and samangan. Tajiks introduction, location, language, folklore, religion. Only about 33% of afghanis are tajiks, and there is distrust between them and the majority pashtuns who make up about 60% of afghanistan. Nov 25, 2009 in contrast, the afghan war is in some ways a continuation of civil war between tajiks, who basically control the afghan army, and pashtuns 41% of afghans, who have ruled afghanistan for the last three centuries or so until the prosoviet regime and who are now represented by president karzai. I dont think tajiks can be separated into tribes because they identify with a larger civilization, although of course they are proud of their own individual villages and cities where they come from.
Pray for followers of jesus who already speak the persiandari language to be called and sent out among afghantajiks. Some of their greatest poets include jalaluddin rumi, omar khayam, firdausi, khushal khan khattak and rahman baba. Based on what ive seen of their language and culture, you can more or less consider tajiks in tajikistan and afghanistan as one people. The tajiks speak dari persian, a language that came from king darius mentioned in the book of daniel. In afghanistan they speak dari while in tajikistan they speak tojiki. Tajiks are the second most populous ethnic group in afghanistan. Tajiks are a central asian people who live in afghanistan 1, some of the republics of the former soviet union 2, and china 3. Turkey has also set up several turkishlanguage schools, which have. What i love about this particular tajik language guide that it doesnt just give examples of formal tajik, but the different colloquial dialects of the country. This book is awesome for those who want to learn tajik from a beginners point of view.
The races of afghanistan was written towards the end of, and shortly after, the second. A basic course in resources for learning the tajik language. Because they make up the bulk of afghanistan s educated elite and possess considerable wealth, they have significant political influence. In the early 21st century there were more than 5,200,000 tajiks in tajikistan and more than 1,000,000 in uzbekistan. The afghanistan tajikistan border is 1,357 km 843 mi in length and runs from the tripoint with uzbekistan in the west to the tripoint with china in the east, almost entirely along the amu darya, pyanj and pamir rivers, except for the easternmost section along the wakhan corridor. The persian or dari language functions as the nations lingua franca and is the native tongue of several of afghanistans ethnic groups including the tajiks, hazaras and aimaqs. The republic of tajikistan, which emerged after the breakup of the soviet union, contains the majority of the tajik population. Also, as someone with intermediate persian language skills, the afghan dialect and the tajik dialect seem really really similar in fact, i cant tell them apart except for the cyrillic thing. Prayer points scripture prayers for the afghan, tajik in afghanistan.
The population of the country is divided into the following ethnolinguistic groups. They even went further and changed persian script in tajikistan to cyrlic alphabet. The afghani tajiks live in the hindu kush mountains of northeastern afghanistan, touching tajikistan. Afghanistans ethnic groups share a ychromosomal heritage. If youre learning tajik you may very well want to get an overview of the language, some of its unique features, geographical information about native speakers as well as loads of information on grammar, linguistics, history, diaspora and general language structure. What is the difference between the iranians, the tajiks.
The thorn flower poetries book by tajik poet bozor sobir. Tajikistans 1989 language law, spearheaded by the reformists mentioned above, distinguished tajiki as the official language of the republic and. Tajikistan, iran, and afghanistan enjoy a unique cultural heritage. Persian is an ethnicity of 70 million people of whom only 50 million are iranian persians and the remaining 20 million live in afghanistan, tajikistan, and numerous other countries like france, germany, the usa, and israel.
Why did you decide to write it and how it differs from other books on history of tajiks. Their reputation is tarnished because many luxury german cars have been found being driven by tajik government officials in tajikistan. Most of the population occupied what would become the republic of tajikistan in the former soviet union. Many tajik writers, poets, and scientists have also had their books. They are mostly city or town dwellers and are also included among the afghan refugees living in iran and. The tajiks are an iranian people who speak a variety of persian, an indoaryan language. Tajiks, also spelled tadzhik, sometimes called before the 20th century sart, are a group of people who speak various dialects of the persian language and are found mainly in tajikistan, parts of afghanistan and uzbekistan as well as in a smaller part of western china.
Tajiks, be they from afghanistan or tajikistan, are getting reestablished in germany. The progress scale is derived from people group values for percent evangelical and percent christian adherent. They speak varieties of persian, a western iranian language. They are often called farsiwans, meaning persianspeaking. The persian or dari language functions as the nations lingua franca and is the native tongue of several of afghanistan s ethnic groups including the tajiks, hazaras and aimaqs. These languages get about 30 pages each, while the remaining eight languages get an average of 5 pages each. Afghanistan is a landlocked country that shares its borders with turkmenistan, uzbekistan, tajikistan, iran, and pakistan. Why doesnt afghanistan claim its territory beyond the durand. Tadjiks, tadzhiks orientation identification and location. Apr 25, 2017 pashto and dari are the official, as well as the most widely spoken, languages of the multilingual nation of afghanistan. Afghanistan would be one of the most literate countries on earth.
Linguistically, the tajik language is a dialect of modern persian, which is included in the west iranian group, a group which also includes such languages as. Important in this international cultural linking have been russians and russianized tajiks. In afghanistan, where tajiks make up a large part of the population, their speech is less influenced by turkic languages and is called dari. What percent of the ethnicity of afghanistan are tajiks. Interview with richard foltz on the history of tajiks central asia. Why did soviets change name of persian language to tajik. Tajikistan simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The tajiks constitute one of the major ethnic groups in afghanistan. Tajiks tend to live near the border of tajikistan and western afghanistan, with a lot in urban areas. The major contribution to this shared heritage is the magnificent shahnameh book of kings, written by the eleventhcentury persian poet firdawsi.
Poorer tajiks lived in the mountains, while wealthier tajiks lived in the. In afghanistan, the tradition of poetry writing and recitation dates back a thousand years. Due to afghanistan s multiethnic character, multilingualism is a common phenomenon. Tajik arts and culture turn of the century photos of tajikistan photos of uzbekistan and tajikistan more photos of tajikistan images of historic tajikistan from unesco tajik society tajikistan update culture page the epic of shahnameh ferdowsi translated from the persian ferdowsis shahname. The joshua project progress scale is an estimate of the progress of church planting among a people group, people cluster, country or language. The pashtuns dont believe that tajiks are the true afghanis. What do iranians think of afghan persian and tajik persian. Both afghanistan 80 percent and tajikistan 85 percent are predominately sunni muslim of the hanafi school of law. Tajik, also spelled tadzhik, sometimes called before the 20th century sart, the original persianspeaking population of afghanistan and turkistan. Because of recent events, westerners in general, and americans in particular, are disadvantaged as ministers of the gospel to afghantajiks. The tajik of tajikistan has diverged from persian as spoken in afghanistan and iran due to political borders, geographical isolation, the standardization process. Today tajik is recognized as an autonomous westiranian language, independent from persian and dari, through genetically linked to them.
This book is an account of the prehistory of the region. These two forms of the oral tradition have been embraced for centuries and reveal the spirit and soul of the afghan people. Most tajiks are sunni muslims, but a few in remote mountain areas follow shia islam. The tajiks are mostly sunni muslims and speak persian. Pashto and dari afghan persianfarsi are the official languages of afghanistan. Afridi, khattak, dadicae, ghilji also seen today as ghilzi and khilji, tajik, and hazarah hazara in modern times. What are the similarities and differences between the. The foreign policy of afghanistan is eastwards looking so an average afghan regardless of ethnicity knows and cares more about pakistani pashtuns than tajiks from tajikistan. In tajikistan, since the 1939 soviet census, its small pamiri and yaghnobi ethnic groups are included as tajiks. The tajiks are an iranian people, speaking a variety of persian, concentrated in the oxus basin, the far. The tajiks are closely related to the persians of iran, and speak a dialect of farsi, the persian language. I keep in touch with a tajik community in tajikistan online, and one thing that came as a surprise to me and drove the point of their similarity home was that i noticed many tajiks online worshiping ahmad shah massoud, an afghantajik leader widely regarded as a. About 15 percent of the material in the arthur paul afghanistan collection are in dari and pashto.
The making of a marine officer by nathaniel fick, war by sebastian. The tajiks on both sides of the soviet afghanistan border contributed to the effort, a stiff resistance against communist rule. Tajik are a persianspeaking people who are mostly found in what is now tajikistan, including in parts of afghanistan, uzbekistan and china. Both belong to the indoeuropean group of languages. Apr 25, 2017 most modern tajiks are speakers of persian languages and adherents to islam living in central asia. I know that both are persian and share a history and culture with iranians. The name tajik being used for this group of people began in the early 20th century by the russians. After the soviet invasion of afghanistan in 1979, some tajik refugees escaped to live in neighboring iran and pakistan. Khaled hosseini goodreads author shelved 1180 times as afghanistan. It is the name for persian in tajikistan, a former soviet republic in central asia, where it is spoken by slightly over 6. During the 199293 civil war in tajikistan, thousands lost their lives. Historically, it was considered the local dialect of persian spoken by the. They are also the principle inhabitants of the republic of tajikistan across the northern border.
But in iran, just like tajikistan persian is the only official language, whereas in afghanistan, pashto and persian dariafghan persian are both official languages. During the soviet times many tajiks went to afghanistan and nearby places. However, now that it is an independent republic, there is strong potential for new trade relations with iran, afghanistan, pakistan, and other islamic countries. They have very close historical and cultural ties but i think tajik culture in afghanistan is more influenced by pashtuns now. Tajikistan is one of the new countries in southcentral asia. Popular afghanistan books showing 150 of 2,592 the kite runner paperback by. Tajiks are basically farsiwans who speak a variant of farsi. Tajiks are a central asian people who live in afghanistan, some of the republics of the former soviet union, and china. The afghan national anthem and the afghan constitution mention a total of 14 ethnic groups. The tajik form the second largest ethnic group in afghanistan. Tajiks are the principal ethnic group in most of tajikistan, in northeastern.
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