Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0001/00010.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 30KB | 480 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00010}
$Pretitle{265}
$Title{Afghanistan
Chapter 2C.   Ethnicity and Tribe}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Laurie Krieger}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{ethnic
groups
pashtuns
group
afghanistan
tribe
kirghiz
country
ethnicity
hazaras}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Country:     Afghanistan
Book:        Afghanistan, A Country Study
Author:      Laurie Krieger
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1986

Chapter 2C.   Ethnicity and Tribe

     Afghanistan is home not only to several religious sects but also to a
host of different ethnic, linguistic, and tribal groups. Rivalry and even
armed hostilities have traditionally been common between and within many of
these groups. Historic and geographic factors have led to the creation and
preservation of diversity. The relationship between tribe and ethnicity is
complex, and by no means do all Afghans, even all rural Afghans, consider
themselves tribal members.

     In addition to social diversity, many different phenotypes may be found
in the population, including blond-haired, blue-eyed Afghans; those with
darker features and epicanthal folds; tall, olive-skinned, mustachioed
tribesmen; and those who combine these features. Although it may be tempting
to associate certain physical features with certain ethnic groups, scholars
recognize that because all human populations are capable of interbreeding and
do so with great regularity, there are more physical differences found within
ethnic groups than between them. Canfield has observed that in Bamian, "some
Hazaras [who are thought to have "Mongolian" features], especially those from
the chiefly families, do not have clearly defined Mongoloid features. Instead,
some have heavy beards and lack the typical Mongolian eyefolds and high cheek
bones. Conversely, some persons calling themselves 'Tajik' have rather strong
Mongoloid features. I consequently doubt that the relationship between
phenotype and ethnic identity is very close."

     Afghanistan's rugged physical environment serves to isolate residential
communities and to create microenvironments. Members of the same ethnic group
and tribe who reside in different locations must adapt to their own
microenvironment, which may result in different kin-based groups within the
same tribe and ethnic group using different modes of production. For example,
the Durrani Pashtuns that Tapper studied were primarily agriculturalists,
while the Sheikhanzai Durrani Pashtuns, who were the subject of Tavakolian's
research, were primarily pastoralists. Many Durrani also live in cities, where
they may have lost their tribal identity.

Distribution

     The largest and most powerful ethnic group is the Pashtun (see fig. 5).
The Pashtuns are primarily Pashtu speaking, although those residing in Kabul
are often Dari speaking. Both Pashtu and Dari belong to the Iranian branch of
the Indo-European language family. In 1980 Dupree estimated that there were
about 6.5 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan. This ethnic group, like most others
in the country, is not limited to the borders of Afghanistan but also
constitutes a major ethnic group of about 10 million in Pakistan. Pashtuns are
generally Sunni, but there are Twelver Shia Pashtuns as well. In Afghanistan
Pashtuns traditionally have resided in a large semicircular area following the
Afghan border from north of the Darya-ye Morgab east and southward to just
north of 35 degrees latitude. Enclaves of Pashtuns live scattered among other
ethnic groups in much of the rest of the country, particularly in the northern
regions and in the western interior owing to Amir Abdur Rahman's policy of
Pashtun resettlement (see Abdur Rahman Khan, 1880-1901, ch. 1).

     The Tajiks are also numerous. A problem in discussing this ethnic group
lies in the tendency of some non-Tajik groups to classify anyone who is Dari
speaking as a member of this group. Some also categorize any urbanite who has
become "detribalized" as Tajik. This is particularly true for Kabulis. Tajiks
generally live in the west in the area around Herat, in the northwest
interior, and (primarily) in the northeast of the country, although not in the
Wakhan Corridor. Tajiks speak Dari and Tajik dialects of Dari. Some Tajiks are
Sunni, while others (particularly those in the north of the country) are
Ismaili. In 1980 Dupree estimated that there were 3.5 million Tajiks resident
in the country.

     Farsiwans (or Persians) are also Dari speaking. They live in western
Afghanistan near the Iranian border; their area extends to almost 66 degrees
north longitude. Farsiwans, like the majority of Iranians, are Twelver Shia.
In 1980 Dupree believed there to be about 600,000 Farsiwans in the country.

     Qizilbash are remnants of the old Iranian presence. They are Twelver
Shia, although Dupree asserts that some use taqiyya to pass as Sunni. They are
a very small group found in Afghan urban centers. They are, of course, Dari
speakers.

     Hazaras speak a dialect of Dari and live primarily in central
Afghanistan. Among Hazaras are members of every Muslim religious sect in the
country-Ismaili, Twelver Shia, and Sunni. Dupree put their number at 870,000
in 1980.

     Altaic languages are also represented in the country by speakers of
Turkic languages. The Uzbeks are Sunni who speak Uzbek, a Turkic dialect.
Turkic languages are not in the same family as Indo-European languages (such
as Dari and Pashtu). Uzbeks live in a large semicircular area roughly
following Afghanistan's northern borders, from Faryab Province almost to
Feyzabad. Dupree's 1980 estimate was about 1 million people resident in the
country. Turkmen are another Sunni Turkic-speaking group found scattered
throughout the northernmost portion of Afghanistan along the Soviet border.

     The Kirghiz are also Turkic speaking and, until recently, lived in the
Pamir mountains of the Wakhan Corridor. In 1985 there were unconfirmed reports
that this area was inhabited solely by Soviet and Afghan army soldiers and
that the indigenous population had fled or been exiled. The Kirghiz lived in
the high mountain valleys of this region, while another ethnic group, the
Wakhi, occupied lowland areas. The Kirghiz are Sunnis.

     The neighboring Wakhi, or Mountain Tajik, are speakers of Iranian
dialects. They are often Ismaili but, according to Dupree, some Wakhi Twelver
Shia and Sunni exist. They generally live in the same regions as the Kirghiz
but at lower altitudes.

     Nuristanis are Sunni who speak dialects of Dari and often also Pashtu.
They live in the Konarha, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Parvan areas of eastern
Afghanistan. The area where the Nuristanis live, Nuristan, was the scene of
the first armed opposition to the Khalq government (see Political Bases of the
Resistance, ch. 4; Resistance Forces, ch. 5).

     Arabs are a Sunni group living in northeastern Afghanistan, primarily "in
an arc extending from Maimana to Kunduz." Here they speak a dialect of Farsi
that is mixed with Uzbek vocabulary. Some scholars report that Arabic-speaking
Arab communities exist in the area of Balkh.

     The selection of major ethnic groups in Afghanistan is somewhat
arbitrary, as is a classification by language and location. Ethnicity is
extremely complicated in the country, and any simple classification is bound
to have many exceptions. Furthermore, there are many more ethnic groups than
those listed here. Ethnicity has been extensively explored by scholars
studying Afghanistan, and they often disagree, further complicating an already
labyrinthine phenomenon.

     Anderson points out the futility of attempting to locate Afghan ethnic
groups on a map because "boundaries are not all of a piece ... they vary
according to the situation." Scholars disagree about what constitutes an
ethnic group. Richard F. Strand, an ethnologist, and Anderson describe
ethnicity as a process emerging "in situations where people of different
traditions and organizations come together or are brought together in contexts
set by terms external