TAJIKS
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'TÄjÄ«k' (; UniPers: ''Tâjik''; Tajik: ) is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking peoples of Iranian origin living east of Iran. The traditional Tajik homelands are in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, western China, and Chitral.
Alternative names for the Tajiks are 'FÄrsÄ«' (Persian), 'FÄrsÄ«wÄn' (Persian-speaking), and 'DÄ«hgÄn' (literally ''"village settlers"'', in a wider sense ''"urban"''; in contrast to "nomadic" or "tribal" — only used in southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan).[1]
History
Main articles: Iranian peoples, Persian people, Farsiwan, Persian language
Like the rest of the Iranian peoples, and also the Indic, Dard, and Nuristani peoples, the Tajiks descend from the Aryans and trace their roots back to Iranian peoples[2] who settled in Central Asia as early as 4000 years ago.
The Tajiks trace their more immediate ancestry to the East Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians, and Parnians, which means that the main ancestors of the Tajiks did not speak Persian, the Southwestern Iranian language known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, and Tajik elsewhere in Central Asia. The Tajiks' adoption of Persian was precipitated by the expansion of the Persian Sassanid Empire and its subsequent overthrow by the Muslim Arabs, which sent large numbers of Persians fleeing to Central Asia, Russia, India and even China. Many Persians also entered the region as forced converts to Islam, and settled in the conquered lands. As a result of the many waves of Persian migration (Muslim and Zoroastrian), in addition to their East-Iranian ancestry, the Tajiks also have an important ethnic Persian ancestry. According to Iranologist Richard Nelson Frye, the Persian migration to Central Asia is to be considered the beginning of the modern Tajik nation, and ethnic Persians as the main ancestors of modern Tajiks.[3]
There are other Persian-speaking peoples in Central Asia such as the Hazara and Aimak, who originated from the Mongol expansions of the 13th century and only subsequently adopted the Persian language. The Mountain Tajiks or Pamiris of the Badakhshan region in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, as well as the smaller group usually known as "Tajik" in China's western Xinjiang region are actually a collection of over a dozen small Eastern Iranian groups who have merged with the Tajiks.
Origin of the term
'"TÄjÄ«k"' is a word of Turko-Mongol origin and means (literally) 'Non-Turk'. It has the same root as the word 'Tat' which is used by Turkic-speakers for the Persian-speaking population of the Caucasus. In a historical context, it is synonymous with 'Iranian'[4] and particularly with 'Persian'. Since the Turko-Mongol conquest of Central Asia, Persian-speakers in Afghanistan, Iran and all the way to Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kashmir and India have been identified as TÄjÄ«ks. The term is mainly used against and as opposed to "Turk" and "Mongol".
History of the name
The origin of the term ''TÄjÄ«k'' is somewhat unclear. Today, most historians believe that the word ''TÄjÄ«k'' — first mentioned by the Uyghur historian Mahmoud Al-KÄshgharÄ« — is an old Turkic expression referring to all Persian-speaking peoples of Central Asia. From the 11th century on, it came to be applied principally to all Iranians, and later specifically to Persian-speakers.4 It is hard to establish the use of the word before the Turkic- and Mongol conquest of Central Asia, and since at least the 15th century it has been used by the region's Iranian population to distinguish themselves from the Turks. Persians in Iran who live in the Turkish-speaking parts of the country also call themselves ''TÄjÄ«k'', something remarked upon in the 15th century by the poet MÄ«r AlÄ« Å er NavÄ'Ä«.[5] In addition, Tibetans call all Persian-speakers (including those in Iran) ''TÄjÄ«k''.
The word "TÄjÄ«k" in medieval literature
The word ''TÄjÄ«k'' is extensively used in Persian literature and poetry, always as a synonym for ''Persian''. The Persian poet Sa'adi, for example, writes:
It is clear that he, too, uses the word as opposed to ''Turk''. The oldest known reference of the word ''Tajik'' in Persian literature, however, can be found in the writings of DjalÄl al-DÄ«n RÅ«mÄ«, himself being a Persian-speaker - and thus a ''"TÄjÄ«k"'' - from Central Asia.[6]
Other meanings of the word
At certain periods of history, the word ''TÄjÄ«k'' also referred to Persian-speaking clerks and Islamic scholars who were schooled in Arabic. In the Safavid Empire, ''TÄjÄ«k'' referred to the Persian administrators and nobles of the kingdom, linked to the so-called ''Qezelbâš'' movement.
According to some old Persian books as well as old TÄjÄ«k folktales, the word "TÄjÄ«k" literally refers to the "''people having the crown (''"TÄj"'' in Persian)''". It is believed that it initially refers to the people who ruled over the Bactrian and Pamir highlands (known in Persian folktale as the ''"crown of the world"'').
Alternative names
Main articles: Sart
As an alternative, the term 'Sart' was also used as a synonym for ''TÄjÄ«k'' and ''Persian'' in the medieval - post Genghis Khan - period. However, the term was abolished by the Soviet government of the Central Asian states.
Location
Tajiks are the principal ethnic group in most of Tajikistan, as well as in northern and western Afghanistan, in the cities of Kabul, Mazari Sharif, and Herat. In Uzbekistan the Tajiks are the largest part of the population of the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand, and are found in large numbers in the Surxondaryo Province in the south and along Uzbekistan's eastern border with Tajikistan.
Historically, the ancestors of the Tajiks lived in a much larger territory in Central Asia, but have been displaced as waves of Turkic invaders moved into the region from the north and east.
Today, Tajiks comprise around 79.9% of the population of Tajikistan, and between 27-33% of the population of Afghanistan. Official statistics in Uzbekistan state that the Tajik community comprises 10% of the nation's total population. However, these numbers do not include ethnic Tajiks whose mother tongue is Uzbek, and Tajiks who, for a variety of reasons, declare themselves to be ethnic Uzbeks.[7] During the Soviet 'Uzbekization' supervised by Sharof Rashidov, the head of the Uzbek Communist Party, Tajiks had to choose either stay in Uzbekistan and get registered as Uzbek in their passports or leave the republic for a less developed agricultural mountainous Tajikistan. Tajiks may make up closer to 15 to 45 percent of Uzbekistan's population.
There are an estimated 700,000 to 1 million Tajiks found in western Pakistan (NWFP), most being refugees from the Soviet war in Afghanistan while others are native to various regions such as Chitral (see Wakhi language) and the Gilgit Agency. In the last decade, many Tajik economic and migrant workers from Tajikistan have settled in Pakistan's Northern Areas, particularly in the city of Ishkuman where they are active in business as well as trade; there is also a sizeable community further south in Islamabad and Lahore.
A modern example of Persian miniature: painting is an important element of Perso-TÄjÄ«k culture
Though Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, Baghlan, Kapisa, Balkh, Jawzjan, Parwan, Kabul, Ghazni, Ghor, Farah and Herat are named as mainly Tajik inhabited areas in Afghanistan but Tajiks are living in almost all parts and provinces of Afghanistan. Upper and central parts of Laghman, Surkhrood in Nangarhar, Gardez in Paktia, Urgoon in Paktika, Toopkhana locality in Kandahar Provinces are of significant Tajik or Persian speaking population. However, in Logar, Wardak and Ghanzni Provinces in Afghanistan, more or less, one to tow-third of their population is comprised of Tajiks.
Source: Afghanistan census 1975.
Language
Main articles: Tajik language, Persian language
The language of the Tajiks is Persian, also called Dari. The variety spoken in Tajikistan is called Tajik. It is an Indo-European language, more specifically part of the Iranian language group. Tajik is an offspring of the Persian language, and belongs—along with Afghanistan's Dari—to the Eastern dialects of Persian. Historically, it was considered the local dialect of Persian spoken by the Tajik ethnic group in Central Asia, however Tajik has far fewer Arabic loan words than the Persian spoken in Iran. In Afghanistan Tajiks continue to use the Arabic script. However, when the Soviet Union introduced the use of the Latin script in 1928, and later the Cyrillic script, Tajik came to be considered a separate language in Tajikistan. The language remains greatly influenced by Russian because of political borders. A transcribed Tajik text can, in general, be easily read and understood by a speaker of the western dialect of Persian, and vice versa, and speakers of Tajik and the western Persian can readily converse with each other. The common origin of the two languages is underscored by the Tajiks' claim to such famous writers as Omar Khayyám, Firdausi and Rumi. Russian is widely used in government and business in Tajikistan as well.
Children in Tajikistan
Physical characteristics
Physically, most Tajiks resemble the Mediterranean stock.[8] The average Tajik has dark hair and eyes with medium to fair skin. Light hair and eyes are relatively common, particularly in northern regions such as Badakhshan. A minority of Tajiks in Central Asia show definite Turkic-Mongol admixture, while remote mountain Tajiks appear to more closely resemble the Indo-European Soghdian, Bactrian, and Scythian populations that existed before the Turkic and Mongol invasions and migrations. A few Tajiks in Afghanistan also show traces of Turkic-Mongol ancestry (possibly derived from the Hazara and/or Uzbeks). In addition, Tajiks are often distinguished from the related Farsiwan by religion as opposed to appearance. The Tajiks, as a whole, are a somewhat eclectic population genetically and display a wide range of phenotypes.[8]
Religion
Mazari Sharif's Blue Mosque in Afghanistan. Many such Muslim architectural monuments can be attributed to the efforts of the Tajik peoples who are predominantly followers of Islam today.
The great majority of Tajiks follow the Sunnite Islam, although small Ismaili and Jafari Shia minorities also exist in scattered pockets. Some of Sunni Islam's famous scholars were from Tajik dominated regions and therefore can arguably viewed as Tajik. They include Abu Hanifa, Al-Ghazali, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, and Imam Bukhari amongst many others.
In Afghanistan, Tajiks who follow Jafari Shiism are called Farsiwan. Additionally, small Tajik Jewish communities (known as Bukharan Jews) have existed since ancient times in the cities of Samarqand, Bukhara and other Tajik centers.[10] Over the 20th century, the majority of these Tajik-speaking Jews emigrated to Israel and the United States, although many of these emigrants maintain ties with their homeland. Despite the advent of Christian missionaries to Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Tajik Christian population is virtually non-existent.
Recent developments
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Afghanistan both gave rise to a resurgence in Tajik nationalism across the region. Tajikistan in particular has been a focal point for this movement, and the government there has made a conscious effort to revive the legacy of the Samanid empire, the first Tajik-dominated state in the region after the Arab advance. For instance, the President of Tajikistan, Emamali Rahman, dropped the "ov" from his surname and directed others to adopt Tajik names when registering births. [11]
Famous TÄjÄ«ks
See also
★ Persian language
★ Persian culture
★ Persian people
★ Iranian peoples
★ Samanid dynasty
★ Demographics of Afghanistan
★ Demographics of Tajikistan
★ Demographics of Uzbekistan
★ R1a1
Notes & References
1. M. Longworth Dames/G. Morgenstierne/R. Ghirshman, ''"AfghÄnistÄn"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition
2. Library of Congress Country Studies - Tajikistan - Historical & Ethnic Background - 1996
3. Richard Nelson Frye, ''"Persien: bis zum Einbruch des Islam"'' (original English title: ''"The Heritage Of Persia"''), German version, tr. by Paul Baudisch, Kindler Verlag AG, Zürich 1964, pp. 485-498
4. M.E. Subtelny, ''"The Symbiosis of Turk and Tajik"'' in B.F. Manz (ed.), ''Central Asia in Historical Perspective'', (Boulder, Col. & Oxford), 1994, p. 48
5. Ali Shir Nava'i ''Muhakamat al-lughatain'' tr. & ed. Robert Devereaux (Leiden: Brill) 1966 p6
6. C.E. Bosworth/B.G. Fragner, "TÄdjÄ«k", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition: ''"... In Islamic usage, [TÄdjÄ«k] eventually came to designate the Persians, as opposed to Turks [...] the oldest citation for it which Schaeder could find was in verses of DjalÄl al-DÄ«n RÅ«mÄ« ..."''
7. See for example the Country report on Uzbekistan, released by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor here.
8. Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan - Ethnic Groups - Tajik - 1997
9. Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan - Ethnic Groups - Tajik - 1997
10. J. Sloame, ''"Bukharan Jews"'', Jewish Virtual Library, (LINK)
11. http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372123
Literature
★ Dupree, Louis. ''Afghanistan''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980
★ Jawad, Nassim, ''Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities'', London: Minority Rights Group, 1992, ISBN 0-946690-76-6.
★ ''World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003'', ISBN 0-88687-882-9.
External links
★ Khorasan: History Of The Tajik Nation
★ Tajikam.com - A Worldwide Online Community for Tajiks
★ Uzbekistan: Ethnic Composition And Discrimination
★ "Central Asian Jews."
★ Ethnologue statistics on Eastern Farsi speakers & statistics regarding Tajiki speakers.
★ Female Genetics of Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia
★ Male Genetics of Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia (the origin of R1a1 is under question see) (see Genetics and Archaeogenetics of South Asia)
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