Hazarajat
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Hazarajat, also known as Hazaristan or Barbaristan, is a region in Afghanistan known for being the habitat of the Hazara ethnic group. Hazarajat was previously known as Paropamizan or Paropamisus.
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[edit] History
The historical background of Hazarajat is almost nonexistent. However, the passing of the lands surrounding this mountainous region from one ruler to another gives us an idea about the history of the Hazarajat. About six centuries B.C.E., the land of most of the modern-day Afghanistan was captured by Persian Emperor, Darius I. Bactria, the present day Balkh became the capital of the kingdom. After three centuries of Persian rule, the Greeks under their king, Alexander the Great, once again overran this land. The Greeks were about to establish a dependent mini-Greek kingdom of Bactria with its capital at Balkh. The Greek lettered petrographies found in different parts of Hazarajat leads us to believe that it was part of the Greek kingdom.
The most of the present day Hazarajat came under the medieval kingdom of Zabulistan which according to LeStrange, include the whole of the great mountainous district of the upper waters of the Helmand and the Qandahar (i.e. Arghandab) rivers.
To the Arabs this land was also known as Zabulistan, a term of vague affliction. Discoveries of Professor Bivar in the Jaghuri and Uruzgan district of southern Hazarajat leave no doubt that Hazarajat was indeed in the heart of Zabulistan, a kingdom ruled by the Mihiraluka dynasty around 500 A.D.
Before the introduction of Islam in the present day Afghanistan, the land was ruled by small dynasties. While Kabul was governed by Hindu Shahi, the regions of Qandahar, Ghor and Zamindawar were ruled by Buddhist Kushans. Hazarajat was believed to be governed by the king named Babar Shah, whose capital's ruin at Chel Burj still exists in the Yakawlang, Bamyan region of northwestern Hazarajat. These Kushan kingdoms were destroyed by the ruler of Saffavid dynasty, who ruled the region during 861-910 A.D. Though it is a common belief among the Hazaras that Babar Shah was defeated by their spiritual leader Ali there is of course no truth in such belief as Ali never came to this land. The Hindu Shahi king of Kabul was defeated by the Arabs under the command of Arab governor of Sistan, but he and his family continued to rule Kabul as the vassals of the Umayyid Caliphs from 661-750. After Arabs captured the region, they took thousands of young boys and girls and slaves to their caliphs.
During the reign of Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad, a Central Asian Dynasty of Samanid who ruled from their capital of Bokhara during the period of 819-1005 ruled most of the present-day Afghanistan. It was during the Samanid rule that the way was paved for the establishment of a Turkish dynasty, the Ghaznavids of Ghazni. Subuktagin established the Ghaznavid dynasty in 994, which was glorified by his son, Mahmood of Ghazni. During Mahmood's rule, an independent king of Ghorho was overthrown by Mahmood in 1002; ruled Hazarajat. The Seljuks, who mastered Persia and Anatolia (Eastern Turkey) displaced the Ghaznavids. One of the great rulers of the Seljuk dynasty was Sultan Sinjir who ruled the region from 1095-1157, with his capital at Khorasan. The Ghorids who, rising from Ghor, destroyed Ghazni and established an empire stretching from Herat to Ajmir, in India, followed Seljuks. The Ghorid, according to Dupree, was possible one of the last of the Kushans; the Ghorid dynasty lasted from about two centuries from 1000-1215. Khwarzam shah replaced the Ghorids, the rulers of the Khiva Oasis in Transoxiana, who by 1217 had created a Turco-Persaon state that included the whole of Afghanistan.
The empire disintegrated when Chengiz Khan (Genghis Khan) attacked it in 1220. According to traditions Chengiz's son was killed in the fighting for the city of Gholghola in Bamyan. The enraged Chengiz Khan ordered his forces to kill every living being present in the city, even cats and mice. Historical records prove that Hazaras offered stiff resistance against the invading armies of Chengiz Khan, which resulted in the devastation of the people and their land. Chengiz Khan was followed by his grandson, Halaku Khan who, after conquering the region south of river Oxus, established a Mangolian dynasty of Persian Ilkhanids, while most of the Hazarajat remained a cantonment for the armies of the Chagatai Khanate marching towards India, it remained permanently a part of the Ilkhanid northeastern province of the Khurasan. At the downfall of Ilkhanid dynasty of the Hazaras achieved their independence, and most of Hazarajat remained a free country until 1893 when the Afghans finally occupied it.
[edit] The Hazarajat Boundaries
Hazarajat never had true and specific borders, but wherever the Hazaras came in contact with the dwelling of non-Hazara tribes, i.e., at the ethnic gray line, those places where considered to the boundaries of Hazarajat. According to the recently published maps of Afghanistan by Humlum, Dullin, Dupree, Ferdinand, and especially maps published by the War Office, United States Army, Washington, MC. The Hazarajat lies roughly between 600 and 680 East-West and 330 and 350 North-south covering about 15,000 square miles, it stretches from the east about a distance of 50 miles of west Kabul. I.e., in the region of Unai Kotal-Maidan, the west nears the Chakcharan in Ghorat. Although Koh-e Baba is considered the northern limit of Hazarajat, the border stretches farther north, in the region of Dara-e Yousuf, Yak Aolang, and east of Bamyan. To the south, Hazarajat's boundaries stretch down to the foothills of Ghazni, Muqor and just north of Qandahar. Thus Hazarajat of today includes the western extremity of the Hindu Kush girdle of mountain valleys immediately bordering to the southwest, north, and northeast, on the original Tajik areas, Besides the Hazarajat proper, small groups of Hazaras also live in Badakhshan, Mazari Sharif, Afghan Turkistan, Qataghan and most of the urban areas, especially Kabul, Ghazni, Herat, etc. outside Afghanistan large number of Hazara live in Pakistan and Iran.
Before 1900s the area of the Hazarajat was twice as large as what it is today. The Pashtoon expansionism led by the Pashtun ruler Amir Abdul Rehman led to the large scale massacre of Hazara population and the contraction of Hazarajat boundaries. Hazaras lost approximately 60% of their population in the war of independence against Pashtun expansionism. That could in fact indicate the loss of 60% of the area of the then Hazarajat.
[edit] Communication and Transportation
Because of the rocky nature of Hazarajat, communication between its valleys is extremely difficult. People have to travel a long distance through the narrow passes just to visit a village a few miles away. This mountains character of the land has not only isolated the Hazaras from their non-Hazara neighbors, but also kept them away from each other.
The area known as Hazarajat comprises Bamyan, Daykundi, Ghor provinces in whole and parts of adjacent provinces Ghazni, Uruzgan, Balkh, Samangan, Kabul, Wardak, Jozajan, Herat and Kandahar. The center comprises of the districts of Shebar, Bamyan, Panjao, Waras, Yakawlang (Bamyan province); Balkhab (Jowzjan); Dar-e-Souf (Samanghan); Lal o Sari Jangal (Ghor); Daykundi, Sharistan (Uruzgan); Malistan, Jaghori, Nawor (Ghazni); Behsud I and Behsud II (Wardak). Although it would be possible to argue for a historically larger concept of Hazarajat, all of these districts would be generally recognized as being part of Hazarajat and so this definition fits with agencies' operational realities. The area so defined also includes all of the poorest Hazara districts.
Conflict and inability of the population to feed itself means that population movements, both temporary and permanent, have long been a feature of Hazarajat. Currently, there are three main types of population movement in Hazarajat: migration out, mainly in search of work; returnees from Iran, usually at least to some extent forced; and IDPs, caused mainly by the conflict. The line between voluntary migration and forced displacement is not always clear in practice, especially when considering population movements caused by food shortages.
The 1992-4 fighting in Kabul in some ways benefited Hazarajat, as educated people fled the city for safer places — and whilst some went to Quetta, Iran, and even further a field, a small educated group came back to Hazarajat, where they provide the core of professional staff for many agencies. Fighting in Mazari Sharif in 1997 and 1998 brought more IDPs (Internally Displaced People), as did the fighting in Bamyan in 1998. In May 1999, the fighting and destruction in Bamyan Town and surrounding villages sent terrified families fleeing to the hills. Many came through Yakawlang and their stories precipitated a wave of IDPs from there also, although these were not as desperate as the Bamyan IDPs as they were at least able to take things with them. At that time Solidarites recorded a total of 13,032 families, or 89% of the population, leaving Bamyan. Of these, 5,615 went to Behsud and 1,987 to the mountains of Koh-i-Baba. Others went to Puli Khumri, Kohmard, Kabul and even further a field. The weather at that time was still very cold and Solidarities recorded that 155 children died of cold and 78 women and old people died of hunger and cold, plus a further 23 from the fighting. The number of single women heading households rose from 24 in January to 248 by August. At the end of 1999, 424 IDP families from Bamyan were still known to be living in central Hazarajat. 150 of these were in Yakawlang, mostly living with relatives, mainly in far away villages; 53 more families were in Panjao center; 23 in Lal center; and most of rest in the remote areas of Targai, Mur and Tarapas. There were also IDPs from the fighting in Dara e Suf, 25 in Lal centre." (UN's Coordinator Office, March 2000, Part I)
This number includes an exodus of 45,000 people from the central highlands to other parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. According to the UN Regional Coordinating Officer, three quarters of this number indicated they were leaving for Iran (90 percent) or Pakistan (10 percent). The 25 percent who remained behind in Afghanistan are located in Kabul [east] , Ghazni [south east] and Herat [west]. A further 5,000 are estimated to have been displaced in late January due to violent clashes near Yawkawlang, in Bamyan Province. Relief agencies expect that impoverished residents in the central highlands will try to cope over winter by reducing their food consumption. UN sources estimate a high mortality over winter as many families who chose to remain are unprepared." (IRIN 8 February 2001)
After the traditional lull during winter in 1999, fighting progressively intensified. In February, opposition forces briefly captured the Hazarajat town of Yakowlang, 100 kilometers west of the provincial capital, Bamyan, and briefly Bamyan itself. The Taliban offensive to capture these areas caused significant levels of destruction and displacement. Sporadic guerrilla activity has taken place in the eastern, northwest and western provinces throughout the year." (UNOCHA, UNRCO November 1999)
"Between March and May 1999, some 115,000 people were uprooted in Bamyan, fleeing to the neighboring districts and provinces, to Kabul, northern Afghanistan and to Pakistan. People displaced from Bamyan have sought refuge in all surrounding districts, including Kamard, Yakaolang, Panjao, Waras, Behsud 1 and Behsud 2. Central Bamyan and parts of neighboring Saigan District and Shibar were totally depopulated by the climax of the fighting on 15 May. Many of these displaced people have been relocating from one district to another, trying to find accommodation and food to enable them to survive the winter. (UNOCHA 14 October 1999)
"Following clashes between the Taliban and Hezb-e-Wahdat forces in the central highlands in the beginning of 1999, it was reported that " there was a steady exodus of the civilian population from Bamyan from February to mid-April 1999 and that the civilian population had been almost totally displaced from the area by the end of the conflict there in mid-May." "[M]ost of the population evacuated the city and took refuge in the mountains. They were facing a serious situation given the weather in the cold mountainous areas and the acute shortage of food. It was reported that a group of 150 people, including women and children, were taken captive by the Taliban from Berson village and transferred to Parwan province. Yakawlang was also evacuated by people who feared being killed or arrested by the Taliban. A few families managed to reach Ghazni while others went to Panjab or Bahsood districts."
Hazarajat, being a high elevated mountainous region, is dominated by a cold and long winters, its climate is mostly alpine tundra, and has been described as extremely cold and dry. While the winters are long and dominated by heavy snowfall and snow storm, the summers, on the other hand are short and hot. The winter starts by the end of September; the first now falls in October; and from December on heavy snow falls and lies on the ground for the next four or five months. Wherever meteorological stations were built, scantly information about rainfall is available thes weather stations are located in Bamian, Lal, Moqur, Nawar and Panjab showing the annual rainfalls of 1.92, 7.06, 5.5, 5.4 and 9.0 inches, respectively. During summer months, most of the Hazarajat weather is dry with clear blue skies, little or no rain falls during the summer months and days are comfortable warm and nights are briskly cool.
[edit] Environment
[edit] Flora
Like most of Afghanistan, Hazarajat also lacks greenery and is poorly covered with vegetation, there is no forest in the region and the slopes are bare.
[edit] Fauna
Like the limited plant species found in the region, the animal kingdom of the Hazarajat is also limited. Of the inferior animals wolves, foxes and hares are commonly found in the mountains and populated valleys. The wild sheep and goats (Markhor) are found in Dai Zangi region. Deer could be found in the mountain ranges which offer springs and fountains. Domesticated dogs and greyhounds can also be found in the valleys. The stress, and rivers of Hazarajat are filled with fish of different dins. The lake of Band-e Amir are especially known for fish of considerable size, which are of yellow color and locally, knows as Chush. Mules and donkeys which are used for transportation are found in the valleys.
[edit] Economy
[edit] Minerals
Hazarajat has been known to be rich in minerals and in the past rulers of the neighboring countries and states have tried to subjugate the Hazaras to control the mineral reservoirs. Harlan mentioned Uzbek tribal leader Murad Beg of Kunduz, who had attacked Dai Zangi for its mineral wealth. Another Englishman, Wood, reported the presence of copper and sulfur. It has also been reported that there are deposits of jade, beryl, quartz, mica, marble, antimoine, cuivre, aargent, zinc, iron, graphite and gypsum more recently, Griffiths reported the discovery of large and very high grade iron ore deposits near Hajigak in the Bamian region. These all reports were produced during the cold war. The recent government of Taliban bend all the foreign projects in Afghanistan. Now there are only some of the Oil companies are involved in the region.ca:Hazarajat no:Hazarajat sv:Hazara
