Tajiks

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Tajiks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tajiks trace their more immediate ancestry to the East Iranian-speaking ... The 'Tajiks' adoption of the now dominant southwestern branch Persian language ...
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Tajik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tajiks, an ethnic group living in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, ... The Sarikoli language, spoken by Tajiks in China and officially referred to as ...
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Tajiks of Afghanistan
... the Tajiks in ... and light skinned, the Tajiks have aquiline noses and usually ... The plains-dwelling Tajiks live mainly in Herat Province on the ...
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Tajik: Definition from Answers.com
Tajik also Tadzhik n. , pl. Tajik or -jiks also Tadzhik or -dzhiks. ... Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Tajiks ... The Tajiks are Muslim people of Central ...
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International Teams Muslim Ministries
Tajiks are of Indo-Persian decent with a history dating ... Tajiks in China ... Tajiks highly esteem the literary arts and revere their poets as political ...
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Pray for Tajik of Afghanistan
Pray for the Tajik of Afghanistan. ... After many years of faithful witness to Afghan-Tajiks, some have come to faith. ... Tajiks also enjoy poetry and other arts. ...
centralasia.imb.org

Tajiks
Discusses a connection to the Aryan race.
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Tajiks - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major ...
The Tajiks are an Indo-European people who settled the upper reaches of the Amu ... During the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Tajiks were divided. ...
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{{Infobox Ethnic group|group = Tajiks(تاجيک )|image = Avicenna • Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi • Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī • Ahmad Shah Massoud 16.5 to 28.5 million|region1 = |pop1 = 8,610,279|ref1 = |region2 = |pop2 = 5,849,331|ref2 =|region3 = (estimates vary)|pop3 = 1,365,3564,915,28411,000,000|ref3 = |region4 = |pop4 = 1,700,000 ([Afghan refugees)])|ref5 =|region6 = |pop6 = 500,000|ref6 =|region7 = |pop7 = 120,000|ref7 =|region8 = |pop8 = 93,000|ref8 =|region9 = |pop9 = 87,000|ref9 =|region10 = |pop10 = 41,083|ref10 =|languages = Persian language (varieties of Dari (Afghanistan) and Tajik language Persian)|religions = Islam (predominantly Sunni, with sizable Twelvers and Ismailites minorities)-->

Tājīk (; UniPers: Tâjik; Tajik language: ) is a term generally applied to Iranian language Iranian peoples living to the east and northeast of modern Iran. Among the Iranian languages that linguists have identified as being spoken by Tajiks are "Persian#Nomenclature", "Tajiki" and "Shughni language". Enthnologue Reort for Tajikistan The traditional Tajik homelands are in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, western China, and Chitral.

Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsī (Persian), Fārsīwān (Persian-speaking), and Dīhgān (literally "village settlers" in contrast to "nomadic") M. Longworth Dames/G. Morgenstierne/R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition.

History Like all Iranian-speakers, and also the Indo-Aryans, Dard people, and Nuristani peoples, the Tajiks trace their origins to the ancient Aryan Library of Congress Country Studies - Tajikistan - Historical & Ethnic Background - 1996 who settled in Central Asia as early as 4000 years ago.

The Tajiks trace their more immediate ancestry to the East Iranian-speaking Bactria, Sogdiana, and Parthians, which means that the historical ancestors of the Tajiks did not speak Persian language - the south-western Iranian language, today known as Farsi in Iran and Dari (Afghanistan) in Afghanistan. The Tajiks' adoption of New-Persian language is believed to have been caused by the Islamic conquest of the Central Asia by the Arabs, which sent large numbers of Persians to Central Asia, India and even southwest of China. Additionally, many Persians also entered the Central Asian region as forces converted to Islam, and settled in the conquered lands. As a result of these waves of Persian migration (Zoroastrian and Muslim) in the course of more than 200 years, in addition to their East-Iranian ancestry, the Tajiks also have an important ethnic Persian ancestry which eventually resulted in the general adoption of the (West Iranian) Persian language. According to Iranology Richard Nelson Frye, the Persian migration to Central Asia may be considered the beginning of the "modern" Tajik nation, and ethnic Persians along with East-Iranian Bactrians and Sogdians, as the main ancestors of "modern" Tajiks.Richard Nelson Frye, "Persien: bis zum Einbruch des Islam" (original English title: "The Heritage Of Persia"), German language version, tr. by Paul Baudisch, Kindler Verlag AG, Zurich 1964, pp. 485-498

Geographical border between the eastern and the western Iranians was and is a desert Dasht-e Kavir, situated in the center of the Iranian plateau.

Other groups There are other Iranian-speakers in Central Asia such as the Hazara people and Aimak who originate from the Mongol conquerors of Central Asia in the 13th century, and subsequently adopted the local Iranian languages. The Wakhi (ethnic group) or Pamiris of the Badakhshan region in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, as well as the smaller group usually known as "Tajik (China)" in China's western Xinjiang region are descendants of the original East-Iranian tribes.

Origin of the term "Tājīk" is a word of Altaic languages origin and means (literally) Non-Turk. It has the same root as the word Tat which is used by Turkic-speakers for the Iranian-speaking population of the Caucasus. In a historical context, it is synonymous with IranianM.E. Subtelny, "The Symbiosis of Turk and Tajik" in B.F. Manz (ed.), Central Asia in Historical Perspective, (Boulder, Col. & Oxford), 1994, p. 48 and particularly with Persian. Since the Turko-Mongol conquest of Central Asia, Iranian-speakers in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and all the way to Pakistan, Kashmir and India have been identified as Tājīks. The term is mainly used as opposed to "Turk" and "Mongol".

History of the name First mentioned by the Uyghur historian Mahmud Kashgari, Tājīk is an old Turkic languages expression referring to all Iranian-speaking peoples of Central Asia. From the 11th century on, it came to be applied principally to all East-Iranians, and later specifically to Persian-speakers. It is hard to establish the use of the word before the Turkic peoples and Mongol Empire 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 modern Iran who live in the Turkic-speaking areas of the country, also call themselves Tājīk, something remarked upon in the 15th century by the poet Ali Sher Nawa'i. Ali Shir Nava'i Muhakamat al-lughatain tr. & ed. Robert Devereaux (Leiden: Brill) 1966 p6 In addition, Tibetan people call all Iranian-speakers (including those in Iran) Tājīk.

The word "Tājīk" in medieval literature The word Tājīk is extensively used in Persian literature and Persian poetry, always as a synonym for Persian. The Persian poet Saadi (poet), for example, writes:
{{cquote|شاید که به پادشاه بگویند
ترک تو بریخت خون تاجیک:

Perhaps to the King be said,
Your Turk shed the blood of a Tājīk
-->

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 Rumi, himself being an Iranian-speaker - and thus a "Tājīk" - from Central Asia.Clifford Edmund Bosworth/B.G. Fragner, "Tādjīk", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition: "... In Islamic usage, eventually came to designate the Persians, as opposed to Turks the oldest citation for it which Schraeder could find was in verses of Djalāl al-Dīn Rūmī ..."

Other meanings of the word At certain periods of history, the word Tājīk also referred to Iranian-speaking scholars and clerks of early Islamic time who were schooled in Arabic language. In the Safavid dynasty, Tājīk referred to the Iranian administrators and nobles of the kingdom, linked to the so-called Kizilbash movement.

According to some old Tājīk folktales, as well as old Persian books, the word "Tājīk" literally refers to the "people having the crown ("Tāj" in Tajik, Persian)". It is believed that it initially refers to the East-Iranian people who ruled over the Bactrian, Soghdian and Badakhshan highlands and later over other areas of Central Asia and beyond - a region traditionally known as the "crown of the world".

Alternative names As an alternative, the term Sart was also used as a synonym for Tājīk and Persian in the medieval - post Genghis Khan - period. Turkic people named by this word the local East-Iranian population. However, the term was abolished by the Soviet government of the Central Asian states.

Location Tājīk are the principal ethnic group in most of Tajikistan, as well as in northern and western Afghanistan. In Uzbekistan the Tājīk are the largest part of the population of the ancient 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 larger territory in Central Asia then now.. Although the second largest city of Uzbekistan, it is predominantly a Tajik populated city, along with BukharaToday, 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, who for a variety of reasons, declare themselves to be ethnic Uzbeks.See for example the Country report on Uzbekistan, released by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor here. 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 Afghan 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.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 Ghazni Provinces in Afghanistan, more or less, one to two-third of their population is comprised of Tajiks.

Source: Afghanistan census 1975.

Language The language of the Tajiks is Persian language, also called Dari. The variety spoken in Tajikistan is called Tajik language. 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 language is widely used in government and business in Tajikistan as well.

Physical characteristics Physically, most Tajiks resemble the Mediterranean stock. Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan - Ethnic Groups - Tajik - 1997 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 peoples-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 people 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. Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan - Ethnic Groups - Tajik - 1997

Religion 's Rawze-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. Many such Iranian architecture 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 Sunni Islam Islam, although small Ismaili and Jafari Shia minorities also exist in scattered pockets. Some of Sunni's famous scholars were from East-Iranian 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 Shia are called Farsiwan. Additionally, small Tajik Jewish communities (known as Bukharan Jews) have existed since ancient times in the cities of Bukhara, Samarqand and other Tajik populated centers.J. Sloame, "Bukharan Jews", Jewish Virtual Library, ( LINK) 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.

Recent developments The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Afghan Civil War 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, Emomali Rahmon, dropped the "-ov" from his surname and directed others to adopt Tajik names when registering births. http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372123

Famous Tājīks Image:Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi edit.png|Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī - medieval Islamic mathematics, Islamic astronomy, Islamic astrology and geographer. Often considered the most important founder of algebra.Image:Khaled Hosseini.jpg] - of Qizilbash descent; author of the best selling novel The Kite Runner.Image:Abu-Rayhan Biruni 1973 Afghanistan post stamp.jpg] - was a Muslim polymath of the 11th century, whose experiments and discoveries were as significant and diverse as those of Leonardo da Vinci or Galileo, five hundred years before the RenaissanceImage:Emomali Rahmonov 2001Nov03.jpg] - President of Tajikistan.Image:Avicenna Persian Physician.jpg] - often regarded as the father of modern Islamic medicine. His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, which was for almost five centuries a standard medical text at many Islamic and European university.Image:Massoud commemoration in Geneva 21-10-2001.jpg|Ahmad Shah Massoud - a prominent, and the most well known, commander in Soviet war in Afghanistan and leader of the anti-Taliban resistance. Assassinated by al-Qaeda on September 9, 2001Image:Hatemimevlana.jpg] - 13th century Muslim Islamic poetry, Fiqh, and Kalam. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages in various formats.Image:Latif_Pedram.jpg|Latif Pedram - ex-candidate for Afghanistan's presidency and currently a ActivismImage:Sculpture of Abu Muslim Khorasani.jpg|Abu Muslim Khorasani, 8th century Abbasid general

See also

Notes & References 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)

Tajiks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tājik (Persian: تاجيک; UniPers: Tâjik; Cyrillic: Тоҷик) is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking peoples of Persian origin living east and northeast of present ...

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | A million Tajiks 'face starvation'
Drought in the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan could mean starvation for one million people, the Red Cross says.

Category:Tajiks - Wikimedia Commons
Media in category "Tajiks" The following 20 files are in this category, out of 20 total.

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Ta·jik also Ta·dzhik (tä-j k, t-) n. pl. Tajik or Ta·jiks also Tadzhik or Ta·dzhiks. 1. A member of a people inhabiting Tajikistan and neighboring areas in Uzbekistan ...

Tajiks of Afghanistan
Overview of the Tajiks in Afghanistan.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Tajiks jailed for 'Taleban links'
A Tajik court jails three men for up to 22 years for membership of a militant group said to have fought for the Taleban.

Minority Rights Group International : Afghanistan : Tajiks
Tajiks Profile. There are approximately 8.6 million Tajiks in Afghanistan (CIA World Factbook 2007). The Tajiks are the second most prominent ethnic group in Afghanistan after the ...

Minority Rights Group International : Uzbekistan : Tajiks
Tajiks Profile. The Tajiks are an Iranian people who speak a variety of Persian, an Indo-Aryan language. Most of them are Sunni Muslims and they made up officially at the last ...

Tajiks in China - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tajiks in China (Chinese: 塔吉克族, Pinyin: Tǎjíkèzú) are one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.