Pamiri people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Total population |
|---|
| 900,000 (est.) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Gorno-Badakhshan (Tajikistan), Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County (China) |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
Ismaili sect of Shia Islam |
| Related ethnic groups |
Pamiri (Tajik: Помири, Dari: پامیری, Pashto: پاميري) the name of ethnic groups that belong to East Iranian groups of peoples and live in southern Central Asia, primarily in southeastern Tajikistan and northeastern Afghanistan.
Contents |
[edit] Ethnic Identity
The Pamiris are composed of people who speak the Pamiri languages, the indigenous languages of Afghanistan's Badakhshan region and in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous province in Tajikistan, and adhere to the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. The Pamiris share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties with the people in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, the Sarikoli speakers in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang Province in China, the Wakhi speakers in Afghanistan and the Wakhi speakers in Upper Hunza Gojal region of Northern mountainous areas of Pakistan. In the Pamiri languages the Pamiris refer to themselves as Pamiri or Badakhshoni, a reference to the historic Badakhshan region where they live. In Tajikistan they prefer to refer to themselves as "Tojiki Badakhshoni" (meaning Tajik from Badakhshan or Badakhshani Tajik).
[edit] History
In 1929 Gorno-Badakhshan was attached to the newly formed republic of Tajikistan, and since that point there has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the ethnic identity of the Pamiris. Some Tajik scholars claim Pamiri languages to be a dialects of Tajik language. But there is a consensus amongst linguists that the Pamiri languages are East Iranian, a sub-group of Iranian languages while Tajik language which is Persian is included in Southwestern Iranian, another sub-group of Iranian languages.
During the Soviet period many Pamiris migrated to the Vakhsh River Valley and settled in Qurghonteppa Oblast, in what is today Khatlon Province. In the 1980s debate raged in Tajikistan about the official status of the Pamiri languages in the republic. After the independence of Tajikistan in 1991 Pamiri nationalism stirred and the Pamiri nationalist political party Lali Badakhshan took power in Gorno-Badakhshan. Anti-government protests took place in the province's capital, Khorog, and in 1992 the republic declared itself an independent country. This declaration was later repealed. During the Tajikistan Civil War from 1992–1997 the Pamiris were targeted for massacres, especially those living in the capital Dushanbe and Qurghonteppa Oblast. During the civil war Pamiris in large backed the United Tajik Opposition. In the early 1990s there was a movement amongst Pamiris to separate Gorno-Badakhshan from Tajikistan. [1]
[edit] Religion
Pamiris are Nizārī Ismā'īlī and follow the Aga Khan. The Aga Khan Foundation became the primary non-governmental organization in Gorno-Badakhshan.
[edit] References
- ^ Suhrobsho Davlatshoev (2006). "The Formation and Consolidation of Pamiri Ethnic Identity in Tajikistan. Dissertation". School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University, Turkey (M.S. thesis). http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607111/index.pdf. Retrieved on 2006-08-25.
 |
This Tajikistan-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
