The Hazara: the third largest ethnic group of Afghanistan, mainly Shia Muslims speaking
a Farsi dialect- yet, with physical features similar to the Mongols and many Mongolian
words in their language. Popular tradition holds that the Hazara are descendants of Mongol
troops left behind by Chinggis Khan himself- but what truth is there to this? In this video,
we will investigate this claim and provide a brief introduction to their history.
This video would not have been possible without the generous, and patient, support of my Patreons.
Further, I’d like to give thanks to everyone who assisted with research and helped provide
materials for this project, including several people from the Hazara community. A particular
thanks to my friend Matt Capua, who spent considerable time researching this with me-
check out his band Wolfstar if you want some historically inspired heavy metal; their next
album is based on Tyr’s pre-Odinistic history!
Let us begin with the standard narrative as to the origins of the Hazara. In popular rendition,
after destroying Bamiyan in late 1221 Chinggis Khan left a garrison behind in the region.
This garrison, left in the mountains of what is now central Afghanistan, developed their
own unique identity, becoming the Hazara. Hazara in farsi means 1,000, and one of the
Mongol army units was the minggan, or 1,000. Perfect! What’s not to like? Well, the problem
is that it’s wrong. Chinggis Khan did destroy Bamiyan in 1221, but as we have covered previously,
he did not linger. Bamiyan was a target en route to defeat the Khwarezmian prince Jalal
al-Din Mingburnu. Jalal al-Din had just defeated a Mongolian force at Parwan, and in reaction
Chinggis Khan brought the full might of his army against Jalal al-Din, lest he undo the
last year of conquests. Chinggis Khan spent a large portion of 1222 in Afghanistan- sending
forces to pursue Jalal al-Din in India, while he personally campaigned against local resistance,
and it was somewhere in the western edge of the Hindu Kush, possibly in the modern Hazarajat,
where he met the Daoist master Qiu Chuji. Certainly, there would have been Mongolian
intermixing with the local population, but the medieval sources do not indicate he left
a garrison behind. Khurasan, as the region was generally known, was left largely a ruinous
buffer state when the Mongols began to withdraw at the end of 1222. Furthermore, Chinggis
Khan did not appoint Mongols for garrison duty. This was a job for subject peoples,
not Mongol horsemen.
So where comes this notion that Chinggis Khan appointed the garrison that became the Hazara?
It’s rather simple. In the following centuries, emerging peoples and dynasties across Eurasia
traced their lineage back to him, his sons or his personal troops and commanders for
legitimacy, amir Temur among the most famous of these. It also stems from the common misconception
that Chinggis Khan did all the conquering of the Mongol Empire, when it actually continued
to expand for decades after his death. We can therefore point to likelier sources for
the Mongol-Hazara connection. Afghanistan and the Hazarajat was incorporated into the
Mongol Empire in the 1230s and 40s, by the generals Dayir and Monggedu during Chormaqun’s
march against Jalal al-Din. Under Chormaqun, most of Iran and the Caucasus came under Mongol
control. Unlike Chinggis Khan, who spent only months in the region, Dayir and Monggedu spent
several years subjugating eastern Iran, Afghanistan and what is now modern Pakistan, much more
time for Mongolian genetics to enter the local population.
Further connection comes after 1260. While I have not covered it on this channel, I have
written on it in these videos with Kings and Generals. In the 1250s came the third great
wave of Mongol troops into Iran, under Hulegu Khan, soon followed by the breakup of the
Mongol Empire into four independent Khanates- Hulegu founding the Ilkhanate. Hulegu was
quickly at war with his cousin to the north, Berke Khan of the Golden Horde. With the outbreak
of war, the Jochid troops who had accompanied Hulegu on the campaign fled under their commander,
Neguder, to Afghanistan. These troops, called Neguderis, or Qara’unas, became a third
party in the region, acting as raiders independently attacking the Ilkhanate and India, in the
1290s coming under the control of the Chagatai Khans. In the mid-fourteenth century, some
of their members ruled in the divided Chagatai Khanate and Delhi Sultanate: the Amir Qazaghan
was a Neguderi, and Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of Delhi’s Tughluq dynasty may have
been of Neguderi extract.
Neguderi territory was still eastern Khurasan- that is, Afghanistan, and I believe it is
this extended Mongolian presence which provides the most likely origins for the Hazara. It’s
important to note this was not a purely Mongolian extract, as mid-thirteenth century Mongol
armies were a mix of Mongols, various Turkic tribes and other ethnicities, and in the case
of the Neguderis, they mixed with the local farsi speaking population. The thirteenth
century was hardly the final movement of Turko-Mongolian peoples- Afghanistan and the surrounding regions
were long incorporated into the Timurid Empire. Temur’s fourth son Shahrukh ruled from Herat
until his death in 1447. So, rather than a specific garrison left behind by Chinggis
Khan, we instead find the origins of the Hazara to be more likely waves of Turko-Mongolian
troops over the 13th and 14th centuries, immigrating into the pastures in the mountains of the
Hindu Kush to escape the summer heat, gradually mixing with the local, farsi speaking Muslim
populations and becoming what was later known as the Hazara. Lacking written histories,
Hazara oral traditions, when they do discuss their origins, do often connect them to the
Mongols; in one version, they were a rebellious people forcibly moved into the region by a
frustrated Chinggis Khan.
Our earliest definite mentions of a distinct Hazara people comes at the very start of the
sixteenth century in the memoirs of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. A descendant
of both Temur and Chinggis Khan, Babur was a prince from Ferghana during the fragmentation
of the Timurid Empire in the late fifteenth century, forced south to Kabul by Muhammad
Shaybani’s Uzbeks. In his memoirs, the Baburnama, he provides our first direct description of
the Hazara in the mountains west of Kabul.
In Babur’s memoirs the Hazara and Negudari often appear together, though he indicates
a distinction both between them, and from Mongols. The Hazara and Neguderis were rather
warlike, controlling mountain passes and attacking travellers. Babur recounts an episode where
a Hazara tribe had blocked a ford over a river, and Babur’s men forced them from it, then
attacking the Hazara camp and capturing hundreds of sheep and horses. At other times, they
are mentioned refusing to provide tribute, while some joined Babur’s forces as mercenaries.
The Hazara were thus a distinct entity by the early 1500s, described by Babur as semi-nomadic,
speaking ‘Moghuli,’ and continuing to practice horse archery. The region remained
under the Mughal empire’s influence for centuries, and the Hazara were an important
local military element for them. Their contribution was important to Mughal victory over an Uzbek
invasion in 1624.
That the Hazara came from various mixes of Iranians, Turk and Mongols explains why today
the Hazara tribes are so diverse. Great variation in dress, custom and even language exist over
the breadth of the Hazarajat. These differences can be seen even in tribal names. Some Hazara
tribe names have obvious Mongolian origin: one of the larger tribes is called the Beshudi,
easily traceable to the Mongolian tribe of the same name, to which Jebe Noyan belonged.
A substribe of the Beshudi is the Burgigui, which may perhaps come from Borjigon- the
clan of Chinggis Khan himself. Some like the Dai Chupan can be traced to a person, in this
case likely Choban, a powerful amir from the last years of the Ilkhanate, who gave his
name to one of its successor states, the Chobanids, and whose son, Husein, is known to have been
in the Hazarajat. Some are less obvious, such as the Zardalu, which comes from the Persian
word for … apricot.
The Mongolian origin theory is the most popular one, both in the west and among the Hazara.
It is not the only one, however. There are a few who argue that a distinct grouping called
Hazara have inhabited the region since the time of Alexander the Great. Actual evidence
for this is lacking, and unsupported by medieval sources or by genetics. The Hazara show significant
genetic distinction from Afghanistan’s Pashtuns and Tajiks, and genetic studies indicate a
relatively recent arrival to the region. Unsurprisingly,these studies show overlap with northeast Asian
populations -that is to say, Mongols.
With this brief introduction to their origins, let us look to the Hazara themselves. The
home of the Hazara is the Hazarajat, the western edge of the Hindu Kush, specifically the Koh-i
Baba. The precise borders of the Hazarajat have shifted, but have stretched from the
edges of Kabul towards Herat, the former capital of Shahrukh bin Temur. South it has reached
towards Qandahar, and in the north to Balkh. These mountains are closely tied to Hazara
identity, providing not just home, resources, arable valleys and fresh lakes, but protection
from outsiders. It is here that they live, mainly through agriculture but with some semi-nomads.
The five snouts of Mongol nomadism were still present among the Hazara: Sheep and goats,
as with the Mongols, were the most common herds, with small camels, horses and oxen,
though in much smaller numbers, especially since the end of the 19th century. The Hazara
speak a dialect of Farsi, Hazaragi, with about 10% of their words originating in Mongol with
notable Turkic influences.
Politically, the Hazaras have not based their leadership upon Chinggisid descent, unlike
other peoples who emerged after the Mongol conquests like the Kazakhs or Uzbeks. The
Hazara are also infamously politically disunited, most authors noting the historical tendency
for the Hazara to fight amongst themselves, as much as with outsiders. Until the end of
the 19th century, the Hazara lived autonomously, the begs, mirs, or sultans of the qaums the
political head of Hazara society, with great social and economic power. Even today, marriage
between Hazaras and non-Hazaras is rare, most marriages occurring within the same tol, and
rarely between Sunni and Shia Hazaras, or even Sixer and Twelver Shias. Similar to the
Mongols, on the husband’s death the wife would be married to his brother, and perhaps
in further carryover, women generally had greater freedoms, rights and voices than those
among the Pashtun.
Speaking of the Pashtun, we now cover a more tragic period in Hazara history. Westerners,
if they have heard of the Hazara, generally know them for two things: 1) Mongolian origins
and 2) oppression by the Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. Speakers of Pashto,
the Pashtun are nomadic, iranic tribes from the south and east of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Unlike the majority of Hazara, the Pashtun are Sunni Muslims. Precisely when the Hazara
became Shi’a Muslims is debated: Mousavi suggests a number may have converted to Shi’ism
in the first place, with further conversion encouraged in the period of the Safavid Shah
Abbas the Great (r.1589-1629). Mainly Twelver Shi’ites, other Shi’a sects are represented
among the Hazara, as are some Sunnis. There was not excessive conflict between Pashtun
and Hazaras before the late 1800s -though it certainly occurred. More common Hazara
foes were the Turkic Uzbeks in the north. While paying their taxes to the government
in Kabul, the Hazaras for most of the 19th century were left to govern themselves. This
changed with the ascension of Abdur Rahman as emir in Kabul in 1880. Uncompromising and
ruthless, Abdur Rahman wanted to clamp down on independent tribes within Afghanistan,
the Hazara in particular. Aside from the religious and physical distinction, they were among
the third largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan. United under one leader, they could threaten
Pashtun or even Sunni hegemony in the country.
At the start of the 1890s, Abdur imposed government control over the Hazarajat, but excessive
taxes, imprisonment of Hazara political and religious leaders, the cruelty of his local
governors and abuse of Hazara families led to large revolts in 1892 and 1893. These were
serious events, inflicting heavy losses on government forces, threatening Kabul and spreading
across the whole of the Hazarajat. But Abdur took advantage of disunity among the Hazara,
and with greater resources and British military advisers, declared jihad and defeated both
insurrections. Though the second uprising officially ended with negotiated settlements,
Abdur immediately reneged on the terms. Hazara leaders were imprisoned and exiled, heavy
taxes continued, thousands of Hazara men, women and children were sold into slavery,
and many more forced from their lands, turning their valuable arable land into grazing for
Pashtun nomads. Much of the Hazarajat was lost in this way, and many Hazara fled Afghanistan
altogether, to Iran and what is now Pakistan. Mousavi suggests over half of the Hazara population
was killed or displaced in this manner.
I prefer not to talk on modern politics on this channel. There are many people far more
knowledgeable on this than I you can find on Youtube; but we’ll give a brief note
on further events. The loss of so much of their lands, people and existing local industry
in the 1890s proved to be a significant blow the Hazara have struggled to recover from.
Abdur Rahman’s successors generally did not actively try to destroy the Hazara, though
over the 20th century the Hazarajat remained economically undeveloped, the government in
Kabul ignoring the infrastructure needs of the Hazara. Like the rest of Afghanistan’s
population, they suffered in the turmoil following the series of coups and the Soviet invasion
in the 1970s, even experiencing their own civil conflict in the 1980s. In the late 1990s,
the Hazara were targeted in their thousands by the Taliban; Bamiyan, a centre of Hazara
culture, once annihilated by Chinggis Khan, was once more a particular target. In addition
to the terrible slaughter in the region, it was there that the huge standing Buddha statues,
adopted into Hazara folklore, were destroyed in 2001. Built over 1,500 years ago, Chinggis
Khan himself likely looked upon them with a grudging respect. The Taliban also banned
Hazara festivals like the Persian New Year, cultural acts, and greatly restricted the
rights of Hazara women. The situation improved with the fall of the Taliban, and for the
first time Hazara had a real role in Afghanistan’s government, with Hazara top ministers and
even the Vice-President. The twenty-first century has brought greater access to education,
political rights and economic development for the Hazarajat, with their protection enshrined
in the new constitution and renewed opportunities for Hazara women, though it should not be
painted as a period of total prosperity. Everyday societal and institutional persecution is
ongoing- decried for being Shia Muslims, their ethnic origins, physical appearance and economic
status, the Hazara are subject to racism and difficulty accessing services in the still
isolated Hazarajat. Legislation like the Shi’a Personal Status Law [2009] have removed some
of the rights minority Shi’a women were granted in Afghanistan’s Constitution. Kidnappings
and disappearances on isolated roads -likely by the Taliban-are sadly common, and there
are concerns as to what will happen with the total withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Attacks by Taliban and groups attached to ISIS on the Hazara have continued and even
ramped up. The strength of Kabul’s current government without US backing is uncertain,
and in the face of renewed efforts by the Taliban, and we may, unfortunately, see a
resurgence in Taliban crimes against the Hazara and other minorities of Afghanistan.
I hope you have found this introduction to the Hazara origins and history educational.
Further videos on the Mongol Empire, their descendants, ancestors and more aspects will
come in future, so please subscribe for more. Thanks again to my friend Matt for his help
on this video, and be sure to check out Wolfstar, linked in the description!