Nasim Fekrat

In central part of Afghanistan, mainly in high lands, you could find people who are facially very close to people in Mongolia. These type people in Afghanistan are called Hazara, according to scholars the term was first used by Mongol military unite of 1,000. Scholars still have debate that how the word Hazara was chosen for a 1,000 unite by Genghis Khan who had never spoken in Farsi/Dari. The word “Hazara” means “thousand” and it’s derived from “Hazar.” According to Afghan historians and some outside resources, Hazaras have been living even before the Mongol invasion in 13th century. Some of them also refer to some historical facts like the Buddha statues in Bamiyan which were blown up by the Taliban in March 2001. Some Afghan historians say that because of some archaic Mongol words used in Hazaragi (a form of Farsi/Dari dialect) some Hazaras may have been Genghis Khan’s soldiers. Historians also add that in any case once Hazaras have been the rulers of Afghanistan. Anyhow, this article on the National Geographic gives a brief and informative definition of Hazara in Afghanistan. About the picture: I took this picture in the winter of 2008, in Daikundi province while a friend and I were making a documentary.  Click Image to Enlarge.