Aimaq people

Aymāq
Total population
(650,000)
Languages
Aimaq dialect of Persian
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Hazaras

The Aimaq (Persian: ایماق‎‎), also transliterated as Aimak or Aymaq, are a collection of Persian-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes.[1] Aimaqs are found mostly throughout Pakistan in the Kyber and Balochistan region and in the West Central highlands of Afghanistan, immediately to the north of Herat, and also to a much lesser amount in the Khorasan Province of Iran.[2] They speak a number of subdialects of the Aimaq dialect of Persian, however some southern groups of Taymani and Maleki Aymaqs have adopted Pashto.[3]

Aimaks were originally known as chahar ("four") Aymaqs: the Taimani (the main element in the population of Ghor), the Firozkohi, the Temuri, and the Jamshidi.[4] Other sources state that the Aimaq Hazara are one of the Chahar, with the Temuri instead being of the "lesser Aimaqs" or Aimaq-e digar[5] ("other Aimaqs") along with the Tahiri, Zuri, Maleki, and Mishmast.

Origin and classification

Aymāq is a Turkic and Mongolic word that means "tribe" or "grazing territory". Aimaq Hazara and Taimuri are most Mongoloid of the Aimaqs. The Temuri and Aimaq Hazaras live in yurts, whereas other Aimaqs live in traditional Afghan black tents.[6]

Name Origin
Chagatai Chagatai Khanate
Chenghizi named after Genghis
Damanrigi
Durzai Pashtuns
Ghuri
Kakar Pashtuns
Kakeri
Khamidi
Kipchak Kipchak
Maleki
Mishmast
Mobari
Tahiri[7] Arabs
Zuri

Demographics

CIA map showing the territory of the settlement of ethnic groups and subgroups in Afghanistan (2005)

Estimates of the Aimaq population vary between 250,000 and 500,000. They are largely Sunni Muslims, in contrast to the Hazara, who are mostly Shia Muslims. The Temuri Aimaqs are of Mongolian origin, apparent in their physical appearance and their housing (Mongolian-style yurts).[8] However, the Taimanis, Ferozkohis, and Jamshidis are of Iranian origin, and refer to themselves as Tajik; the majority of the Aimaqs in Afghanistan are of these latter three sub-groups.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tom Lansford -A bitter harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan 2003 Page 25 "The term Aimaq means "tribe" but the Aimaq people actually include several different ethnic groups. The classification has come to be used for a variety of nonaligned nomadic tribes"
  2. ↑ Janata, A. "AYMĀQ". In Ehsan Yarshater. Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). United States: Columbia University.
  3. ↑ Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0631198415. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aimak". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 439.
  5. ↑ Willem Vogelsang (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 37–. ISBN 9780631198413. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  6. ↑ http://www.tribalanalysiscenter.com/PDF-External/Hazara%20Baluchistan.pdf A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HAZARA TRIBE IN BALUCHISTAN (AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE)
  7. ↑ ar:طاهريون
  8. ↑ "Afghanistan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.

Further reading

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