Tajik

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People of Central Asia; the original Iranian population of Afghanistan and historic Turkistan.

The Tajiks are Muslim people of Central Asia living in the countries of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Their population is thought to be about 10 million, with more living outside of Tajikistan than within. About 3.5 million live in Afghanistan. Although their history is not well known, Tajiks are thought to be the original inhabitants of Central Asia, perhaps the direct descendants of the ancient Aryans. Their language, Tajiki, is a dialect of Persian.

Tajiks in Afghanistan live primarily in the northern and western provinces, where they are mainly settled farmers and landowners. Most Tajiks in Afghanistan, like most Afghans, identify with their local village or valley and are not always aware of their ethnic name. In fact, Tajik is sometimes used to describe any Persian speaker in Central Asia, whether or not the people themselves so identify.

In Afghanistan the Tajiks played an important role in the civil war of the 1980s and 1990s, especially those in the Panjsher Valley. The famous Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Masoud was a Panjsher Tajik.

Although historically the Tajiks have not played an important role in the governance of Afghanistan, their position changed after 11 September 2001. The Northern Alliance, which had strong Tajik leadership, took control of Afghanistan in November 2001. Tajiks occupied a number of key Afghan ministries in the government of Hamid Karzai, including foreign affairs and defense. They have continued to play a dominant role in the Karzai government.

Bibliography

Ewans, Martin. Afghanistan: A New History. London: Curzon Press, 2001.

— GRANT FARR

IN BRIEF: n. - The Iranian language of a group of people that is closely related to Farsi; An ethnic group (mostly Moslem) living in Tajikistan and neighboring areas of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and China;

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