Hazara nationalism is a movement that claims the

Hazara people The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scatt ...

, an ethnic group native to the

Hazaristan Hazaristan ( fa, هزارستان, Hazāristān), or Hazarajat ( fa, هزاره‌جات, Hazārajāt) is a mostly mountainous region in the central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Koh-i-Baba mountains in the western extremities of the H ...

region of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, are a distinct nation and deserve a nation-state of their own. The movement propagates the view that Muslims are not a nation and that ethnic loyalty must surpass religious loyalty, though this view has been challenged by both the 1890s independence uprisings of Hazaristan and the systematic discrimination many Hazaras have historically faced within Afghanistan.

Hazara ethnicity and nationalism

Hazara nationalism stems from lingual and ancestral roots in the

region in the modern-day central Afghanistan. The movement claims to receive considerable support from the Hazara diaspora in Australia,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Sweden,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and other countries. Successive

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

-dominated Afghan governments have repeatedly made claims that the Hazara nationalists have received funding from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, despite the fact that the Hazara nationalists are against the Iranian regime, and have criticized the theocratic regime on many occasions for discrimination against the Hazara people in Iran. According to them, these accusations are the usual propaganda tactic that the Pashtun-dominated governments use against the Hazara people.

Modern Hazara nationalism

Hazara nationalism in its modern form began in the form of the 1888–1893 Hazara uprisings and 1890s (Organisation for Unity of the Hazara) based in

, led by Hazara elders and allies. The aim of the group was to establish political and constitutional reform in the Hazaristan region; and an end to the military despotism of

Abdur Rahman Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...

of the

Barakzai dynasty The two branches of the Barakzai dynasty (, "sons of Barak") ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1973 when the monarchy ended under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Dur ...

for the eventual unification of all Hazara lands into an independent state.''Hazara Nationalism: Its Origin and Development'',

Abdul Ali Mazari ) , image = Abdul Ali Mazari.jpeg , caption = , office1 = Leader of Hezbe Wahdat , primeminister1= , term_start1 = 1989 , term_end1 = 13 March 1995 , predecessor1 = , successor1 = , office2 = , pri ...

1933 In 1985, simultaneously with the formation of the

Hezbe Wahdat Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan ( prs, حزب وحدت اسلامی افغانستان, "the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan"), shortened to Hezbe Wahdat (, "the Unity Party"), is an Afghan political party founded in 1989. Like most contem ...

, Hazara intellectuals in Mazare Sharif, formed a nationalist organisation, called the Hazara Unity. There was a revival of Hazara nationalism after the Balkhab uprising, led by

Mehdi Mujahid Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid (; 1988 – 17 August 2022) was an ethnic Hazara rebel from Afghanistan who led around 200 Hazara fighters during the Balkhab uprising. He was a Taliban commander before rebelling against the Taliban until he was killed ...

in 2022. In his own words, Mehdi left the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

and began rebelling as a result of persecution of Shia Muslims and Hazaras.

Hazara nationalists

* Mir Yazdanbakhsh * Ibrahim Gawsawar * General Musa Khan *

Sultan Ali Keshtmand Sultan Ali Keshtmand ( fa, سلطان‌علی کشتمند; born May 22, 1935, in Kabul), sometimes transliterated Kishtmand, was an Afghan politician. He served twice as Chairman of the Council of Ministers during the 1980s, from 1981 to 1988 a ...

Sarwar Sarkhosh Sarwar Sarkhosh ( Dari-Persian: ) was a singer and one of the Hazara nationalists in Afghanistan. He is the elder brother of Dawood Sarkhosh, a famous singer of the Hazara people. Early life Sarwar Sarkhosh was born in 1942, in Urozgan Pr ...

* Dawood Sarkhosh * Aziz Royesh * Daoud Naji *

Abbas Noyan Abbas Noyan ( prs, عباس نویان) is an ethnic Hazara politician. He is Afghanistan's ambassador to Sweden, from the Islamic Republic that fell in August 2021 to the Taliban. Previously he served as a Member of Parliament to Wolesi Jirga, ...

* Ahmad Behzad

References

{{Stateless nationalism in Asia Hazara history Hazaragi culture Nationalism in Afghanistan Nationalisms Nationalist movements in Asia