The Uruzgani ( fa, اروزگانی) are one of the major
tribes
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...
of
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 ...
. They mainly inhabit the
Uruzgan Province
Uruzgan (Dari), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot serves as t ...
and the present-day
Daykundi Province
Daykundi ( prs, دایکندی) also spelled as Daikundi, Daykondi, Daikondi or Dai Kundi, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of about 516,504, and is a Hazara Pro ...
. A 1965 work describes them as "sedentary agriculturalists... speak
ng Hazaraghi."
[Arnold Fletcher. ''Afghanistan, highway of conquest''. Cornell University Press, 1965.]
History
The
Battle of Uruzgan was fought between Hazaras and Afghans there in 1893. Thereafter, on Hazara's defeat, the Uruzganis were uprooted from Uruzgan by
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...
and Afghan tribes were resettled in Uruzgan. They mostly migrated to Iran and British India (
Quetta
Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...
). In 1900,
Habibullah Khan
Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901 ...
granted amnesty to Hazaras and asked them to return. Some returning Uruzganis were then resettled in
Turkestan
Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang.
Overview
Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...
and
Balkh but were not allowed to return to Uruzgan.
Legacy
Today all the district names in Uruzgan bears the testimony that this was a Hazara land.
Tarinkot
Tarīnkōṭ ( prs, ترين کوت), also spelled as Tarin Kowt, is the capital of Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan in the Tarinkot District. Tarinkot city has a population of 71,604 (2015), with some 200 small shops in the city's bazaa ...
, Chore, Zuli,
khas Uruzgan are all Hazara words and are some of the original Uruzgani tribes.
Dai Chopan is also a sub tribe of Uruzganis and the district with the
same name is in
Zabul province
Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Za ...
. Daichopan are the descendants of Amir Chopan, a Hazara chieftain and whose grave is at
Grishk
Grishk ( ps, ګرِشک, translit=Grishk; fa, گِرِشک, translit=Gereshk), also spelled Gereshk, is a town in Grishk District of Helmand province, geographically located along the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some northwest of Kandahar, a ...
,
Helamand province. Hazaras are emotionally attached to Uruzgan, because of the
battle of Uruzgan. Even today it is on the agenda of all the Hazaras and Hazara political entities that the question of Uruzgan has to be settled.
Notable people
*
Sarwar Danish
Muhammad Sarwar Danish ( prs, ; born 1961) is an Afghan politician who was the second vice president of Afghanistan, from 2014 to 2021. He was previously the acting minister of justice from 2004 to 2010 and acting minister of higher education f ...
*
Qurban Ali Urozgani
*
Azra Jafari
Azra Jafari ( fa, عذرا جعفری) is an Afghanistani politician and women rights advocate who became the first female mayor in Afghanistan appointed by President Hamid Karzai in December 2008. She became the mayor of Nili, a town in Daykundi ...
*
Dawood Sarkhosh
*
Hussain Sadiqi
See also
*
List of Hazara tribes
*
Daikundi (Hazara tribe)
References
{{authority control
Hazara people
Ethnic groups in Urozgan Province
Hazara tribes