Aimaq people

Aymāq
ایماق
Total population
650,000
Languages
Aimaq dialect of Persian
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Hazaras and Tajiks

The Aimaq (Persian: ایماق‎), also transliterated as Aimak and Aymaq, are a collection of Persian-speaking Nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes.[1] Aimaqs are found mostly in the West Central highlands of Afghanistan, immediately to the north of Herat, in Pakistan in the Kyber and Balochistan region 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 Taymani (the main element in the population of Ghor), the Firozkohi, the Jamshidi and the Temuri.[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-Mongolic word that means "tribe" or "grazing territory". Aimaq Hazara and Temuri are most Mongoloid of the Aimaqs. The Temuri and Aimaq Hazara live in yurts, whereas other Aimaqs live in traditional Afghan black tents.[6]

Aimaq tribes

Name Tribal kind Origin
Chagatai Aimaq-e digar Chagatai people of Chagatai Khanate
Changezi Aimaq-e digar named after Changez khan/Genghis Khan
Damanrigi Aimaq-e digar
Durzai Aimaq-e digar Pashtuns
Firozkohi Chahar Aimāq
Ghori Aimaq-e digar
Jamshidi Chahar Aimāq
Kakar Aimaq-e digar Pashtuns
Kakeri Aimaq-e digar
Khamidi Aimaq-e digar
Kipchak Aimaq-e digar Kipchaks
Maleki Aimaq-e digar
Mishmast Aimaq-e digar
Mobari Aimaq-e digar
Tahiri[7] Aimaq-e digar Arabs?
Taimuri/Temuri Chahar Aimāq Turkic and Mongol peoples
Taymani Chahar Aimāq
Zuri/Zohri Aimaq-e digar

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 Taymanis, Firozkohis, and Jamshidis are of Iranian origin.

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

  • Macgregor, Central Asia, (Calcutta, 1871)
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