Pashtunization Explained

Pashtunization (Pushto; Pashto: پښتون‌ جوړونه),^{[1] [2] [3]} is a process of cultural or linguistic change in which someone or something non-Pashtun becomes acculturated to Pashtun influence. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and second-largest in Pakistan.

Dynasties and settlements

See also: List of Pashtun empires and dynasties.

People become Pashtunized when they settle in Pashtun-dominated areas and adopt Pashtun culture and language. Pashtunization is a specific form of cultural assimilation and has been taking place in Pashtun-populated regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan for several centuries.

The Khalaj were originally a Turkic tribe which had long domiciled in the Ghazni, Qalati Ghilji (also known as Qalati Khalji), and Zabulistan regions of present-day Afghanistan. They intermarried with the local Pashtuns and gradually adopted the Pashtun culture. Najib Bakran's geography, Jahān Nāma (c. 12001220), described the Khalaj as a "tribe of Turks" that had been going through a language shift. Some of them left the area during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia towards the Indian subcontinent, where they built empires such as the Khalji dynasty of Delhi. Because of their language shift and Pashtunization, the Khalji were looked upon as Pashtuns (Afghans) by the Turkic nobles of the Delhi Sultanate.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

The Safi are also stated to be originally Dardic and spoke Pashayi language, who gradually Pashtunized around 16th century.^[9] Other pashtunized tribes include ^[10] Swati and Shilmani.

Pashtunization may also refer to the settling of Pashtun tribes onto lands where non-Pashtun tribes live^[11] or more broadly the erosion of the customs, traditions and language of non-Pashtun peoples due to the political power and regional influence of the Pashtuns.^[12] This occurred in the Peshawar sub-region in the early 16th century, during the period of the Suri dynasty of Delhi.^[13] It intensified in the mid-18th century under Pashtun emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani, when he conquered non-Pashtun territories and established the Durrani Empire.^[11] During the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan in the late 19th century, some Pashtuns settled in the north of the country, while Tajiks from the north were brought to the south. This was done for political reason, mainly to prevent Russian invasion. In the meantime, thousands of Hazaras left Hazarajat to settle in Quetta (now in Pakistan) and Mashad in what is now Iran, after Abdur Rahman Khan's depredations in the aftermath of 1888–1893 Uprisings of Hazaras.^[14]

Modern influences

Some Pashtunization attempts were later made in the early part of the 20th century by the Musahiban.^{[15] [16]} Many non-Pashtuns living in close proximity with Pashtuns have been Pashtunized.^[17] For example, in the central Ghor Province, some southern groups of Aimaqs have adopted Pashto language.^[18] In the eastern Laghman Province and Nangarhar Province, many Pashayi are bilingual in Pashto.^{[19] [20]} Following the Saur Revolution, the Khalqists attempted to undermine the status of Dari in a bid to make Pashto the interethnic language of Afghanistan and remove Dari as an official language.^[21] Before the overthrow of Mohammad Najibullah in 1992, Pashto made up more than 50% of media in Afghanistan.^[22] A Soviet GRU dossier described Najibullah as "A Pashtun nationalist, he is one of the motivating spirits of the policy of “Pashtunization” of Afghan society. Within his closest circle he speaks only in Pashto. He is inclined to select colleagues not for their professional qualities but for their personal devotion to him, predominantly relatives and fellow-villagers".^[23]

See also

• Afghan (ethnonym)
• Name of Afghanistan
• Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Afghanistanism
• Pashtun colonization of northern Afghanistan

External links

• Ethnicity and Tribe
• Language and Literacy

Notes and References

1. Book: Nayak, Pandav. Pakistan, society and politics. 1984. South Asian Publishers. University of Michigan. 189.
2. Book: Ahmed, Akbar S.. Pakistan Society: Islam, Ethnicity, and Leadership in South Asia. 1997. Oxford University Press. 978-0195778373. 108.
3. Book: Institute of Objective Studies (New Delhi, India). Journal of Objective Studies, Volume 1. 1989. Institute of Objective Studies. 39.
4. Book: History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. . Chaurasia. Radhey Shyam . 2002. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors . 81-269-0123-3. 28. 2010-08-23. The Khiljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, and adopted Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court.
5. Book: South Asia: a historical narrative . Yunus . Mohammad . Aradhana Parmar. 2003. . 0-19-579711-6. 97. 2010-08-23.
6. Book: World and Its Peoples: The Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa . Cavendish . Marshall . 2006. Marshall Cavendish . 0-7614-7571-0. 320. 2010-08-23.
7. Encyclopedia: Khalji Dynasty . . Encyclopædia Britannica Online . 2010-08-27.
8. Book: The Pearson General Studies Manual 2009, 1/e . Thorpe. Showick Thorpe Edgar . 2009. Pearson Education India . 978-81-317-2133-9. 63. 2010-08-23.
9. Web site: DARDESTĀN . Encyclopedia Irannica.
10. Web site: AFRĪDĪ . Encyclopaedia Iranica.
11. Book: Meri, Josef W. . Josef W. Meri . Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia . 2006 . Taylor & Francis . 0-415-96691-4. 713. Sedentarism.
12. Lansford, Tom (2003) A Bitter Harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants, England,, page 16: "The modern history of Afghanistan has witnessed a "Pashtunization" of the state as the customs, traditions and language of the Pashtuns have combined with the groups political power to erode the distinctive underpinnings of Afghanistan's other groups.^FN20". FN20 cites: US, Department of the Army, Afghanistan: A Country Study, 5th ed. reprint (Washington, DC.: GPO, 1985) page 108.
13. "the Pashtun conquest of the Peshawar subregion in the early sixteenth century meant the Pashtunization of the area", Arlinghaus, Joseph Theodore (1988) The Transformation of Afgham Tribal Society: Tribal Expansion, Mughal Imperialism and the Roshaniyya Insurrection, 1450-1600 Thesis/dissertation, Duke University, p.17, OCLC 18996657
14. O. Roy, Ethnic Identity and Political Expression in Northern Afghanistan, in Muslims in Central Asia: Expressions of Identity and Change, 1992, .
15. Book: The fragmentation of Afghanistan: state formation and collapse in the international system . Rubin . Barnett R.. Barnett Rubin. 2002. Yale University Press . 0-300-09519-8. 66. 2010-08-27.
16. Book: Post-Soviet Central Asia . Atabaki . Touraj . John O'Kane . 1998. Tauris Academic Studies in association with the International Institute of Asian Studies . 1-86064-327-2. 208. 2010-08-27.
17. Book: Afghanistan the People . Banting . Erinn . 2003. Crabtree Publishing Company . 0-7787-9336-2. 14. 2010-08-27.
18. Book: The Afghans. Vogelsang. Willem. Wiley-Blackwell. 2002. 0631198415. 18. 23 January 2012.
19. http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Ethnic_identity.html Pashai, Ethnic identity in Afghanistan, on nps.edu
20. Web site: Palaso. 9 March 2015 .
21. Ahady . Anwar-ul-Haq . 1995 . The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan . Asian Survey . 35 . 7 . 621–634 . 10.2307/2645419 . 2645419 . 0004-4687.
22. Ahady . Anwar-ul-Haq . 1995 . The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan . Asian Survey . 35 . 7 . 621–634 . 10.2307/2645419 . 2645419 . 0004-4687.
23. Woodrow Wilson Center Digital Archive. Nuclear Proliferation International History Project . 2024-02-24 . The SHAFR Guide Online. 10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim010030016 .