Pashtunization (
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.
"In the eighth and ninth centuries, ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area (partly to obtain better grazing land) and began to assimilate much of the culture and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there."[6]
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. 1200–1220), 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.[7][8][9][10][11]
Pashtunization may also refer to the
settling of Pashtun tribes onto lands where non-Pashtun tribes live[14] 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.[15] This occurred in the
Peshawar sub-region in the early 16th century, during the period of the Suri dynasty of Delhi.[16] It intensified in the mid-18th century under Pashtun emperor
Ahmad Shah Durrani, when he conquered non-Pashtun territories and established the
Durrani Empire.[14] 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.[17]
Modern influences
Some Pashtunization attempts were later made in the early part of the 20th century by the
Musahiban.[18][19] Many non-Pashtuns living in close proximity with Pashtuns have been Pashtunized.[5] For example, in the central
Ghor Province, some southern groups of
Aimaqs have adopted Pashto language.[20] In the eastern
Laghman Province and
Nangarhar Province, many
Pashayi are bilingual in Pashto.[21][22] 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.[23] Before the overthrow of
Mohammad Najibullah in 1992, Pashto made up more then 50% of media in Afghanistan.[24] A
SovietGRU 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".[25]
^Lansford, Tom (2003) A Bitter Harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants, England,
ISBN0-7546-3615-1, 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.
^"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
^O. Roy, Ethnic Identity and Political Expression in Northern Afghanistan, in Muslims in Central Asia: Expressions of Identity and Change, 1992,
ISBN0-8223-1190-9.
^Atabaki, Touraj; John O'Kane (1998).
Post-Soviet Central Asia. Tauris Academic Studies in association with the International Institute of Asian Studies. p. 208.
ISBN1-86064-327-2. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
^Vogelsang, Willem (2002).
The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18.
ISBN0631198415. Retrieved 23 January 2012.