Farsiwan

Fārsīwān (Persian: فارسیوان; or its regional forms: Pārsīwān or Pārsībān;^[1] "Persian-speaker") is a designation for Persian-speakers in Afghanistan. Although the term was originally coined with Persian language's lexical root (Pārsībān), the suffix has been transformed into a Pashto form (-wān), and is usually utilized by the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan to designate the Persian-speakers.^{[citation needed]}

More specifically, it is used to refer to a distinct group of farmers^[2][3][4][5] and urban dwellers who are a subgroup within the Tajik population of Afghanistan.^[1][6] The term excludes the Hazāra and Aymāq tribes who also speak dialects of Persian, but are generally believed to be distinct from the Tajiks.^[7] In Afghanistan, the Farsiwan are found predominantly in Herat and Farah provinces. Locally, they are also known as Fārsī (or Pārsī; literally meaning "Persian")^[8] and are roughly the same as the Persians of Eastern Iran.^[9]

Distinction from other Tajiks

Like the Persians of Iran, the Farsiwan are often distinguished from other Tajiks by their adherence to Shia Islam as opposed to the Sunni sect favored by the majority of Tajiks. However, there are also minor linguistic differences especially among the rural Farsiwan. The Farsiwan sometimes speak a dialect more akin to the Darī dialects of the Persian language, for example the dialect of Kabul,^[10][11] as opposed to the standard Tehrānī dialect of Iran. However, most of the Fārsīwān speak the Khorasani dialect, native to the Afghanistan-Iran border region, namely Herāt and Farāh, as well as the Iranian provinces of Khorasan. Unlike the Hazara who are also Persian-speaking and Shia, the Farsiwan do not show any, or very limited traces of Turkic and Mongol ancestry as they are, like the Pashtuns, of Mediterranean substock.^[12] Although the Kizilbash of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (who are descendants of Persian military and administrative forces brought in to control these areas by the Safavid, Mughal, Afsharid and Durrani dynasties) are also Persian-speaking Shias, they are usually regarded as a separate group from the Farsiwan.^[13]

Some confusion arises because an alternative name used locally for the Fārsīwān (as well as for the Tājiks in general) is Dehgān, meaning "village settlers", in the sense of "urban". The term is used in contrast to "nomadic".^[14]

Geographic distribution

There are approximately 600,000 (est. 1982)^[3][15][16] Farsiwans in Afghanistan, mainly in the provinces of Herat, Farah^[16] and Ghor as well as in other southern and western towns such as Kandahar and Ghazni.^[14][15] They are also the main inhabitants of the city of Herāt^[17] and are found in large numbers in Kabul.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Tajiks
• Persian people
• Persian language
• Persian-speakers of Afghanistan
• Demography of Afghanistan

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Encyc. Iranica makes clear in the article on Afghanistan - Ethnography that "The term Farsiwan also has the regional forms Parsiwan and Parsiban. In religion they are Imamite Shiite. In the literature they are often mistakenly referred to as Tajik." Dupree, , Louis (1982) "Afghanistan: (iv.) Ethnography", in Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
2. ^ Maloney, Clarence (1978) Language and Civilization Change in South Asia E.J. Brill, Leiden, ISBN 90-04-05741-2, on page 131
3. ^ ^{a b} Hanifi, Mohammed Jamil (1976) Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Afghanistan Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J., ISBN 0-8108-0892-7, on page 36
4. ^ "Afghanistan: Historical political overview" FMO Research Guide
5. ^ Robson, Barbara and Lipson, Juliene (2002) "Chapter 5(B)- The People: The Tajiks and Other Dari-Speaking Groups" The Afghans - their history and culture Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C., OCLC 56081073
6. ^ Emadi, Hafizullah (2005) Culture And Customs Of Afghanistan Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., ISBN 0-313-33089-1, on page 11 says: "Farsiwan are a small group of people who reside in southern and western towns and villages in Herat. They are sometimes erroneously referred to as Tajiks."
7. ^ M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, and R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 
8. ^ Robert E. Ebel, Rajan Menon: Energy and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (November 28, 2000). ISBN 0742500632; p. 206: "... The Tajiks and other Persian-speakers who are concentrated in Herat and are called Farsiwan or Persians and the Qizilbash constitute 35 percent of the population ..."
9. ^ H. F. Schurmann, The Mongols of Afghanistan: an Ethnography of the Moghols and Related Peoples of Afghanistan. The Hague: Mouton, 1962: [1]; p. 75: "... the Tajiks of Western Afghanistan [are] roughly the same as the Khûrâsânî Persians on the other side of the line ..."
10. ^ Ch. M. Kieffer, "Afghanistan v. - Languages of Afghanistan", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, printed version, p. 507: "[...] 'Dari' is a term long recommended by Afghan authorities to designate Afghan Persian in contrast to Iranian Persian; a written language common to all educated Afghanis, Dari must not be confused with Kaboli, the dialect of Kabul [...] that is more or less understood by more than 80% of the non-Persian speaking population [...]"
11. ^ E. H. Glassman, “Conversational Dari: An Introductory Course in Dari (= Farsi = Persian) as Spoken in Afghanistan” (revised edition of “Conversational Kabuli Dari,” with the assistance of M. Taher Porjosh), Kabul (The Language and Orientation Committee, International Afghan Mission, P.O. Box 625), 1970-72.
12. ^ Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan - Farsiwan (LINK)
13. ^ Savory, Roger M. (1965) "The consolidation of Safawid power in Persia" In Savory, Roger M. (1987) Studies on the History of Ṣafawid Iran Variorum Reprints, London, ISBN 0-86078-204-2, originally published in Der Islam no. 41 (October 1965) pp. 71-94
14. ^ ^{a b} M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition
15. ^ ^{a b} L. Dupree, "Afghanistan: (iv.) Ethnography", in Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition 2006
16. ^ ^{a b} Adamec, Ludwig W. (1997) Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, ISBN 0-585-21026-8, on page 106
17. ^ P. English, "Cities In The Middle East", e.d. L. Brown, Princeton University, USA 1973