Afghan Qizilbash
Depiction of Afghan Qizilbash men by James Rattray, 1848
Regions with significant populations
Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, North Afghanistan
Languages
Dari
Religion
Twelver Shia Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Turkic peoples, especially Azerbaijanis

Afghan Qizilbash (Dari: قزلباش‌های افغان; Azerbaijani: Əfqanıstan qızılbaşları) are a Turkic ethnic group in Afghanistan. The Afghan Qizilbash are descendants of the Qizilbash, which were a militant group mostly made up of Turkomans.[1][2][3] Their language is Dari.[4][5][6] They follow Twelver Shia Islam.[5]

Structure

The Qizilbash were a confederation of 7 Turkic tribes (Shamlu, Rumlu, Ustajli, Tekali, Afshar, Qajar, Zulgadar, Baharlu) who wore red cloths on their heads, earning the name Qizilbash which meant "red head".[7][8]

Afghan Qizilbash belong to various tribes: Afshars, Javanshirs, Muradkhans,[7] as well as Bayat, Shahsevan, Ansarlu, and Shahagha.[5] The Javanshirs are originally from Shusha and constitute the bulk of the Afghan Qizilbash.[7] Afshari Bala neighborhood in Kabul, Nahagchi and Tepe villages between Kabul and Herat, are connected with the Afshars. Abshar and Abshara villages around Herat are also associated with the Afshars.[9] Qizilbash have a large number in the Chindawol neighborhood of Kabul where they live alongside Hazaras. Sources from the end of the 19th century mention that Qizilbash are spread around in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and Afghan Turkestan.[10]

In 1885, they were reported as having preserved their own Turkic language and also were bilingual in Persian.[7]

History

Some Qizilbash descend from the troops left behind the Safavids,[11] and by the Afsharids.[12][13] Others came to the country during the Durrani Empire.[14][15] Afghan Qizilbash held many important roles in the government in history.[16]

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone described the Afghan Qizilbash in Kabul in the early 19th century as "a colony of Turks," who spoke "Persian, and among themselves Turkish."[17] They were also described as "in fact Persianized Turks".[18]

The large and powerful roles of Qizilbash in the Afghan government caused dissatisfaction among the ruling Pashtun tribes, and it worsened worse after the Qizilbash sided with the British during the First Anglo-Afghan War.[19]

Among the Monarchy's personal servants and guards, Qizilbash predominated.[20] English traveler Alexander Byors noted that the Qizilbash were the personal guard of the Kings and were one of the leading forces of the state.[21]

Y. Gankovsky mentioned the presence of Nader Shah's close relatives and former Nawabs of Awadh in the highest posts of the Durrani Empire. The Nawabs of Awadh were descendants of the Qaraqoyunlu, related to the Qizilbash.[22][23] The younger brothers and children of Qizilbash officials formed the basis of the ruling court of Herat.[24]

The Nizam of Lahore was appointed in 1757 before Timur Shah Durrani became Shah. At that time, his army consisted of local Lahori Muslims as well as Qizilbash.[25]

The Qizilbash were considered the richest, most educated and most powerful people in Kabul at one point. They formed the basis of cavalry units and artillery troops. They were also found in some Indian irregular cavalry units. Among them were merchants, those engaged in petty trade, doctors, secretaries and other officials.[7]

As early as 1857, the Qizilbash managed to maintain their power and they headed a big faction in the government of Kabul.[26] According to Major Hastings, in the second half of the 19th century, the influence and power of the Qizilbash was still strong, but it decreased from the previous period.[10]

Later, the Qizilbash, being Shia Muslims, were subjected to the terror and oppression of Abdur Rahman Khan, who declared them and the Hazaras as "enemies of the state". Much later, the Afghan Qizilbash would also be victims of attacks by the Taliban. The Qizilbash lost most of their power during the rule of Abdur Rahman Khan and lost the rest during the Taliban period. However, it was still possible to see Qizilbash in high positions during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan which came after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Terry Glavin. Come from the Shadows: The Long and Lonely Struggle for Peace in Afghanistan. — Douglas & McIntyre, 2011. — С. 62
  2. ↑ Afghanistan Foreign Policy and Government Guide. — С. 172.
  3. ↑ Конституции государств Азии: в 3 т.. — Институт законодательства и сравнительного правоведения при Правительстве РФ: Норма, 2010. — Т. 2: Средняя Азия и Индостан. — С. 17. ISBN 978-5-91768-124-5, 978-5-91768-126-9.
  4. ↑ "КЫЗЫЛБА́ШИ". BigEnc.Ru. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  5. 1 2 3 "Qizilbash in Afghanistan". Joshua Project. Archived from the original on 2014-09-16. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  6. ↑ Rəsmi dövlət dilindən biri olması ilə əlaqədar bu dildən istifadə edirlər.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Edward Balfour. Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial, Industrial and Scientific: Products of the Mineral, Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures. — Vol.II, Third Edition. — 1885. — С. 190.
  8. ↑ "Afghanistan, Ethnic Groups". Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  9. ↑ Adnan Menderes Kaya. Avsar Turkmenleri. — 2004. — С. 242.
  10. 1 2 Howard Hensman. The Afghan War, 1879–1880. — С. 408
  11. ↑ Dupree, Louis (1980). U.S. Library of Congress, Country Studies: Afghanistan. Oxford University Press. pp. 331–332.
  12. ↑ 5. The Rise of Afghanistan, page 124 // Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War Against the Taliban. Author: Stephen Tanner. First published in 2002 by Da Capo Press; (revised edition) reprinted in 2009. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2009, 375 pages. ISBN 9780306818264
    The Qizilbash, or "Red Heads," were Turkic warriors-turned-Persian who had arrived in Afghanistan in numbers after Nadir Shah's and other Persian debacles.
  13. ↑ The Dictionary. — N. — Nadir Shah Afshar, page 305 – 306. // Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Fourth edition. Author: Ludwig W. Adamec. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2012, XCV+569 pages. ISBN 9780810878150
    Some of Nadir's Qizilbash soldiers settled in Afghanistan where their descendants had successful careers in the army (until the end of Dost Muhammad's rule), government, the trades, and crafts.
  14. ↑ Noelle-Karimi, Christine (1995). The Interaction Between State and Tribe in Nineteenth-century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863). University of California, Berkeley.
  15. ↑ Noelle, Christine (2012-06-25). State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-60317-4. According to Husaini, the "gholam Khana" furnished 15,000 out of Shah Zaman's total cavalry of 100,000 and consisted mostly of Qizilbash. Burnes reports that the Qizilbash retained a great degree of their autonomous organization and only pledged direct allegiance to their individual khans, who were in turn answerable to the king. This statement is borne out by the fact that the command of the entire bodyguard rested with the Qizilbash leader Mahmud Khan Bayat during 'Timur Shah's time. Up to Shah Zaman's reign the Khorasani contingents were listed according to tribal allegiance.
  16. ↑ Social Structure. — Ethnic Groups, page 104. // Afghanistan: A Country Study. Editors: Richard F. Nyrop, Donald M. Seekins. Baton Rouge: Claitor's Law Books and Publishing Division, 2001, 226 pages. ISBN 9781579807443
    In 1996, approximately 40 percent of Afghans were Pashtun, 11.4 of whom are of the Durrani tribal group and 13.8 percent of the Ghilzai group. Tajiks make up the second-largest ethnic group with 25.3 percent of the population, followed by Hazaras, 18 percent; Uzbeks, 6.3 percent; Turkmen, 2.5 percent; Qizilbash, 1.0; 6.9 percent other. The usual caveat regarding statistics is particularly appropriate here.
  17. ↑ Mountstuart Elphinstone, An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, pp. 320–321
  18. ↑ Henry Yule, "Hobson-Jobson", London, 1886, p. 380
  19. ↑ U.S. Library of Congress, "Afghanistan: The society and its environment", index s.v. Qizilbash, (Link)
  20. ↑ Mountstuart Elphinstone. Vol.II // An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, and Its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India. — 1839. — С. 325.
  21. ↑ Alexander Burnes. Volume I // Travels into Bukhara. — С. 156–157.
  22. ↑ Ю. В. Ганковский. Дурранийская империя. Очерки административной и военной системы. — М.: Издательство восточной литературы, 1958. — С. 51—55. — 173 с.
  23. ↑ "AVADH". Archived from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  24. ↑ Ю. В. Ганковский. Дурранийская империя. Очерки административной и военной системы. — М.: Издательство восточной литературы, 1958. — С. 78. — 173 с.
  25. ↑ Ю. В. Ганковский. Дурранийская империя. Очерки административной и военной системы. — М.: Издательство восточной литературы, 1958. — С. 132. — 173 с.
  26. ↑ Journal of a political mission to Afghanistan in 1857. — С. 16–17.
  27. ↑ Terry Glavin. Come from the Shadows: The Long and Lonely Struggle for Peace in Afghanistan. — С. 62.
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