|states=
Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Tajikistan Uzbekistan
|speakers=over 2.2 Million People
|region=
central Asia
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=
Indo-Iranian
|fam3=
Iranian
|fam4=
Western Iranian
|fam5=
Southwestern Iranian
|fam6=
Persian
|iso2 =ira |iso3=haz}}
Hazaragi ( - Hazāragī) is a language related to Persian spoken by the Hazara people of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The primary differences between Standard Persian and Hazaragi are the accent and a smaller borrowing of Altaic vocabulary.
Classification
Hazaragi is classified as Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Persian, Hazaragi Language.
History
Hazaragi is spoken by
Hazara People who mainly dwell in
Hazarajat (Central
Afghanistan),
Pakistanand
Iran and partially in
America,
Europe and
Australia. A
Persian dialect (now known as Hazaragi) started emerging amongst the people of
Hazarajat (Central
Afghanistan) in late eighteenth century. Hazaragi (recognized as a language by
enthologue) is a dialect of
Persian, borrowing many
Mongolianand
Turkic words. it is a member of the
Iranian (Indo-Iranian) branch of the Indo-European family and is closely related to
Dari (itself considered either a dialect of Persian or a separate language; it is an official language of
Afghanistan). Hazaragi has a significant number of Turkic and some Mongolian loanwords, in particular, Hazaragi in the Daykundi regions has a significant admixture of
Altaic influence in the language.
The people of
Hazarajat (known as Hazara) spoke
Mongolian till late eighteenth century. During the time of King Baber (Babur) Hazaras spoke the language (
Mongolian) inherited to them by their
Mongolian ancestors. It is not certain when
Mongolian died out as a living language in the
Hazarajat.
Dulling states that, “they ceased to be
Mongol speakers by the end of eighteenth century at the latest, and were then speaking
Tajik of a sort”.
According to Ethnologue the number of people speaking Hazaragi is over 2.2 million people.
The Demise of Mongolian and Emergence of Hazaragi amongst the Hazara People
There seems to be two main reasons that caused the demise of
Mongolian language and emergence of Hazaragi amongst the people of
Hazarajat (Central Afghanistan). The first was the civilization of
Persia, their knowledge, art and culture which strongly affected the people living in the mountains of central
Afghanistan. The second major reason was the religion of
Islam and the role of
Persian language in
Islam. The
Persian language has always been a part of religion of
Islam since the emergence of
Islam itself.
The Civilization, Art and Culture of Persia
History has witnessed that
Persian Language extended and spread out of the boundaries of
Iran and supplanted the language of
Mongols. After the
Mongol assault in
Iran and slaughter of the learned men, some of them fled and went out to Greater Khurasan (current
Afghanistan), of whom a large number also took refuge in sub-continent (current
India and
Pakistan). It is said that the “Soofis” both Iranian and non-Iranian left indelible memories in the propagation of
Persian language. A large number of men of letters and learning impressed their influences wherever they went and left brilliant traces and memories.
To name a few:
*Urfi, author of “Taskira-e-Lubab Al Albab”
Minhaj-i-Siraj, author of “Tabaqat-e-Nasiri”
Abul Hasan Ali Bin Usman Hijveri, writer of “Kashf-at-Mehjoob” 435 A.H
Khuwaja Moinuddin Chishti (d. 633 A.H)
Shaikh Bahauddin Zakeria Multani
On the other hand, the second generation of Mongolians, in order to take a strong foothold in Persian speaking country, of necessity took to the Persian culture and learnt the Persian language. The linking and love of Iranian culture and language so enamored the Mongol rulers that they themselves, became the best proponents of the Iranian culture and language
History has left a record of deep interest in and patronage of Iranian men of art and learning. The great Moghal Kings such as King Akbar, King Shah Jahan, and King Jahangir whose courts attracted many Iranian poets and men of learning.
It is a fact of history that when Nadir Shah Afshar conquered Kandahar in 1150 A.H, in order to propagate the Persian language in Afghanistan, he planted settlements from Iran and moved a number of people from Afghanistan, Whom he settled by grants of land in the middle of Iran. The Qizilbash People are from these new settlers.
The Persian Language and Islam
One of the reasons behind the demise of
Mongolian language was the religion of
Islam. The
Persian language became so much part of the religion of
Islam that it almost went wherever Islam took roots. Persian entered, in this way, into the very faith and thought of the people embracing
Islam throughout the continent. As the famous Turkish saying “ KIM KI OKUR FARSI – VARIR DININ YARISI” meaning “he who learns Persian, grabs half of the faith”.
In spite of the depredations of King Taimoor, Taimoor was brought up according to the Iranian culture and patronized the learned to such an extent that Samrqand and Herat became seats of Iranian learning.
Similarly the Ilkhanate Mongols (One main tribe of the ancestors of Hazara) rulers became so involved with Persian that after Iskan Khan, when Mongols went to the mountains of present Hazarajat (Central Afghanistan) they took the language of Persia with them along with the religion of Islam with Shia faith..
It is a fact that there do exist some Hazaras , mainly in Karez and Kundur between Maimana and Herat (Afghanistan) who still speak the Mongolian language that other Hazaras don’t understand.
The Existence of Mongolian and Turkic in Hazaragi
Hazaragi borrows many
Mongolian and
Turkic words. In the course of history the
Mongolian language has died out as living language amongst the
Hazara people.
Persian language has had a strong impression on the people of
Hazarajat (Central
Afghanistan) due to religion and Iranian learning and culture. The very first known language of
Hazara people, inherited by the
Mongolians is being supplanted by the ambience the speakers are living in. Such as
Afghanistan: where the Hazaragi speakers are adding more and more
Dari (Afghan Persian) to their language, where in
Pakistan the
Hazara people are adding more
Urdu and
English words in Hazaragi. A number of
Hazara people are dwelling in
America,
Europe and
Australia where they are adapting the language culture of their respective countries.It is a fact that time affects the language strongly and this has happened to the language of
Hazara people. Once
Mongolian speakers now speak a dialect of
Persian borrowing
Mongolian and
Turkic words.
Dulling says in his book “Grammatically the Mongolian was probably fairly pure, it contained a certain amount of original language, Persian and its substratum. It would seem, too, that because the long period that separated the initial and final Mongol settlements, the Mongol language itself was not homogenous, containing as it did not only middle Mongol but also modern Mongol elements.”
The existence of Mongolian and Turkic languages is verified in the book "Hayate Afghan" by the writer “It seems difficult to classify the language spoken by them (Hazara People) as it is an amalgam of various dialects. From the Persian spoken by them (Hazara people) it cannot be ascertained definitely as to what QAUM (Race, people) they belong to. Their language resembles to that of Zabulis. Baber in his memoirs has sometimes written that they are Mongols and Mongolian words are in their language; and at another place he (Baber) calls them Hazara Turkomans, Turkish words are also found in their language. If they are Turks, why is there such a profusion of Mongolian in their language? Considering that their neighbor in the north are Turks of Turkestan and in the south, there are Pashto dialects. It is strange that the people in between have a Persian language of their own.” At the end the author of the book concludes that because of their connection in the Government in Zabul their language underwent a change into a dialect of Persian spoken by the Zabulis, their own Mongolian ceased to exist owing the passage of time.
In regard to the present day language (Hazaragi) of Hazara People, the Encyclopedia Britannica states: “The eastern Hazaras speak a peculiar kind of Persian which has many Mongol and Turkic words.”
Development
The history of the language of the Hazara people has been an issue of some debate. While some scholars believe that the Hazara originally spoke a
Mongolian language during the time of the Mongol king
Babur, who came to
Afghanistan in the 16th century, many well established scholars like Bacon and Schumann believe that the original language of
Hazaras was Dari Persian from the beginning. Dulling wrote that the language of
Hazaras was a mixed of
Persian and
Hindi in which Persian took over
Hindi in the Middle Ages. Though the early development of Hazara is debated, western travelers in the 18th and 19th century observed the Hazara speaking a language similar to Hazaragi.
Geographic distribution
Hazaragi is spoken by the
Hazara people of central
Afghanistan as well as by a large refugee population and Hazara citizen found in northeastern
Iran city of
Mashad and in parts of
Pakistan, such as
Quetta.
In recent years a substantial population of Hazara refugees have settled in Australia, prompting the department of immigration and citizenship to moves towards an official recognition of Hazaragi language. Currently NAATI (national accreditation authority for translators and interpreters) hold interpreting tests for Hazaragi language, giving it the same level of significance as that of Dari and Pashto.
See also
Hazara people
Persian language
External links
Map of the Hazaragi language in Afghanistan
References
Category:Persian dialects of Afghanistan
Category:Languages of Iran
Category:Languages of Tajikistan
Category:Languages of Pakistan
Category:Languages of Balochistan (Pakistan)
Category:Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Category:Persian dialects and varieties
Category:Southwestern Iranian languages
