Hazara Flag

The Day is not to Far

Hazara live

The Hazara ethnic group resides mainly in the central Afghanistan mountain region called 'Hazarajat'. They make up anywhere between 20-35% of Afghanistan's population, but an accurate census has not been taken in decades so there is little information to verify at present. There are also significant populations of Hazaras in Pakistan and Iran.

History and origins 

Historically, the Hazara seem to have mainly Mongoloid origins with some Caucasoid admixture, as evidenced by physical attributes and parts of the culture and language. It is commonly believed that the Hazara are descendants of Genghis Khan's army, which marched into the area during the 12th century. Proponents of this view hold that many of the Mongol soldiers and their families settled in the area and remained there after the Mongol empire dissolved in the 13th century, converting to Islam and adopting local customs.

However, this theory is contested on the basis of historical events surrounding Genghis Khan's invasion of what today constitutes Central Afghanistan. The invading Mongol armies encountered fierce resistance from the locals around Bamiyan, who had Asian features like the invading Mongols. This suggests that people with Mongoloid features inhabited Central Afghanistan, possibly of Uighur Turkic origin, long before Genghis Khan's invasion and probably arrived there in much earlier waves of migration out of Central Asia.

Historical records also mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson Motochin was killed. He ordered Bamiyan burnt to the ground in retribution, renaming it Ma-Obaliq ("Uninhabitable Abode").

After the fall of the Il-Khan empire in Persia, the Safavid Shah Abbas drove out the 'Infidel Mongols' from Persia to Khorasan (present day Afghanistan). Some sources say he drove out the Uzbeks but the distinction is unclear. Around the year ad 1550, the first mention of 'Hazaras' are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas, as well as in the Baburnama distinguishing Hazaras from the Chughtai Uzbeks. This is when the national identity of Hazaras apparently began.

The 'Global Gene Project' reported over a quarter of their sample Hazara males in Pakistan to have the Y-Chromosome of Genghis Khan.

Language 

The Hazaragi language is a unique dialect of the Persian language, with some Mongolian and Turkish vocabulary. Hazaragi is categorized in the Indo-European language family, and 9% of Afghanistanis speak it.

Religion

Hazaras are predominantly Shia (twelver) Muslims, although there are significant populations of Sunni and Ismaili Hazaras in the north and northwestern Afghanistan. Often Hazaras of the Sunni sect can blur the lines with the Tajiks and Pashtuns. The Aimagh (Chahar Aimaq) Hazaras for instance are predominantly Sunni.

Political

Since the early 1990s, most Hazaras are members of the Hizb-e-Wahdat political party. The most influential member, prior to his capture and execution by the Taliban, was Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari. His martyrdom made him the symbolic leader of the Hazara people.

Who R The Hazara

The Hazaras are one of several ethnic groups inhabiting 7 million mostly in central Afghanistan. The area is known as Hazarajat or originally Hazaristan. The Hazaras are Muslim and Shi'a in majority, but we also have Sunni's. We speak our own version of Farsi known as the "Hazaragi" dialect. The Hazaras are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. However, as a consequence of the discriminatory and segregationist policies of ruling Afghan/Pashtun governments, they remain politically, economically and socially the most underdeveloped group in Afghanistan society

The Hazaras are mostly Shi’as Muslims, and inhabit the heart of Afghanistan, surrounded by Sunni Muslims. A second theory suggests that the Hazaras adopted Shi’ism at the time of Shah Abbas Safavid (1589-1629). This theory was first proposed by Vambery in 1895, who maintained: “Shah Abbas forced them [the Hazaras] to accept Shi’ism” (1864:132). Hazara Shi’ism, like that of Persia, is Isna-Ashari (Twelver). This theory of their conversion to Shi’ism at the time of Shah Abbas is confirmed by the Hazara themselves. “the Hazaras were already Shi’as at the time of Shah Abbas; two to three thousand Hazara soldiers, under the command of Din Mohammad Khan Uzbek, fought against Shah Abbas’s army” (1916:567-9).

A third theory maintains that the Hazaras adopted Shi’ism as soon as they converted to Islam. After Ghazan-Khan his son, Abu Said, continued his father’s tradition (Rashid, 1959:984-985,997). Thus, according to this theory, Shi’ism was first established and encouraged in Afghanistan by Ghazan Khan and his son Abu Said.

It could be argued that the theories of Schurmann and Temirkhanov are both correct, i.e., it is possible that some Hazaras were converted to Shi’ism by Ghazan Khan and Abu Sa’id, a fact which need not contradict the theory holding Shah Abbas responsible for further encouraging Shi’ism amongst the Hazaras. Thus, it can be maintained that Shi’ism amongst the Hazaras began at the time of Ghazan Khan, but that it was not until the Safavid period when Shi’ism became the official religion of Iran that the process was completed. The original Shi’as in Iran and Afghanistan were the descendants of Ali, known as Sadat-e Alavi. The conversion of the Hazaras to Shi’ism did not take place at one particular period; it is not possible to maintain that the Hazaras converted to Shi’ism at one particular moment in history. Most Hazaras are Shi’as, although some, such as the Sheikh Ali and Firozkohi Hazaras, have remained Sunni. Shi’ism itself is divided into smaller sects. One of the most internationally respected and famous scholars, a founder of the Islamic Renaissance in Afghanistan, Sayyed Jamaluddin Afghani (1901), referred to the Shi’as Hazaras as ghali. Copyright: Askar Musawi, "The Hazarahs of Afghanistan".

Hazara People In Pakistan

The Hazāra (Persian: هزاره) are a Persian-speaking people who mainly live in central Afghanistan. They are overwhelmingly Shia Muslims and comprise the third largest ethnic group of Afghanistan,       forming about 15% of the total population.  Over half a million Hazaras live in neighboring Pakistan (especially in the city of Quetta) and a similar number in Iran.

Etymology

The name Hazara, probably, comes from the Persian word hazār, which means "thousand". According to scholars, the term was first used to refer to a Mongol military unit of 1,000 but was later applied to a distinct group of people. 

Origin theories

The origins of the Hazaras have not been fully reconstructed. At least partial Mongol descent is difficult to rule out, because the Hazaras' physical attributes and parts of their culture and language resemble those of Mongolians. Thus, it is widely accepted that Hazaras do have Mongolian ancestry, if not direct male-line descent from Genghis Khan, as some Hazaras allege.^[11] Some Hazara tribes are named after famous Mongol generals, for example the Tulai Khan Hazara who are named after Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. Theories of Mongol or partially Mongol descent are plausible, given that the Il-Khanate Mongol rulers, beginning with Oljeitu, embraced Shia Islam. Today, the majority of the Hazaras adhere to Shi'ism, whereas Afghanistan's other ethnic groups are mostly Sunni and Shia. However, the population of the Sunni and Ismaili Hazaras against the Shi'ite Hazaras is not discussed extensively enough by the scholarship.

Another theory proposes that Hazaras are descendants of the Kushans,^[12] the ancient dwellers of Afghanistan famous for constructing the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Its proponents find the location of the Hazara homeland, and the similarity in facial features of Hazaras with those on frescoes and Buddha's statues in Bamiyan, suggestive. However, this belief is contrary not only to the fact that the Kushans were Indo-European Tocharians, but also to historical records which mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson, Mutugen, was killed, and he ordered Bamiyan to be burnt to the ground in retribution. 

A third theory, and the one accepted by most scholars, maintains that Hazaras are a very mixed race. This is not entirely inconsistent with descent from Mongol military forces. For example, Nikudari Mongols settled in eastern Persia and mixed with native populations who spoke Persian.^[6] A second wave of mostly Chagatai Mongols came from Central Asia and were followed by other Turko-Mongols, associated with the Ilkhanate (driven out of Persia) and the Timurids, all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local Persian population, forming a distinct group.

Genetics

Genetically, the Hazara are primarily eastern Eurasian with western Eurasian genetic mixtures.^[14][15][16] Genetic research suggests that they are related to neighboring peoples, while there also seems to be a patrimonial relation to Mongol peoples of Mongolia.^[17][18] Mongol male ancestry is supported by studies in genetic genealogy as well, which have identified a particular lineage of the Y-chromosome characteristic of people of Mongolian descent ("the Y-chromosome of Genghis Khan").  This chromosome is virtually absent outside the limits of the Mongol Empire except among the Hazara, where it reaches its highest frequency anywhere.

Emergence of the Hazara

In the late 16th century, the first mention of Hazaras are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas of the Safavid dynasty and by Babur (Emperor of the Mughal Empire) in his Baburnama, referring to the people living from west of Kabul to Ghor, and south to Ghazni. 

 18th century

In their modern history, Hazaras have faced several wars and forced displacements. Since the beginnings of modern Afghanistan in the mid 18th century, Hazaras have faced persecution from the Pashtuns and have been forced to flee from many parts of today's Afghanistan to Hazarajat.  In the mid 18th century they were forced out of Helmand and the Arghandab basin of Kandahar. During Dost Mohammad Khan's rule, Hazaras in Bamiyan and the Hazarajat area were heavily taxed. However, for the most part they still managed to keep their regional autonomy in Hazarajat. This would soon change as the new Emir, Abdur Rahman Khan, was brought to power.

Subjugation by Abdur Rahman Khan

As the new Emir, Abdur Rahman set out a goal to bring Hazarajat under his control. After facing resistance from the Hazaras, he launched several campaigns in Hazarajat with many atrocities and ethnic polarization. The southern part of Hazarajat was spared as they accepted Abdur Rahman's rule, while the other parts of Hazarajat rejected Abdur Rahman and supported his uncle, Sher Ali Khan. Abdur Rahman waged war against Hazaras who rejected his policies and rule. 

In 1856 Abdur Rahman arrested Syed Jafar, chief of Sheikh Ali Hazara, and jailed him in Mazar-e-Sharif. The first Hazara uprising took place during 1888–90. When Abdur Rahman's cousin, Mohammad Eshaq, revolted against him, the Sheikh Ali Hazaras joined the revolt. The revolt was short lived and crushed as the Emir extended his control over large parts of Hazarajat. Sheikh Ali Hazaras had allies in two different groups, Shia and Sunni. Abdur Rahman took advantage of the situation, pitting Sunni Hazaras against Shia Hazaras, and made pacts among Hazaras.

After all of Sheikh Ali Hazara chiefs were sent to Kabul, opposition within the leadership of Sawar Khan and Syed Jafar Khan continued against government troops, but at last were defeated. Heavy taxes were imposed and Pashtun administrators were sent to occupied places, where they subjugated the people with many abuses.  The people were disarmed, villages were looted, local tribal chiefs were imprisoned or executed, and the best lands were confiscated and given to Pashtun nomads (Kuchis). 

Before History Of Hazara People

Old Name Before Hazara

Sakha (Yakutia)

Sakha Republic

The Sakha (Yakutia) Republicis a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its population mainly consists of ethnic Yakuts and Russians.

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Live in Russia

Comprising half of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the largest subnational governing body by area in the world at 3,103,200 km² (1,198,200 sq mi) (just smaller than India which covers an area of 3,287,240 km²). It has a population of fewer than one million inhabitants. Its capital is Yakutsk.

Early history

The Turkic Sakha people or Yakuts probably settled in the area in the 13th and 14th centuries, migrating north from the Lake Baikal area to the middle Lena. According to their own traditional accounts, the Sakha were driven out of their earlier homeland by the Buryats. From their new center along the middle Lena they gradually expanded northeast and west beyond the Lena basin towards the Arctic Ocean. The name Sakha is an endonym, of unknown etymology. The term Yakut is a Russian exonym, probably a corruption of Evenk yako "stranger". The Sakha displaced earlier, much smaller populations who lived on hunting and reindeer herding, introducing the pastoralist economy Central Asia. The indigenous populations of Paleosiberian and Tungusic stock were mostly assimilated to the Sakha by the 17th century.

Paleosiberian

Paleosiberian (Palaeosiberian, Paleo-Siberian) languages or Paleoasian languages (Palaeo-Asiatic) (from Greek palaios, "ancient") is a term of convenience used in linguisticsto classify a disparate group of languages spoken in some parts of north-eastern Siberia and some parts of Russian Far East. They are not known to have any linguistic relationship to each other, and their only common provenance is that they are held to have antedated the more dominant languages, particularly Tungusic and latterly Turkic languages, that have largely displaced them. Even more recently, Turkic (at least in Siberia) and especially Tungusic, have been displaced in their turn by Russian. It is possible that the Merkits spoke a Paleosiberian language.

The total number of speakers of the Paleo-Siberian languages is approximately 23,000 people.

Yaqut al-Hamwi

Yaqut ibn-'Abdullah al-Rumi al-Hamawi) (1179–1229) (Arabic:) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" ("from Rûm") refers to his Greek (Byzantine) descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah. The word yaqutmeans ruby.

More History of Yaqut

http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=694

History

Yaqut was a Greek sold as a slave to someone who later moved to Baghdad, Iraq. He was one of the last scholars who accessed to the libraries east of the Caspian Sea before Mongol invasion of Central Asia. He travelled to the peaceful scholarly city of ancient Merv in present-day Turkmenistan. There Yaqut spent two years in libraries, learning much of the knowledge he would later use in his works.

Works

• Kitab mu'jam al-buldan (معجم البلدان "Dictionary of Countries")
• Mu'jam al-udaba' , (معجم الادباء "Dictionary of Writers") written in 1226.
• al-Mushtarak wadh'a wa al-Muftaraq Sa'qa ( المشترک وضعا و المفترق صعقا ), a version of which was printed in 1845 by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld.

Batu Khan

Sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan in February, 1238: a miniature from the sixteenth century chronicle.
Reign	1227–1255
Coronation	1224/1225 or 1227
Titles	Sain Khan (Mongolian: Good Khan, Сайн хаан), the King of Kings, Tsar Batu[2]
Born	1207
Birthplace	Mongolia
Died	1255
Place of death	Sarai Batu
Predecessor	Jochi
Successor	Sartak
Consort	Borakchin Khatun
Royal House	Borjigin
Dynasty	Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire
Royal anthem	There is only god in heaven and only one lord Chingis khaan on earth.
Father	Jochi
Mother	Ukhaa Ujin of the Onggirat

History Of Batu khan

Batu Khan (English: /ˈbɑːtuː ˈkɑːn/, Mongolian:, Russian:  c. 1207–1255) was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi (or Golden Horde), the sub-khanate of theMongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde (or Kipchak Khanate), which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies of Poland and Hungary. "Batu" or "Bat" literally means "firm" in the Mongolian language. After the deaths of Genghis Khan's sons, he became the most respected prince called agha (elder brother) in the Mongol Empire.

After his son Jochi's death, Genghis assigned the latter's appanages to his sons. But the Great Khaninstalled Batu as Khan of the Ulus of Jochi. He had an elder brother Orda Khan who agreed that Batu should succeed his father. Genghis Khan's youngest brother Temuge attended the coronation ceremony as an official representative of Genghis. When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he left 4,000 Mongol men to Jochi's family. Jochi's lands were divided betweenBatu and his older brother Orda. Orda's White Horderuled the lands roughly between the Volga river andLake Balkhash, while Batu's Horde ruled the lands west of the Volga.

In 1229, Ogedei dispatched 3 tumens under Kukhdei and Sundei to conquer the tribes on the lower Ural. According to Abulghazi, Batu joined Ogedei's military campaign against the Jin Dynasty in North China while his younger brother was fighting the Bashkirs, the Cumans, theBulghars and the Alans in the west. Despite heavy resistance of their enemies, the Mongols conquered major cities of the Jurchens and made the Bashkirs their ally. In 1230's Ogedei distributed lands in Shanxi, China to Batu and the family of Jochi, but they appointed their officials under the supervision of the Imperial governor likewise in Khorasan, Persia.

Hazara Pioneer

The 106th Hazara Pioneers was a pioneer infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They were formed in 1904 at Quetta from Harara refugees. They were disbanded in 1933.

Establishment

The first contact between the British and the Hazaras was just before the First Afghan War, when some Hazaras served in "Broadfoot's Sappers" (British Scouts) from 1839–1840. A considerable number of Hazaras had come to India to work as labourers prior, particularly in heavy work such as quarrying. In 1903–1904, however, due to high levels of persecution by the Afghans, large numbers of Hazaras refugees poured over the frontier. In 1904, Lord Kitchener, who at that time was Commander-in-Chief in India, directed Major C. W. Jacob to raise a battalion of Hazara Pioneers. Prior to this, the only Hazaras in the Indian Army were those enlisted in the 124th and 126th Baluchistan Infantry, as well as a troop in the Guides Cavalry. The 106th Hazara Pioneers were raised at Quetta in 1904 by Major C. W. Jacob; a nucleus was formed by drafts from the 124th Duchess of Connaught's own and the 126th Baluchistan Infantry. The Battalion was composed of eight companies of Hazaras, and their permanent peace station was at Quetta. Their full dress uniform was drab with red facings.

History

In 1918 the Hazaras of the 124th Duchess of Connaught's Own Baluchistan and the 126th Baluchistan Infantry were transferred to the 106th Hazara Pioneers, then assigned to active service in the Mesopotamia Campaign. Prior to this, the Guides Cavalry did not include Hazaras in their ranks. The 106th Hazara Pioneers were now the only unit in the Indian Army enlisting Hazaras nationals.  

There were two changes in the title of the regiment after the 1914–1918 war. The 106th Hazara Pioneers became 1st Battalion 4th Pioneers in 1922 and the "The Hazara Pioneers" in 1929. As a result of the financial crisis in 1933, all Pioneer Regiments in the Indian Army, including the Hazara Pioneers, were disbanded.

Following the 1914–1918 war, it became increasingly difficult to recruit Hazaras from the Hazarajat; more recruits had to be taken from the Hazaras colonies settled in the Mashhad area. These men, however, lacked many of the best qualities of the Hazaras enlisted directly from the Afghan highlands. The difficulty in obtaining more of the latter was due chiefly to the change in the attitude of the Afghans towards the Hazaras, who were no longer poorly treated and were now being freely enlisted in the Afghan Army. In addition, the Afghan government had requested the government of India to stop enlisting their subjects (the Hazaras) in the Indian Army.

Field Marshal Sir Claud Jacob was colonel of the regiment from 1916 until its disbandment in 1933.

Subedar Gird Ali "The 106th Hazara Pioneers"

In 1915, one company served with distinction in France with the 107th Pioneers. The whole regiment was employed during 1915–1916 with the Kalat Column, and at Khwash in Sistan under General Dyer. In 1917 they served on the Mohmand Blockade Line, and sent one company to join the 128th Pioneers in Mesopotamia.

In 1918, the whole regiment proceeded to Mesopotamia where, after serving for some months with the 18th Indian Division on the Tigris above Baghdad, they joined the 2nd Corps and were employed in helping the drive the railway through the Jabal Hamrin from Table Mountain on the Dajla (Tigris River).^[2]

During 1919, they worked strenuously on the Shergat-Mosul line of communications. In the autumn of that year they took part in the Kurdistan Operations. In 1920, they were again employed on the Shergat-Mosul lines of communications, completing their labors in 1921 by constructing a new road down the bank of the Tigris from Shergat to Baji. They returned to Quetta in August 1921.

During the above operations, several Indian Orders of Merit, as well as a number of Indian Distinguished Service Medals and Indian Meritorious Service Medals, were awarded to Hazaras for gallantry.

During the Waziristan Operations of 1923–1924, the Hazara Pioneers took part in the road making through the Baravi Tangi and the Shahur Tangi. Afterward, they helped with the construction of the railway and frontier roads in Zhob.

In 1917, due to the difficulty of enlisting a sufficient number of Hazaras from Afghanistan, the experiment was made of recruiting Baltis as a temporary measure. A recruiting party from the 106th Hazara Pioneers visited Baltistan in the late autumn of 1917. About 100 recruits were enlisted during 1917–1918 and even brought to Quetta for training, but the war ended before any of them were able to join the regiment overseas. After the armistice, nearly all these Baltis were demobilized and returned to their homes.

In 1922, the 106th Hazara Pioneers became the 1st Battalion 4th Hazara Pioneers under the new numbering system employed in the British Indian Army, where multi-battalion regiments replaced single-battalion regiments.   The 4th Hazara Pioneers were one of four Pioneer units in the 1922 reorganisation, including the 1st Madras Pioneers, 2nd Bombay Pioneers, and 3rd Sikh Pioneers. 

Abdul Ali Mazari

(Persian: عبدلعلی مزاری - ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Mazārī)   was a political leader of the Hezbe Wahdat during and following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.   Mazari was an ethnic Hazara, and believed the solution to the divisiveness in Afghanistan was in federalism, where every ethnic group would have specific constitutional rights.

Early life

An ethnic Hazara, Abdul Ali Mazari was born in the village of Charkent, south of the northern city of Mazari Sharif. Hence, his surname is "Mazari". He began his primary schooling in theology at the local school in his village, then went to Mazari Sharif, then Qom in Iran, and then to Najaf in Iraq.

  Political life

In Iran, Mazari was imprisoned and tortured after being accused of conspiracy against the Shah of Iran in assistance with Iranian Shi'a clerics.

Simultaneously with the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Red Army, Abdul Ali Mazari returned to his birthplace and gained a prominent place in the anti-Soviet resistance movement. During the first years of the resistance, he lost his young brother, Mohammed Sultan, during a battle against the Soviet-backed forces. He soon lost his sister and other members of his family in the resistance. His uncle, Mohammad Ja'afar, and his son, Mohammad Afzal, were imprisoned and killed by the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He also lost his father, Haji Khudadad, and his brother, Haji Mohammad Nabi, in the rebellion and resistance movement.

Hezbe Wahdat

Abdul Ali Mazari was one of the founding members and the first leader of the Hezbe Wahdat ("Unity Party"). In the first Congress of the party, he was elected leader of the Central Committee and in the second Congress, he was elected Secretary General. Mazari's initiative led to the creation of the Jonbesh-e Shamal ("Northern Movement"), in which the country's most significant military forces joined ranks with the rebels, leading to a coup d'état and the eventual downfall of the Communist regime in Kabul. 

  Civil War

The fall of Kabul to the Mujahideen marked the start of the Afghan Civil War between various factions, parties and ethnic groups. During this period, Mazari led the forces of Hezbe Wahdat who were based in West Kabul. More than twenty-six fierce battles were fought against Hezbe Wahdat by the forces of Shora-e-Nezar, Abdur Rasool Sayyaf and Taliban. Sometimes the relationship between Mazari and Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostum was quite neutral, sometimes he was an ally, depending on the situation. The result of the fighting was great destruction in Kabul and the death of more than 50,000 civilians.^{[citation needed]} More than 300 civilians were massacred in the Hazara-dominated district of Afshar in Kabul and many more about 3000 in around Kabul especialy in Karte Seh by the invading forces of Ahmad Sha Masoud, and then by Dostom and Mazari's warlords.

Taliban era and death

In March 1995, the Taliban invited him for political dialogue but then arrested him along with his five companions in Chaharasyab, near Kabul. The next day he was thrown out from a helicopter stripped naked while in flight near Ghazni which killed him. The Taliban issued a statement that Mazari attacked the guards when he was being flown to Qandahar. Later his body and those of his companions were handed over to Hezbe Wahdat, all mutilated and showed signs of brutality. Mazari's body was carried on foot from Ghazni in the west to Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan by his followers over a period of forty days. He is regarded a national hero by the Hazara community.'

Graveyard-of-abdul-ali-mazari

General Muhammad Musa Khan Hazara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTM-T5CT8pc&feature=player_embedded

Video Of fight

Born October 20, 1908
Quetta City British Balochistan Province
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Died March 12, 1991 (aged 82)
Quetta City British Balochistan Province
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Years of service 1935-1965
Rank General
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Unit 106th Hazara Pioneers
Frontier Force Regiment
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Commands Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan Army
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General Musa Khan Hazara H.Pk., HJ, HQA, MBE, IDC, psc (موسى خان) (1991-1908), was the Commander in Chief of Pakistan's Army. He succeeded Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who assumed the Presidency of Pakistan.
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Early Life and Military Career.......
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Awards -- Hilal-i-Jurat, Order of the British Empire, Hilal-i-Pakistan, Hero of 1965
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Birth name -- Muhammad Musa Khan Hazara
Nationality -- Pakistani
Relations -- Sardar Yazdan Khan
Alma mater -- Indian Military Academy
Religion -- Islam- (Shia Muslim)
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He was the eldest son of Sardar Yazdan Khan, born in a Shia Muslim, Hazara family hailing from Quetta, Pakistan. Khan was from the Sardar family of the Hazara tribe; a tribe native to Balochistan, Pakistan. He was a "Naek" (Junior Non-Commissioned Officer) in the "106th Hazara Pioneers" and went to the Indian Military Academy inDehra Dun as a cadet and graduated with the first batch of the British Indian commissioned officers on 1 February 1935. He was posted to the 6th Royal Battalion, the 13th Frontier Force Rifles as a "Platoon Commander" in 1936. He took part in theWaziristan Operations in 1936-1938 and inWorld War II, where he served in North Africa.
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Senior Appointments
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He served with distinction in the Pakistani Army and rose to the rank of the commander in chief of Pakistani Armed Forces during President Mohammad Ayub Khan’s regime (1958–1969). His promotion to commander-in-chief saw suppression of two seniors: Maj Gen Sher Ali Khan and Maj Gen Latif Khan, both Sandhurstgraduates of 1933
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Political Career
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After General Musa retired from the army, President Ayub Khan appointed him as theGovernor of West Pakistan from 1967 to 1969. After serving for a few years, he retired and settled in Karachi. In 1987, he was once again involved in politics. He was appointed Governor of BalochistanProvince by the then President General Zia-ul-Haq. In Balochistan, Governor General Musa dissolved the provincial assembly in December 1988. However, the Balochistan High Court restored the assembly amid public condemnation of Governor's move. The step towards dissolving the assembly was believed to have been taken with the consent of the President and Prime Minister.
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Career with Pakistan Army
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General Mohammed Musa commanded the Army in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and had overall responsibility for operations throughout the conflict. As Army Chief, he was criticised for not anticipating an assault across the international border. However he was given credit for blunting the Indian offensive towards Sialkot during the Battle of Chawinda. He has narrated the events and experiences of the war in his book "My Version". In the book he has given accounts of the secret war that was going on in Kashmir between the two countries, long before the real war actual began.
General Musa Khan is the author of his autobiography, Jawan to General in which he describes his lifetime experiences from a simple foot-soldier rising to become a general
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Army Chief
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Musa Khan was the Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan; he succeeded Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who was then President.He was the oldest son of Sardar Yazdan Khan. He was a Naik (junior officer) in Hazara Pioneers and went to the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun as a cadet and graduated with the first batch of the Indian commissioned officers. He was posted to the 6th Royal Battalion,the 13th Frontier Force Rifles as a Platoon Commander in 1936. He took part in the Waziristan Operations in 1936-1938 and in World War II, where he served in North Africa. He served with distinction in the Pakistani Army and became the commander-in-chief (C in C) of Pakistan Armed Forces during President Mohammad Ayub Khan’s regime (1958–1969). In the War of 1965, Indian Army attacked West Pakistan from Lahore border, with 600 tanks and 5 time bigger force then Pakistan Army, General Musa Khan defended the country with heart and soul. The Wahaga battle field became the graveyard of Indian tanks.
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Operation Gibraltar
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General Mohammed Musa, who commanded the Army in the 65 War, gave his account of how the Indians surprised the GHQ, the C-in-C and the Supreme Commander Field Marshal Ayub Khan on September 6, 1965. Narrates Musa Khan in his book "My Version":
India launched her ignominious, undeclared and blatant aggression on our homeland at about 0330 hours on 6 September. The Supreme Commander was informed about the invasion by Air Commander Akhtar of the Pakistan Air Force, who was on duty at the Air Defence Headquarters at Rawalpindi on night of 5-6 September. Indian troop movements cross the frontier had been reported to him by the border posts of the PAF Wireless Observer wing. The President then rang me up to ascertain whether or not GHQ had received any information about the Indian attack and the hereabouts of the field army that morning.
Lt. General Musa describes the genesis of the surprise Indian attack on 6 September in his own words:
The then Foreign Minister Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and the Foreign Secretary, Aziz Ahmed spurred on by Major General Akhtar Hussain Malik, who was commander of our troops in Azad Kashmir, pressed the Government to take advantage of the disturbed situation in the valley and direct the Army to send raiders into Indian held Kashmir for conducting guerrilla activities there and to help, on a long term basis, the locals in organising a movement with a view to eventually starting an uprising against the occupying power.
Continues the former C-in-C in his book, the sponsors and supporters of the raids had at last succeeded in persuading the President to take the plunge that led to an all-out armed conflict with India' .......
The concept of sending infiltrators in the Indian held Kashmir, code named Gibraltar was the brain-child of the ministry of Foreign Affairs but General Musa assumed full responsibility for the development of the concept, its planning and coordination of the entire operation. He says:
After the Government finally decided that deep raids should be launched in Indian-held Kashmir, I directed Commander 12 Division, Major General Akhtar Hussain Malik, to prepare a draft plan for the operation, code-named 'Gibraltar' in consultation with GHQ and within the broad concept we had specified. GHQ approved it after making certain changes in it. With the help of sand model, he went over the final plan in Murree before it was put into effect on 7 August 1965 under our overall control. The Supreme Commander and his Military Secretary were present. He also agreed with it. I was accompanied by the CGS (Major General Sher Bahadur) and the Directors of Military Operations and Intelligence Brigadiers Gul Hasan and Irshad Ahmed Khan respectively. No civil official attended this briefing.
Broadly the plan envisaged, on a short-term basis, sabotage of military targets, disruptions of communications, etc. and, as a long-term measure, distribution of arms to the people of occupied Kashmir and initiation of a guerrilla movement there with a view to starting an uprising in the valley eventually. The push towards Akhnur was not part of it. However, it was considered as one of the likely operations that we might have to undertake, as we felt our activities would have an escalating effect.
Nevertheless, when the Indians started attacking and capturing Azad Kashmir territory in Tithwal and Haji Pir Pass areas, we decided to hold them in these places and retaliate by threatening Akhnur through the Chamb valley in order to release the pressure in the north.
The simple truth emerging from the preceding statement of General Musa is clear in that, while the concept of 'Gibraltar' did originate from the ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Musa, whatever he might say after the event, went along with it in a half heartedly and non serious manner leading to the downfall of President of Pakistan General Ayub Khan via Tashkent Agreement.
The loser in the final analysis was Pakistan, described so feelingly by General K.M. Arif in an analysis carried by "Daily Dawn", 6 September 1990.
How and why Pakistan blundered into war .......... At that time, the policy making in the country was highly personalised. The institutions were weak and by-passed. Pakistan's Foreign Office with Mr. Aziz Ahmed as the Foreign Secretary and Mr. Z.A. Bhutto as the Foreign Minister called the martial tunes. It had miscalculated that despite operation Gibraltar, the fighting was likely to remain confined inside the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Foreign Office is on record to have assessed that India was not in a position to risk a general war with Pakistan......for inexplicable reasons the General Headquarters based its operational plan in Kashmir on a wishful logic. The misplaced ego, the high ambition and the naive approach of a selected few , plunged Pakistan into an armed conflict. The outcome of the war, or the lack of it, eclipsed Ayub Khan's position.
At a briefing arranged at SSG Parachute Training School at Peshawar in the presence of two senior officers, Lt. Col. Abdul Matin, the Commander of No. 1 Commando Battalion, now retired and the brilliant Operations Staff Officer Maj. E. H. Dar, (Later Major General E. H. Dar) the Air Force Chief was told that only a pre-emptive operation like the Israeli crippling raids against the front line Arab State's air bases as in 1956 Arab-Israel War, could have probability of success. To this, the Air Chief observed that a decision to carry out pre-emptive operation as suggested could only be taken by the Government (meaning President Ayub Khan). Technically the observation made was correct but in that case the operation should have been based on the hypothesis of pre-emptive alone. There was also objection by the Military Operations Experts to the dropping of Para commandoes in Kashmir with no equivalent of French Maquis to hide, feed and organise their escape and was tantamount to suicide.
General Musa Khan, Field Marshal Ayub Khan's C-in-C, was the archetype of the loyal commander. But after him Ayub appointed another favorite, Yahya Khan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto set up a ' Liberation Cell ', which included people like:
Mr Aziz Ahmed
Mr Nazir Ahmed
Mr Ayub Buksh Awan
Mr NA Farooqi
Mr Ahmed
Mr Altaf Goher (although the latter did not attend any of the meetings)
General Musa, Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army at that time, confirms the existence of this 'Cell', which was set up in August 1964. The majority of the members of this 'Cell' were from the 'Qadiani sect’, he pointed out.
When this ambitious plan was first sent to the GHQ, General Musa opposed it and wrote the following points to the President Ayub Khan:
Guerrilla war in Kashmir can only be successful if the people of Kashmir take part in it, and in my opinion we need more time to prepare people for this.
During the guerrilla war if India realized that it is losing the war in Kashmir, she will attack Pakistan.
As long as Pakistan is not in a position to defeat India militarily, we should not venture such operation in Kashmir.
In order to defeat India we need more army, better arms and better training.
General Musa asked for money to set up two more army divisions to face the challenge. General Ayub in principle agreed with this idea, but the Finance Minister Mr Shoaib persuaded him against this by saying that the Pakistan economy cannot afford it. And this idea was dropped. It is ironic that no such army was raised before the start of the ‘Operation Gibraltar’ or during its operations, but after the war, in the same month, two divisions were set up.
According to Brigadier (R) Farooq, General Musa was a simple man. He gave his opinion about the 'Operation' and then did not make it a matter of pride and remained quiet. If he and General Sher Bahadur who also opposed the idea, had resigned then there would have been no 'Operation Gibraltar'.
A top level meeting was held at the Headquarters of the 12th Division in May 1965. Once again, General Musa opposed the plan, and to this President Ayub Khan said: "Musa I have been assured by the Foreign Office that India would not be involved in a full scale war". When both General Musa and General Sher Bahadur said that if we are to start a guerrilla war at that level, it is very likely that India would react and attack Pakistan. President Ayub Khan reacted by saying: "We will have to take heart sometime".
Apart from the assurance to which President Ayub Khan made reference that India would not attack Pakistan, Pakistani planners of this ‘Operation’ were led to believe that India is not in a position to launch attack against Pakistan until 1966 or 1967. It was emphasized that we do not waste any more time, and start our action as soon as possible.
Musa says in his book, 'My Version' that the Kashmiris of the Valley were not taken into confidence about the ‘Operation’ that was to be started to liberate them. He wrote:
We had not even consulted the public leaders across the cease fire line about our aims and intentions, let alone associating them with our planning for the clandestine war...
The people of the area to be 'liberated' must have to be taken into confidence, if the people organizing this gigantic task really meant business. Without the help of the local people outside army cannot win a war or even survive. Not only the people of Kashmir living on the other side of the cease fire line were not taken into confidence, also the people of Azad Kashmir, even the Azad Kashmir Government was not taken into confidence. When the ‘Operation’ was put into practice then the planners realized the need to have some Kashmiri support. They already had set up a Liberation Council, and compelled by circumstances they announced that Choudhry Ghullam Abbass was leading this Liberation Council.
Choudhry Ghulam Abbass was already very annoyed with this, he immediately rejected that in a news statement in the Daily Nawa E Waqat the following day:
"I have nothing to do with all this, and I did not know anything about an 'Operation'."
General Musa confirms the above position, he said:
"Because of the haste with which the ‘Operation’ was launched, even Azad Kashmir leaders were not taken into confidence by the advocates of Guerrilla raids. Helplessly they remained in the background. Their co - operation was also very necessary and would have been very helpful. They could have assisted the mujahideen in various ways by themselves."
K. H Khurshid, who was the secretary to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and also Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Government commented:
"I firmly believe that Ayub Khan was not fully aware of the reasons for the war of 1965. Foreign Office, Home Ministry and some senior officers from the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs which included A. B Awan, Nazir Ahmed, Aziz Ahmed and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, prevailed on him and assured him that it is only a small programme which would not lead to a war with India. Ayub Khan who offered India ‘joint defence’ would not have agreed to a full scale war with India.... These men wanted to weaken Ayub’s hold on the government, and this is the real reason why he was so angry with them after the war."
Ayub Khan was assured by his advisors and the Foreign Minister, Z.A. Bhutto, that India would not cross the international boundary to attack Pakistan. The Indian leaders and ministers were clearly saying that if Pakistan did not stop its adventure in Kashmir, then the conflict could spread to other areas. But Pakistani leaders did not take these threats seriously until the direct Indian attack on the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Sialkot in order to release the pressure on the retreating Indian forces in Kashmir.
Some critics say that the operation was "deliberately mis-planned to topple or weaken Ayub Khan". This has been very controversial, but whatever its real motives, it resulted in a full scale war between India and Pakistan. The Security Council arranged a cease fire on 23 September 1965.
General(R)Musa Khan died on 12 March 1991 in Quetta.

A Short History of Hazaras in Iran

Historians familiar with the Hazara history now agree that prior to the

Genghiz Khan era, several Turk and Mongol tribes living in the present day

Afghanistan played a key role in the shaping of today’s Hazaras ethnically

and linguistically. These tribes included La-Cheen (Turk), Khulj (Turk), Besud

(Mongol), etc. and those that came after the arrival of Genghiz Changez

Khan, such as, Dai-Chopan (Mongol), Dai-Berka (Mongol), and Turkman

(Turk) etc. For this reason, historians identify Hazaras as a Turko-Mongol

people. The presence of a huge vocabulary of Turkic and Mongolian words in

the Hazaragi language proves this fact. Therefore we can say that the

Hazara’s ancestors, together with other tribes, maintained neighborly

relations with the Persian Empire (today’s Iran) prior to Genghiz Khan’s

arrival in the region. When the Mongol armies swept Asia, the Persian Empire

too came under Genghiz Khan’s rule, which later his grandson – Hulagu Khan

– formed as new empire in 1256 under the name of Ilkhanid (Young Khan in

Mongolian) dynasty, thus changing the entire nature of the Mongol

relationship with the Persians (Iranians).

The Mongol King Oljeitu

1

, the 8

th

 Ilkhanid ruler in Iran from 1304-1316 and

great-grandson of Ilkhanid founder, Hulagu Khan, converted to Sunni Islam

and came to be known as Sultan Ahmad Khudabundeh. Later he converted to

Shia Islam in 1310 and became a driving force for conversion of a large

number of Hazara Mongol’s as well as Iranians to this faith. It is interesting

to note that Iranians priding themselves in their Shia identity cannot seem to

hide their hatred of the Mongols including that of Hazaras (Iranians use

derogatory term ‘Berberis’ i.e. Barbaric, to refer to Hazaras).

1

He was the son of the Ilkhan ruler Arghun, brother and successor of Mahmud

Ghazan, and great-grandson of the Ilkhanate founder Hulagu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oljaitu2

The Ilkhanid dynasty ended in 1335, though smaller areas remained under

their rule. Historians believe this period – 14

th

 and 15

th

 century – as the time

the current Hazaras emerged as a new nation where text references in Iran,

Sub-Continent (current India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), and Khurasan (which

current Afghanistan was a part of) clearly mentions the Hazaras including the

“Jermaan Hazara” and “Aughan Hazara.”  According to Iranian sources, the

current day Sheraz and Kirman (in Iran) came under their rule

[Uruzgani, 61]. Probably this time coincides with the rise of the Safavi

dynasty in 1502, and with their rise started the decline of the Hazara rule,

and their mention started disappearing from historical texts. Later in 1625,

during the Safavi Shia rule in 1625, Qandahar came under their control from

the Mughal (Mongol) dynasty of Delhi. The Safavi appointed the Gurjistani

Governor, Gurgin khan, who forced thousands of Hazaras from the plain

irrigated fields of Qandahar by sword and settled Afghan tribes in their place

instead [Yazdani, 59]. This marked another beginning of the decline of the

Hazara nation, however, the details are well beyond the scope of this article.

Modern history reveals that, King Nader Shah Afshar, ruler of Iran, after

having occupied Afghanistan, took away with him a number of efficient

Hazara cultivators of Badghis region of Afghanistan to Asfareen in Iran and

granted them fertile lands for cultivation. But these Hazaras did not stay

there and came to live around Meshad mostly in Khanabad and Kana-Gosheh

(Khana Goshi) [Owtadolajam, 144].

Kava Bayat also refers to this fact, and writes about the importance of the

Hazara tribes living in and around Herat (Afghanistan) as:

Prior to the genocide of 1880, present day Herat and North West of

Afghanistan which was under Iran, were majority Hazara areas, and

anyone wanting to rule Herat needed the blessings of the Hazara

[army] commanders. There is no doubt that the Hazaras were in the

position to tilt the power position for or against anyone [Bayat, 18].

It is important to note that there is little information available about the

religious beliefs of the Hazara-e Jarman and Hazara-e Aughan. However,

Hazara tribes such as Hazara-e Daizenee or Hazara-e Chahar Aimaq,

consisting of sub-tribes: Jamshadi, Ferozkohi, Taimuri and Taimini, are

identified with Sunni sect of Islam. As for the Shia Hazaras, those fortunate

to escape the genocide (1880-1901) by the forces of Amir-e Kabul, Abdur

Rahman Khan

2

, moved out to the sub-continent (mainly in Pakistan), Central

Asia, and Iran. In Iran, the Hazara population centers are in and around the

central city of Meshad in Khurasan province. Unfortunately it is impossible to

ascertain their correct population figures and their ways of living. In reality, it

is that fear in the hearts and minds of the ruling elites of Iran that allowing

2

http://www.hazara.net/hazara/history/history.html3

the masses to identify themselves with their ethnic identity may endanger

their rule. For this reason, since the Safavi dynasty to the secular time of the

Shah of Iran, and from the Islamic Revolution to today’s government in Iran,

the official religion remained Shia Islam, and  religious identity were always

enforced at the expense of ethnic identity of the minorities living in Iran.

With Hazaras, due to their Mongol identity, the use of racial slur such as

“Barbari” (i.e. Barbaric) as their ethnic identification leaves no doubt about

the extreme prejudice towards Hazaras for years [Owtadolajam, 145; Poladi,

259]. The account of how Hazaras came to be known as “Khawaris” is also

interesting. Poladi in his book, “The Hazaras” writes:

For all these years, the Hazaras in Iran were known as Barbari, which

they resented very much. They wanted to be called by the name

Hazaras or another appropriate term. Finally, they appealed to the

Raza Shah, the Great, who granted them the name of Khawari through

a Firman (decree), and since then, the name Barbari has been

abandoned [Poladi, 259].

Dr. Owtadolajam agrees with Poladi’s conclusion and writes that the petition

was submitted by a young Hazara student of  Military College named Mr.

Mohammad Yousuf Abghari in 1316 A.H. (1937) [Owtadolajam, 145]. It is

surprising to note that while Shia Hazaras are identified with such

nonsensical words such as Khawari (i.e. Eastern), the same Iranian rulers

identify Sunni Hazaras correctly as “Hazaras” which ,writers such as Jalal

Ohidi concludes, is used to create animosity between the Hazaras towards

each other [Risala Deedgah Nasle Nau, 8].

As stated, for centuries the Iranian regimes have used religion as a

necessary tool for a strong central government. Therefore, it is impossible to

find accurate figures for the different linguistic and ethnic groups living in

Iran, including those of Hazaras. Dr. Monsutti writes about the loss of this

national identity as:

Without a marked identity of their own, they soon merged into a local

population whose language and religion they shared… The Hazara

community of Meshad is more “Iranianized” [Monsutti, 126].

But despite all these problems, clear Mongoloid facial features and Hazara

characteristics, the Iranian Hazaras could be identified in a glimpse.

According to research by Dr. Owtadolajam  (1974-1976) a big majority of

Hazaras in Iran live in cities such as Meshad, Turbat-e Jam, Dara-e Gaz,

Bajnord, Asfareen, Nishaboor, Faramin, and in the 750 adjacent villages to

these cities where their populated is estimated to be between 10% and

100% [Owtadolajam, 144].  Making this the base of his research, Dr.

Owtadolajam writes that until 1956, around 20,000 Hazara families lived in 4

and around the province Khurasan which later grew up to 70,000 families or

close to 300,000 Hazaras [Owtadolajam, 143 - 144]. He also concludes that

such increase in migration to the holy city of Meshad (in Khurasan) has also

been on “account of faith they had in Hazrat Imam Reza (8

th

 Shia Holy

Imam) and their aspiration to be close to the holy shrine.” [Owtadolajam,

144] On the basis of this growth, Dr. Mousavi approximates the Hazara

population in Iran close to half a million (in 1997) [Mousavi, 151].

It is important to point out that the Hazara population figures given by Dr.

Mousavi and Dr. Owtadolajam are only for the Irani Shia Hazaras, and there

is only a cursory mention of the Irani Sunni Hazaras. In this regards, Jalal

Ohadi talks about Irani Hazara analyst, Taqi Khawari in reference to Shia and

Sunni Hazaras, “Daizeeni (Sunni Hazara) and other (Shia Hazaras) together

made up around 3 million in 1978” [Risala Deedgah Nasle Nau, 8].

The population figures mentioned above by Kava Bayat  (in his book “Saulatul Saltanat Hazara”) and Taqi Khawari, (in his book “The Hazaras and

Khurasan-e-Buzurg”) which together represent both the Irani Sunni Hazaras

and Irani Shia Hazaras, appear factual and proves the authenticity of the

above figures to some extent. As for the Hazara refugee in Iran, regretfully

there are no official figures available.

Dr. Monsutti quotes unofficial UNCHR sources estimating that a third to a half

of all Afghans in Iran are Hazaras [Monsutti, 128]. This figure is also

supported by Dr. Mousavi who has written that:

In 1992, when plans were drawn for their repatriation, the total

number of refugees was estimated at around 2.8 to 3 million, of which

by far the biggest majority were Hazaras [Mousavi, 152].

From figures presented in this document, we can conclude without any doubt

that the Hazara refugee population in Iran is at least 1.5 million.5

Sources

Books

Monsutti, Alessandro. War and Migration: Social Networks and Economic

Strategies of the Hazaras of Afghanistan. New York & London: Routhledge,

2005.

Mousavi, S.A. The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic

and Political Study. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.

Owtadolajam, Mohammad. A Sociological Study of the Hazara Tribe in

Balochistan: An Analysis of Socio-cultural Change. Quetta: Hazaragi

Academy, 2006.

Poladi, Hassan. The Hazaras. Stockton, CA: Mughal Publishing, 1989.

Bayat, Kava. Saulatus Saltanah-ye Hazara wa Shorish-e Khorasan. Tehran:

Parwin Press, 1991.

Uruzgani, Mullah Afzal. Al Mukhtasar Al Manqool Fi Tarikh-e-Hazara wa

Mughul. Quetta: Pakistan ., 1914.

Yazdani, Kazim. Tareekh-e Hazara-ha. Vol II. Iran 1997.

Journals

Awhidi, Jalal,  Deedgah- e Nasl-e-Nau Quetta Pakistan n.d. Dec. 2006