Afghanistan
10
Afghan Tajiks
As I have promised another member on the forum, I am making a thread dedicated to the Tajiks of Afghanistan. I meant to do this awhile ago, but I have been busy with college cause it's finals week. I will be discussing both regular Afghan Tajiks and Pamiri Speaking Afghan Tajiks
Afghan Tajiks
Like the Pashtuns, Afghan & Pamiri Tajiks are a people who are of Eastern Iranian descent. They are the closest ethnic group to Pashtuns in terms of everything. Regular Afghan Tajiks speak a dialect of Farsi called "Dari," which is different from the dialect used in Iran. Due to the high population of Tajiks and other Dari speaking people in Afghanistan, Dari is one of two officially recognized languages of Afghanistan, with Pashto being the other. On the other hand, Pamiri Tajiks speak Pamiri, another Eastern Iranian langauge that is closest to Pashto. Afghan Pashtun - Tajik marriages are extremely common in Afghanistan. Afghan and Pamiri Tajiks are known for their extreme hospitality. They are every polite to tourists and guests and love attending to their needs. They will make sure you enjoy your time and eat yummy afghan food.
Phenotype
Like the Afghan Pashtuns, the Afghan Tajiks tend to be either light olive skinned or pale skinned (though some are pretty dark too). The hair is general dark brown or black, however, a significant amount of people (probably like 10%) of both Pamiri and Afghan Tajiks have blonde hair, and another significant percentage can have red hair. The eyes are commonly either brown, hazel, or green. However, some have blue and grey eyes as well. Afghan & Pamiri Tajiks and Afghan Pashtuns blend in with each other. The phenotypes are typically either Irano-Afghan, Pamirid, and Asiatic Alpine. However, some look Dinaro-Pontid, Nord-Indid, and East Asian influenced (Turanid?) as well. Here are photos of Afghan Tajiks:
(This is a mixture of Pashtuns and Tajiks)
All Tajik photos:
Pamiri Tajiks:
Culture
Since Tajiks are an Iranian people, they celebrate Iranian holidays like Norwuz. Additionally, since they are Iranian, most of their culture is obviously Iranian influenced. However, their is Central Asian Turkic influence in their culture, as well as Indian, Greek, Macedonian, and so on. Here are some videos of Afghan Tajik weddings and dances so that you get a taste of the culture:
Songs (the first and second involve pashtuns too though):
Dances:
(Most of these dances are also traditional pashtun dances as well):
Oh look. They all have hair like mine! LOL
Religion
Most Afghan Tajiks are Sunni Muskim, but some are Shiah as well. There are probably some atheists too (there are some everywhere).
Food
FOOD!!!! No food is better than Afghan food imo. The best kebabs, the best rice, the best naan. I love love afghan food. If I ever meet one of you guys in person, I will buy you afghan food because it's amazing. Afghan Tajik food is mostly similar to Afghan Pashtun food. Our dishes are mostly Iranian with some Central Asian, Russian, and Indian influence.
You'd be surprised to find out that Afghans share common dishes with people from India to Ethiopia to Albania to Turkey to Greece to Israel to Macedonia. The perks of being at a crossroads are pretty awesome.
A few of the main dishes:
Chicken kebab:
Chicken kebab with naan and rice is the best and most classical Afghan dish. We share this dish with Persians, Turks, and Greeks. However, Afghans make it the best cause it's their signature dish.
Qabuli Palao:
Another signature dish that originated in Afghanistan. It consists of rice with cooked shredded carrots and raisins. It's usually served with chicken and kafte (beef) kebab, along with naan of course. I've found that Jews also make this dish on Rosh Hashana a apparently.
Ashak:
This is another really good dish. Ashak is an Afghan dish made of pasta dumplings filled with scallion, with a tomato sauce, topped with yogurt and dried mint.
Parakee (probably spelled that wrong)
This is a dish that is kinda like a qeusadilla, but it's not. Instead of cheese and chicken, it has either Spinach or Potatoes. You dip it in chutni (a spicy spinach dip from india), or mastae (plain yogurt). My mom jokingly calls it "Afghan Pizza." This dish is shared with Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan.
Aush:
[Img]http://caravanistan.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/03/osh-soup_Jamila.jpg[/img]
A great recipe to learn. It is a really nice dish, especially to feed to those who are feeling sick. It is a traditional afghan soup.
Here is the recipe
Spoiler!
Snacks:
When I was in high school, I used to come home and eat Paneer Cheese with raisins and drink tea while doing my homework on some days. It's very healthy compared to other cheese, and it's delicious. Persians and Afghans dig this stuff, but I think it comes from India. Indians know how to make it realllyyyyy well too.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by al-Bosni
Bookmarks