Tajiks

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This article is about the Central Asian Persians known as Tajiks. Refer also to Persian people.
Tajiks
(تاجک Тоҷик)
Total population

ca. 16.5 to 28.5 million
Regions with significant populations
 Afghanistan 8,610,279 [1]
 Tajikistan 5,849,331 [2]
 Uzbekistan
        (estimates vary)		 1,365,356
4,915,284
11,000,000		 [3]
[4]
[5]
 Iran 1,700,000
 Pakistan 1,220,000 [6]
 Russia 500,000
 Germany 120,000
 Qatar 87,000
 United States 52,000 [7]
 China 41,083 [8]
 Canada 15,870
 [9]
Languages
Persian
varieties of Dari and Tajiki
Religion
Islam (predominantly Sunni (Hanafi), with Shi'a (Twelver and Ismaili) minorities)


Tajik (Persian: تاجيک - Tādjīk; UniPers: Tâjik; Cyrillic: Тоҷик) is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking people of Iranian origin living east and northeast of present-day Iran. The traditional Tajik homelands are in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan and north western China.

Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsī (Persian), Fārsīwān (Persian-speaking), and Dīhgān (literally "village settlers", in a wider sense "urban"; in contrast to "nomadic").[10]

Contents

[edit] History

Main articles: Iranian peoples, Persian people, Farsiwan, and Persian language

Like all Iranic peoples, and also the Indic, Dard, and Nuristani peoples, the Tajiks trace their origins to the ancient Aryan nomads[11] who settled in Central Asia as early as 4000 years ago.

The Tajiks trace their more immediate ancestry to the East Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians, and Parthians, which means that the historical ancestors of the Tajiks did not speak Persian - the southwestern Iranian language, today known as 'Farsi' in Iran and Afghanistan. The 'Tajiks' adoption of the now dominant southwestern branch Persian language is believed to have as its root cause, the Islamic conquest of Central Asia by the Arabs. This conquest sent large numbers of Persians fleeing into Central Asia. Subsequently, many Persians, after conversion to Islam, entered Central Asia as military forces and settled in the conquered lands. As a result of these waves of Persian migration (Zoroastrian and Muslim) over the course of more than 200 years, the Tajiks have ethnic Persian ancestry in addition to their original East-Iranian ancestry. Cultural dissemination through Persian literature also helped to establish the new language, as well as intermittent military dominance. According to Iranologist Richard Nelson Frye, the Persian migration to Central Asia may be considered the beginning of the "modern" Tajik nation, and ethnic Persians along with East-Iranian Bactrians and Sogdians, as the main ancestors of "modern" Tajiks.[12]

Sir George Abraham Grierson holds that the Tajiks of Badakshan belong to the same Aryan race as do the other Ghalcha speakers of the Tajikstan “.[13] George Grierson also records that the speech of Badakshan was a Ghalcha till about three centuries ago when it was supplanted by a form of Persian.[14] It has been shown that the modern Ghalcha dialects, Valkhi, Shigali, Sriqoli, Jebaka (also called Sanglichi or Ishkashim), Munjani and Yidga , mainly spoken in Pamirs and countries on the headwaters of the Oxus, still use terms derived from ancient Kamboja verb Śavati in the sense "to go".[15] Furthermore, the Yagnobi dialect spoken in Yagnobi province around the headwaters of Zeravshan valley in Sogdiana, also still contains a relic "Śu" from the ancient Kamboja Śavati in the sense "to go".[16] The ancient Kambojas, were originally located in the Badakshan, Pamirs and northern territories including Yagnobi province in the doab of the Oxus and Jaxartes.[17] On the east they were bounded roughly by Yarkand and/or Kashgar, on the west by Bahlika (Uttaramadra), on the northwest by Sogdiana, on the north by Uttarakuru, on the southeast by Darada, and on the south by Gandhara. Numerous Indologists have located Kamboja in Pamirs and Badakshan and the Parama Kamboja, in the Trans-Pamirian territories, comprising Zeravshan valley and north up the parts of Sogdiana/Fargana—in the Sakadvipa or Scythia of the classical writers.[18] The Ghalcha speaking Tajik population occupy, more or less, the same territories, which in ancient time, were held by east Iranian Kambojas and the Parama Kambojas.[19] This people are stated to have held their own in spite of centuries of Hunic, Turkish and Mongol invasions.[20] Based on George Grierson's Sociolinguistics researches in India, eminent scholars like Dr J. C. Vidyalankara, Dr Moti Chandra, Dr S. K. Chatterjee, Dr J. L. Kamboj etc write that the Tajiks are the modern representatives of the ancient Kambojas/Parama Kambojas.[21] Some scholars hold that the Ghalcha Tajiks are descendants both of the Kambojas as well as the Tukharas[22]

The geographical division between the eastern and western Iranians is often considered historically and currently to be the desert Dasht-e Kavir, situated in the center of the Iranian plateau.

[edit] Other groups

The Mountain Tajiks or Pamiris of the Badakhshan region in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, as well as the smaller group usually known as "Tajik" in China's western Xinjiang region are descendants of the original East-Iranian tribes[citation needed].

[edit] Origin of the term

"Tājik" is a word of Turko-Mongol origin[citation needed] and means (literally) Non-Turk[citation needed]. It has the same root[citation needed] as the word Tat which is used by Turkic-speakers for the Persian-speaking population of the Caucasus. In a historical context, it is synonymous with Iranian[23] and particularly with Persian. Since the Turko-Mongol conquest of Central Asia, Persian-speakers in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and all the way to Pakistan and Kashmir have been identified as Tājiks[citation needed]. The term is mainly used as opposed to "Turk" and "Mongol". "Tajik" is just another word for "Persian". In the past 1200 years, Persians had to face 2 important foreign invasions: Arabs and Turks. Although the Iranian people have always called themselvs and their lands "Iran", "Irani" or "Aryana", the foreign invaders never called them that way. The Greeks called them "Persians", the Arabs called them "Ajam", and Turks called them "Tajik". The word "Tajik" is a Turkish word and refers to all Persian-speaking people of Central-Asia. But still, the word "Tajik" was quite unknown until the Soviet rule. In the early 20th century, the Persians of Central-Asia (Samarqand and Bukhara) revolted against Stalin[citation needed]. For this, Stalin punished them by taking away their lands and giving[citation needed] them to Turks who cooperated with the new rulers in Moscow[citation needed]. That's how the "Uzbek SSR" was created[citation needed]. And at the same time, the Turkish word "Tajik" was forced on them[citation needed], to alienate them from their people in Iran and Afghanistan[citation needed], and to push Pan-Turkism on them[citation needed]. Today's Tajikistan is not even 1/5 of what used to be Persian lands in Central-Asia.

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In Afghanistan, the word "Tajik" was forced on the Persians by the nationalist Pashtun kings who wanted to prevent a Pan-Iranism and Persian nationalism in Afghanistan[citation needed]. Afghanistan has always had good relation with Turkey, most of all because both countries are Non-Arab Sunni nations, while Iran is predominantly Shia. Turkey (after Attatürks revolutions) was training Afghanistan's army, and Afghanistan's kings were copying the Turkish militarism and the way to govern their nation. Both Pashtuns and Turks are traditional cultural enemies of Iran and Iranians[citation needed]. And that's why in both regions, in the Turkish dominated Central-Asia and in Pashtun-dominated Afghanistan, the word "Tajik" was forced[citation needed] on the Persians.

 This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

[edit] History of the name

First mentioned by the Uyghur historian Mahmoud Al-Kāshgharī, Tājik is an old Turkic expression referring to all Persian-speaking peoples of Central Asia. From the 11th century on, it came to be applied principally to all East-Iranians, and later specifically to Persian-speakers.[23] It is hard to establish the use of the word before the Turkic- and Mongol conquest of Central Asia, and since at least the 15th century it has been used by the region's Iranian population to distinguish themselves from the Turks. Persians in modern Iran who live in the Turkic-speaking areas of the country, also call themselves Tājik, something remarked upon in the 15th century by the poet Mīr Alī Šer Navā'ī.[24] In addition, Tibetans call all Persian-speakers (including those in Iran) Tājik.

[edit] The word "Tājik" in medieval literature

The word Tājik is extensively used in Persian literature and poetry, always as a synonym for Persian. The Persian poet Sa'adi, for example, writes:

“ شاید که به پادشه بگویند

ترک تو بریخت خون تاجیک

It's appropriate to tell the King,
Your Turk shed the blood of Tājik

 ”

It is clear that he, too, uses the word as opposed to Turk. The oldest known reference of the word Tajik in Persian literature, however, can be found in the writings of Djalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, himself being an Persian-speaker - and thus a "Tājik" - from present-day Afghanistan.[25]

[edit] Other meanings of the word

At certain periods of history, the word Tājik also referred to Persian-speaking scholars and clerks of early Islamic time who were schooled in Arabic[citation needed]. In the Safavid Empire, Tājik referred to the Iranian administrators and nobles of the kingdom, linked to the so-called Qezelbâš movement.

According to some old Tājik folktales, as well as old Persian books, the word "Tājik" literally refers to the "people having the crown" ("Tāj" means crown in Persian). It is believed that it initially refers to the East-Iranian people who ruled over the Bactrian, Soghdian, Arian, Kabul and Badakhshan highlands and later over other areas of Central Asia and beyond - a region traditionally known as the "crown of the world".

[edit] Alternative names

Main article: Sart

As an alternative, the term Sart was also used as a synonym for Tājik and Persian in the medieval - post Genghis Khan - period. Turkic people named by this word the local East-Iranian population. However, the term was abolished by the Soviet government of the Central Asian states.

[edit] Location

A Tajik guitar player wearing a traditional hat
A Tajik guitar player wearing a traditional hat

Tājik are the principal ethnic group in most of Tajikistan, as well as in northern and western Afghanistan. North and western Pakistan. Tajiks are a substantial minority in Uzbekistan, whilst and a few are found in Xinjiang, China, as well as in overseas communities. Historically, the ancestors of the Tajiks lived in a larger territory in Central Asia than now.[citation needed]

[edit] Afghanistan

Main article: Demography of Afghanistan

Tajiks comprise between 27-34% of the population of Afghanistan.[1][26] They predominate three of the largest cities in Afghanistan (Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Ghazni) and the northern and western provinces of Balkh, Parwan, Kapisa, Panjshir, Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, and Ghor, large parts of Konduz Province, and they predominate in the city of Herat and large parts of Farah Province. In addition, Tajiks live in all other cities and provinces in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the Tajiks do not organize themselves by tribes and refer to themselves by they region, province, city, town, or village they are from; such as Badakhshani, Baghlani, Mazari, Panjsheri, Kabuli, Herati, etc.[27]

[edit] Tajikistan

Main article: Demographics of Tajikistan

Today, Tajiks comprise around 79.9% of the population of Tajikistan.[2]

[edit] Uzbekistan

Main article: Demographics of Uzbekistan
A view of the Registan architectural monuments in Samarkand. Although the second largest city of Uzbekistan, it is predominantly a Tajik populated city, along with Bukhara
A view of the Registan architectural monuments in Samarkand. Although the second largest city of Uzbekistan, it is predominantly a Tajik populated city, along with Bukhara

In Uzbekistan the Tājik are the largest part of the population of the ancient cities of Bukhara and Samarqand, and are found in large numbers in the Surxondaryo Province in the south and along Uzbekistan's eastern border with Tajikistan.

Official statistics in Uzbekistan state that the Tajik community comprises 5% of the nation's total population.[3] However, these numbers do not include ethnic Tajiks, who for a variety of reasons, declare themselves to be ethnic Uzbeks.[28] During the Soviet 'Uzbekization' supervised by Sharof Rashidov, the head of the Uzbek Communist Party, Tajiks had to choose either stay in Uzbekistan and get registered as Uzbek in their passports or leave the republic for a less developed agricultural mountainous Tajikistan[citation needed]. Tajiks may make up closer to 15 to 45 percent of Uzbekistan's population.[4][5]

[edit] Pakistan

Main article: Demographics of Pakistan

In recent years, many Tajiks from Tajikistan have also settled in Pakistan due to the economic conditions prevailent in their home country, many have settled in the northern city of Ishkuman.

[edit] China

Main article: Tajiks in China

There is a population of approximately 41,000 (est. 2000) Iranian language speakers in China's western Xinjiang region with 60% of them living in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County. This number includes the Iranian speaking Sarikolis and Wakhis who are often considered Tajiks.[29]

[edit] Russia

The population of Tajiks in Russia is around 500,000. Most Tajiks came to Russia during the Soviet Union.

[edit] Physical characteristics

Children in Tajikistan
Children in Tajikistan

On the whole, Tajiks are a genetically eclectic population, displaying a wide range of phenotypes.[27] Physically, most Tajiks resemble the Mediterranean-caucasian stock.[27] The typical Tajik has dark hair and eyes, and medium to fair skin. Light hair and eyes are relatively common, particularly in northern regions such as Badakhshan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and western China. A small minority of Tajiks in Central Asia show a Turko-Mongol admixture derived from the Uzbeks and Hazaras. Remote mountain Tajiks more closely resemble the Indo-European Soghdian, Bactrian, Parthian, Persian, and Scythian (Tocharian, Sacae...) populations present before the Turko-Mongol invasions and migrations. Pashtuns in Afghanistan and their government distinguish Tajiks from their Farsiwan (Persian), or the Persian variety of the Chahar Aimak subgroup, by religion and not appearance, as the ethnic Persians of Chahar Aimaks are Sunni Muslims. Nowadays, the Tajiks of Panjsher, known for their bravery against the Soviet Union and later the Taliban, are often counted by the Pashtuns and their government as an ethnos of own[citation needed]. The Pashtun government has done this in order to weaken[citation needed] the Tajiks and to settle their lands with Pashtun nomads[citation needed].

[edit] Culture

A modern example of Persian miniature: painting is an important element of Tājik culture
A modern example of Persian miniature: painting is an important element of Tājik culture

[edit] Language

Main articles: Tajik language and Persian language

The language of the Tajiks, as of their Persian brothers in Iran, is Persian, also called Parsi-e Darbari (Persian of royal courts/Language of royal court). The cyrillic variety written in Tajikistan is called Tajiki. Persian is an Indo-European language that is part of the Iranian language group. Tajiks speak an eastern dialect of Persian, historically called Dari or also Parsi-e Khorasani (see also the Persian population of eastern Iran´s dialect). Historically, it was considered the local dialect of Persian spoken by the Tajik/Persian ethnic group in Central Asia, from where it spread westward only to drive the Arabic language out as the mothertongue of ethnic Persians. In Afghanistan, unlike in Tajikistan, Tajiks continue to use the Perso-Arabic script as well as in Iran. However, when the Soviet Union introduced the Latin script in 1928, and later the Cyrillic script, the Persian dialect of Tajikistan (soghdi dialect) came to be considered a separate (Persian) language. This dialect remains greatly influenced by Russian for historical reasons.

A transcribed Tajik text can, in general, be easily read and understood by Persians outside Tajikistan, and vice versa, and both groups can converse with each other. The languages of the Persians of Iran and of the Tajiks of central Asia have a common origin. This is underscored by the Tajiks' claim to such famous writers as Omar Khayyám, Firdausi, Anwari, Rumi, other famous Persian poets. Russian is widely used in government and business in Tajikistan as well, but the government of Tajikistan is trying to replace it gradually with full Persian.

[edit] Religion

Mazar i Sharif's Blue Mosque in Afghanistan. Many such architectural monuments can be attributed to the efforts of the Tajik peoples who are predominantly followers of Islam today.
Mazar i Sharif's Blue Mosque in Afghanistan. Many such architectural monuments can be attributed to the efforts of the Tajik peoples who are predominantly followers of Islam today.

The great majority of Tajiks follow the Sunni Islam, although small Twelver and Ismaili Shia minorities also exist in scattered pockets. Some of Sunni's famous scholars were from East-Iranian regions and therefore can arguably viewed as Tajik. They include Abu Hanifa, Al-Ghazali, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, and Imam Bukhari amongst many others.

In Afghanistan, Tajiks who follow Twelver Shiism are called Farsiwan[citation needed]. Additionally, small Tajik Jewish communities (known as Bukharian Jews) have existed since ancient times in the cities of Bukhara, Samarqand, Dushanbe, and other Tajik populated centers.[30] Over the 20th century, the majority of these Tajik-speaking Jews emigrated to Israel and the United States. Most of these Jewish emigrants have negative views towards Tajikistan especially because of the destruction of the Dushanbe synagogue.

[edit] Recent developments

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Afghanistan both gave rise to a resurgence in Tajik nationalism across the region. Tajikistan in particular has been a focal point for this movement, and the government there has made a conscious effort to revive the legacy of the Samanid empire, the first Tajik-dominated state in the region after the Arab advance. For instance, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, dropped the "-ov" from his surname and directed others to adopt Tajik names when registering births.[31] Furthermore, once conditions are fulfilled, Tajikistan will switch its alphabet from Soviet influenced Cyrillic script to Persian script[32] thereby forging closer cultural ties with the Persian speaking nations of Iran and Afghanistan.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "Afghanistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (December 13, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  2. ^ a b "Tajikistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (December 13, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  3. ^ a b "Uzbekistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (December 13, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  4. ^ a b Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (February 23, 2000). "Uzbekistan". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  5. ^ a b D. Carlson, "Uzbekistan: Ethnic Composition and Discriminations", Harvard University, August 2003
  6. ^ There are 1,000,000 Persian-speakers native to Pakistan and 220,000 Tajik war-refugees from Afghanistan remain in Pakistan. Ethnologue.com's entry for Languages of Pakistan. Census of Afghans in Pakistan.
  7. ^ This figure only includes Tajiks from Afghanistan. The population of people from Afghanistan the United States is estimated as 80,414 (2005). Of this number, 65% are estimated Tajiks. "US demographic census". Retrieved on 2008-01-23.. 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., [http://worldcat.org/oclc/56081073 OCLC 56081073.
  8. ^ "The Tajik ethnic minority". China.org.cn. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  9. ^ This figure only includes Tajiks from Afghanistan. The population of people with descent from Afghanistan in Canada is 48,090 according to Canada's 2006 Census.. Tajiks make up an estimated 33% of the population of Afghanistan. The Tajik population in Canada is estimated form these two figures. Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada.
  10. ^ M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, and R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 
  11. ^ Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress (1996). "Tajikistan - Ethnic Background". Country Studies Series. Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  12. ^ Richard Nelson Frye, "Persien: bis zum Einbruch des Islam" (original English title: "The Heritage Of Persia"), German version, tr. by Paul Baudisch, Kindler Verlag AG, Zürich 1964, pp. 485-498
  13. ^ Linguistic Survey of India, Vol X., p 456.
  14. ^ Linguistic Survey of India, X, p. 456, Sir G Grierson; Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference, 1930, pp 107-108.
  15. ^ Linguistic Survey of India, Vol X, pp 456ff, 468, 473, 474, 476, 500, 511, 524 etc; Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of Asia, 1911, pp 801-802, Sir Griersen; India as Known to Panini, 1968, p 49, Dr V. S. Aggarwala; Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, A Critical Study, 1972, p 164, Dr M. R. Singh; Bharata Bhumi aur uske Nivasi, Samvat 1987, pp 297-305, Dr J. C. Vidyalankar; Geographical and Economical Studies in the Mahabharata, Upayana Parva, p 37, Dr Motichandra; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 127-28, 167, 218, Dr J. L. Kamboj; Sindhant Kaumudi Arthaprakashaka, 1966, pp 20-22, Acharya R. R. Pande.
  16. ^ Proceedings and Transactions of the ... All-India Oriental Conference, 1930, p 118; Indian Culture, 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute; Linguistic Survey of India, Vol X, pp 455-56, Dr G. A. Grierson; cf: History and Archeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries from the... , 1976, p 152, Dr Shashi P. Asthana - Social Science; Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 39, Dr Moti Chandra - India; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 128, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī - Kamboja (Pakistan).
  17. ^ Dr J. C. Vidyalankara, Proceedings and Transactions of 6th A.I.O. Conference, 1930, p 118; cf: Linguistic Survey of India, Vol X, pp 455-56, Dr G. A. Grierson.
  18. ^ See: The Deeds of Harsha: Being a Cultural Study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita, 1969, p 199, Dr Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala; Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference, 1930, p 118, Dr J. C. Vidyalankara; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī - Kamboja (Pakistan).
  19. ^ Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 19, Dr Moti Chandra - India; 1945 History and Archeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries from the ..., 1976, p 152 Shashi P. Asthana - Social Science; Asoka and His Inscriptions, 1968, p 95, Beni Madhab Barua, Ishwar Nath Topa; The Cultural Heritage of India, 1936, p 151, Sri Ramakrishna Centenary Committee - India; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 154, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī - Kamboja (Pakistan).
  20. ^ Cultural Heritage of India, 1936, Vol I, pp 44-45, Dr Suniti Kumar, See also Vol 3, 1936, p 135, Sri Ramakrishna Centenary Committee.
  21. ^ Bhart Bhumi Aur Unke Nivasi, p 313-314, 226, Bhartya Itihaas Ki Mimansa, p 335 by Dr J. C. Vidyalanka; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 164-65, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī - Kamboja (Pakistan); cf: Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 19, Dr Moti Chandra; Mahābhārata: Myth and Reality : Differing Views , 1976, p 232, Swarajya Prakash Gupta, K. S. Ramachandran - Mahābhārata; cf: Geography of the Mahabharata, 1986, p 14, Bhagwan Singh Suryavanshi; Vishal Kamboj, October 2001, S. S. Nirmal, pp 7-10.
  22. ^ Cultural Heritage of India, 1936, Vol I, pp 44-45, Dr Suniti Kumar, See also Vol 3, 1936, p 151, Sri Ramakrishna Centenary Committee.
  23. ^ a b M.E. Subtelny, "The Symbiosis of Turk and Tajik" in B.F. Manz (ed.), Central Asia in Historical Perspective, (Boulder, Col. & Oxford), 1994, p. 48
  24. ^ Ali Shir Nava'i Muhakamat al-lughatain tr. & ed. Robert Devereaux (Leiden: Brill) 1966 p6
  25. ^ C.E. Bosworth/B.G. Fragner, "Tādjīk", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition: "... In Islamic usage, [Tādjīk] eventually came to designate the Persians, as opposed to Turks [...] the oldest citation for it which Schraeder could find was in verses of Djalāl al-Dīn Rūmī ..."
  26. ^ Dupree, L. "Afghānistān: (iv.) ethnocgraphy". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online Edition). Ed. Ehsan Yarshater. United States: Columbia University. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  27. ^ a b c Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress (1997). "Afghanistan: Tajik". Country Studies Series. Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  28. ^ See for example the Country report on Uzbekistan, released by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor here.
  29. ^ "The Tajik ethnic minority (China)" (Chinese government website, in English)
  30. ^ J. Sloame, "Bukharan Jews", Jewish Virtual Library, (LINK)
  31. ^ McDermott, Roger (25). "TAJIKISTAN RESTATES ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH RUSSIA, WHILE SENDING MIXED SIGNALS". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  32. ^ Tajikistan to use Persian script

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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