The Hazara Mongols of Afghanistan represent one of the last surviving Mongol remnants in western Asia of the Vast empire which was conqu...
The Hazara Mongols of Afghanistan represent one of the last surviving Mongol remnants in western Asia of the Vast empire which was conquered by the armies of Chinggis Khan in the early thirteenthcentury and consolidated by his descendants. The Mongol origin ofthe Hazaras is attested by their high cheekbones and sparse beards, which readily distinguish them from Afghan and Iranian neighbors. The name "Hazara"is derived from the Persian word hazara, meaning "thousand," which came to be applied in the western Mongol empire to the military unit which the earlier Mongols called ming or minggan, "thousand". Contrary to the tradition often reported in modern publications, there is no evidence that Chinggis Khan left garrisons south of the Oxus when he returned to Mongolia in A.D 1227. A study of historical records indicates that the Hazaras are descended from Mongols who entered what is now the Hazarajat in central Afghanistan at various times between A.D. 1229 and 1447. In 1229 a Mongol army was is patched to the west, of which a part was stationed in the region of Ghazni until 1241. In 1256 a grandson of Chinggis Khan, Hulagu (Hulegu), marched west against the muslim caliphs of Baghdad, and his descendants, the Ilkhans, ruled Iran for nearly a hundred years. On more than one occasion troops stationed in northeastern Iran revolted against the Ilkhans, and it is possible that some of these rebels sought refuge in the central mountains of Afghanistan, where they could more easily avoid punitive expeditions.
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