Group of Farsiwans,Kandahar, Afghanistan (1878-1880)
Fārsīwān or Tajiks (Pashto/Persian:فارسیوان or its regional forms:Pārsīwān orPārsībān,[1] "Persian speaker") is a contemporary designation for Tajiks and otherPersian speakers inAfghanistan and its diaspora. More specifically, it was originally used to refer to a distinct group of farmers and urban dwellers in Afghanistan.[2][3][4][5][6]
The term Farsiwan often referred forTajiks.[1][7] Although the term was originally coined with the Persian lexical root (Pārsībān), the suffix has been transformed into aPashto form (-wān) and is usually used by thePashtuns to designate Tajiks.
Like the Persians of Iran, the Farsiwan are often distinguished from other Tajiks by their adherence toShia Islam as opposed to the Sunni Islam favored by the majority of Tajiks. However, there are also minor linguistic differences especially among the rural Farsiwan Tajiks. The Farsiwan sometimes speak a dialect more akin to theDarī dialects of thePersian language, for example the dialect ofKabul,[8][9] as opposed to the standardTehrānī dialect of Iran. However, most of the Fārsīwān speak theKhorasani dialect, native to theAfghanistan–Iran border region, namelyHerāt andFarāh, as well as the Iranian provinces ofKhorasan. Unlike theHazara, who are also Persian-speaking and Shia, the Farsiwan do not show any, or very limited, traces ofTurkic andMongol ancestry.[10] Although theQizilbash of Iran and Afghanistan are also Persian-speaking Shias, they are usually regarded as a separate group from the Farsiwan.[11]
Some confusion arises because an alternative name used locally for the Fārsīwān (as well as for the Tājiks in general) isDehgān, meaning "village settlers", in the sense of "urban". The term is used in contrast to "nomadic".[12]
As of 1997, there were approximately 1.5 million Farsiwans in Afghanistan, mainly in the provinces ofHerat,Farah[13]Ghor, andMazar-i-Sharif. They are also the majority inhabitants of the city ofHerāt.[14] Smaller populations exist inKabul,Kandahar andGhazni.[12][15] Due to the large number of refugees from Afghanistan, significant Farsiwan communities also exist in Iran currently (mostly inMashhad andTehran).[citation needed]
^abTheEncyc. Iranica makes clear in the article on Afghanistan — Ethnography that "The term Farsiwan also has the regional forms Parsiwan and Parsiban. In religion, they are Imami Shia. In literature, they are often mistakenly referred to as Tajik."Dupree, Louis (1982) "Afghanistan: (iv.) Ethnography", inEncyclopædia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
^Maloney, Clarence (1978)Language and Civilization Change in South Asia E.J. Brill, Leiden,ISBN90-04-05741-2, on page 131.
^Hanifi, Mohammed Jamil (1976)Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Afghanistan Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J.,ISBN0-8108-0892-7, on page 36
^M. Longworth Dames; G. Morgenstierne; R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN".Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
^Emadi, Hafizullah (2005)Culture And Customs Of Afghanistan Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn.,ISBN0-313-33089-1, on page 11 says: "Farsiwan are a small group of people who reside in southern and western towns and villages in Herat. They are sometimes erroneously referred to as Tajiks."
^Ch. M. Kieffer, "Afghanistan v. - Languages of Afghanistan", inEncyclopaedia Iranica, printed version,p. 507:"[...] 'Dari' is a term long recommended by Afghan authorities to designate Afghan Persian in contrast to Iranian Persian; a written language common to all educated Afghanis, Dari must not be confused with Kaboli, the dialect of Kabul [...] that is more or less understood by more than 80% of the non-Persian speaking population [...]"
^E. H. Glassman,“Conversational Dari: An Introductory Course in Dari (= Farsi = Persian) as Spoken in Afghanistan” (revised edition of “Conversational Kabuli Dari,” with the assistance of M. Taher Porjosh), Kabul (The Language and Orientation Committee, International Afghan Mission, P.O. Box 625), 1970-72.
^Library of Congress Country Studies - Afghanistan -Farsiwan (LINK)
^Savory, Roger M. (1965) "The consolidation of Safawid power in Persia"In Savory, Roger M. (1987)Studies on the History of Ṣafawid Iran Variorum Reprints, London,ISBN0-86078-204-2, originally published inDer Islam no. 41 (October 1965) pp. 71-94
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