Pomerien (Shughni) | |
|---|---|
 Flag used by the Pamiri people | |
| Total population | |
| c. 300,000–350,000[1] (2006) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan) | approx. 200,000 (2013) |
| Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan &Chitral) | approx. 74,605 (2016)[2][3] |
| Afghanistan (Badakhshan) | 65,000[4] |
| China (Xinjiang) | 50,265[5] |
| Russia (Moscow) | 32,000 (2018)[6] |
| United States (New York City) | approx. 300 (2018)[7] |
| Languages | |
| Pamiri languages Secondary:Persian (Dari andTajik),Russian,Urdu,Uyghur | |
| Religion | |
| MainlyIslam(predominantlyNizariIsma'iliShia Islam, minoritySunni Islam) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherIranian peoples | |
ThePamiris[a] are anEastern Iranian ethnic group, native toCentral Asia, living primarily inTajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan),Afghanistan (Badakhshan),Siachen,Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan[b] andChitral) andChina (Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County). They speak a variety of different languages, amongst which languages of theEastern IranianPamir language group stand out. The languages of theShughni-Rushani group, alongsideWakhi, are the most widely spoken Pamiri languages.
Eastern Iranian (mainlySaka (Scythian)),Tocharian, and probablyDardic tribes, as well aspre-Indo-European substrate populations took part in the formation of the Pamiris: in the 7th and 2nd centuries BC thePamir Mountains were inhabited by tribes known in written sources as the Sakas.[9][1][10] They were divided into different groupings and recorded with various names, such asSaka Tigraxauda ("Saka who wearpointed caps"),Saka Haumavarga ("Saka who reverehauma"),Saka Tvaiy Paradraya ("Saka who live beyondthe (Black) Sea"),Saka Tvaiy Para Sugdam ("Saka who are beyondSogdia").[11][12]
The version about Pamiris'Hephthalite origin was put forward by the famousSoviet andRussian anthropologistLev Gumilev (d. 1992).[13]
The Western Pamirs, which was defending itself from the invasion of eastern nomads, became the eastern outpost of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom from the middle of the 3rd century BC, and theKushan Empire from the middle of the 1st century AD.[9][14] Nomadic cattle breeding developed in the Eastern Pamirs, while agriculture and pastoralism developed in the Western Pamirs.[9] Remains of ancient fortresses and border fortifications of the Bactrian and Kushan periods are still preserved in the Pamirs.[14] The oldest Saka burials have also been found in the Eastern Pamirs.[15]
Mass migration particularly strengthened after the 5th and 6th centuries because of theTurkic movement intoCentral Asia (and theMongols afterwards) from whom the settled Iranian population escaped in canyons that were not attractive for cattle-breeding needed wildest.[16]Vasily Bartold (d. 1930), in his work "Turkistan" mentions that in the 10th century three Pamiri states:Wakhan, Shikinan (Shughnan) and Kerran (probablyRushan andDarvaz) have already been settled by pagans. In the 12th century,Badakhshan was annexed to theGhurid state.[17] Between the 10 and 16th centuries Wakhan, Shughnan and Rushan together with Darvaz (the last two were united in the 16th century) were governed by the local feudal dynasties and actually were independent.[18][19][20]
In 1895, Badakhshan was divided betweenAfghanistan, which was underBritish influence, and theEmirate of Bukhara, which was under the protectorate of theTsarist Russian Empire.[9][21][19] The central lands of Badakhshan, however, remained on the Afghan side of the demarcation line.[21][22] On 2 January 1925, theSoviet government decided to create a new geographical and political entity known in modern times as theGorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast' (GBAO). During the Soviet period Pamiris were generally excluded from positions of power within the republic, with a few exceptions, notablyShirinshoh Shotemur, aShughni who held the position of chairman of the Central Executive Committee of theTajik Soviet Socialist Republic during the 1930s; andNazarsho Dodkhudoyev, aRushani [ru] who served as chairman of the Presidium of the Tajik Supreme Soviet in the 1950s.[23] Literacy in GBAO increased from 2% in 1913 to almost 100% in 1984.[24]
In the 1926 census the Pamiris were labelled as "Mountain Tajiks", in the 1937 and 1939 censuses they appeared as separate ethnic groups within theTajiks, in the 1959, 1970 and 1979 censuses they were classified as Tajiks.[9] In the late 1980s Pamiri identity was further solidified through efforts to elevate the status ofPamiri languages and to promote literature in the Pamiri languages, as well as 'claims of sovereignty and republic status for Badakhshan' made by Pamiri intellectuals.[23] In 1991, after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), GBAO remained part of the newly independent country ofTajikistan.[21]
On 4 March 1991 the Pamiri political groupLa'li Badakhshan (Tajik:Лаъли Бадахшон,lit. 'the ruby of Badakhshan') was formed inDushanbe.[25][26][27] The founder of this organization was Atobek Amirbekov, a Pamiri born inKhorog who had worked at theDushanbe Pedagogical Institute as a lecturer and deputy dean.[25][27] The backbone of the organisation were students of higher educational institutions of the capital and Pamiri youth living in the Tajik capital.[26][28] La'li Badakhshan's primary objective was to represent the cultural interests of the Pamiri people and to advocate for greater autonomy for the GBAO. The group also participated in and organised numerous demonstrations in Dushanbe and Khorog during the first year of independence in Tajikistan.[25]
Since the end of 1992, the Pamiris' national movement has declined, which was primarily due to the sharp deterioration of socio-economic conditions and thecivil war (1992–1997) that unfolded in Tajikistan.[29][30][31] Together withGharmis, the Pamiris were part of theUnited Tajik Opposition (UTO), a coalition of different nationalist, liberal democratic and Islamist parties. AUnited Nation investigation reported that in December 1992 in Dushanbe "buses were routinely searched, and persons with identity cards revealing they were of Pamiri or Gharmi origin were forced out and either killed on the spot or taken away and later found dead or never heard from again."[32]
The self-proclaimedAutonomous Republic of Badakhshan [ru] formally existed until November 1994.[33] According to Suhrobsho Davlatshoev, "the Tajikistani civil war crystallized and strengthened the ethnic consciousness of Pamiris in some respect."[31]
Starting in the 2020s, the Tajikistani government cracked down on Pamiri activism, cultural practices, and institutions, as well as the use of thePamiri language.[34] Subsequently, there was an exodus of ethnic Pamiris from Tajikistan and Russia.[35]
AsAlexei Bobrinsky's [ru] records testify, during his discussions with the Pamiris in the beginning of the 20th century, Pamiris underlined theirIranian origin.[36] Although the Soviet ethnographers called the Pamiris as "Mountain Tajiks" the majority of the Pamiri intelligentsia see themselves as belonging to a separate and distinct ethnos.[37][38] InChina, the same people are officially deemed to be Tajiks. Not so long ago the same was true in Afghanistan where they were identified as Tajiks, but more recently theAfghan government reclassified them as Pamiris.[39]
Before the spread ofIslam in the Pamirs, the Pamiris professed faith in various belief systems. Legends and some current stories about fire worshipping and veneration of the sun and the moon indicate the possibility of some continuation of pre-Islamic religious practices, such asmehrparastī (a pre-Islamic practice of worshipping the sun and the moon), andManichaean andZoroastrian customs and rites in the Pamirs.[40][41] Zoroastrianism was a dominant religion and tradition for thousands of years, such that many of its traditions survived including specific features of theNowruz (Iranian New Year) celebrations and of Pamiri houses, graveyards, burial rites and customs, as well asAvestan toponyms.[42] In Shughnan and Wakhan, Zoroastrian temples were active until the late Middle Ages.[9]
The town of Sikāshim [modern Ishkashim on both the Tajik and Afghan sides] is the capital of the region of Wakhān (gaṣabi-yi nāhiyyat-i Wakhān). Its inhabitants are the fire-worshipers (gabrakān) and the Muslims, and the ruler (malik) of Wakhān lives there. Khamdud [Khandut in modern Afghan Wakhān] is where the idol temples of the Wakhis (butkhāna-yi Wakhān) are located.[43]
The spread ofIsma'ili Shi'i Islam is associated with the stay in the Pamirs ofNasir Khusraw (d. 1088), aPersian-speaking poet, theologian, philosopher, and missionary (da'i) for the Isma'iliFatimid Caliphate, who was hiding from aSunnifanaticism in Shughnan.[9][44][45] Many religious practices are associated with Nasir's mission by the Pamiri Isma'ili community to this day, and people in the community venerate him as ahazrat [majesty],hakim [sage],shah [king],sayyid [descendant of the Prophet],pir-i quddus [holy saint], andhujjat [proof].[46][47] The community also considers him to be a member of the Prophet Muhammad's family, theAhl al-Bayt.[47][48]
As Lydia Monogarova asserts, one of the main reasons why Pamiris accepted Isma'ilism can be seen as their extreme tolerance to various beliefs compared to the other sects ofIslam.[49] As a result, terms such as Daʿwat-i Nāṣir or Daʿwat-i Pīr Shāh Nāṣir are prevalent designations among the Isma'ilis in Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan, the northern areas ofPakistan and certain parts of Xinjiang province inChina.[44][50] The Isma'ilis of Badakhshan and their offshoot communities in the Hindu Kush region, now situated inHunza and other northern areas of Pakistan, regard Nasir as the founder of their communities.[45]
Marco Polo (d. 1324), when passed through Wakhan in 1274 referred to the population here asMuslims.[51]
In the Pamirs, there is a story about five Iranian Isma'ili da'i brothers sent by theNizariImams: Shah Khamush, Shah Malang, and Shah Kashan, who settled in Shughnan; and Shah Qambar Aftab and Shah Isam al-Din, who settled in Wakhan.[52][53][54] They likely introduced themselves asqalandars, because even today, they are remembered by the Pamiris as the "Five Qalandars".[55] The most detailed biographical narrative of Shah Khamush is found in Fadl Ali-Beg Surkh-Afsar's appendix to theTāʾrikh-i Badakhshān of Mirza Sangmuhammad Badakhshi. For instance, Surkh-Afsar claims that the aforementioned Shah Khamush ('the silent king'), referred to as Sayyid MīrḤasan Shāh, who traced his descent toMusa al-Kazim (d. 799), the seventh Imam of theTwelver Shi'is, was anuwaisi saint (wali) from his mother's line, migrated fromIsfahan to Shughnan in the 11th century, and that he was the ancestor of Shughnan's pirs and mirs.[56][57][58] This story was narrated to Bobrinsky, one of the Russian pioneers of Pamiri studies, by theShughni pir Sayyid Yūsuf ʿAlī Shāh in 1902.[55]
During the concealment period (dawr al-satr), which continued in Isma'ili history for several centuries (from theAlamut collapse until theAnjudan revival), several elements of theTwelver Shi'i andSufi ideas became mixed with the Isma'ili belief of the Pamiris.[59][60] Many Persian-speaking poets and philosophers, such asSanai,Attar, andRumi, are considered by Pamiri Isma'ilis as their co-religionists and are regarded as pīran-i maʿrifat (lit. 'the masters of gnosis').[61][59] Recognizing as their leadersMuhammad, his daughterFatima, son-in-lawAli and grandsonsHasan andHusayn, the Pamiris call their religion "Dīn-i Panj-tanī" (lit. 'the religion of the [holy] five') and perceive themselves as the followers of this religion, which they name as "Panj-tan".[62][63][64][c]. Until the last decades of the 20th century the panj-tanis were led by their local religious masters (pīrs) and their deputies (khalīfahs), who assumed their authority from theIsma'ili Imam of the Time.[66]
The 15 century Shughni poet Shāh Ẓiyāyī praises Imām ʿAlī, ImāmḤusayn, Imām Ḥasan and Fāṭima, whom he calls the Panj-tan, in a poem "Muḥammad-astu ʿAlī Fāṭima Ḥusayn-u Ḥasan" that is well known in Badakhshan.[67]
The label Chār-yārī (lit. 'followers of the four friends') is used by the Pamiri Isma'ilis to refer to the Sunni Muslims who acknowledge the firstfour caliphs (Abu Bakr,Umar,Uthman and Ali).[68][69] Shāh Ẓiyāyī regards those who have faith in the Panj-tan as true believers, unlike those who only say "four four" (chār chār), i.e. the Sunnis.[67]
The use of the term Dīn-i Panj-tanī, a local equivalent of the termShi'a in the context of Badakhshan, expresses an allegiance to the Shi'a, in general, and to Isma'ilism, in particular.[70][71]
Amongst the Pamiri Isma'ilis there is distinctive practice called Chirāgh-Rāwshan (lit. 'luminous lamp'), which was probably introduced by Nasir Khusraw as a means of attracting people to attend his lectures.[48][72][73] The practice is also known as tsirow/tsiraw-pithid/pathid in Pamiri languages; the recitation text called Qandīl-Nāma or Chirāgh-Nāma (lit. 'the Book of Candle'), consist of certainQur'anic verses and several religious lyrics inPersian, which are attributed to Nasir Khusraw.[74][75] Chirāgh-Rāwshan is also a custom prevalent among the Isma'ilis of the northern areas ofPakistan and some parts ofAfghanistan.[76]
O insightful lover, join the mission of Nāṣir! O pious believer, join the mission of Nāṣir! Nāṣir is from the family of the Prophet, He is truly the offsprings of ʿAlī.[48]
— Qandīl-Nāma
According to oral tradition, this ritual was revealed to the ProphetMuhammad by the angelGabriel (Jibra'il) to provide comfort for the Prophet at the death of his young sonAbd Allah.[77]
The Pamiris linguistically vary into theShughni-Rushani group (Shughni, Rushani,Khufi,Bartangi,Roshorvi,Sarikoli), with whichYazghulami and the now extinctVanji closely linked;Ishkashimi,Sanglechi, andZebaki;Wakhi;Munji andYidgha.[78][19][79] Native languages of Pamiris belong to the southeastern branch of Iranian languages.[80][78] However, according toEncyclopædia Iranica, the Pamiri languages andPashto belong to the North-Eastern Iranian branch.[81]
According toBoris Litvinsky [ru]:
The common Shughni-Rushani language existed approximately 1,300–1,400 years ago, but it later split … in much earlier times, however, there was a common Pamiri language which developed into the Shughni-Rushani, Wakhi, Ishkashimi and Munji dialects. And, as a common Shughni-Rushani language existed until the 5–6th centuries CE, a broad Pamiri linguistic communion may have existed during, or around, the Saka period.[12]
The Chinese travelerXuanzang, who visited Shughnan in the 7th century, claimed that the inhabitants of this region had their own language, different fromTocharian (Bactrian). However, according to him, they had the same script.[82]
In the 1930s, Pamiri intellectuals tried to create an alphabet for Pamiri languages. They started to create an alphabet for the Shughni language, the most widely spoken language in the Pamirs, based on theLatin script. In 1931, the first textbook in Shughni for adults was published, one of the authors of which was the young Shughni poetNadir Shambezoda (1908–1991).[83][84]
During theGreat Purge in theUSSR, Nadir Shanbezoda's collection of poems was destroyed, and he himself was subjected to repression, like other Pamiri intellectuals who had started working by that time. All work on the development of literature and education in Pamiri languages was curtailed.[84] As a result, Pamiri languages became inscriptural for many decades. In 1972, a campaign to destroy books in Pamiri languages was carried out at theFerdowsi State Public Library in Dushanbe.[85][86] As Tahir Kalandarov notes, "this remains a black spot in Tajikistan's history."[86]
Although Pamiri languages belong to the same group ofEastern-Iranian languages they exclude common understanding among themselves.[80]Tajik language, called forsi (Persian) by Pamiris, was used for communication as between them and with neighboring peoples as well.[80][87][88] Though Shughni communities are habitually spread only in Tajikistan and Afghanistan traditionally Shughni language is spread among all Pamiris as alingua franca.[89]
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
