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Pashtun diaspora

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Pashtuns
Empires and dynasties

Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتون Paṣtūn or پختون Paxtūn, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns), also called Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان) have many communities world-wide. Though their homeland is in the Pakhtunkhwa region of South-Central Asia - a region stretching from southern and eastern Afghanistan to western and southern Pakistan, they are also found in the Middle East, Europe, North America, Australia, Africa as well as in other parts of the world. These communities include substantial numbers who claim Pashtun descent (and perhaps to a lesser extent culturally) and not linguistically.

Afghanistan

Pashtuns are the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, comprising 42% of Afghanistan's population[1], and about 1.5 million continue to live as refugees in Pakistan. The term Pashtun is historically synonymous with Afghan, a term now used to describe any citizen of Afghanistan. Kandahar is the second major city in Afghanistan and a stronghold of the Pashtun culture.

Pakistan

Main articles: North West Frontier, Punjabi Pathan, and Overseas Pakistani

The Pashtuns are the second largest ethnic group in Pakistan, comprising of 15% of Pakistan's population, with a population of 28 million.[2] However, this does not include the Afghan refugees who migrated to the country during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Pashtuns have considerable influence in the Pakistani politics, military, government, business and trade.[3]. Peshawar and Quetta are Pakistani cities with significant numbers[quantify] of Pashtuns while Karachi has the world's largest concentration of Pasthuns in the world. The following delineates the population of Pashtun in the provinces of Pakistan:[citation needed]

Province Pashtuns
Northwest Frontier 14,586,000
File:Flag of Sindh.PNG Sindh 3,500,000
File:Flag of Balochistan Province, Pakistan.gif Balochistan 2,293,000
File:100px-Pk-punj.PNG Punjab 1,929,000
Azad Kashmir 157,000
Islamabad Capital Territory 15,000
Pakistan 28,000,000

Substantial ethnic Pashtun communities outside of the Northwest Frontier reside in the cities of Attock and Mianwali in Punjab. Other communities include large numbers of Muhammadzais in Kasur, and other larger communities have settled around Multan which was formerly part of the Durrani Empire. In addition to this, a large portion of the Urdu speaking community in Pakistan claim to be ethnically Pashtun. A large community identify themselves as Yousefzai Pashtuns. The Afghans settling in the Sultanate dynasties and Mughal Empire assimilated into the Urdu speaking community. It is estimated that over 25% of Urdu speaking community claims Pashtun heritage. Additionally, a significant number of descendants of Rohillas migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India.

Middle East

A significant population [quantify] of Pasthuns serving as migrant workers is found in the Middle East particularly in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and other Arab countries. Majority of them are involved in the transport business, while others are employees of construction companies.

About 300,000 Pashtuns, immigrated to the Gulf Countries, during 1976-1981, representing 35% of Pakistani immigrants.[5]

Europe

A large number of Pashtuns have migrated from their homeland, South Asia, to Europe. The following statistics give information on the number of Pashtuns in European countries:

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is home to some 100,000 Pashtuns[6], making it one of the most populous overseas Pashtun communities in the World and the most populous one in the West. See also: Afghan British and Pakistani British[7]

United States

Vida Zaher-Khadem and Baktash Zaher-Khadem, Pashtuns from Afghanistan now living in USA.

Since the late 1970s and onwards, Pashtuns began immigrating to the USA in large numbers and are well established there. Pashtuns in the United States are famous for running top Afghan cuisine restaurants[8][9][10] as well as owners of the fast-food restaurant chain Kennedy Fried Chicken that is based in New York City. Pashtuns have been present in California at least since agricultural labor was imported in the early 20th Century. A prominent example is the town of Lodi, which has a large community which was in the news with the case of the Hayats, a father-and-son duo arrested by the FBI on allegation of terrorism training, in 2006.[11]

Canada

1,690 persons characterised their ethnicity as "Pashtun" in Canada's 2006 census.[12]

Australia

Large numbers of Afghans were recruited in the 19th century during the initial British development of Australia, especially for the operation of camel trains in desert areas. These consisted of men who were not allowed to bring their families with them, many married local aborigines and are now known as Ghans.[13] During the 1980s and 90s, Pashtuns began settling in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and other major cities of Australia.

South East Asia

Since the mid 1800s there have been many generations of Pashtuns who migrated both by land and by sea due to the many wars and conflicts in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan (NWFP). Violence and economical instability in the area at times caused many Pashtun tribesmen to flee in search of a new safe home. Pashtun settlements in Thailand have been common throughout the provinces. As they came they brought along with them their Pashtun identity, their strong sense of pride and their faith in Islam. Most Pashtun men married locals, forming many generations of mixed Thai Pashtuns but still maintaining faith for Islam. There is even a Thai-Pashtun Friendship Association. Because the Pashtuns are fearlessly independent they often are well treated and respected by the Thai locals. Countries like Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia also have similar cases of Pashtun settlements. There are Pashtun communities living in parts of China, Taiwan and Japan.

Guyana & Suriname

Some people living in Guyana & Suriname claim to be of Afghan descent. Most of them moved to South American countries during the Indian immigration.[14] But since they don not speak the Pashtun language they can not be considered Pashtuns.

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
  2. ^ Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan - Population by Mother Tongue
  3. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Afghanistan
  4. ^ Ethnologue report for Southern Pashto: Iran (1993)
  5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=I2avL3aZzSEC&pg=PA27&dq=Pakhtuns+35%25+of+the+Pakistanis
  6. ^ http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-40220620090610
  7. ^ The Other Languages of England, British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Oct., 1986), pp. 288-289 (retrieved 15 March 2008)
  8. ^ Helmand - Baltimore, Maryland
  9. ^ Helmand - San Francisco, California
  10. ^ Helmand - Cambridge, Massachusetts
  11. ^ Blog: Hamid Hayat
  12. ^ http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census06/data/topics/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?TPL=RETR&ALEVEL=3&APATH=3&CATNO=97-562-XCB2006006&DETAIL=0&DIM=&DS=99&FL=0&FREE=0&GAL=0&GC=99&GK=NA&GRP=1&IPS=97-562-XCB2006006&METH=0&ORDER=1&PID=92333&PTYPE=88971,97154&RL=0&S=1&ShowAll=No&StartRow=1&SUB=801&Temporal=2006&Theme=80&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=
  13. ^ Afghan histories in Australia: The story of the Ghans
  14. ^ Afghans of Guyana, Afghanland.com (retrieved 18 January 2007)

Bibliography

  • Ahwalay Riyasatay Rampur (Tarikhi wa Maashrati Pusmanzar) by Syed Asghar and Ali Shadami, compiled and edited by Rizwanullah Khan Enayati and Tanzim Ahbab Rampur
  • Nichols, Robert. 2008. A History of Pashtun Migration.1775 - 2006. Oxford University Press, Pakistan
  • Weinreich, Matthias. 2008. We Are Here to Stay. Pashtun Migrants in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Klaus Schwarz Verlag Berlin. (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen 285)
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