Hazarewal

This article is about the Hindko-speakers of the Hazara region, Pakistan. For , not to be confused with the Persian-speaking Hazaras of Afghanistan, see Hazara people.

Hazarewal (alternatively spelled Hazara or Hazarawal; Urdu: ہزارہ وال) is another name or term recently emerged for the Hindkowan people, a Hindko speaking community belonging to the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa comprising of various tribes of mixed origins. This is because the term "Hindko" means Indian in the Pashto language is used to refer to speakers of Indo-Aryan language dialects, the term Hindko is discouraged as it associates Punjabi people and other Indo-Aryans with the republic of India. The main tribes of Hazara are the Swati, Dhund Abbasi, Karlal, Jadoon,Qureshi, Gujjar, Tanoli, Karlal, Syed, Malik Deen Khel Pashtun, Swati, Utman Zais, Khawaja, Sulemani (Suleman Khel), Ghakkar(Rajputs), Maddakhel, Kohistanis, Tarin (or Tareen), Qureshi, Mishwani, Piracha, Mir, Mughals, Tarkheli, Kashmiri, Dilazak, Shilmani (Suleman Khel) and the Isazai tribe of Tor Ghar District. The Hazarewal or Hindkowans are not to be confused with the ethnic Hazara people inhabiting parts of Baluchistan province in Pakistan or areas of neighbouring Afghanistan. The Hazarewals have, notably, over the last few years, found themselves increasingly in favour of separation and autonomy from the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on linguistic basis.