Hazara

The Hazara are an ethnic and religious group in Afghanistan making up around 9% to 10% of the population. They are of Mongol ancestry and speak Hazaragi, a Persian dialect which uses Mongol words. Their religion is principally Shi'a Muslim, but they do include Sunni.

In Afghanistan, their traditional lands are the central mountains, or Hazarajat. They were conquered, in 1891, by Amir Abdur Rahman. He distributed their better grazing lands to Pashtuns and some Hazara subsequently relocated to Turkestan.