Location: Hazarajat or Hazaristan, central Afghanistan.
Language: The 6 million people of the Hazara tribe represent Turkish, Mongol, and other ethnic groups which influence a language the Hazaras call Hazargi. The Persian word Hazar means 'one thousand' which could have originated from the one thousand rivers throughout the area or the original one thousand soldiers provided by people in exchange of paying taxes to the government.
History: Although the Hazaras represent 6 million people in Afghanistan, not much is known about the origin of these people. There are many theories. Some believe that the Hazaras are descendents of Genghis Khan. Others believe they are the result of the Mongol soldiers invading the Turks, marrying, and having children. There are also people that are attempting to trace their ancestry by their mixed dialect, which seem to have traces of Dari, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Mongol, and Turkish. The Hazaras are very oppressed people. Since the 19th century, over half of the Hazara tribe have been killed because of their religion and mixed ethnicity. They have been forced to segregate and move to other cities in Afghanistan. The government has attempted to completely eliminate them as a political, religious, historical, and cultural group. The Hazaras are constantly struggling to maintain their current freedom which they work for every day. Despite over 200 years of discrimination, segregation, and persecution, the Hazaras are constantly gaining higher political and religious status, fighting back against the government and becoming a stronger, more unified group of people.
Religion: Muslim, the Shiite sect of Islam
Best Known Feature: The Hazara people are recognized for being strong, determined, peaceful people. The Hazaras are still being massacred. Although they have gained a higher status as a group in Afghanistan, they are constantly being brutally killed. Internationally, there has been little done to stop what is currently being done to these people. They are being killed by other Muslims because they are mainly the Shiite sect of Islam, for fighting for equal rights, and for being part of Hezb-e-Wahdat (a unity party). Children are kidnapped and killed, people are starved, tortured, raped and shot to death. People are burned to death, fed to dogs, and brutally tortured and killed in front of their family members. People may not realize that the Hazaras are being killed into the late 1990's by leaders of the Middle East, including their own. Despite the torture they endure, these people have become known for their bravery, unity, determinism, and strength.
Daily Life: Unfortunately, it cannot be easily said that the Hazaras live a normal life. There days can't be described in terms of what food they eat, what activities the do, or what they do in their leisure time. The daily life of the Hazaras consists of oppression, brutality, murders, fear, torture, battle for equal rights, and/or death. Their cultural identities are being destroyed day by day in an attempt to eliminate their historical and cultural heritage. They may wake up and have a normal day for a few hours, then be kidnapped or killed, tortured, raped, or beaten. Their parents, brothers, sister, children or possessions may be taken from them. Until this tragic, horrible violence against the Hazaras ends, there will be no typical day in their lives.
I seem to remember a decent movie starring Omar Sharif as Genghis Khan, circa 1968. One scene showed the Mongols playing a nasty game of buzkashi on horseback.