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Concept
Hazarajat
Summary
Hazaristan (Hazāristān), or Hazarajat (Hazārajāt) is a mostly mountainous region in the central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Kuh-e Baba mountains in the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. It is the homeland of the Hazara people who make up the majority of its population. Hazarajat denotes an ethnic and religious zone.
Hazarajat is primarily made up of the provinces of Bamyan, Daykundi and large parts of Ghor, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Parwan, Maidan Wardak and more. The most populous towns in Hazarajat are Bamyan, Yakawlang (Bamyan), Nili (Daykundi), Lal wa Sarjangal (Ghor), Sang-e-Masha (Ghazni), Gizab (Uruzgan) and Behsud (Maidan Wardak). The Kabul, Arghandab, Helmand, Farah, Hari, Murghab, Balkh and Kunduz rivers originate from Hazarajat.
The name "Hazara" first appears in the 16th-century book Baburnama, written by Mughal Emperor Babur. When the famous geographer Ibn Battuta arrived in Khurasan in 1333, he traveled across the country but did not record any place by the name of Hazaristan.
The Hazara people and surrounding peoples use the names "Hazarajat" or "Hazaristan" to identify the historic Hazara lands. "Hazarajat" is a compound of "Hazara" and the Dari suffix "jat", which is used to make words associated with land in the south, central and west Asia.
The Arab geographer Maqdesi ( 945/946 – 991) named Hazarajat as "Gharjistan" or "Gharj Al-Shar" ("Gharj" meaning "mountain") area ruled by chiefs.
The Hazarajat lies in the central Afghan highlands, among the Koh-i Baba mountains and the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. Its boundaries have historically been inexact and shifting. Its physical limitations, however, are roughly marked by the Bā-miān Basin to the north, the headwaters of the Helmand River to the south, Firuzkuh to the west, and the Unai Pass to the east. The regional terrain is mountainous and extends to the Safid Kuh and the Siāh Kuh mountains, where the highest peaks reach between and . Both sides of the Kuh-e Bābā range contain a succession of valleys.
Official source
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