The Master of the Faculty of History of Samarkand State University conducted a scientific study on the history, socio-economic lifestyle and customs of the Uzbeks living in Northern Afghanistan. Below you can find out more about it.

    It has not been fully studied how the Uzbeks living on the territory of modern Afghanistan settled in this territory, their roots of origin, History. It should be noted that some sources even use the term diaspora (an ethnic group living outside their homeland) in relation to the Uzbeks living here. However, if we approach the history of the formation of Uzbeks in modern Afghanistan from a scientific point of view, we can find that they were formed not as a diaspora, but as an integral nation, gradually going through evolutionary processes and becoming one nation.

    Let us give a scientific substantiation of the history of the emergence of the Turkic tribes living in the north of Afghanistan, and the stages of the formation of the Uzbeks as a nation. The history of the emergence of the Turkic tribes in Afghanistan is associated with the second half of the 5th century, i.e. with the emergence of the state of the Hephthalites and Chionites. After the Ephthalites conquered the territories of Afghanistan, numerous Turkic tribes from the Syr Darya and the Aral Sea region moved and settled here. These tribes later, during the time of the Turkic Khaganate, adapted to a more peaceful life, and the political influence of the Turkic ulus increased even more here.

    The widespread spread of Islam in the territory of Khorasan at the end of the 7th-beginning of the 8th centuries. marked the beginning of the unification of the Turkic tribes, professing different religions, under a single religious banner.

    During the period of the Mongol invasion in the first half of the 13th century, the ethnic image of the Turkic peoples acquired more complex forms. There were also many Turkic tribes in the ranks of the Mongol army. As a result, the Mongolian tribes assimilated here into the Turkic peoples. This process, in turn, led to the emergence of new ethnonyms among the Turkic peoples.

    The ancient Afghan land, located at the crossroads of the Great Silk Road, served as a cradle for the emergence and development of various cultures. The period of formation of the Uzbeks living in Afghanistan, as a single Uzbek nation in this territory, as well as in Maverannahr, dates back to the 9th-12th centuries. The ethnogenesis of the Uzbeks in the north of Afghanistan was unusually rich, and the resettlement of various tribes and tribes to this territory, as well as their mutual rapprochement and mixing, played an important role in the formation of the nation.

    Until the 16th century, the Aksars of the Uzbeks living in Afghanistan consisted of clans of Karluk and Oghuz origin, who called themselves Turks under a common name, and by the time of the Sheikhbanids, many Uzbek tribes belonging to the Kypchak family had migrated. Since the 16th century, most of the tribes living south of the Amu Darya have adopted the single name Uzbek.

    Until the 19th century, Uzbeks and Tajiks living in northern Afghanistan were part of the Emirate of Bukhara. By the 50s of the century, relations between England and the Bukhara ruler Amir Nasrullah cooled. As a result, England pushed the then Afghan Emir Dust Muhammad Khan to war against Bukhara and provided military assistance. With the military support of England, Dust Muhammadkhan, one after another, invaded the Uzbek regions south of the Amu Darya. In ancient times, the term Afghan Turkestan or South Turkestan was applied to these territories. Dust Muhammadkhan appointed his son Afzal Khan as a state representative in the newly conquered territories. The main goal pursued by the British in the conquest of these territories was to prevent Russia, which had begun the conquest of Central Asia, from blindfolding the lands south of the Amu Darya.

    Under the Barakzai dynasty, Afghanistan gradually strengthened under British support and Madadi, expanding its territories to the north. At that time, on the southern bank of the Amu Darya, there were a number of beks - Balkh, Kunduz, Shibirgan, Maiman, partially subordinate to the Bukhara Emirate. Emir Dustmuhammad-Khan Barakzai united the newly subordinate northern beks, populated mainly by Uzbeks, into a single Turkestan region and began a policy of resettling Pashtuns here.

    Thus, the territories of modern Afghanistan arose in the nineteenth century as a result of the artificial subjugation of new territories.

    Afghanistan as a multi-ethnic state is inhabited by representatives of more than 20 nationalities. Uzbeks are the third largest nation in Afghanistan. Basically, Uzbeks make up the majority of the population of 8 regions in the north of the country, where the Turkestan and Fergana regions are located. In the 70s of the XX century, the population of Afghanistan was 16 million people, of which 2 million were Uzbeks. Currently, the total population of Afghanistan is more than 30 million, of which the data on the total number of citizens of Afghanistan of Uzbek nationality in some are given as 3-5 million, and in some as 7-8 million. The main reason for the lack of accurate data on the number of Uzbeks in Afghanistan is that over the past 40 years there has not been a population census. In addition, the war is connected with the fact that the Afghan people are forced to relentlessly move from one place to another.

    Although the land of Afghanistan is multinational, it can be said that the Uzbeks have preserved their nationality very well. Even in relation to compatriots in Uzbekistan, it can be said with confidence that national values ​​are truly developing. During holidays, elections, weddings and other ceremonies held in the area, great attention is paid to nationality.

    In particular, samples of oral folk art masterfully combine attractive and diverse samples of the Uzbek language:

    Bu dunyoning vazfasi joq,

    Zavqi minan safasi joq,

    Mama xava- mamang vo'tti

    Enisiman atasi joq.

    Vo dunyodan bir ton kepti –

    Jengi menin jag'asi joq,

    Aytyappan bu termini

    Birin gapning xatosi joq.

    Although the above example of a folk term originated among the Uzbek tribes speaking the “zh” dialect, we can also see it as a Karluk dialect. This means that there are very good relations between the various Uzbek clans living here. Now take a look at this set:

    Qoshingning qorasiga,

    Xol bo'lay orasiga.

    Qanday qilib chidayin,

    Kuyganing nolasiga.

    And this four is a completely different Karluk “Y”, which is spoken of in dialects. From this we can also know that the Uzbek people living in Afghanistan speak different languages, even in some dialects one can feel the influence of the Persian language. For example:

    safedi gardening doim nazarsan,

    Mening xoli dilimdan bexabarsan.

    Mening xoli dilim olamga mashhur,

    Ilojing bo'lmasa boshingdan oshir.

    If you pay attention to the above four, you will feel the direction of creativity of Alisher Navoi, Babur. Afghan Uzbeks as a whole, although they differ in colloquial terms, but the customs and rituals are the same, and they all know themselves as a single Uzbek nation and are proud of it.

    There are a lot of dialects in the language of the Uzbek-Afghans, there is no literary language environment that unites them into a single whole. For this, Uzbek written literature and mass media in the Uzbek language should be consistently established in Afghanistan. For these purposes, the Aydin Association was created, which supports the Turkic-speaking youth, whose center is located in Kabul. The main purpose of the association is to promote culture and education among the Turkic-speaking youth and provide them with an opportunity to receive education. The association is mainly financially supported by the Turkish state and voluntary sponsors. Branches of the association operate in the Tokhara, Mazar-i-Sharif, Sarapul, Andkhoy, Maiman regions. Association motto

    O'lkadoshlar bir bo'linglar, yaxshi bunyod aylaylik,

    Urushda o'lgan kishilar ruhini shod aylayik.

    Kim, bukun o'lka tushubdur, boshqa asrning ichiga

    Barcha naslim birlashing, o'lkamni ozod aylaylik.

    Uzbeks have played an important role in the history, culture, socio-economic life and politics of Afghanistan. Currently, outside the Republic of Uzbekistan, only in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the Uzbek language the official state language. In accordance with the requirements set out in Articles 1 and 4 of Chapter 16 of the Constitution of Afghanistan, the Uzbek language is recognized as an official language in the northern provinces of Afghanistan. After that, departments of the Uzbek language and literature were created at the universities, teacher training institutions began to operate, schools with instruction in the Uzbek language began to open, TV channels in the Uzbek language were organized, and several radio and newspapers began to operate.

    Currently, the newspapers “Yulduz”, “Ezgu Tuyg’u” and the magazine “Oydin” are published in Uzbek. In addition, there are TV studios "Zerkalo", "Batyr".

    For education in the Uzbek language in Afghanistan, there are schools that operate in the Uzbek language, mainly in the northern part of the country. However, obtaining education in the country in the Uzbek language also creates some difficulties, since higher education is mainly carried out in Pashtun and Persian. Government affairs are also conducted in these two languages. Another important argument is the insufficient literature for teaching in the Uzbek language. However, many higher education institutions have departments in Uzbek. Over the past 10 years, millions of young people in Afghanistan have been educated and educated in the Uzbek language. Until now, thousands of young people have studied at the faculties of the Uzbek language and literature and received higher education. Uzbek youth from Afghanistan also began to receive education at prestigious foreign universities. At present, it is these young people who are becoming active participants in the education system of Afghanistan.

    Textbooks in Uzbek, necessary for teaching children in Afghan schools and other educational institutions, in most cases are made using books published in Uzbekistan. The reason is that scientific works related to the Uzbek language, literature, history and culture are mainly published in Uzbekistan. Even the works of our great scientists, such as Alisher Navoi and Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur, who once lived and worked on the territory of modern Afghanistan, were translated into Arabic spelling by Afghan specialists on the basis of books published in Uzbekistan and presented to fans of reading in Uzbek.

    But there is very little Uzbek literature on natural and exact sciences, information technologies. The Government of Uzbekistan has developed a special project to teach Uzbek youth in Afghanistan in their native language. As part of the project, a special center was opened in Surkhandarya region in 2017 to train citizens of Afghanistan. The cost of training at the center is fully covered by the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition to the Uzbek language and literature, qualified personnel in the field of pedagogy, information technology, medicine, and exact sciences are being trained here. To date, thousands of our compatriots who have graduated from the center are fruitfully working in various spheres of society.

    In the post-Soviet period, there were practically no contacts with countries located south of us. To be precise, existing contacts were also limited. This thing definitely showed its negative side. Family ties were severed. Because due to the artificial barriers imposed on communications in Soviet times for more than 70 years, those who were related lost contact with each other. As a result, during the twentieth century, when the processes of interethnic integration intensified throughout the world, our relations with our compatriots in Afghanistan became a little distant. If you pay attention to the numbers, then the largest Uzbek population living outside of Uzbekistan lives precisely on Afghan soil.

    During the years of independence, national self-consciousness in Uzbekistan has risen to the level of state policy. Close ties have been established with neighboring countries and existing contacts have been established. However, the ongoing constant wars on the territory of Afghanistan did not allow contacts with the Uzbeks living here to develop at a high level. True, political and economic ties are very well established between the two states. In particular, our opinion is confirmed by the fact that at present most of the products imported by Afghanistan come from the territory of Uzbekistan. But, due to cultural ties between ordinary people, the concept of knowing each other and belonging is not yet sufficiently developed. Nevertheless, the Uzbek media have penetrated the territory of present-day Afghanistan very well: Uzbek cinema, music and TV channels are very popular in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, despite the political crises, socio-economic life is being restored. The Afghan people are also very well aware that the achievement of peace is an important factor, first of all, to improve the standard of living.

    Uzbekistan also actively supports Afghanistan's initiative to have its own railways. Uzbekistan is also one of the main donors of the railway construction project from Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif and from Kabul to Pakistan. Recently, Uzbek specialists reconstructed and put into operation the international airport Mazar-i-Sharif. In general, Uzbekistan has been providing assistance to Afghanistan in recent years within the framework of very many projects. There are several reasons for this, the main goal of which is to achieve complete peace in Afghanistan and accelerate the processes of Central Asian-Afghan integration.

Oybek Azimov,

Samarkand State University

Master of the Faculty of History.