introductiondialect of Afghan Persian, known as Dari, are the two official languages of
Afghanistan, the majority of Afghanistan’s population neither speaks nor
understands Pushtu. Dari, especially its colloquial form, differs significantly
from literary Persian and Tehrani Persian in respect of both vocabulary
and pronunciation. There are also substantial regional variations in the
Persian spoken in Afghanistan.
Uzbeks are the majority population of the northern plains from the
southern border of Faryab province to the eastern boundary of Qunduz,
but there are sizeable populations of Turkmans, Tajiks and Pushtuns
too. Uzbeki and Turkmani belong to the Altaic linguistic group, which
derives from the Turco-Mongolian world of Inner Asia. Persian and
Pushtu, on the other hand, are Eastern Iranian languages. A number of
other smaller Turco-Mongolian groups live in northern Afghanistan,
Badakhshan and the Wakhan, and include Kazakhs, Kipchaks, Kyrgyz
and Uyghurs. In the Daulatabad region of Faryab province there is a
Pushtun maldar in
western Hazarajat.
Traditionally these
Ghilzai nomads spend
the summer months
in this region but
tensions between
Hazaras and the
maldar and the civil
war means many of
them have abandoned
their annual migration
to this region.