Farsiwan

Group of Farsiwans, Kandahar, Afghanistan (1878-1880)

Fārsīwān (Pashto/Persian: فارسیوان or its regional forms: Pārsīwān or Pārsībān,[1] "Persian speaker") is a contemporary designation for Persian speakers in Afghanistan and its diaspora elsewhere. More specifically, it was originally used to refer to a distinct group of farmers in Afghanistan[2][3][4][5] and urban dwellers. [6]

The Farsiwan are often mistakenly referred to as Tajiks.[1][7] Although the term was originally coined with the Persian lexical root (Pārsībān), the suffix has been transformed into a Pashto form (-wān) and is usually used by the Pashtuns to designate both the Tajiks and the Farsiwans.

  1. ^ a b The Encyc. Iranica makes clear in the article on Afghanistan — Ethnography that "The term Farsiwan also has the regional forms Parsiwan and Parsiban. In religion, they are Imami Shia. In literature, they are often mistakenly referred to as Tajik." Dupree, Louis (1982) "Afghanistan: (iv.) Ethnography", in Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
  2. ^ Maloney, Clarence (1978) Language and Civilization Change in South Asia E.J. Brill, Leiden, ISBN 90-04-05741-2, on page 131.
  3. ^ Hanifi, Mohammed Jamil (1976) Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Afghanistan Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J., ISBN 0-8108-0892-7, on page 36
  4. ^ ""Afghanistan: Historical political overview" FMO Research Guide". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  5. ^ Robson, Barbara and Lipson, Juliene (2002) "Chapter 5(B)- The People: The Tajiks and Other Dari-Speaking Groups" Archived January 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine The Afghans - their history and culture Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C., OCLC 56081073
  6. ^ M. Longworth Dames; G. Morgenstierne; R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
  7. ^ Emadi, Hafizullah (2005) Culture And Customs Of Afghanistan Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., ISBN 0-313-33089-1, on page 11 says: "Farsiwan are a small group of people who reside in southern and western towns and villages in Herat. They are sometimes erroneously referred to as Tajiks."