IA
Ibrar Ali
Founder and site owner
Developer
- Joined
- 4 Nov 2026
- Last contribution
- 5 Nov 2026
- Articles
- 50
- Published versions
- 58
Writes aboutHistoryMemorialHeroes & PeopleAchievementsCulture & LanguageFood & DishesBooksPlacesDiaspora
Languages: English
Recent activity
Published work
- Books by Hazara authorsA growing list of books written by Hazara authors, from a chronicler at the Afghan court to refugee poets and memoirists today.
- Books about the HazarasScholarly studies and other books about Hazara history, migration, language and life, including a well-known novel with a Hazara character.
- Siraj al-TawarikhA history of Afghanistan in Persian by the Hazara chronicler Faiz Muhammad Katib, published in Kabul from 1913 to 1915, and a main record of the campaigns of the 1890s.
- The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-SharifThe life story of Najaf Mazari, a Hazara shepherd's son who learned rug-making in Mazar-i Sharif and became an author in Australia, written with Robert Hillman in 2008.
- OutspokenThe memoir of the Hazara doctor and human rights defender Sima Samar, written with Sally Armstrong and published by Random House Canada in 2024.
- The Hazaras of AfghanistanA historical, cultural, economic and political study of the Hazaras by the Hazara scholar Sayed Askar Mousavi, published by Curzon Press and St. Martin's Press.
- War and MigrationA study by Alessandro Monsutti of the social networks and economic strategies of Hazaras from Afghanistan, published by Routledge in 2005.
- The Hazaras and the Afghan StateA study by Niamatullah Ibrahimi of how Hazaras have related to the Afghan state, from nineteenth-century rebellion to the struggle for recognition today.
- Halwa-e samanakHalwa-e samanak is a dark, naturally sweet dish of flour and germinated wheat, simmered for hours. It is served at tea time with bosragh.
- PaichaPaicha is a winter dish of cow or sheep parts, such as the head or feet, simmered for hours with onion, garlic and wheat berries.
- MantuMantu are steamed dumplings, listed among the dishes of Hazara cooking and eaten widely across Afghanistan and Central Asia.
- Ghormeh sabziGhormeh sabzi is a herb and vegetable stew with roots in Iran. In Hazara kitchens in Quetta it is made with spinach and kidney beans and served with rice or naan.
- DaldaDalda is a dish of boiled crushed wheat, served with melted ghee or butter and often with browned onions.
- Hazara cuisineHazara cooking centres on bread, alongside dumplings, noodle soups and stews, with influences from Central Asian, South Asian and Persian food.
- BosraghBosragh is a sweet fried dough, made on special occasions to welcome guests and served with tea and samanak.
- BolaniBolani is a stuffed flatbread, listed among the dishes of Hazara cooking and eaten widely across Afghanistan.
- AshakAshak are wheat dumplings filled with leek or garlic chives, boiled and served with yoghurt and toppings such as minced meat or chickpeas.
- AashAash is a noodle soup traditionally served in winter. Hazara versions range from plain noodles with yoghurt and mint to richer bowls with chickpeas and minced meat.
- Zakia KhudadadiZakia Khudadadi is a Hazara para-taekwondo athlete who won the first ever medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team, a bronze at Paris 2024.
- Safdar TawakoliSafdar Tawakoli is a Hazara musician from Yakawlang, a master of the dambura, honoured with the title "Sultan Dambura".
- Habiba SarabiHabiba Sarabi is a Hazara haematologist and politician who in 2005 became the first woman to serve as a provincial governor in Afghanistan, in Bamyan.
- Sima SamarSima Samar is a Hazara doctor and human rights defender who served as Afghanistan's first Minister of Women's Affairs and received the Right Livelihood Award.
- Rohullah NikpaiRohullah Nikpai is a Hazara taekwondo athlete who won Afghanistan's first Olympic medal at Beijing 2008, and a second bronze at London 2012.
- Muhammad MusaGeneral Muhammad Musa, of Hazara descent, was Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army from 1958 to 1966 and later Governor of West Pakistan.
- Abdul Ali MazariAbdul Ali Mazari led the Hazara party Hizb-i Wahdat from 1989 until he was killed in Taliban custody in March 1995. Many Hazaras revere him as a martyr and champion of their rights.
- Jalila HaiderJalila Haider is a human rights lawyer from Quetta, Pakistan, described by the BBC as the first female lawyer from the Hazara community, and named to its 100 Women list in 2019.
- Sharbat Ali ChangeziSharbat Ali Changezi is a retired Air Marshal of the Pakistan Air Force and former fighter pilot, born to a Hazara family in Quetta.
- Yakaolang massacre of 2001In January 2001, Taliban forces retaking Yakaolang district rounded up and executed Hazara men, including elders who came to negotiate and aid workers.
- Sayed al-Shuhada school bombingOn 8 May 2021, bombs exploded outside Sayed al-Shuhada school in Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul, as girls left class. Most of those killed were girls.
- Quetta bombings of 2013Two bombings in Quetta, Pakistan, in January and February 2013 killed at least 180 Hazaras, among the deadliest sectarian attacks in Pakistan's history.
- Hazaras in PakistanHazaras have lived in what is now Pakistan since the 19th century. About 500,000 live in Balochistan, mainly in Quetta, where they have faced years of sectarian killings.
- Mundarakht killings of 2021Between 4 and 6 July 2021, Taliban fighters killed nine Hazara men in Mundarakht village, Ghazni province, according to an Amnesty International investigation.
- Mazar-i Sharif massacre of 1998After capturing Mazar-i Sharif on 8 August 1998, Taliban forces killed at least 2,000 people, by the estimate of Human Rights Watch. Hazara men and boys were particularly targeted.
- Dasht-e Barchi maternity ward attackOn 12 May 2020, gunmen attacked the maternity wing of Dasht-e Barchi hospital in Kabul, killing 24 people, including 16 mothers.
- Faiz Muhammad Katib HazaraFaiz Muhammad Katib Hazara was a Hazara historian and court chronicler in Kabul, author of the Siraj al-Tawarikh, and has been called Afghanistan's last traditional and first modern historian.
- Kahor killings of 2021On 30 August 2021, Taliban forces killed 13 Hazaras in Kahor village, Daykundi province, including former security personnel who had surrendered and a 17-year-old girl.
- Kaaj education centre bombingOn 30 September 2022, a suicide bomber attacked students sitting a practice exam at the Kaaj education centre in Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul. The UN counted at least 43 killed, mostly girls and young women.
- HazarajatThe Hazarajat is the historic homeland of the Hazara people, in the central highlands of Afghanistan.
- HazaragiHazaragi is the speech of many Hazaras, an eastern variety of Persian with a distinctive vocabulary of Mongolic and Turkic origin.
- Hazara peopleThe Hazaras are a Persian-speaking people whose homeland is the Hazarajat in the central highlands of Afghanistan, with large communities in Pakistan, Iran and around the world.
- Hazara achievements and firstsA growing list of milestones reached by Hazaras around the world, each linked to a sourced article.
- Enlightenment MovementThe Enlightenment Movement was a Hazara-led civil protest movement in Afghanistan, formed in 2016 over the route of a major power line.
- Hazara diasporaViolence and displacement have scattered Hazaras around the world, from Iran and Pakistan to Europe, North America and Australia.
- Deh Mazang bombing of 2016On 23 July 2016, suicide bombers attacked a peaceful Enlightenment Movement demonstration in Kabul, killing at least 85 civilians and injuring 413, according to the United Nations.
- DamburaThe dambura is a long-necked lute at the heart of Hazara folk music, used to accompany sung poetry.
- Destruction of the Buddhas of BamiyanIn March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the two giant Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan, in the heart of the Hazara homeland.
- BamyanBamyan is a city and province in the central highlands of Afghanistan, known for its cliff niches and for Band-e Amir, the country's first national park.
- Hazaras in AustraliaHazaras have settled in Australia mainly since the late 1990s, many as refugees. Most of the 433 people rescued by the MV Tampa in 2001 were Hazaras.
- Afshar operation of 1993In February 1993, mujahedin forces attacked the Afshar area of west Kabul, then held by the Hazara party Hizb-i Wahdat. Militias murdered civilians, and hundreds more were abducted and never seen again.
- Abdur Rahman Khan's campaigns against the HazarasIn the 1890s, the forces of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan carried out mass killing, enslavement and forced displacement of Hazaras. Legal scholars have argued that these acts constitute genocide.