Ethnicities shared between Afghanistan and Pakistan

[Zu456]

There is misconception that exists that only Pashtuns live in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has a total population of about 30 million of which only 12 million are Pashtun.

The other ethnicities are Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Gujjar, Baloch, Aimaq, Turkmen, Brahui, Nuristani, Pamiri and Qizilbash as outlined in their national anthem.

Many of these ethnic groups are also found in great numbers in Pakistan (not counting refugees).

With Pashtuns being at about 30 million about 2.5 times the population in Afghanistan.

The Baloch population is significantly greater in Pakistan.

Nuristanis are synonymous with The Kalash tribe which is indigenous to Pakistan.

Gujjars exist in Kashmir and throughout Pakistan whilst also being numerous in northeast Afghanistan.

Pamiris are the same group found in Pakistan's northern areas and parts of Kashmir.

Brahui are a significant population in Balochistan.

The cases are similar for Aimaq and Qizilbash.

Hazaras are found in Quetta and a recognisable identity in Pakistan.

It's only Turkmen, Uzbeks and Tajiks which whilst found in Pakistan are inherently from Afghanistan.

Otherwise all the other ethnic groups overlap between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Whereas between India and Pakistan the groups overlapping are Punjabis, Sindhis , Memons, Parsis and Urdu speaking people which are all in the minority in India and are primarily found in Pakistan.

The north east and south east of Afghanistan and North West of India is more similar to Pakistan than the other way around as the other populations of these countries also exist.

 

[dzor]

is gujjar an ethnicty??? i've heard about them in Kashmir/Afg too, I'm from Punjab though..

 

[enkidu_]

is gujjar an ethnicty??? i've heard about them in Kashmir/Afg too, I'm from Punjab though..

He's not talking about Gujjar the tribe/clan (found in Punjab, Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh - of course, tons of regional differences), to which belong a lot of Pak cricketers (Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Ehsan Adil, ...), but the Gujjars as an ethnic group, who are mainly nomads found in Kashmir (called "Bakerwals"), Khyber Pakhtunwa (lots in Swat valley) and some in Afghanistan and Himachal Pradesh in India. They "look" Pashtuns. One from Himachal Pradesh :

From Kashmir :

As per statistics, these Gujjars are some 3 millions, of which 2.2 millions are in Pak and 800,000 in India (J&K mainly, few Himachal Pradesh).

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Those kids look damn fierce...

 

[Lurker_Ind]

^ A quick google search shows links that claim Gurjar population to be around 5.3 crores in India. Mainly concentrated in J & K, Haryana, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is a Gujjar from UP.

 

[enkidu_]

^ A quick google search shows links that claim Gurjar population to be around 5.3 crores in India. Mainly concentrated in J & K, Haryana, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is a Gujjar from UP.

Yes but the Gujjars in Haryana/UP/Gujarat/Mararashtra are tribes/clans of their respective regions (so they "fit" into their population), while the J&K/KPK Gujjars are their "own" ethnic group. You can see that Shoaib Akhtar looks regular for Pak Punjab while the Gujjars I posted don't.

The Gujjars OP metionned look pseudo-Pashtuns and would stand out anywhere east of the Indus (the first group is from Afg, others from J&K) :

Compare with the Gujjars in...

Pak Punjab

Haryana

Rajasthan

who basically look like the majority of their respective region.

 

[Lurker_Ind]

Pak Punjab Gujjars and Indian Gujjars look the same.

 

[enkidu_]

Pak Punjab Gujjars and Indian Gujjars look the same.

Very superficially, based on skin tone, but Pak Punjabis have different facial features on average (a bit like the Bihari-Bengali differences in India.)

As yes the obsessive look how much we are genetically similar to Afghanistan thread.

Lol lots of afghans blush at the the forced comparison by Pakistanis.

I've rarely (never, to be honest) seen non-Pashtun Pakistanis claiming to be "similar" to Afghans. In fact, even in-between the different ethnic groups of the country, there's a clear awareness of the phenotypical differences (a Punjabi knows that a Kashmiri or "Pathan" is fairer, and so on). OP's main point was that 45% of Afghanistan is ethnically similar to 15% of Pak, namely the Pashtuns, like 45% of Pak is ethnically similar to 2% of India, namely the Punjabis - but it doesn't make Pakistanis "the same" as Afghans or Indians. Pakistan is what it is, reflecting the demographics : some kind of fusion between Central and South Asia, possible through the meta-geoeconomics of the Indus.

 

[srh]

Thanks [MENTION=137893]enkidu_[/MENTION]
I always thought Gujjar mean Punjabis. Now I know more.

 

[speed]

Gujjars are tall people, the punjabi gujjars I am talking about asif, ehsan adil etc.

 

[Zu456]

Good to read the replies. Enkidu is right. What led me to this research is that my family is Gojar yet no one ever thinks we are Asian. When they do they think we are Kashmiri/ Pushtun / Baloch/ Pamiri . Then it made sense seeing the large variation in Gojars. The clan/ tribe is like so many people are Syed these days but the ethnic group is different and very remote with distinct features more akin to West of the indus.

 

[JaDed]

Yes but the Gujjars in Haryana/UP/Gujarat/Mararashtra are tribes/clans of their respective regions (so they "fit" into their population), while the J&K/KPK Gujjars are their "own" ethnic group. You can see that Shoaib Akhtar looks regular for Pak Punjab while the Gujjars I posted don't.

The Gujjars OP metionned look pseudo-Pashtuns and would stand out anywhere east of the Indus (the first group is from Afg, others from J&K) :

Good Post although i find it hard to relate personally.

 

[JaDed]

Interesting thread tbh but the title sounds appeasing.

 

[enkidu_]

Good Post although i find it hard to relate personally.

Why so ?

 

[JaDed]

Why so ?

Probably coz eventhough i'm a Punjabi but i grew up in south and i was more amazed by how people in Coorg Karanata 'could' have Kurdish origin.

 

[Saeed]

there is no such features called west of the Indus. I have seen Afghans looks Indians and I see Punjabi Sikhs who look like non north or south Indians. Im a Gozar and the Indian Gujjars look just like my people except for a bit darker in appearance. My people are nomads and never cared about some river that all invaders easily have crossed. North and south Indians look different anyways.

What language do Afghan Gozers speak? I am gujjer from north too but where I live they are mostly farmers. Actually Himachal Pradesh geographically looks pretty similar to certain areas of Afghanistan so no wonder we look similar.

 

[PakLFC]

Here I was thinking that Pathans were the only ones we had in common. The Afghans have Baloch as well?

 

[Pakistanian]

What language do Afghan Gozers speak? I am gujjer from north too but where I live they are mostly farmers. Actually Himachal Pradesh geographically looks pretty similar to certain areas of Afghanistan so no wonder we look similar.

Are you from Indian occupied Kashmir?