Hazara
The Hazara ethnic group resides mainly in the central Afghanistan mountain region called 'Hazarajat'. They make up anywhere between 9-20% of Afghanistan's population, but an accurate census has not been taken in decades so there is little information to verify at present. There are also significant populations of Hazaras in Pakistan and Iran.
History and origins
Historically, the Hazara seem to have mainly Mongoloid origins with some Caucasoid admixture, as evidenced by physical attributes and parts of the Culture and Language. It is commonly believed that the Hazara are descendants of Genghis Khan's army, which marched into the area during the 12th century. Proponents of this view hold that many of the Mongol soldiers and their families settled in the area and remained there after the Mongol Empire dissolved in the 13th century, converting to Islam and adopting local customs.However, this theory is contested on the basis of historical events surrounding Genghis Khan's invasion of what today constitutes Central Afghanistan. The invading Mongol armies encountered fierce resistance from the locals around Bamiyan, who had Asian features like the invading Mongols. This suggests that people with Mongoloid features inhabited Central Afghanistan, possibly of Uighur Turkic origin, long before Genghis Khan's invasion and probably arrived there in much earlier waves of migration out of Central Asia.
Historical records also mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson Motochin was killed. He ordered Bamiyan burnt to the ground in retribution, renaming it Ma-Obaliq ("Uninhabitable Abode").
After the fall of the Il-Khan empire in Persia, the Safavid Shah Abbas drove out the 'Infidel Mongols' from Persia to Khorasan (present day Afghanistan). Some sources say he drove out the Uzbeks but the distinction is unclear. Around the year ad 1550, the first mention of 'Hazaras' are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas, as well as in the Baburnama distinguishing Hazaras from the Chughtai Uzbeks. This is when the national identity of Hazaras apparently began.
The 'Global Gene Project' reported over a quarter of their sample Hazara males in Pakistan to have the Y-Chromosome of Genghis Khan.