Hazara

[ huh-zahr-uh ]

noun

, plural Ha·za·ra, Ha·za·ras.

1. an Iranian ethnolinguistic group in central Afghanistan, north Pakistan, and Iran, most of whom are Shiʿite Muslims.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hazara¹

From Persian hazār “a thousand, a military unit of a thousand soldiers,” from Middle Persian

Example Sentences

In the months after the Taliban seized power, ISIS-K carried out near daily attacks on their soldiers at roadside checkpoints and in neighborhoods that are home to the country’s Hazara ethnic minority.

From New York Times

Many of them have targeted Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic minority and have been claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP, the regional affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group, a major rival of the Taliban.

From BBC

The young man, a member of the Hazara Shia Muslim minority and from Ghor province, earns barely 350 Afghanis per day doing odd jobs, the agency says.

From BBC

"Life under the Taliban felt like a prison, they didn't see us as Muslim, they called us infidels. We never felt safe with them," Shakeba, a 17-year-old Hazara from Afghanistan, told the BBC.

From BBC

When the Taliban were last in power from 1996-2001, Hazara fighters fought against them.

From BBC