Pamiris

{{Short description|Eastern Iranian ethnic group of the Pamir Mountains}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Pamiris

| native_name = {{native name|sgh|Pomerêen}}

| native_name_lang = Pomerêen

| flag = Flag of Pamiri people.svg

| flag_caption = Flag used by the Pamiri people

| image =

| image_caption =

| population = {{circa|300,000–350,000}}{{Sfn|Лашкарбеков|2006|pp=111{{ndash}}30}} (2006)

| region1 = Tajikistan
(Gorno-Badakhshan)

| pop1 = approx. 200,000 (2013)

| ref1 = {{Cite web |last=Hays |first=Jeffrey |title=Pamiri Tajiks and Yaghnobis {{!}} Facts and Details |url=https://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Tajikistan/sub8_6b/entry-4875.html |access-date=29 December 2023 |website= |language=en}}

| region3 = Afghanistan
(Badakhshan)

| pop3 = 65,000

| ref3 = {{Cite web |title=What Languages do People Speak in Afghanistan? |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/afghanistan/language |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=World population review}}

| region4 = China
(Xinjiang)

| pop4 = 50,265

| ref4 = {{Cite web |date=11 October 2017 |title=新疆维吾尔自治区统计局 |url=http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539450.html |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101904/http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539450.html |archive-date=11 October 2017 }}

| region5 = Russia
(Moscow)

| pop5 = 32,000 (2018)

| ref5 = {{Sfn|Додыхудоева|2018|p=108}}

| region2 = Pakistan
(Gilgit-Baltistan & Chitral)

| pop2 = approx. 74,605 (2016)

| ref2 = Includes Wakhis, Yidghas, Sarikolis and Shughnis. This population figure only includes those who speak the Pamiri languages, members of the ethnic group who no longer speak the languages may not be included.{{cite web|title=Yadgha|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ydg|website=Ethnologue|access-date=28 March 2025}}

| popplace =

| rels = Mainly Islam

(predominantly Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islam, minority Sunni Islam)

| langs = Pamiri
Secondary: Persian (Dari and Tajik), Russian, Urdu, Uyghur

| related = Other Iranian peoples

}}

The Pamiris{{efn|{{bulleted list|{{langx|fa|پامیری}}|{{langx|tg|Помирӣ|Pomirī}}|{{langx|ru|Пами́рцы|Pamírcy}}|{{lang-zh|s=帕米尔人|p=Pàmǐ'ěrrén}}|{{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|پامیری}}}}}}}} are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to Central Asia, living primarily in Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan), Afghanistan (Badakhshan), Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan{{efn|Mostly residing in Gojal region of Gilgit-Baltistan.{{cite news |last1=Javaid |first1=Muhammad |last2=Naeem |first2=Waqas |title=Preserving local cultures, promotion of harmony needed: Speakers |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/505132/preserving-local-cultures-promotion-of-harmony-needed-speakers |access-date=23 October 2024 |work=The Express Tribune |date=10 February 2013}} Presently, a few Pamiris also reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province per a report by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.}} & Chitral) and China (Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County). They speak a variety of different languages, amongst which languages of the Eastern Iranian Pamir language group stand out. The languages of the Shughni-Rushani group, alongside Wakhi, are the most widely spoken Pamiri languages.

History

= Antiquity =

{{See also|Ancient Iranian peoples|Indo-Europeans}}

File:Scythian_soldier,_Kalchayan.jpg of a Saka warrior in Khalchayan, Northern Bactria, 1st century BC.]]

Eastern Iranian (mainly Saka (Scythian)), Tocharian, and probably Dardic tribes, as well as pre-Indo-European substrate populations took part in the formation of the Pamiris: in the 7th and 2nd centuries BC the Pamir Mountains were inhabited by tribes known in written sources as the Sakas.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}}{{Sfn|Лашкарбеков|2006|pp=111{{ndash}}30}}{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=36}} They were divided into different groupings and recorded with various names, such as Saka Tigraxauda ("Saka who wear pointed caps"), Saka Haumavarga ("Saka who revere hauma"), Saka Tvaiy Paradraya ("Saka who live beyond the (Black) Sea"), Saka Tvaiy Para Sugdam ("Saka who are beyond Sogdia").{{Sfn|Мамадназаров|2015|p=386}}{{Sfn|Zoolshoev|2022}}

The version about Pamiris' Hephthalite origin was put forward by the famous Soviet and Russian anthropologist Lev Gumilev ({{Died in|1992}}).{{Sfn|Мамадназаров|2015|p=387}}

The Western Pamirs, which was defending itself from the invasion of eastern nomads, became the eastern outpost of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom from the middle of the 3rd century BC, and the Kushan Empire from the middle of the 1st century AD.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}}{{Sfn|Nazarkhudoeva|2015|p=102}} Nomadic cattle breeding developed in the Eastern Pamirs, while agriculture and pastoralism developed in the Western Pamirs.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}} Remains of ancient fortresses and border fortifications of the Bactrian and Kushan periods are still preserved in the Pamirs.{{Sfn|Nazarkhudoeva|2015|p=102}} The oldest Saka burials have also been found in the Eastern Pamirs.{{Sfn|Лашкарбеков|2006|p=59}}

= Middle Ages =

Mass migration particularly strengthened after the 5th and 6th centuries because of the Turkic movement into Central Asia (and the Mongols afterwards) from whom the settled Iranian population escaped in canyons that were not attractive for cattle-breeding needed wildest.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|pp=37{{ndash}}8}} Vasily Bartold ({{Died in|1930}}), in his work "Turkistan" mentions that in the 10th century three Pamiri states: Wakhan, Shikinan (Shughnan) and Kerran (probably Rushan and Darvaz) have already been settled by pagans, however in the political realm, probably, were subjugated by Muslims. In the 12th century, Badakhshan was annexed to the Ghurid state.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=40}} Between the 10 and 16th centuries Wakhan, Shughnan and Rushan together with Darvaz (the last two were united in the 16th century) were governed by the local feudal dynasties and actually were independent.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=38}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2022|p=47}}{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=175}}

= Modern history =

In 1895, Badakhshan was divided between Afghanistan, which was under British influence, and the Emirate of Bukhara, which was under the protectorate of the Tsarist Russian Empire.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=36}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2022|p=47}} The central lands of Badakhshan, however, remained on the Afghan side of the demarcation line.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=36}}{{Sfn|Daudov|Shorokhov|p=804|Andreev|2018}} On 2 January 1925, the Soviet government decided to create a new geographical and political entity known in modern times as the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast' (GBAO). During the Soviet period Pamiris were generally excluded from positions of power within the republic, with a few exceptions, notably Shirinshoh Shotemur, a Shughni who held the position of chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic during the 1930s; and Nazarsho Dodkhudoyev, a {{ill|Rushan people|lt=Rushani|ru|Рушанцы}} who served as chairman of the Presidium of the Tajik Supreme Soviet in the 1950s.{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=177}} Literacy in GBAO increased from 2% in 1913 to almost 100% in 1984.{{Sfn|Daudov|Shorokhov|p=805|Andreev|2018}}

In the 1926 census the Pamiris were labelled as "Mountain Tajiks", in the 1937 and 1939 censuses they appeared as separate ethnic groups within the Tajiks, in the 1959, 1970 and 1979 censuses they were classified as Tajiks.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}} In the late 1980s Pamiri identity was further solidified through efforts to elevate the status of Pamiri languages and to promote literature in the Pamiri languages, as well as 'claims of sovereignty and republic status for Badakhshan' made by Pamiri intellectuals.{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=177}} In 1991, after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), GBAO remained part of the newly independent country of Tajikistan.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=36}}

On 4 March 1991 the Pamiri political group La'li Badakhshan ({{langx|tg|Лаъли Бадахшон|links=no|lit=the ruby of Badakhshan}}) was formed in Dushanbe.{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=179}}{{Sfn|Худоёров|2011|p=79}}{{Sfn|Kılavuz|2014|p=88}} The founder of this organization was Atobek Amirbekov, a Pamiri born in Khorog who had worked at the Dushanbe Pedagogical Institute as a lecturer and deputy dean.{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=179}}{{Sfn|Kılavuz|2014|p=88}} The backbone of the organisation were students of higher educational institutions of the capital and Pamiri youth living in the Tajik capital.{{Sfn|Худоёров|2011|p=79}}{{Sfn|Daudov|Shorokhov|p=817|Andreev|2018}} La'li Badakhshan's primary objective was to represent the cultural interests of the Pamiri people and to advocate for greater autonomy for the GBAO. The group also participated in and organised numerous demonstrations in Dushanbe and Khorog during the first year of independence in Tajikistan.{{Sfn|Straub|2014|p=179}}

File:Flag_of_Gorno-Badakhshan.svg

Since the end of 1992, the Pamiris' national movement has declined, which was primarily due to the sharp deterioration of socio-economic conditions and the civil war (1992–1997) that unfolded in Tajikistan.{{Sfn|Худоёров|2011|p=80}}{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|pp=91, 94}}{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=33}} Together with Gharmis, the Pamiris were part of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), a coalition of different nationalist, liberal democratic and Islamist parties. A United Nation investigation reported that in December 1992 in Dushanbe "buses were routinely searched, and persons with identity cards revealing they were of Pamiri or Gharmi origin were forced out and either killed on the spot or taken away and later found dead or never heard from again."{{Sfn|Straub|2014|pp=181{{ndash}}2}}

The self-proclaimed {{ill|Autonomous Republic of Badakhshan|lt=|ru|Автономная Республика Бадахшан}} formally existed until November 1994.{{Sfn|Худоёров|2011|p=81}} According to Suhrobsho Davlatshoev, "the Tajikistani civil war crystallized and strengthened the ethnic consciousness of Pamiris in some respect."{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=33}}

Starting in the 2020s, the Tajikistani government cracked down on Pamiri activism, cultural practices, and institutions, as well as the use of the Pamiri language.{{Cite web |title=Tajikistan: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/tajikistan/freedom-world/2024 |access-date=26 July 2024 |website=Freedom House |language=en}} Subsequently, there was an exodus of ethnic Pamiris from Tajikistan and Russia.{{Cite web |title=Pair of Pamiri Activists Disappear From Russia and Reappear in Tajikistan |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/pair-of-pamiri-activists-disappear-from-russia-and-reappear-in-tajikistan/ |access-date=16 August 2024 |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US}}

Identity

As {{ill|Alexei Bobrinsky|lt=Alexei Bobrinsky's|ru|Бобринский, Алексей Алексеевич (1861)}} records testify, during his discussions with the Pamiris in the beginning of the 20th century, Pamiris underlined their Iranian origin.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=97}} Although the Soviet ethnographers called the Pamiris as "Mountain Tajiks" the majority of the Pamiri intelligentsia see themselves as belonging to a separate and distinct ethnos.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=102}}{{Sfn|Додыхудоева|2018|p=121}} In China, the same people are officially deemed to be Tajiks. Not so long ago the same was true in Afghanistan where they were identified as Tajiks, but more recently the Afghan government reclassified them as Pamiris.{{Sfn|Dagiev|2018|p=23}}

Religion

= Pre-Islamic beliefs =

Before the spread of Islam in the Pamirs, the Pamiris professed faith in various belief systems. Legends and some current stories about fire worshipping and veneration of the sun and the moon indicate the possibility of some continuation of pre-Islamic religious practices, such as mehrparastī (a pre-Islamic practice of worshipping the sun and the moon), and Manichaean and Zoroastrian customs and rites in the Pamirs.{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=25}}{{Sfn|Мамадназаров|2015|p=402}} Zoroastrianism was a dominant religion and tradition for thousands of years, such that many of its traditions survived including specific features of the Nowruz (Iranian New Year) celebrations and of Pamiri houses, graveyards, burial rites and customs, as well as Avestan toponyms.{{Sfn|Dagiev|2022|p=88}} In Shughnan and Wakhan, Zoroastrian temples were active until the late Middle Ages.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}}

{{Blockquote|text=The town of Sikāshim [modern Ishkashim on both the Tajik and Afghan sides] is the capital of the region of Wakhān (gaṣabi-yi nāhiyyat-i Wakhān). Its inhabitants are the fire-worshipers (gabrakān) and the Muslims, and the ruler (malik) of Wakhān lives there. Khamdud [Khandut in modern Afghan Wakhān] is where the idol temples of the Wakhis (butkhāna-yi Wakhān) are located.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=29}}|source=Hudūd al-ʿAlam}}

= Nasir Khusraw and Fatimid Isma'ilism =

File:Stamps_of_Tajikistan,_030-03.jpg

The spread of Isma'ili Shi'i Islam is associated with the stay in the Pamirs of Nasir Khusraw ({{Died in|1088}}), a Persian-speaking poet, theologian, philosopher, and missionary (da'i) for the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate, who was hiding from a Sunni fanaticism in Shughnan.{{Sfn|Каландаров|2014}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=147}}{{Sfn|Daftary|2007|p=207}} Many religious practices are associated with Nasir's mission by the Pamiri Isma'ili community to this day, and people in the community venerate him as a hazrat [majesty], hakim [sage], shah [king], sayyid [descendant of the Prophet], pir-i quddus [holy saint], and hujjat [proof].{{Sfn|Dagiev|2022|pp=18{{ndash}}9}}{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=28}} The community also considers him to be a member of the Prophet Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt.{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=28}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=42}}

As Lydia Monogarova asserts, one of the main reasons why Pamiris accepted Isma'ilism can be seen as their extreme tolerance to various beliefs compared to the other sects of Islam.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=50}} As a result, terms such as Daʿwat-i Nāṣir or Daʿwat-i Pīr Shāh Nāṣir are prevalent designations among the Isma'ilis in Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan, the northern areas of Pakistan and certain parts of Xinjiang province in China.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=147}}{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|pp=44, 48}} The Isma'ilis of Badakhshan and their offshoot communities in the Hindu Kush region, now situated in Hunza and other northern areas of Pakistan, regard Nasir as the founder of their communities.{{Sfn|Daftary|2007|p=207}}

Marco Polo ({{Died in|1324}}), when passed through Wakhan in 1274 referred to the population here as Muslims.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=44}}

= The five Iranian da'is =

In the Pamirs, there is a story about five Iranian Isma'ili da'i brothers sent by the Nizari Imams: Shah Khamush, Shah Malang, and Shah Kashan, who settled in Shughnan; and Shah Qambar Aftab and Shah Isam al-Din, who settled in Wakhan.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=36}}{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=34}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=155}} They likely introduced themselves as qalandars, because even today, they are remembered by the Pamiris as the "Five Qalandars".{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=35}} The most detailed biographical narrative of Shah Khamush is found in Fadl Ali-Beg Surkh-Afsar's appendix to the Tāʾrikh-i Badakhshān of Mirza Sangmuhammad Badakhshi. For instance, Surkh-Afsar claims that the aforementioned Shah Khamush ('the silent king'), referred to as Sayyid Mīr Ḥasan Shāh, who traced his descent to Musa al-Kazim ({{Died in|799}}), the seventh Imam of the Twelver Shi'is, was an uwaisi saint (wali) from his mother's line, migrated from Isfahan to Shughnan in the 11th century, and that he was the ancestor of Shughnan's pirs and mirs.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=37}}{{Sfn|Dagiev|2022|pp=27{{ndash}}8}}{{Sfn|Elnazarov|Aksakolov|p=48|2011}} This story was narrated to Bobrinsky, one of the Russian pioneers of Pamiri studies, by the Shughni pir Sayyid Yūsuf ʿAlī Shāh in 1902.{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=35}}

= Dīn-i Panj-tanī =

During the concealment period (dawr al-satr), which continued in Isma'ili history for several centuries (from the Alamut collapse until the Anjudan revival), several elements of the Twelver Shi'i and Sufi ideas became mixed with the Isma'ili belief of the Pamiris.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=41}}{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|pp=35{{ndash}}6}} Many Persian-speaking poets and philosophers, such as Sanai, Attar, and Rumi, are considered by Pamiri Isma'ilis as their co-religionists and are regarded as pīran-i maʿrifat ({{Lit|the masters of gnosis}}).{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=37}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=41}} Recognizing as their leaders Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, son-in-law Ali and grandsons Hasan and Husayn, the Pamiris call their religion "Dīn-i Panj-tanī" ({{Lit|the religion of the [holy] five }}) and perceive themselves as the followers of this religion, which they name as "Panj-tan".{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=47}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=124}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|pp=36, 41{{ndash}}2}}{{efn|The Panj-Tani typology drives from the Persian phrase panj tan-i pak ('the five pure figures')—an equivalent of the Arabic ahl al-bayt (the household of Prophet Muhammad)—to describe a set of esoteric traditions in Central and South Asia associated with the Shi'i and to some extent Sufi understandings of Islam based on the five key religious figures: Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn—the archetypes of religion and the symbolic expressions of the Shi'i identity.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2020|p=45}}}}. Until the last decades of the 20th century the panj-tanis were led by their local religious masters (pīrs) and their deputies (khalīfahs), who assumed their authority from the Isma'ili Imam of the Time.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2020|p=47}}

The 15 century Shughni poet Shāh Ẓiyāyī praises Imām ʿAlī, Imām Ḥusayn, Imām Ḥasan and Fāṭima, whom he calls the Panj-tan, in a poem "Muḥammad-astu ʿAlī Fāṭima Ḥusayn-u Ḥasan" that is well known in Badakhshan.{{Sfn|Gulamadov|2018|p=82}}

The label Chār-yārī ({{Lit|followers of the four friends}}) is used by the Pamiri Isma'ilis to refer to the Sunni Muslims who acknowledge the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali).{{Sfn|Elnazarov|Aksakolov|p=66|2011}}{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=38}} Shāh Ẓiyāyī regards those who have faith in the Panj-tan as true believers, unlike those who only say "four four" (chār chār), i.e. the Sunnis.{{Sfn|Gulamadov|2018|p=82}}

The use of the term Dīn-i Panj-tanī, a local equivalent of the term Shi'a in the context of Badakhshan, expresses an allegiance to the Shi'a, in general, and to Isma'ilism, in particular.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|pp=24, 124}}{{Sfn|Gulamadov|2018|pp=81, 82}}

== Chirāgh-Rāwshan ==

Amongst the Pamiri Isma'ilis there is distinctive practice called Chirāgh-Rāwshan ({{Lit|luminous lamp}}), which was probably introduced by Nasir Khusraw as a means of attracting people to attend his lectures.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=42}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=221}}{{Sfn|Elnazarov|Aksakolov|p=67|2011}} The practice is also known as tsirow/tsiraw-pithid/pathid in Pamiri languages; the recitation text called Qandīl-Nāma or Chirāgh-Nāma ({{Lit|the Book of Candle}}), consist of certain Qur'anic verses and several religious lyrics in Persian, which are attributed to Nasir Khusraw.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2022|p=54}}{{Sfn|Goibnazarov|2017|p=36}} Chirāgh-Rāwshan is also a custom prevalent among the Isma'ilis of the northern areas of Pakistan and some parts of Afghanistan.{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=216}}

{{Blockquote|text=O insightful lover, join the mission of Nāṣir! O pious believer, join the mission of Nāṣir! Nāṣir is from the family of the Prophet, He is truly the offsprings of ʿAlī.{{Sfn|Iloliev|2008|p=42}}|source=Qandīl-Nāma}}

According to oral tradition, this ritual was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (Jibra'il) to provide comfort for the Prophet at the death of his young son Abd Allah.{{Sfn|Elnazarov|Aksakolov|p=68|2011}}

Language

File:Shugni_alphabet-1931.JPG

{{Main|Pamir languages}}

{{Further|Shughni language}}

The Pamiris linguistically vary into the Shughni-Rushani group (Shughni, Rushani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yazghulami and the now extinct Vanji closely linked; Ishkashimi, Sanglechi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha.{{Sfn|Steblin-Kamenski|1990}}{{Sfn|Iloliev|2022|p=47}}{{Sfn|Dodykhudoeva|2004|pp=149, 150}} Native languages of Pamiris belong to the southeastern branch of Iranian languages.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=51}}{{Sfn|Steblin-Kamenski|1990}} However, according to Encyclopædia Iranica, the Pamiri languages and Pashto belong to the North-Eastern Iranian branch.{{Sfn|Sims-Williams|1996}}

According to {{ill|Boris Litvinsky|lt=|ru|Литвинский, Борис Анатольевич}}:

{{Blockquote|text=The common Shughni-Rushani language existed approximately 1,300–1,400 years ago, but it later split … in much earlier times, however, there was a common Pamiri language which developed into the Shughni-Rushani, Wakhi, Ishkashimi and Munji dialects. And, as a common Shughni-Rushani language existed until the 5–6th centuries CE, a broad Pamiri linguistic communion may have existed during, or around, the Saka period.{{Sfn|Zoolshoev|2022}}|source=}}

The Chinese traveler Xuanzang, who visited Shughnan in the 7th century, claimed that the inhabitants of this region had their own language, different from Tocharian (Bactrian). However, according to him, they had the same script.{{Sfn|Лашкарбеков|2006|p=64}}

In the 1930s, Pamiri intellectuals tried to create an alphabet for Pamiri languages. They started to create an alphabet for the Shughni language, the most widely spoken language in the Pamirs, based on the Latin script. In 1931, the first textbook in Shughni for adults was published, one of the authors of which was the young Shughni poet Nadir Shambezoda (1908–1991).{{Sfn|Каландаров|2018|pp=166, 167}}{{Sfn|Эдельман|2016|p=95}}

During the Great Purge in the USSR, Nadir Shanbezoda's collection of poems was destroyed, and he himself was subjected to repression, like other Pamiri intellectuals who had started working by that time. All work on the development of literature and education in Pamiri languages was curtailed.{{Sfn|Эдельман|2016|p=95}} As a result, Pamiri languages became inscriptural for many decades. In 1972, a campaign to destroy books in Pamiri languages was carried out at the Ferdowsi State Public Library in Dushanbe.{{Sfn|Эдельман|2016|p=96}}{{Sfn|Каландаров|2018|p=170}} As Tahir Kalandarov notes, "this remains a black spot in Tajikistan's history."{{Sfn|Каландаров|2018|p=170}}

Although Pamiri languages belong to the same group of Eastern-Iranian languages they exclude common understanding among themselves.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=51}} Tajik language, called forsi (Persian) by Pamiris, was used for communication as between them and with neighboring peoples as well.{{Sfn|Davlatshoev|2006|p=51}}{{Sfn|Моногарова|1965|p=27}}{{Sfn|Nourmamadchoev|2014|p=37, 38}} Though Shughni communities are habitually spread only in Tajikistan and Afghanistan traditionally Shughni language is spread among all Pamiris as a lingua franca.{{Sfn|Dodykhudoeva|2004|p=149}}

See also

Footnotes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin|2}}

= English sources =

  • {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1990 |title=Central Asia xiii. Iranian Languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-asia-xiii |volume=2–3 |pages=223–226 |author-last=Steblin-Kamenski |author-first=I. M.}}
  • {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1996 |title=Eastern Iranian languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/eastern-iranian-languages |volume=VII |pages=649–652 |author-last=Sims-Williams |author-first=Nicholas}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Dodykhudoeva |first=L. R.|date=2004 |title=Ethno-cultural heritage of the peoples of West Pamir |url= |journal=Collegiuim Antropologicum |volume=1 |pages=147–159 |doi=}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Davlatshoev |first=Suhrobsho |url= |title=The formation and consolidation of Pamiri ethnic identity in Tajikistan |publisher=Middle East Technical University |year=2006 |location=}}
  • {{cite book |author-last=Daftary |author-first=Farhad |author-link=Farhad Daftary |url=https://archive.org/details/farhaddaftarytheismailistheirhistoryanddoctrines2ndedition/mode/ |title=The Ismā'īlīs: Their History and Doctrines |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780511355615 |edition=Second |url-access=registration}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Iloliev |first=Abdulmamad |title=The Ismaili-Sufi Sage of Pamir: Mubarak-i Wakhani and the Esoteric Tradition of the Pamiri Muslims |publisher=Cambria Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-934043-97-4}}
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  • {{Cite journal |last=Iloliev |first=Abdulmamad |date=2020 |title=Panjtani Tradition. A Set of Traditional Beliefs and Practices of the Shi'a Ismailis of Badakhshan |url= |journal=ICAS Press |language= |volume= |issue= |page=45{{ndash}}62 |issn=}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Zoolshoev |first=M. Z. |title=Ancient and Early Medieval Kingdoms of the Pamir Region of Central Asia |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-1032246765 |edition=1st |location=}}
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= Russian sources =

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  • {{Cite book |last=Мамадназаров |first=Мунавар |url= |title=Памятники зодчества Таджикистана |publisher=Прогресс-Традиция |year=2015 |isbn=978-5-89826-459-8 |location=Москва |language=ru}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Эдельман |first=Д. И. |date=2016 |title=Некоторые проблемы миноритарных языков Памира |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/nekotorye-problemy-minoritarnyh-yazykov-pamira-k-stanovleniyu-pismennosti-i-literatury |journal=Родной язык |language=ru |pages=88–112}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Каландаров |first=Т. С. |date=2018 |title=Памирские народы, их языки и перепись: этнический дискурс |journal= Этнографическое обозрение |language=ru |pages=162–178 |doi=10.31857/S086954150001482-0}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Додыхудоева |first=Л. Р. |date=2018 |title=Влияние городской среды на носителей памирских языков |journal=Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. Труды института лингвистических исследований |language=ru |volume=XIV |issue=3 |pages=108–136 |issn=2306-5737}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}

{{Ethnic groups in Tajikistan}}

{{Iranian peoples}}

Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Category:Ethnic groups in China

Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan

Category:Ethnic groups in Russia

Category:Ethnic groups in Tajikistan

Category:Iranian ethnic groups

Category:Pamiri people

Category:Nizari Ismailism

Category:Ethnic groups divided by international borders

Category:Ethnic groups in Asia

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