Naiman Hazaras

16 10 2009

Naiman Hazaras constitute a large portion of Hazara population in Afghanistan. Like many other Hazaras, they are Sunni, Shia and they also have considerable number of Ismailies among them. They live mainly in Shekhali region of Hazaristan, as well as Baghlan province in Northern Afghanistan. Other independent Naimans live outside Afghanistan mainly in Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan (1), Uzbekistan and Mongolia (2).

Shekhali is not a tribe, it’s an area. Hazaras living in Shekhali are mainly Naimans. However, they have formed smaller clans to organise themselves such as Naimo, Karamali etc. In Hazaragi, we tend to pronounce a word which ends with an “aan” as just “o”, e.g. Bamiyan = Bamiyo or Jaan = Jo etc. Therefore, “Naimo” stands for the name Naiman.

__________________________________________
(1) The Kazakhs, Second Edition – By: Martha Brill Olcot

(2) Wapedia – ( http://wapedia.mobi/en/Naymans )