Kuchi

Kuchis hiking through the Punjir Valley in Afghanistan

Kutschi (English Kuchi or Kochi ; from Persian کوچ kotsch , 'hike'; also Kutschgār ) are predominantlynomads belonging tothe Pashtuns who live in northeast and south Afghanistan and in Pakistan . In the west and north of Afghanistan, instead of Kutschi the term Maldar ( "herdsman") used for all roving animals populations. In Pakistan, the name Powindah is common.

In Afghanistan, the members of the social group, which is not one ethnic group but resembles a caste , mostly belong to the Ghilzai - and the Durrani Pashtuns, some belong to other ethnic groups, such as the Baluch . The number of the Kuchi is estimated at around three million, of which around 60 percent practice a nomadic way of life.

Kuchi are identified by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as one of the largest vulnerable groups in the country. The Pashtun Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai is their ethnic leader.

Articles 14 and 44 of the Afghan Constitution have included provisions aimed at improving the situation of the Kuchi. This includes provisions on housing, education, and political representation.

After the turn of the millennium, Kuchi repeatedly claimed land in Hazajat and attacked the Hazara population, who fled as a result, several times, including using bazookas .

The name kutschi , with which nomads are generally referred to in Afghanistan today, is derived from the Persian word kotsch (“migration”), which goes back to the Turkish verb köç- with the original meaning “travel, depart, break up”.

literature

Richard Tapper: Who Are the Kuchi? Nomad Self-Identities in Afghanistan. In: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 14, No. 1, March 2008, pp. 97-116.

Web links

Commons : Kutschi - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Rafiullah Mandokhail: People: No land to call their own. Dawn, June 18, 2017

Individual evidence

↑ Richard Tapper, p. 100.
^ Ethnic Identity in Afghanistan. Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, US Navy.
^ Paul Garwood: Poverty, violence put Afghanistan's fabled Kuchi nomads on a road to nowhere. rawa.org, May 14, 2006.
↑ Richard Tapper, p. 97.
↑ Joachim Hoelzgen: Nomads in Afghanistan: Fight with bazookas for the grass. Spiegel Online, April 19, 2008.
↑ Jürgen Paul: Nomads in Persian sources . In: Stefan Leder, Bernhard Streck (ed.): Nomadism from the perspective of conceptuality. Contributions from the 1st conference on July 11, 2001 (= communications from the SFB “Difference and Integration” 1. Oriental Studies 3 ) Halle 2002, pp. 41–56, here p. 52

[1] Richard Tapper, p. 100.

[2] Ethnic Identity in Afghanistan. Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, US Navy.

[3] Paul Garwood: Poverty, violence put Afghanistan's fabled Kuchi nomads on a road to nowhere. rawa.org, May 14, 2006.

[4] Richard Tapper, p. 97.

[5] Joachim Hoelzgen: Nomads in Afghanistan: Fight with bazookas for the grass. Spiegel Online, April 19, 2008.

[6] Jürgen Paul: Nomads in Persian sources . In: Stefan Leder, Bernhard Streck (ed.): Nomadism from the perspective of conceptuality. Contributions from the 1st conference on July 11, 2001 (= communications from the SFB “Difference and Integration” 1. Oriental Studies 3 ) Halle 2002, pp. 41–56, here p. 52