Discussion 1: Culture and its Elements.
Topics for Discussion
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» Second Semester / ONLINE DISCUSSION 2020
» Topics for Discussion
Summary:
This discussion is on the conceptual structure of society.
Essential elements of material and non-material culture
Material Culture:
Refers to the physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture.. Material culture consists of things that are created by humans. Material culture includes things Such as Building, Cars such things as jewellery, art, buildings, weapons, machines, and even eating utensils, hairstyles, and clothing etc. there is nothing Inherent or Natural in Material Culture.
Nonmaterial culture:
Refers to the nonphysical ideas that people have about their culture, It’s abstract ideas and ways of thinking that make up a culture. It’s a group way of thinking beliefs Values Assumption About the word and Doing its Common Pattern of Behavior.
Elements of Non-material Culture:
Sociologists sometimes refer to nonmaterial culture as symbolic culture, because its central component is the set of symbols that people use. Non-material Culture includes (Symbol) gestures, language, values, norms, sanctions, folkways, and mores. Let’s look at each of these components of symbolic culture.
Gesture:
A gesture is a Movement of the body that people make in order to communicate with their bodies. All cultures use gestures. Two cultures may use the same gesture, but it may have different meanings in both cultures. For example, people from Afghanistan uses stroking one’s beard or pounding a fist into one’s hand may signify revenge. and Hooking the index fingers together signifies agreement. The thumbs-up gesture is considered rude and has the same connotation as raising one’s middle finger for traditional Afghans.
Language:
The primary way in which people communicate with one another is through language that can be combined in an infinite number of ways for the purpose of communicating abstract thought. Language is a system of words and symbols used to communicate with other people. This includes full languages as we usually think of them, such as English, Spanish, French, etc. But it also includes body language, slang, and common phrases that are unique to certain groups of people. For Example, people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan use Urdu as official languages, Speak Fluent Urdu but when accent of Punjabi language and Kashmiri language mix with it several time using the same word change the meaning of it. Another example of how cultural languages differ beyond vocabulary is the fact that eye contact represents different meanings in different cultures. In America, eye contact suggests that you are paying attention and are interested in what a person has to say. In other cultures, eye contact may be considered rude and to be a challenge of authority.
Values:
Another element of Non Material culture is a system of values, which are culturally defined standards for what is good or desirable. Members of the culture use the shared system of values to decide what is good and what is bad. It is the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly. Values underlie our preferences, guide our choices, and indicate what we hold worthwhile in life.
Norms and Sanctions:
Norms are the expectations, or rules of behaviour, that reflect and enforce behaviour. Sociologists use the term norms to describe those expectations (or rules of behaviour) that develop out of a group’s values.
Sanctions: The term Sanction is either expressions of approval given to people for upholding norms or expressions of disapproval for violating them. The term sanctions refer to the reactions people receive for following or breaking norms.
Some societies have moral holiday places, locations where norms are expected to be broken. Red-light districts of our cities are examples. There, prostitutes are allowed to work the streets, bothered only when political pressure builds to “clean up” the area. If these same prostitutes attempt to solicit customers in adjacent areas, however, they are promptly arrested. Each year, the hometown of the team that wins the Super Bowl becomes a moral holiday place for one night.
Folkways and Mores:
Societal norms, or rules that are enforced by members of a community, can exist as both formal and informal rules of behaviour. Informal norms can be divided into two distinct groups: folkways and mores. Folkways are informal rules and norms that, while not offensive to violate, are expected to be followed. Mores (pronounced more-rays) are also informal rules that are not written, but, when violated, result in severe punishments and social sanction upon the individuals, such as social and religious exclusions. Norms that are not strictly enforced are called folkways. We expect people to comply with folkways, but we are likely to shrug our shoulders and not make a big deal about it if they don’t. If someone insists on passing you on the right side of the sidewalk, for example, if someone is unlikely to take corrective action, although if the sidewalk is crowded and you must move out of the way, you might give the person a dirty look.
It should also be noted that one group’s folkways may be another group’s mores. Although a man walking down the street with the upper half of his body uncovered is deviating from a folkway, a woman doing the same thing is violating the mores. In addition, the folkways and mores of a subculture may be the opposite of mainstream culture.
Cultural Relativism:
Cultural relativism is the belief that right and wrong are culturally based on individuals. “According to this premise, no one universal ethical standard transcends cultures. Basically in cultural relativism, right or wrong are relative to one’s cultural upbringing. No one overarching ethical truth exists.” (Panza and Potthast, 2010). Culture relativism is to use our own culture as the standard by which we judge other cultures and to counter the tendency of over own culture. People practice cultural relativism to understand other cultures own their own term. For example people of Kashmir love to eat Rice and South Indian People also eats Rice The the way that the south Indian people eat rice is not different from Kashmiri. Both are following the same Rice But the way they eat is different from one another.
Define ethnicity. Discuss the relationship between tribe, ethnicity and nation.
Define Ethnicity. Discuss the relationship between Tribe, Ethnicity and Nation
Introduction:
Ethnicity Indicate that group and Identities have developed in mutual Contract Rather than in Isolation. Some scholars like A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn studied the various meaning of Culture in the Early 1950s they Identified 162 different definitions and many of those writers who write the term Ethnicity cannot bother to define the term and the use of term differ. Ethnicity is a group of people living together on a list item
common language, culture Traditions. There may be cultural considerable variations within a group without ethnic differences. as for as cultural differences perceives are made socially relevant do social relationship have an ethnic element. The similarities bounded as the competing ethnic group may infect be highlighted by Simon Harrison (2002) define in an Article intense ethnic boundary making between groups which see each other as smiler in an important respect. Nationalism has become a famous important form for modern claims to political autonomy and self-determination. The term was first coined in German by the philosopher Herder (Berlin 1976) and French by the Abbe Barruel (O’Brien 1988). It was linked to the concept of nation-state in the notorious formulations of Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations (Maya11 1990, Kahn 1962: 133-35).
The problem with defining of ethnicity and nation and consequently with ethnicity and nationalism is their fixed view of something which is, in fact, an enormously dynamic set of relationships. Typical definitions of these two concepts list a set of required attributes that a social group has to possess in order to be deemed ‘an ethnic group or nation. Bulmer (2001) defines an ethnic group as “a collectivity within larger society which has real or imagined common ancestry, memories of a shared historical past, and a cultural focus upon one or more common elements which distinguish the members of the group form other members of the society include: area of origin, language, religion, nationality, kinship patterns, physical appearances such as skin colour” In a similar and defined way Smith (2003) defines a nation as “a named human population occupying a historic territory and sharing common myths and memories, a public culture, and common laws and customs for all members “Both of these definitions function with the words Wolf (1998) and after him Carrithers (1992) call a “billiard ball view of social groups” that is why they depositposit human collectivities as either or fixed and overly structured entities with stable and almost unchangeable features.
Meaning Of Ethnicity:
The ‘ethnic’ is an old term but 'ethnicity' is comparatively new and used possibly for the first by David Riesman in 1853 the concept came into a practical on the social reality after World War II. And the end of colonial order and emergence of the Third World. Ethnicity as a concept has also been referred to a twin process of self-identification also referred as ascription and identification by others. Like other sociological identification categories like age, sex etc., and ethnicity have not a clearly defined boundaries. Because of its ambiguity as a concept the concept can be subjected to a manipulation of various perspectives. Self-identification is commonly based on attributes of common descent, homeland, common cultural traditions including language and religion, as well as memories of migration, colonization or conquest and identification by others is considered qn physical, cultural and behavioral characteristics. Ethnicity in a simple sense refers to cultural and political collective identity as ascribed by a group of individuals or by others. A lunging to be in a collective is an inherent part of every individual in the ethnic group
Tribe:
The 'tribe' as a social category has its beginning in the Anglo Saxon Literature. Firstly the idea of ‘primitive tribes' was used in social Anthology to the colonies. The concept of primitive tribe becomes important to describe the society of Africa South America, the Middle East and South-East Asia. for the colonial anthropology, the tribes are those people who are outside Civilization and those who have not received civilization. The tribe as a culture become an Object. Tribes have an Isolate Culture. (Verrier Elwin)
Nationalism:
Nationalisms are extremely varied phenomena, they are joined by common involvement in the modem discourse of nationalism. They are common objects of reference in international law, political debate, and even economic development programs. Nationalism is an influential political ideology that although dependent on continuous reinforcement of the institution does not go against the grain of public opinion. This has little to do with some mystically ingrained identity and it’s a great deal with the historical context of a post-Westphalian world where not being national is scarcely an option any more. In other words, nationalism is not as “identity and loyalty to the nation” it is the particular, historically created, an ideological condition that most human beings now find themselves in it. As Anderson define the stress, once the idea of imagining political communities as nations was developed, it was “modular” and could be transplanted into a wide range of otherwise disparate settings. This is what raises the issue of whether Third World or postcolonial nationalisms express “authentic” indigenous concerns or are in some sense derivative discourses (Chatterjee 1986). The discourse of nationalism is inherently international. Claims to nationhood are not just internal claims to social solidarity, common descent, or any other basis for constituting a political community.
Relationship between Ethnicity Tribe and Nationalism:
Nationalism is extremely varied phenomena that are joined by common involvement in the modem discourse of nationalism. Nationalist claims to nationhood are not just internal claims to social solidarity, common descent, or any other basis for constituting a political community. They are also right to distinctiveness other nations, claims to at least some level of autonomy and self-sufficiency, and claims to certain rights within a world-system of the nation. In other words, however, varied the internal nature of nationalisms, in other words, they share a common external frame of reference. Thus even if nationalist claims to primordial origins, ancient ethnic pedigrees, or hallowed founding histories were all true, thus, and even if every nation had pre modem roots something manifestly impossible in the case of such settler societies like the United States, Australia or South Africa-at least as defined by their European population's nationalism would still be a modem phenomenon. This is true even of “extreme” forms such as National Socialism, despite the tendency of modernization theorists and others to treat Nazism as a throwback to the modem Indeed this phenomenon of claiming state centred political rights on the basis of nationhood is arguably one of the defining phenomena of Nationalism.
There is a common thing of notions that ethnic and national identity which are also common among some academics imply that ethnicity nationalism ethnic identity and national identity, In other words, these all three concepts are seen as largely having unproblematic and the simple mechanical addition of one to the other allows us to speak of and research ethnicity or nationalism. Sometimes the distinction is made between ethnicity and ethnic identity or nation and national identity, therefore, this is a deeply flawed strategy since, as with the concept of Nationalism so do the concepts of ‘ethnicity’ and ‘nation’ carry a lot of problems. The problem with most defining of ethnicity and nationalism is their fixed view of something which is, in fact, an extremely dynamic set of relationships. There are some typical definitions of these two concepts list a set of required attributes that a social group has to possess in order to be deemed an ethnic group or nation. Bulmer defines an ethnic group as a collectivity within larger society which has real or imagined common ancestry memories of a shared historical past and a cultural focus upon one or more common elements which distinguish the members of the group form other members of the society which include: that the area of origin, language, religion, nationality, kinship patterns, physical appearance such as skin colour language etc. there are some other scholars defines nationalism, In the words of smith “a nation as a named human population occupying a historic territory and sharing common myths and memories a public culture, and common laws and customs for all members”
Nationalism is an influential political ideology that although dependent on continuous reinforcement of the institution does not go against the grain of public opinion. This has little to do with some mystically ingrained identity and it’s a great deal with the historical context of a post-Westphalian world where not being national is scarcely an option any more. In other words, nationalism is not as “identity and loyalty to the nation” it is the particular, historically created, an ideological condition that most human beings now find themselves in it.
Conclusion:
In short there as common relations with identity ethnicity and nation contain a multiplicity of meanings. The plasticity and ambiguity of the concepts allow for deep misunderstandings as well as political misuses. There is unlike identity ethnicity and nation have also acquired legislative and institutional underpinnings through formulations such as ‘ethnic minority ethnic group nationhood or nationality which have had even more destructive effects. Hence there is a most popular and legislative understanding of ethnicity and nation are severely problematic since they operate with sociological views of cultural difference perceiving it from the inside out.
Discuss the Tribal and Non-Tribal foundations of Afghan society. Is there any contradiction between the tribal traditions of Afghans and the tenets of Islam. Give evidence to support your hypothesis.
Introduction:
The uprising movement which is against the communist rule in Afghanistan were directed against the state itself as against the communist Government which took place in 1978 and 1979. The directly imposition of communist ideology on the people of Afghanistan is a more radical phase of the penetration of the state government. So this is the reason people rejected the communist ideology in Afghanistan. The State of Afghanistan was evolve as a tribal land and as a symbols of authority many of the leaders of the resistance movements against the communist rule imagined that the state of Afghanistan is an Islamic state.
To separate the state and society in Afghanistan is always separated and this separation is experienced in day today life. This can be seen in the rural villages where administrative buildings are uses from the people residence residences. The clothes and other general behavior shown as the role of the Individual in the society. The state is unfamiliar for the common men in village, and state official is characterized the relation between the state and the common men in village is reflected as mutual disrespect. In fact, there is only one real town, Kabul, the capital, where, of course, the distinction between state and society is seen. But there are really two Afghanistan: the first one is known as Shahar (city) According to Afghans the Place of Innovation (Bidd’ha) and the other one is atraf (Provinces) In the Shahar there is a natural environment of civil servants,the solders, and the communists there are some bar heads un believers and Arrogant. But in the Atraf the religious Values, tradition values which stand at the test of time.
Tribal and Non tribal Foundation of Afghanistan:
The Afghanistan state was established in the eighteenth century, when a tribal association developed into a sovereign state. In 1747 Ahmad Shah, of the Saddozay tribe lead an Abdali association, now this tribe known as the Durrani, in the conquest of the area between Persia and the river Indus. The Saddozay dynasty was to be followed in 1818 by another Durrani dynasty, the Muhammadzay clan of the Barakzai tribe, which held power until 1978. The abdali and other tribal organization join hands with the common Aim that concequring Neighbouring areas with aview to Pillaging Exacting tribute. The military and political system of this time was defined by the Tribal Welfare. War was decided by the Jirja (meeting with the council of tribes). War was a short lived matter. The Arms (lashker) that went was selected from the total number of Warriors in the Arms (Lashkar). This is the Frame work of a traditional Society. But the Lashkar usually had a supreme and temporary leader whose room for maneuver was limited, for he was always suspected of favoring his own tribe. The supreme leader of the Lashkar was is a warrior chief with his followers in his contact. This leaded was elected and his right to lead was selected on the basis of the Tribal Jirga (assembly of all the warriors and leaders of the tribe). The allegation on the Restricted community the Tribal code of Pashtunwali not to the Pashtun or to the State join the enemy in order the better to affirm the tribal values (vengeance or self-assertion) was not seen as constituting treachery.
There is distinguish between the tribal zones and the non-tribal zones, even the line between the two is not clear. In every Afghan Community there is a Link to The Past by a connection of their families through his father. Every Afghan community is Conscious of belonging to a larger entity which takes the form of a more or less endogenous Community known as the Qawm. Whether they are Tribe, professional group caste, linguage (the galzai), the religious group (the Sunni, wahabi, Ahla-hadesh) etc. There are some other terms like: small tribe (qabila) used for the qwams (قوم) there are some traditional Tribal rights and rituals, a system within Islam of autonomous values (honour, punishment, etc.) The Pashtun Zone of the East called Pashtunwali (which is at one and the same time both a code and an ideology) and there are some prestigious Institutions of the Tribe called jirga,(جرگہ) the assemblies of all the men in the tribe. For the case of Those Pashtun they are living in the west, especially the Durrani Pashtun, the case is more difficult. There is certainly a tribal memory, in the sense that belonging to the tribe and the clan is something of which people are well aware and quite happy to talk about. Their allegiance is directed towards the great families, such as the royal family, or, in the case of the Popolzay tribe, the Karzay; they also respect the tribal mythology of the great jirga and the principle of egalitarianism
The history of the Afghan state (dawlat دولت) from 1747 to the present is bound up with the search on the part of the state of bureaucracy (hukumat) for autonomy from the tribes. The state government has influence of tribalism in the sense that individual tribes no longer retain specific responsibilities but it is still subject to the patronage of the community (qawm (قوم The summit of power in the 'state still belong to the Muhammadzay establishment.
Islam in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan majority of the Afghans are Muslim Apart from a few thousand Sikhs, Hindu and hundreds of Jews. 80% of Afghans are Sunnis and Majority of the Sunnis are the Follower of Imam Abu- Hanaifa called as Hanafi’s, others are Shi’a and Majority of them are the follower of Immam Jaffar Sadiq Known as Jefferies. In the Country of Afghanistan the concept of State is seen as external to society, and different tribal alliances in the society is directed towards their local community. The concept of Nation in Afghanistan has developed recently. The only Common thing in all the Afghan have their Religion Islam. Islam Provides that the system of Prospect, ruling system of Society and the Value system and behavioral Code. Sometime this Islamic System clash with the other Tribal Code of conduct, such as the Tribal System. E.g. This Islamic System provides the sovereignty and the source of Legitimation based on Universal Value Islam Provides equality with the Tribal, Non-Tribal Areas or Rular and Urban Areas., but on the same way the link between ideology and Religion differs accordingly, the situation can decide whether a group is Secularized fundamentalists or Traditionalists or Reformists. Hence there is different forms of religious expression, each decide with its own symbol. In this context, we should distinguish between the village mullah, the 'alim (doctor of lawعالم), the sayyad (reputed to be a descendant of the Prophet (PBUH)), the peer (a charismatic figure sometimes to be found at the head of a Sufi brotherhood) and finally the Islamist intellectual. Among the different forms of religious expression there should be a difference between the popular devotion, the legal orthodoxy of the ulama, the mysticism of the Sufis and the political Islam of the Salafism. Recent developments have seen a gradual erosion of the influence of the ulama, which has been going on since the last century, though this has suddenly been reversed because of the present war. There has also been a schism in Sufism between the orthodox orders in the non-tribal zones and the non-clerical orders in the southern area of Afghanistan. Other developments have been the decline in the influence of the sayyad and the charismatic leaders, and a crisis in the relationship between shari'at and custom in the tribal zones. The Islamist movement, led by young intellectuals, has greatly increased its power and influence.
Islam, traditional law and the tribal code:
Throughout all the Afghanistan Islam is not Only the Single System of norms. While state law (qanun) is alien to the country communities, customs (riwaj) and superstition, often of pre-Islamic origin, exist everywhere. There is also, a certain number of institutions, such as the counsel of the venerable elders, and mirab have developed without any direct link with the shari'at council. In particular, a complex but precise system of common law has gradually evolved in the countryside. But, as far as the non-tribal zones are concerned, the general framework of penal law and of common law is still provided by the shari'at. And even though reference to the shari'at is often purely verbal, no positive system has come to take its place.
The situation in the tribal zones is quite different to the non-tribal zone the positive system of the tribe, comparing with the tribal code (Pashtunwali) Jirga (Assembly of tribal Leader). Pashtunwali is a system of tribe at the same time is an ideology and body of common law. This law evolved as a system of its own sanctions and Institutions tribes are not dependent on Religion on the institution of law and Political power in the tribe are secular in Nature in its origin. The tribal Law and the Shari ‘at are opposed to each other on many issues.
The Status of Mulahana in the Tribal Zone are very low, the Mullahana of the village having good relation with the Tribe not with other Alim councils or other religious leaders. They gives more Importance to the Tribal Laws on the Shari’at. Even if Mulllaha native tongue is Pashtu or he is Pashtu, he would never say that he was a Pashtun, The son of a khan would never engage in religious studies. To be a Pashtun is to be integrated into a tribal structure. Ulama’s are outside the tribal system, either below it, or above it. The village mullah is placed with those people who have barakat, the myan, sayyad, peer and charismatic leaders. The family from which he comes is usually considered to be outside the tribal group. The position of mullah is often handed down from father to son he is dependent upon his own particular group. In the zones where the tradition of tribalism is still strong, such as Kunar and Paktya, he does not take part in the jirga, though elsewhere (for instance, in Wardak) he attends as a technical counsellor. If he attempts to go beyond his function as a person entrusted with the task of managing rituals, an anti-clerical reaction will always follow the mullahanas to the mosque. In each case the representatives of religion exist outside the tribal structure, a fact which has had important consequences with regard to the way in which Islam found as a religion of political expression in the war and this Influence used and exercised by the political parties which comes the confentration of the movement.
The Muslim Law (Shari ‘at) and tribal code are opposed to each other. e.g Adultery rape (zina) according to the Shari ‘at, it is necessary to require four witness to prove the case of Zina (Rape) but in Pashtunwali to defend the honour of one self-image, Peghor (hearsey) is Sufficient for what is at Self Image and not Morality and the honor. In the tribal code woman are not allowed to have any property rights of inherent Property. But in the Islamic law Shari ‘at clearly defines women are equally responsible for Husband Property and she has also get property right from her father’s property The Qur'an grants the women 1/4th share in the Father’s property It is necessary for the Father to property right to her Daughter. Vengeance (badal) is praised within the tribal code, while the shari'at attempts to limit the times on which it can be take place. Shari’at gives the importance to Forgiveness. The wesh (partition among brothers) the usual way in which land is redistributed, is contested by the mullahs on the grounds that landed property is something intangible.
These are two system the tribal code and Shari ‘at, these are two positive System which are quite frankly opposed to each other both of them are present a different different image of a social order. The Pashtunwali is a tribal code and it’s want to maintain a tribal equilibrium which always difficult and a threat to definite the tribe. So that this always a consensus of Opinion. A Tribal code define himself in opposition to everything that is everything is not Pashtun. But in Shari ‘at attempts to exceed specific Group Such as tribe, quawm and believe in the Universality of Umma. The code is Restrictive but more democratic.
As far as political life of Afghanistan is concerned, the tribal code want to isolate the Pashtun community while the shari'at, which does not recognize that ethnic groups have any ultimate reality. Shari’at provides a more universal social order. (roy, 1990)
For this reason the work of the ulama is seen as a threat to the identity of the tribe. The village mullahs are often closer to the tribal community than the ulama councils or any particular organization. The Mullaha of the village are careful not to interfere in these matters the charismatic leaders are quite willing to make use of the tribal code so that they may act as mediators.
Unfold
Re: Discussion 3: Oliver Roy, Islam and Resistance by 
HAFIZ MOHDIKRAMULHAQ, 19 Jun 2020 13:49
With reference to Dorronsoro, discuss the case of ethno-nationalism among the Hazaras and the Turkic groups. And, discuss the role of Pashtun nationalism in sutaining the Taliban movement.
Re: Discussion 4: The Ethnicisation of Conflict in Afghanistan
The Ethnicisation of Conflict in Afghanistan:
Ethnicisation of conflict:
The regionalization of different parties in Afghanistan was inevitably driven to recruit from a constituency which increased a way towards a single ethnicity. During The period between1994 to 1998 the largely ethnic group was coined because of the political changes on the ground. Taliban manly from the Pushtun, Jamiyat-i Islami was for the most part Tajik, Hezb-i Wahdat was entirely Hazara, and Jombesh was predominantly Uzbek. During this time some organization used the rhetoric of community to mobilize support, this time the appeal to the jihad was no longer sufficient to guarantee the support from an organization. To balance this call for marginalization Hekmatyar khan increasingly turned to the argument that Pashtun interests must be defended. This argument presented at first in less formal contexts but in due course more openly as in the party’s daily newspaper Shahadat.
In prewar times populations of different ethnic origins had made their homes in their own particular areas of Kabul but the existence of the governing class and the effects of the urban way of life served to foster the emergence of a Kabuli identity. This trend-making homes in their own areas of Kabul lost its importance when the war begins. In the 1990s Continue Clashes in the Mazar-i Sharif had weakened the urban identity so that the relationships between ethnicities declined. Even in Herat which continued to typify the urban melting pot where inter-communal tension was low the situation in the outskirts of the town steadily worst ended. The collapse of the state and of the educational system caused linguistic frontiers to become clear than before. In Kandahar, the Pashtun’s spoke less Persian, while it became rare for Pashtu to be taught in the north. These processes were reinforced by the media on the radio the ethnic affiliation of the leaders was that at least implicitly presented as a factor explaining their political positions. Such leaders as Rabbani, who came from Badakhshan and Masud, from Panjshir, began to be described as ‘Tajik’.
Ethno Nationalism among Hazaras and the Turkish Group
The ethnic nationalist mobilization clashed with the complexity of communal affiliations ‘Peoples of the North’ from ‘Turkish’ and ‘Uzbek’ found in some Jombesh papers, because of the presence of a Turkmen minority it was on the broader ‘Turkish’ rather than the ‘Uzbek’ aspect on which stress was laid. Tajiks and Hazaras were represented in Rashid Dostum’s militias and this added to the alliance with the Ismailis. Jombesh-i Melli (National Front) was established very differently from all the parties since its basis was an alliance between the northern militias and the Parchami units. Dostum was close to Babarak Karmal up till his death in 1996.Fifteen years of war had given a distinctive political personality to the North West provinces where the policy of national reconciliation had met with some success. The region was the only one to offer a haven to which the militias and the members of Hezb-i Watan could withdraw after the collapse of the government.
Ethnic distribution on northern Afghanistan was complex and did not offer for nationalist mobilization. In the North West provinces Faryab, Sari-I pul and Jozan Uzbek may be seen as predominant, with strong Turkmen minority.
For the Jombesh functionaries, the problem was there to initiate nationalist mobilization in a context where only local identities existed. The Jombesh purpose was to move from communal solidarity, which is based on qowms, show more abstract loyalty oriented towards a ‘macro ethnicity’ identified with Jombesh. This move requires an ideological framework and methods of mobilization.
The role of Pashtun Nationalism in Sustaining the Taliban movement:
The initial success of the Taliban was surprising throughout the World After the fallen of south of Afghanistan into its hands, this area is mainly controlled by non-Pashtun population in Herat they Structural organization. As a result Taliban recruit only among to the Traditional Pashtun that they are mainly dominant in the Afghan national territory.
The Taliban is sometime describe as a nationalist Pashtun or tribe, these are two concept they are not always distinguish from each other Taliban was a movement was dominant by some religious Individuals or a group of religious people, these religious people establish their authority with no reference of any tribal institutions. They made their head quarter in Kandhar where they lead the movement and this region is the base of Taliban. Taliban Law is mainly changes with the Tribal law and it will be dominantly with the Pashtun. this cannot be said that it is a tribal movement nor it can be represent with their on rights They used the name of Sharia to unite all the tribe, but it can be dominated by the Pashtun leaders and Pashtun law. The Taliban movement was founded to oppose all Nationalist pretention based Islamic fundamentalists Ideology. Taliban main goal was reunification of Afghanistan under an Islamic government.
Within the movement, Taliban along with the local solidarities were a stronger mobilizing force than affiliation to a Pashtun ethnicity as such. Mullah Omar is from Tarin Kot in the province of Uruzgan, and a strong representation of his countrymen was to be observed in positions of authority mullah Abbas. In addition Mullah Omar was a Ghilzai Pashtun Hottak, a group which Pierre Cent Livres has established was over-represented in the Taliban government. Other solidarity networks existed that are between the mujahidin who had previously served under this am commander such as Jalaluddin Haqqani, formerly of Hezb-i Islami (Khales).
Still the Taliban retained a distinct from Pashtun Identity especially in cultural affairs, tending to reject the Persian culture which was the basis of the training of ulema. Madras teaching in Northwest provinces was based on traditionally continued in Pashtu and Arabic. The Pashtun’s had continued to desire once more to achieve time domination within Afghanistan’s national territory Taliban did at some points to employ ethnic arguments to mobilize support. For instance, in 1995 as Ismail Khan advanced towards Kandahar,it appealed to Pushtun solidarity against a Tajik aggressor. Similarly in the north hits preference for alliances with Pushtun minorities gave credence, with hindsight, to the ethnic prejudices of both sides. The Taliban was also led by confrontation and suspicion to institute discriminatory practices for example against the Panjshiris of Kabul who were suspected to support Masud.
Unfold
Re: Discussion 4: The Ethnicisation of Conflict in Afghanistan by HAFIZ MOHDIKRAMULHAQ, 22 Jul 2020 09:42
Discuss the Impact of the rein of Mahmud Ghazni on Central, West and South Asia. How his rule can be seen as a predecessor to the nation-building in Afghanistan.
Mahmud Ghazni rule can be seen as a predecessor to the Religious nation-building in Afghanistan. Mahmud's Ghazni thirty two year rule (998-1030) allowed him to build up by unending campaigning on a vast military empire. For The Khurasan the nucleus of the region (Afghanistan) The Ghazni empire stretched by his death from the borders of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan in the western part, from the northern and the eastern Ganges valley, from upper Oxus principalities in the north to the Indian Ocean Khwarazm and the Sind and Makran shores of in the south. For some of the two centuries until the decline of Brittan Network power in India. At the beginning of the 13th century, Ghazna was to be a place of international significance. Only then did it relapse into its former insignificance because of that go to see it three centuries later, Babur the founder of Mughal rule in India was to use Ghazna is that place is very is humble Strange indeed so that it is that ruler in whose hold in the area of Hindustan and Khorasan have chosen their capital.
The main Kalahandi threat to Mahmud's position was now to come from his immediate neighbour to the. Bukhara Khan Hasan or Harun, called CAli Tegin of Bukhara and Samarkand till his death in 1034 than Cali Tegin was the most strenuous opponent of ambitions of Ghaznavids in Central Asia. In 1025 Mahmud Ghazni attacked Transoxiana his aim was finish the era of CAli Tegin so that then Ghazni made an alliance With rival latter’s. Kadir Khan Yusuf than ruling in Khotan and Kashghar sealed as usual, by marriage links.
Religious Nationalism in Afghanistan during Muhammad Ghazni’s period.
Over the three centuries since Muhammad b. al-Qasim al-Thaqafi's conquest the existing Islam of the Indus valley, During Arab communities had acquired what was in the eyes of the sternly conventional Mahmud a heterodox hint. During the 10th century, Muslims of Sind and Multan had come in a common Platform to recognize the spiritual and moral supremacy not of the Abbasids but of their Shitieyes. Fatimid enemies along with the local ruler in Multan Abu Fat'h Dawud had been on friendly terms with the Ghaznavids, in two campaigns of 1006 and 1010 the sultan attacked Multan massacred the Ismailism. Muhammad Ghazni called they are Qaramita or Carmathians and overthrew Abu al1-Fat'h. He was incapable in the interests of religion to endure that he (Abu '1-Fat'h) should remain in power so that he can see the violence of evil doing and the outrage of his issues. so, the reason is that the people of wealthy trading city Multan to have heavy pay fine too from the Ghaznavids Army. That he indicates that the implementation of orthodoxy could have its rewarding side. Then even so Ismailism survived there probably after Mascud's deposition and death in 1041 the Ismailis of Multan again raise their voice against Ghaznavid control.
These are such campaigns as these formed part of the image that he (Mahmud Ghazni) prudently built up round himself as the hero of Sunni convention and the scourge of some Muslims like of Ghur and Kafiristan modern Nuristan pagans or Hindus. While earlier in his career as a commander in Khurasan Mahmud had, like his father, giving support to the leaders of the pietistic Karramiyya which was at that time strong in Nishapur the Ghaznavids integrated to the average for most eastern Iranian and Turkish peoples adherence to orthodox Sunnism and the Hanafi school of Thought. The allegiance to this Involve spiritual and moral support by the C Abbasi Caliphs They are living a compact existence in Baghdad as pensioners of the Buyids and to their court dominated culturally and intellectually by the splendour and dominated by the Fatimids in Cairo. Mahmud needed the moral backing of the C Abbasids Cleophas. When first Muhammad Ghazni took over Khurasan and supplanted his lawful suzerains the Samanids, just as his son Mascud was to require it for the succession struggle with his brother Muhammad on their father's death in 1030.
The Ghaznavids Opened the phenomenon of the rapid transformation of a line of the barbarian, originally Turkish slaves into monarchs within the Iran Islamic tradition. Ghazni presided as authoritarian rulers over a multi-ethnic cultural realm comprising Iranians or Tajiks, Turks, Afghans, Indians and others. In this age before the evolution of the nation-state, the possession of subjects along with their various ethnic, cultural backgrounds and identities could contribute differing expertise and skills to the functioning of the state was regarded as a source of strength rather than that of weakness. Ghazni cannot forget their Turkish identity so that it is essential was its more military support was Turkish The administration and financing to the empire of Ghaznivids early documented the need for the services of their Iranian subjects above all for the secretarial class his secular traditions and does go back beyond the Islamic caliphate and ultimately to the Sasanians.
All these elements came together within what might be called the Ghaznavid in the power-state in which the sultan and his servants both military and civilian, stood over and against the mass of subjects (the division which was later to be termed, among the Ottomans, that of caskets and ready). There were no national or patriotic feelings which could act as a block of cement for society since the vision of the subject were he peasant, trader or artisan, was confined to his own locality and to the protection of his own immediate interests. It was the duty of the subjects to pay taxes to the state; in Bayhaqi's words, It is vital that they should be in complete fear and trembling of the king and the army, and give them complete obedience.
There was clearly considerable royal patronage of the Sunni revival in the eastern Islamic lands as part of the general movement which had grown up in reaction to the bid for political power in the tenth century of Shicism. Previously in the beginning years of the eleventh century, it is recorded that in Khuttal there were over twenty madrasas these colleges being one of the chief instruments for the education and training of an orthodox Sunni religious and official class. Almost all members of the ruling strata of Islamic society were vulnerable to the appeal of a holy man or mystic while people were often aware that there were many charlatans in the ranks of the Sufis and this seems to have been substantially the attitude of the sultans. It is very difficult to distinguish the fact that from pious fiction in the biography of the Khurasanian Shaykh Abu Sacid by his descendant. One would expect the Ghaznavids to have lent more support to the moderate Sufi groups of the time, such as that around the Nishapur scholar Abu 1-Qasim al-Qushayri than to an extravagant thaumaturge like Abu Sacid.
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