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Yaghnobis

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Yaghnobis
yaγnōbī́t, яғнобиҳо
Total population
c. 25,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Valleys aroundYaghnob,QulandVarzob Rivers,Zafarobod Districtand elsewhere inTajikistan
Languages
Yaghnobi,Tajik,Uzbek
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
OtherIranian peoples
EspeciallyOssetiansandWakhis

TheYaghnobi people(Yaghnobi:yaγnōbī́t or suγdī́t;Tajik:яғнобиҳо, yağnobiho/jaƣnoʙiho) are anEast Iranianethnic minority in Tajikistan.They inhabit Tajikistan'sSughdprovince in the valleys of theYaghnob,QulandVarzobrivers. The Yaghnobis are considered to be descendants of theSogdian-speaking peoples[2]who once inhabited most ofCentral Asiabeyond theAmu DaryaRiver in what was ancientSogdia.

They speak theYaghnobi language,a livingEastern Iranianlanguage (the other living members beingPashto,Osseticand thePamir languages). Yaghnobi is spoken in theupper valleyof theYaghnob Riverin theZarafshanarea ofTajikistanby the Yaghnobi people, and is also taught at schools.[3]It is considered to be a direct descendant ofSogdianand has often been calledNeo-Sogdianin academic literature.[4]

The 1926 and 1939 census data gives the number ofYaghnobi languagespeakers as approximately 1,800. In 1955, M. Bogolyubov estimated the number of Yaghnobi native speakers as more than 2,000. In 1972, A. Khromov estimated 1,509 native speakers in the Yaghnob valley and about 900 elsewhere. The estimated number of Yaghnobi people is approximately 25,000.[1]

TheSogdian languageis one of theIranian languages,along withBactrian language,Khotanese Saka,Persian language,Tajik language,Pashto language,theKurdish languagesandParthian language.[5]It possesses a large historic literary corpus.[5]

History[edit]

Yaghnobi children

Antiquity[edit]

Their traditional occupations were in agriculture, growing produce such as barley, wheat, andlegumesas well as breeding cattle, oxen and asses. There were traditional handicrafts including weaving which was mostly done by the men. The women worked on moulding earthenware crockery.[6]

The Yaghnobi people originated from theSogdians,a people dominant in the area until the Muslim conquests in the 8th century whenSogdianawas defeated. In that period Yaghnobis settled in the high valleys.

pre-20th century[edit]

The ancientSogdiansfled to theYaghnob Valleyto escape the medievalArab Caliphate,and their direct descendants, the Yaghnobi, lived there in peaceful isolation until the 1820s.[7][8]

20th century[edit]

Until the 20th century the Yaghnobis lived through theirnatural economyand some still do, as the area they originally inhabited is still remote from roads and power transmission lines. The first contact withSoviet Unionin the 1930s during theGreat Purge,led to many Yaghnobis being exiled, but perhaps the most traumatic events were the forced resettlement in 1957 and 1970, from the Yaghnob mountains to thesemi-desertlowlands ofTajikistan.[9][10]

Yaghnobi boy in Ayni, Tajikistan

In the 1970s,Red Armyhelicopters were sent to valleys to evacuate the population, ostensibly because Yaghnobikishlaks(villages) were considered at risk fromavalanches.Some Yaghnobis reportedly died ofshockin helicopters as they were moved to the plains.[citation needed]Many were then forced to work atcotton plantationson the plains.[11][12]As a result of overwork and the change in environment and lifestyle, several hundred Yaghnobis died of disease.[13]While some Yaghnobis rebelled and returned to the mountains, the Soviet government demolished the empty villages and the largest village on theYaghnob River,Piskon,was removed from official maps. Officials also destroyed Yaghnobi religious books, the oldest of which was 600 years old.[citation needed]Yaghnobiethnicitywas officially abolished by the Soviet government.[citation needed]

A group of Yaghnobi-speaking schoolchildren from Tajikistan

Since 1983, families have begun to return to theYaghnob Valley.The majority of those that remain on the plains tend to beassimilatedwith the Tajiks,[14][15]as their children study in school in theTajik language.The returnees live through thenatural economy,and the majority remain without roads and electricity.

21st century[edit]

TheYaghnob Valleycomprises approximately ten settlements, each housing between three and eight families.[8][16]There are other small settlements elsewhere.[8][16]The upperYaghnob RiverValley was protected by an until recently almost impenetrable gorge.[17]They also live in and about theAmu DaryaRiver, theYaghnob River,theYaghnob Valley,theQulRiver, theVarzobrivers and the town ofAnzob.[16]

Religion[edit]

The Yaghnobi people areSunniMuslims.[18][4]Some elements of pre-Islamic religion (probablyZoroastrianism) are still preserved.[19]

Genetics[edit]

Haplogroups[edit]

The mainpaternal haplogroupof Yaghnobis isR1(R-M173) and found at a frequency of around 48%. The second most common haplogroup isJ,which is found at round 32%. The third most common haplogroup isL-M20at a rate of approximately 10%.[20]

Autosomal DNA[edit]

Yaghnobis as well asTajiksare genetically more similar to "present-day western Eurasian populations and Iranians". They display high genetic affinities toBronzeandIron AgeCentral Asians. Genetic data further indicates that Yaghnobis "have been isolated for a long time with no evidence of recent admixture". Yaghnobis derive around 93% of their ancestry from historicalIndo-Iraniansources (represented by an Iron Age sample from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan andWestern Steppe Herders) and around 7% fromBaikal EBA groups(a population with 80-95%Ancient Northeast Asianand 5-20%Ancient North Eurasianancestry). Based on the genetic makeup of ancient and modern Central Asian populations, it was found that Yaghnobis and Tajiks show genetic continuity to ancient Central Asian populations, which can be associated with early Indo-Iranians of theAndronovo,Sintashta,andSrubnaya cultures,inhabiting Central Asia at least since the early Bronze Age, but maybe as early as the Neolithic period. The present-dayTurkic peoples"emerged later from the admixture between a group related to local Indo-Iranian and a South-Siberian or Mongolian group with a high East Asian ancestry (around 60%)".[21]

The Yaghnobis may be used as proxy for historical Central AsianSteppe ancestryassociated with the initial spread ofIranian languages.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"The Peoples of the Red Book – The Yaghnabis".Retrieved2006-11-25.
  2. ^Paul Bergne (15 June 2007).The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic.I.B.Tauris. pp. 5–.ISBN978-1-84511-283-7.
  3. ^Inside the New Russia (1994): Yagnob
  4. ^abelectricpulp.com."YAGHNOBI – Encyclopaedia Iranica".www.iranicaonline.org.
  5. ^ab"YAGHNOBI – Encyclopaedia Iranica".www.iranicaonline.org.
  6. ^(in Russian)Большая Советская Энциклопедия
  7. ^Jamolzoda, A.Journey to Sogdiana's Heirswww.yagnob.org
  8. ^abc"Discovery Central Asia: THE LOST WORLD OF THE YAGNOB".www.discovery-central-asia.com.
  9. ^(in Russian)Вокруг света – Страны – - Таджикистан – Последние из шестнадцатой сатрапии
  10. ^Loy, Thomas."From the mountains to the lowlands – the Soviet policy of" inner-Tajik "resettlement".Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften.Retrieved2006-08-06.
  11. ^Jamolzoda, Anvar (July–August 2006)."Journey to Sogdiana's Heirs"(PDF).yagnob.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2012-03-13.
  12. ^"Tajikistan: The Sons of Somoni Strive to Preserve Distinct Cultural Identity".EURASIANET.org.June 22, 2012.
  13. ^Loy, Thomas (July 18, 2005)."Yaghnob 1970 A Forced Migration in the Tajik SSR".Central Eurasia-L Archive. Archived fromthe originalon 2006-09-01.Retrieved2006-08-06.
  14. ^Paul, Daniel Paul; Abbess, Elisabeth; Müller, Katja; Tiessen, Calvin and; Tiessen, Gabriela (2009)."The Ethnolinguistic Vitality of Yaghnobi"(PDF).SIL Electronic Survey Report 2010-017, May 201.SIL International.Retrieved26 August2016.
  15. ^Jenkins II, Mark D. (May 26 – September 8, 2014)."Being Yaghnobi: Expressions of Identity, Place, and Revitalization as a Minority in Tajikistan"(PDF)(Title VIII Final Report). Dushanbe, Tajikistan: American Councils Research Fellowships.Retrieved26 August2016.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  16. ^abc"Ягноб – Древняя Согдиана: Прошлое, Настоящее и Будущее".
  17. ^Пагануцци, Н. В. (1968).Фанские горы и Ягноб(in Russian). Moscow:Fizkultura i sport.
  18. ^Akiner, Shirin (1986).Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union.London: Routledge. p. 382.ISBN0-7103-0188-X.
  19. ^According tohttp://www.pamirs.orgZoroastrian Designs on Embrodiary
  20. ^R. Spencer Wells et al., "The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (August 28, 2001).
  21. ^Guarino-Vignon, Perle; Marchi, Nina; Bendezu-Sarmiento, Julio; Heyer, Evelyne; Bon, Céline (2022-01-14)."Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia".Scientific Reports.12(1): 733.Bibcode:2022NatSR..12..733G.doi:10.1038/s41598-021-04144-4.ISSN2045-2322.PMC8760286.PMID35031610.
  22. ^Cilli, Elisabetta; Sarno, Stefania; Gnecchi Ruscone, Guido Alberto; Serventi, Patrizia; De Fanti, Sara; Delaini, Paolo; Ognibene, Paolo; Basello, Gian Pietro; Ravegnini, Gloria; Angelini, Sabrina; Ferri, Gianmarco; Gentilini, Davide; Di Blasio, Anna Maria; Pelotti, Susi; Pettener, Davide (April 2019)."The genetic legacy of the Yaghnobis: A witness of an ancient Eurasian ancestry in the historically reshuffled central Asian gene pool".American Journal of Physical Anthropology.168(4): 717–728.doi:10.1002/ajpa.23789.ISSN0002-9483.PMID30693949.

External links[edit]

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