IMPORTANT TAJIK PEOPLE
The Tajiks of Afghanistan have played a crucial role in the history and culture of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Some key figures include:
Modern
- Ahmad Massoud is the leader of the largest anti-Taliban resistance group at the moment – the National Resistance Front (NRF).
- Ahmad Shah Massoud – also known as Shir-e Panjshir (Lion of Panjshir) – is the late father of Ahmad Massoud. He was a key figure in the resistance in the 1980s-1990s both against the Soviets occupying Afghanistan, as well as the Taliban, up until his assassination in September 2001.
- Hoda Khamosh is a vocal women’s rights activist. In January 2021, she bravely gave an address against the Taliban during a Taliban visit to Oslo instigated by Norway.
- Wahida Amiri is a leading player in the Women’s Civil Resistance against the Taliban since August 2021.
- Burnahaddin Rabbani was the president of Afghanistan from 1992-2001 (in exile from 1996 onwards). He was the political head of the Northern Alliance, which was fighting against the Taliban.
- Habibullah Kalakani toppled the Pashtunist king Amanullah Khan from power in 1929. The Pashtun elite – unhappy with having a Tajik in power – quickly replaced him with Nadir Khan after a few months.
Historical
The list below shows an overview of prominent Tajiks who were affiliated with the territories of present day Afghanistan, either in the sense of originating from these territories, being born in them, and/or residing and working in these territories.
- Biruni (973-1070 AD) was a Tajik polymath during the Islamic Golden Age who spent most of his life in Ghazni. He is considered to be the founding father of several disciplines including Indology, Geodesy, Comparative Religions, and Anthropology.
- Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi (1207-1273 AD) – also known as the ‘Rumi’ – was born to a family from Balkh and is considered today as one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time. Among his many works, some of the most famous include the Masnavi and Diwan-e Shams.
- Rabia Balkhi is Afghanistan’s most famous female poet. She is the first woman poet to have written in New Persian. She likely lived during the same period as Rudaki (a Tajik poet from modern-day Tajikistan who is considered to have revived Persian and is, therefore, the father of New Persian poetry) in 914-943 AD.
- Ibn Sina (980-1037 AD), also known as Avicenna, was another famous Tajik from Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) and Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan). He was a polymath, playing an important role in medicine and Islamic philosophy (and therefore also Western Philosophy).
- Ferdowsi (940-1019/1025 CE) wrote the Shahnameh, the Epic Book of Persian Kings, under the Ghaznavid Empire. While Ferdowsi was from Tus (then Khorasan, but modern-day Iran), many of the tales in the Shahnameh refer to lands belonging to modern-day Afghanistan (for instance Zabul and Balkh).
