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{{Short description|Sunni, mostly Persian-speaking ethnic group of Afghanistan}}
{{Redirect|Aymāq|other uses|Aimaq (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Aimaq<br>{{small|{{lang|fa|ایماق}}}}
| image =
| caption =
| population = '''1,593,418''' (2021)<br/> 4% of the Afghan population{{Efn|The last census in Afghanistan was conducted in 1979, and was itself incomplete. Due to the [[Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|ongoing conflict]] in the country, no official census has been conducted since.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://afghanistan.unfpa.org/en/node/15230|title = Population Matters|date = 3 March 2016}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/afghanistan-population
| title="Afghanistan Population 2021"| author=World Population Review| date= 19 Sep 2021| publisher= | via=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1258799/afghanistan-share-of-population-by-ethnic-group/
| title=Distribution of Afghan population by ethnic group 2020| author=statista.com| date= 20 Aug 2021| publisher= | via=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghan-ethnic-groups-brief-investigation
| title=Afghan Ethnic Groups: A Brief Investigation| author=reliefweb.int| date= 14 Aug 2011| publisher= | via=}}</ref>
| langs = [[Aimaq dialect]] of [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Pashto]]<ref name="ir1"/>
| rels = Mainly [[Sunni Islam]] ([[Hanafi]])<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aimaq|url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/aimaq/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Minority Rights Group|language=en-GB}}</ref>
| related = [[Hazaras]], [[Moghol people|Moghols]], [[Tajiks]], and [[Pashtuns]]<ref name="ir1"/>
}}

The '''Aimaq''' ({{lang-fa|ایماق|Aimāq}}) or '''Chahar Aimaq''' ({{lang|fa|چهار ایماق}}), also transliterated as '''Aimagh''', '''Aimak''' and '''Aymaq''', are a collection of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and mostly [[Persian language|Persian]]-speaking<ref>{{Cite web|title=AYMĀQ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/aymaq-turk|access-date=2021-02-01|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref> [[nomadic]] and semi-nomadic tribes.<ref>Tom Lansford -''A bitter harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan'' 2003 Page 25 "The term Aimaq means "tribe" but the Aimaq people actually include several different ethnic groups. The classification has come to be used for a variety of nonaligned nomadic tribes"</ref> They live mostly in the central and western highlands of [[Afghanistan]], especially in [[Ghor Province|Ghor]], [[Badghis Province|Badghis.]] Aimaqs were originally known as ''chahar'' ("four") Aymaqs: the ''[[Taymani]]'' (the main element in the population of Ghor), the ''[[Firozkohi]]'' (mostly in Badghis), the ''[[Jamshidi (tribe)|Jamshidi]]'' and the ''[[Timuri]]''.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Aimak|volume=1|page=439|noicon=y}}</ref> Other sources state that the [[Aimaq Hazara]] are one of the ''Chahar'', with the Timuri instead being of the "lesser Aimaqs" or ''Aimaq-e digar''<ref name="Vogelsang2002">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&pg=PA37|title=The Afghans|author=Willem Vogelsang|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2002|isbn=9780631198413|pages=37–|access-date=1 April 2011}}</ref> ("other Aimaqs").

The Aimaq speak several subdialects of the [[Aimaq dialect]] of [[Persian language]], but some southern groups of Taymani, Firozkohi, and northeastern Timuri Aimaqs have adopted the [[Pashto language]].<ref name="Vogelsang">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&q=taymani&pg=PA18|title=The Afghans|last1=Vogelsang|first1=Willem|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2002|isbn=0631198415|page=18|access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref>

== Origin and culture ==
The Aimaqs claim different origins based on their tribal background. Some claim to be descended from the troops of [[Genghis Khan]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Human: The Definitive Visual Guide|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2004|isbn=0-7566-0520-2|editor-last=Winston|editor-first=Robert|location=New York|pages=432}}</ref> Other tribes such as the [[Taymani (Aimaq tribe)]] and [[Firozkohi]] claim descent from other [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] tribes.<ref>{{Cite web|first=A. |last=Janata |title=Aymāq |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/aymaq-turk|url-status=live |access-date=2021-04-04 |website=iranicaonline.org |quote=A Kākaṛ Pashtun from Baluchistan, Tayman, formed a coalition in Ḡūr around 1650. The traditional chiefs of the northern Fīrūzkūhī, Zay Ḥākem, claim descent from Ačakzay Pashtun ancestors.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429170352/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aymaq-turk |archive-date=2011-04-29 }}</ref>

Aimaq is a [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] word that means "tribe" or "grazing territory". Of all Aimaqs, [[Aimaq Hazara]] and [[Timuri]] are closest to the [[Turco-Mongol tradition]] since they are semi-nomadic tribes and some of them live in [[yurt]]s, whereas other Aimaqs live in traditional Afghan black tents.<ref>[http://www.tribalanalysiscenter.com/PDF-External/Hazara%20Baluchistan.pdf A Sociological Study of the Hazara Tribe in Baluchistan (An Analysis of Socio-Cultural Change)]</ref> The Aimaq are largely nomadic to semi-nomadic goat and sheep herders. They also trade with villages and farmers during migrations for pastures for their livestock. The material culture and foodstuffs of the Aimaq include skins, carpets, milk, dairy products and more. They trade these products to settled peoples in return for vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts, and other types of foods and goods.<ref name=":0" />

== Classification of tribes ==
'''Aimaq tribes'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Tribal kind
!Note
|-
|[[Aimaq Hazara]]
|Aimaq-e digar
|"[[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] subtribe of [[Hazaras|Hazara]] origin"
|-
|[[Chagatai people|Chagatai]]
|Aimaq-e digar
|"[[Turco-Mongols]] of the [[Chagatai Khanate]]"
|-
|[[Changezi]]
|Aimaq-e digar
|"Descendant of [[Genghis Khan]]"
|-
|[[Firozkohi]]
|Chahar Aimaq
|
|-
|[[Jamshidi (Hazara tribe)|Jamshidi]]
|Chahar Aimaq
|"The Jamshidi, forcibly moved from one exile to the other, became indistinguishable from Turkmen in their way of life. During this period, small groups of Aimaq Hazara and Jamshidi settled in Persian [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]] and Turkmenistan."<ref name="ir1">{{cite encyclopedia|title=AYMĀQ|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location=United States|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aymaq-turk|last=Janata|first=A.|editor=Ehsan Yarshater|editor-link=Ehsan Yarshater|edition=Online}}</ref>
|-
|[[Kipchak (Aimaq tribe)|Kipchak]]
|Aimaq-e digar
|"Descendant of [[Kipchaks]]"
|-
|[[Timuri]]
|Chahar Aimaq
|"Descendant of [[Timur]]"
|-
|[[Taymani]]
|Chahar Aimaq
|
|-
|Zuri
|Aimaq-e digar
|
|-
|}

== Demographics ==
{{Further|Demographics of Afghanistan|Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}
[[File:Afghanistan ethnic groups 2005.jpg|thumb|right|300px|CIA map showing the territory of the settlement of [[ethnic groups in Afghanistan|ethnic groups and subgroups in Afghanistan]] (2005)]]
Estimates of the Aimaq population vary between 250,000 and 500,000. They are largely [[Sunni Muslims]]—except for the Jamshidi who are mainly [[Ismaili]] [[Shia]] in the main—and in contrast to the [[Hazara people|Hazara]], who are mostly [[Shia Muslims]].<ref>"Afghanistan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Aimaq Hazara]]
* [[Farsiwan]]
* [[Qara'unas]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* Macgregor, ''Central Asia'', (Calcutta, 1871)

== External links ==

* [http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Aimaq-Man-with-Children-Pal-Kotal-I-Guk-Ghor-Province-Posters_i2672763_.htm Aimaq Man with Children, Pal-Kotal-I-Guk, Ghor Province]
* [http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Aimaq-Nomad-Camp-Pal-Kotal-I-Guk-Between-Chakhcharan-and-Jam-Afghanistan-Posters_i2672820_.htm Aimaq Nomad Camp Pal-Kotal-I-Guk Between Chakhcharan and Jam Afghanistan]

{{Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}
{{Iranian peoples}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aimaq}}
[[Category:Aymaq]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]

Aimaq people - Revision history

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