Chahar Aimaq
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (650,000) | |
| Languages | |
| Aimaq dialect of Persian | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Hazaras |
The Aimaq (Persian: ایماق), also transliterated as Aimak or Aymaq, are a collection of Persian-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. Aimaqs are found mostly throughout Pakistan in the Kyber and Balochistan region and in the West Central highlands of Afghanistan, immediately to the north of Herat, and also to a much lesser amount in the Khorasan Province of Iran. They speak a number of subdialects of the Aimaq dialect of Persian, however some southern groups of Taymani and Maleki Aymaqs have adopted Pashto.
Aimaks were originally known as chahar ("four") Aymaqs: the Taimani (the main element in the population of Ghor), the Firozkohi, the Temuri, and the Jamshidi. Other sources state that the Aimaq Hazara are one of the Chahar, with the Temuri instead being of the "lesser Aimaqs" or Aimaq-e digar ("other Aimaqs") along with the Tahiri, Zuri, Maleki, and Mishmast.
Aymāq is a Turkic and Mongolic word that means "tribe" or "grazing territory". Aimaq Hazara and Taimuri are most Mongoloid of the Aimaqs. The Temuri and Aimaq Hazaras live in yurts, whereas other Aimaqs live in traditional Afghan black tents.
Estimates of the Aimaq population vary between 250,000 and 500,000. They are largely Sunni Muslims, in contrast to the Hazara, who are mostly Shia Muslims. The Temuri Aimaqs are of Mongolian origin, apparent in their physical appearance and their housing (Mongolian-style yurts). However, the Taimanis, Ferozkohis, and Jamshidis are of Iranian origin, and refer to themselves as Tajik; the majority of the Aimaqs in Afghanistan are of these latter three sub-groups.
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