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Kochis or Kuchis (from the Persian word: کوچ koch; meaning "migration") are Afghan Pashtun nomads, primarily from the Ghilzai tribal confederacy. Some of the most notable Ghilzai Kochi tribes include the Kharoti, Andar and Ahmadzai. Sometimes Durrani tribes can be found among the Kochi, and occasionally there may also be some Baloch people among them that live a pastoral nomadic lifestyle. In the local native Pashto language, the terms are Kochai (singular) and Kochyan (plural).

Etymogy

Kochi derives from the Persian word koch ("migration"), which is itself a loanword from Turkic köç ("to travel, wander, start out, migrate; migration").

Description

The National Multi-sectoral Assessment of Kochi in 2004, estimated that there are about 2.4 million Kochis in Afghanistan, with around 1.5 million (60%) remaining fully nomadic, and over 100,000 have been displaced due to natural disasters such as flood and drought in the past few years.

"The nomads and semi-nomads, generally called Kuchi in Afghanistan, mostly keep sheep and goats. The produce of the animals (meat, dairy products, hair and wool) is exchanged or sold in order to purchase grain, vegetables, fruit and other products of settled life. In this way an extensive network of exchange has developed along the main routes annually followed by the nomads. The merchant Powindah (Ghilji) Pashtuns used to move annually from the Afghanistan mountains to the valley of the Indus. These long-distance migrations were stopped in the early 1960s when the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan were closed, but many Kuchis are still allowed to cross as border officials recognize the Kuchi migrations which occur seasonally and allow them to pass even in times of political turmoil. In recent decades, migrations inside Afghanistan continue, although trucks are now often being used to transport livestock and family from one place to another."

History

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Kochis historically abstained from politics, because they are nomadic, but under Afghanistan's constitution, they were given ten seats in parliament. Provisions are written into the Afghanistan Constitution (Article 14) aimed at improving the welfare of Kochis, including provisions for housing, representation, and education. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, before the 30 years of war, Kochis owned 30 per cent of the country's goats and sheep and most of the camels for years, and they were largely responsible for the supply of slaughter animals, wool, ghee and quroot to the national economy.

Kochis were also favored by the Kings of Afghanistan, themselves of Pashtun origin, since the late 1880s. They were awarded "firman," or royal proclamations, granting them use of summer pastures all over Afghanistan in a long-lasting Pashtunization campaign. During the Taliban era, Kochis were a main factor and supporter of the Taliban and their leader Mohammed Omar As a result, the northern ethnic groups (Hazara, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Turkmens) have a long-standing distrust of the Kochi. This political dispute has been deepened over the decades of Kochi transhumance, whereby some Kochis became absentee landlords in their summer areas in the north through customary seizure procedures to attach debtors' land. However, the Kochis themselves see the northern minority groups as a non-Afghan race, and claims the Kochis were natives of northern Afghan region, and that during many years of invasion such as Genghis Khan and Timur, they escaped south.

The Kochis have been identified by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as one of the largest vulnerable populations in the country. As Afghanistan's population grows, competing claims over summer pastures, both for rainfed cultivation and for grazing of the settled communities' livestock, have created conflict over land across central and northern Afghanistan. Paying head-count fees for each animal crossing someone else's property is exacting a harsh economic toll on the Kochi way of life, one that is already having to contend with recurrent droughts that are now occurring with increasing frequency. There are communities of Pashtun Kochi origin in other parts of the world as well, including in the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. In Pakistan, some Afghan Kochis are found in Karachi in Sindh.

Kochi among Taliban

Document revealed by Wikileaks from US embassy in Kabul says According to Director General (DG) of the Independent Directorate of Kochis (IDK) Abdul Wahab Sulemankheil over 1/2 of Taliban are Kochis, who had been easily persuaded to side with the Taliban out of ignorance. For example, in his home province of Paktika, the majority of Taliban commanders are Kochis.

Gallery

• An 1848 lithograph showing Ghilzai nomads in Afghanistan An 1848 lithograph showing Ghilzai nomads in Afghanistan
• Kochis near Tarinkot, Urozgan Province of Afghanistan

See also

• Kucha

Footnotes

1. Kuchi, ethnic identity, on nps.edu
2. Jürgen Paul (2002): "Nomaden in persischen Quellen". In: Stefan Leder Bernhard Streck (Hg.): Nomadismus aus der Perspektive der Begrifflichkeit. Beiträge der 1. Tagung am 11.7.2001. Halle 2002 "Mitteilungen des SFB 586 - Differenz und Integration - 1". Orientalwissenschaftliche Hefte 3. Pages 41-56.
3. World Food Program, Socio-economic profile, Population and Demography, Afghanistan. Retrieved at http://foodsecurityatlas.org/afg/country/socioeconomic-profile/introduction
4. Willem Vogelsang (2002), p. 15.
5. Paton, Pamela Marie and Melanie M. Hughes. "Women, politics, and power: a global perspective". Pine Forge Press, 2007, p. 151.
6. http://www.afghan-web.com/politics/current_constitution.html
7. UNHCR, Formation of 4 Kuchi sheep/goat breeders’ service centres, Durable solutions for Kuchi IDP's in the south of Afghanistan: Options and opportunities, Asia Consultants International, pg. 15
8. Lansford, Tom (2003) A Bitter Harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants, England, ISBN 0-7546-3615-1, page 16: "The modern history of Afghanistan has witnessed a "Pashtunization" of the state as the customs, traditions and language of the Pashtuns have combined with the groups political power to erode the distinctive underpinnings of Afghanistan's other groups.FN20". FN20 cites: US, Department of the Army, Afghanistan: A Country Study, 5th ed. reprint (Washington, DC.: GPO, 1985) page 108.
9. O. Roy, Ethnic Identity and Political Expression in Northern Afghanistan, in Muslims in Central Asia: Expressions of Identity and Change, 1992, ISBN 0-8223-1190-9.
10. Afghanistan, by Gilles Dorronsoro
11. http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/wandering-kuchis-pay-for-their-taliban-links/2005/08/26/1124563029556.html
12. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayarticleNew.asp?section=todaysfeatures&xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2008/August/todaysfeatures_August9.xml
13. http://wardak.net/2008/08/05/afghan-settlers-nomads-fight-over.html

References

• Vogelsang, Willem. 2002. The Afghans. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. ISBN 0-631-19841-5

External links

• AFGHANISTAN: Threat of ethnic clashes over grazing land
• Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

• Modern nomads
• Immigration to Afghanistan
• Pashtun diaspora
• Pashtun tribes
• Social groups of Afghanistan
• Social groups of Pakistan
• Pashto words and phrases
• Persian words and phrases