Kochis

Kuchis (from the Farsi word Kuch referring to a wandering tribe ) are a tribe of Pashtun and some Baluch nomads and semi-nomads (Chahar-Aimaks) in Afghanistan. The population of nomads in Afghanistan was estimated at about 1-2 million people in 1979.

Pashto speakers represent an estimated 6 million of Afghanistan's 25 million people. Officially, Kuchis are estimated to make up about half of the Pashtun population but inofficially their number makes more than 80% to 85%. They are also known as Koochee or Koochi, depending on location. The group has been identified out by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as one of the largest vulnerable populations in the country. Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai is their ethnic leader.

Provisions are written into the Afghanistan Constitution (Article 14) aimed at improving the welfare of Kuchis, including provisions for housing, representation, and education.

Kuchi means 'nomad' in the Persian language and they are mostly of Pashtun origin from the Durrani and Ghilzai tribes. They are not to be compared to the ancient people of Kushans who came from the grasslands of eastern Central Asia, in modern-day Xinjiang and Gansu.

Kuchis have been favored by the Kings of Afghanistan, themselves of Pashtun origin, since the early days of the nation, in the late 1880s. They were awarded "firman," or royal proclamations, granting them use of summer pastures all over Khorasan (modern Afghanistan) in a well-planned and long-lasting Pashtunisation campaign. During the Taliban era, many Kuchis supported Mullah Omar's policies. As a result, the northern ethnic groups (Tajik, Uzbeks, Turkmen, and Hazara) have a long-standing distrust of the Kuchi, whom they view as Pashtun interlopers into their lands. This political dispute has been deepened over the decades of Kuchi transhumance, whereby some Kuchis became absentee landlords in their summer areas in the north through customary seizure procedures to attach debtors' land.

This fact sets the Kuchi apart from virtually all other transhumant or nomadic groups. They are not marginalized, but their vulnerability is great; 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 northern Afghanistan. Paying head-count fees for each animal crossing someone else's property is exacting a harsh economic toll on the Kuchi way of life, one that is already having to contend with recurrent droughts that are now occurring with increasing frequency.

Trivia

• Traditional Kuchi dress, particularly the colorful textiles and silver jewelry (often made of coins), has gained popularity among the American Tribal Style belly dance community.

See also

• Kochari
• Sage Koochee

External links

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