Pashtun Or Tajik?

[mojo_jojo]

Many people think they can tell the difference here are some pictures.
Please write what ethnicity you think they are.

Let me give this a shot as I consider myself pretty expert at telling folks apart due to seeing so many Afghans and just being observant. I can almost always tell a Pashtun apart from a Tajik. Of course there will be overlaps and you will have mixed individuals as well as the very rare case that a member of one ethnicity looks like a member of another. But overall, for us observant ones, we can tell each apart. Looks like a fun exercise! Let's see if I get this right. Also, just to clarify, I do *not* know any prior information about these people pictured or the source of the pictures. I am just basing it off of what I see.



I believe this man is a Tajik--I can tell primarily by his eyes and general facial structure.






A Tajik. In addition to the eyes and facial characteristics, the manner with which the turban is wrapped is similar to how Tajiks up North do it. Pashtuns generally have bigger, more intricately-wrapped turbans. The clothing is also a give-away for me.






Pashtun. I can even say from where. He is from the Kandahar region. Eyes and arched eyebrows are a big giveaway but also (and primarily) the general head and face shape, as well as the larger than average ears, thin lips, etc .






Tajik. I could tell by his eyes and shape of face and thin beard. Pashtuns have strong jaw lines and heart-shaped faces are rare among them.





Tajik. Likely from Panjsher. Although the un-trained eye can sometimes mistake a Panjshiri for a Pashtun, I could tell them apart. . His frame is thin, eyes are deep set and small. Pashtuns usually have broader shoulders and larger faces.






This, I think, is a Pashtun. Although since he is very old, it can be hard for others but his face is still on the robust side and the rest of the features hint to Pashtun origins . He is likely a central/eastern Pashtun.





Eyebrows and eyes (not color), thin lips/nose, and strong jaw may foretell a Pashtun origin. These types are generally in Northern Pakistan. I don't think he is a Nuristani. Light Tajiks do exist too but to me, they can still generally be told apart from Pashtuns.





Although I can't see much of her, the shape of her lips and nose give away a non-Pashtun origin. I have found that Pashtun women generally have thinner lips and noses.






I think Pashtun. Possibly mixed. Although the eyes are smaller and head-dress reminiscent of that of a Tajik from the North, examining the overall structure somehow tells me he may be a Pashtun.






Tajik, somewhere near Nuristan/Pansjshir/Takhar due to the Pakol. There is something about him that just gives away Tajik. Pashtuns have thicker eyebrows/ eyelashes.





Absolutely positive that this is a Pashtun. The eyes give it all away.







Lol. Pashtun. From Pakistan. Due to the mustache, hat, and dress.







Definitley not Pashtun. He could be Tajik or he could be Nuristani, but he's not Pashtun. Full lips, deep -set eyes, and over-all face shape give it away. (Heart-shaped faces are not common among Pashtuns.)




[/QUOTE]

Pashtun. Perhaps from eastern/central/northern Afghanistan (i.e. Ghiljai). Durranis/Kandaharis tend to have thin faces and noses.

[M17ArnoBaloch]

Let me give this a shot as I consider myself pretty expert at telling folks apart due to seeing so many Afghans and just being observant. I can almost always tell a Pashtun apart from a Tajik. Of course there will be overlaps and you will have mixed individuals as well as the very rare case that a member of one ethnicity looks like a member of another. But overall, for us observant ones, we can tell each apart. Looks like a fun exercise! Let's see if I get this right. Also, just to clarify, I do *not* know any prior information about these people pictured or the source of the pictures. I am just basing it off of what I see.

I believe this man is a Tajik--I can tell primarily by his eyes and general facial structure.


A Tajik. In addition to the eyes and facial characteristics, the manner with which the turban is wrapped is similar to how Tajiks up North do it. Pashtuns generally have bigger, more intricately-wrapped turbans. The clothing is also a give-away for me.


Pashtun. I can even say from where. He is from the Kandahar region. Eyes and arched eyebrows are a big giveaway but also (and primarily) the general head and face shape, as well as the larger than average ears .


Tajik. I could tell by his eyes and shape of face. Even if the eyes were different I could simply tell from the shape of the gentleman's face as well as his thin beard.



Tajik. Likely from Panjsher. Although the un-trained eye can sometimes mistake a Panjshiri for a Pashtun, I could tell them apart. His eyes are small. His frame is thin, eyes are deep set and small. Pashtuns usually have broader shoulders and larger faces.


This, I think, is a Pashtun. Although since he is very old, it can be hard for others but his face is still on the robust side and the rest of the features hint to Pashtun origins . He is an central/eastern Pashtun. Western pashtuns from Loy Kandahar usually have long, thin faces.


Eyebrows and eyes (not color) may foretell a Pashtun origin. These types are generally in Northern Pakistan. I don't think he is a Nuristani. Light Tajiks do exist too but to me, they can still generally be told apart from Pashtuns.

Although I can't see much of her, the shape lips and nose give away a non-Pashtun origin. I have found that Pashtun women generally have thinneer lips and noses.


I think Pashtun. Possibly mixed. Although the eyes are smaller and head-dress reminiscent of that of a Tajik from the North, examining the overall structure somehow tells me he may be a Pashtun.



Tajik, somewhere near Nuristan/Pansjshir/Takhar due to the Pakol. There is something about him that just gives away Tajik. For me it's the skin texture and a mere look into his eyes. Pashtuns have thick eyebrows and eyelashes. The shape of his eyes is also Tajik-like.


Absolutely positive that this is a Pashtun. The eyes give it all away.


Lol. Pashtun. From Pakistan. Due to the mustache, hat, and dress.


Definitley not Pashtun. See what I mean by being able to tell the lighter individuals from each ethnicity apart? He could be Tajik or he could be Nuristani, but he's not Pashtun.

Pashtun. Perhaps from eastern/central/northern Afghanistan (i.e. Ghiljai). Durranis/Kandaharis tend to have thin faces and noses.

And results are in. Great try though, you were almost successful in telling them apart however here are the results. I took each individual picture and did a google search on them by uploading them on to google.com and by that google told me where every single picture was found on what website. You were almost successful in telling them apart.



You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://gettingnowhere.net/2012/08/br...ng-tajikistan/
Go all the way down.



You said he was Tajik. You were right again.
Proof: http://www.travbuddy.com/Fan-Mountai...1326991/photos



You said Pashtun. You were wrong. His name is Akmal Karimov. He is a Tajik.
Proof: http://m.afghanistan-today.org/article/?id=375



You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moslih/379498910/


You said Tajik. You were right again.
Proof: http://whotalking.com/flickr/Tajiks
Go all the way down.



You said Pashtun. False he is a Tajik.
Proof: http://www.flickriver.com/places/Afg...shk%C4%81shem/


You said Tajik or Nuristani. he is a Panjshir, I couldn't find if he is a tajik or nuristani.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauras_eye/5094658112/


You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/a.../18/feature-01


Couldn't find.


Couldn't find.


You said Pashtun. You were wrong. He is a Tajik from Herat.
Proof: http://www.ehsanabbasi.com/index.php?showimage=569


You said Pashtun. You were right Lol.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emwoodhouse/214915620/


You said Tajik or Nuristani. He is a Nuristani.
Proof: https://artist.maestro.fm/Nuristani_...html?v=picture


You said Pashtun. You were wrong. This guy's name is carlos mavroleon. He is an american.
That's him: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/...56_224x350.jpg


I think Ahmad Abdul-Rahimzai did a fraud. He trolled us. None of the pictures are pashtun. Except for that guy with mustache.

[Badlun]

Afghan is Pashtun, and Afghan is an ethnicity... Afghanistani is not an ethnicity

If Afghans amend the constitution and replace the word Afghan by Afghanistani (like Pakistani)then it will be a very good development and thus the historic synonymy of Afghan and Pashtun will remain intact otherwise now Afghan is the word for all the citizens of Afghanistan and the Pashtuns in Pakistan are not Afghans otherwise Afghanistan has to award citizenship and passport to all of them.

So for there is no such word as Afghanistani neither in constitution nor in dictionary.

[mojo_jojo]

Why thank you Mr. Baloch !

Although, for the older gentleman, with the large white turban, I still can assure you he's Pashtun. Herat is full of Pashtuns.

As for the last man, no wonder the nose seemed so out of place to me. I reasoned that it must just be a Pashtun from the east as generally, Durrani Pashtuns (and a lot of the time, Ghilzais too) have long, thin noses. Thanks again.

[Shabi Khel]

Why thank you Mr. Baloch !

Although, for the older gentleman, with the large white turban, I still can assure you he's Pashtun. Herat is full of Pashtuns.

As for the last man, no wonder the nose seemed so out of place to me. I reasoned that it must just be a Pashtun from the east as generally, Durrani Pashtuns (and a lot of the time, Ghilzais too) have long, thin noses. Thanks again.

In my personal experience lots of Ghilzais have small odd shaped noses compared to other Pashtuns. Although worth noting is my experience is limited to tribes in Zurmat/western Paktia and Katawaz/Sharan/Paktika near Ghazni. Also the thin eyebrows you mention are not too uncommon here. The people are usually Suleiman Khel or some other Ghilzai qawm to my knowledge.

[Catya Sher]

This was extremely interesting and educational.
I learned a lot from Shabi Khel
and ? Mojo-jojo [!].
Very very interesting.
I knew that we now know is Carlos HAD to be from
somewhere else, but no clue where.
The eyes, expression in eyes, face, ALL are not Afghan style.

The woman seems not even Tajik. I agree with the person who
thought she was an Arab. Maybe Jordanian or something like that,
it seems to me from hijab0style and
even the expression that comes through despite sunglasses.
Not Tajik ! How can that be ?

Well I learned much here, thank you.
I still have to check the pic with the style of Uzbek turbans.

And .. who IS this Carlos ? I didn't want to click on the link.
Could anyone summarize what the article concerned, if you have time ?? Thanks !!!

[Kushan Prince]

And results are in. Great try though, you were almost successful in telling them apart however here are the results. I took each individual picture and did a google search on them by uploading them on to google.com and by that google told me where every single picture was found on what website. You were almost successful in telling them apart.



You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://gettingnowhere.net/2012/08/br...ng-tajikistan/
Go all the way down.



You said he was Tajik. You were right again.
Proof: http://www.travbuddy.com/Fan-Mountai...1326991/photos



You said Pashtun. You were wrong. His name is Akmal Karimov. He is a Tajik.
Proof: http://m.afghanistan-today.org/article/?id=375



You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moslih/379498910/


You said Tajik. You were right again.
Proof: http://whotalking.com/flickr/Tajiks
Go all the way down.



You said Pashtun. False he is a Tajik.
Proof: http://www.flickriver.com/places/Afg...shk%C4%81shem/


You said Tajik or Nuristani. he is a Panjshir, I couldn't find if he is a tajik or nuristani.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauras_eye/5094658112/


You said Tajik. You were right.
Proof: http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/a.../18/feature-01


Couldn't find.


Couldn't find.


You said Pashtun. You were wrong. He is a Tajik from Herat.
Proof: http://www.ehsanabbasi.com/index.php?showimage=569


You said Pashtun. You were right Lol.
Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emwoodhouse/214915620/


You said Tajik or Nuristani. He is a Nuristani.
Proof: https://artist.maestro.fm/Nuristani_...html?v=picture


You said Pashtun. You were wrong. This guy's name is carlos mavroleon. He is an american.
That's him: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/...56_224x350.jpg


I think Ahmad Abdul-Rahimzai did a fraud. He trolled us. None of the pictures are pashtun. Except for that guy with mustache.

I'm 100% that the 4th man is pashtun. His wide nose gives it away also there is a kandahari that looks similar to him.

[Kushan Prince]

you know that a word can change his meaning?
100 years ago afghan was a pashtun.
but now if someone say "i'm afghan" it means just he or she is from afghanistan and we don't have any information about his or her ethnicity.
nowadays if you want to call your ethnicity you have to say "i'm pashtun, fasiwan (or tajik), hazara, baluch etc." .
got it?

Why are commies like you so annoying?

[M17ArnoBaloch]

I'm 100% that the 4th man is pashtun. His wide nose gives it away also there is a kandahari that looks similar to him.

yeah the forth one looks pashtun. Quetta is fulllll of guys like him. Also when i went to kandahar every other dude was looking like him, they poor all siting in hot sun under a homemade palm tree carpet. And poor kids running with old ripped clothes covered in mud and dirt...

sad man

[Kushan Prince]

yeah the forth one looks pashtun. Quetta is fulllll of guys like him. Also when i went to kandahar every other dude was looking like him, they poor all siting in hot sun under a homemade palm tree carpet. And poor kids running with old ripped clothes covered in mud and dirt...

sad man

lol was that sarcasm?

[Ahmad Abdul-Rahimzai]

Many people think they can tell the difference here are some pictures.
Please write what ethnicity you think they are.


Tajik from Tajikistan


Tajik from Tajikistan


Tajik from Tajikistan



Tajik from Afghanistan



Tajik from Afghanistan



Tajik from Eshkesham,Badakhshan Afghanistan town right on the Tajikistan border



Tajik from Panjshir, Afghanistan



Tajik from Tajikistan



Tajik from Afghanistan



Tajik from Panjshir, Afghanistan


Farsiwan from Herat, Afghanistan


Pashtun from Swat, Afghanistan



Pashtun from Kunar, Afghanistan

Half Greek, half Iranian journalist fluent in Pashto

[HalloIsBack]

Why are commies like you so annoying?

if i'm a commie then you are a talib

[Aryana]

In my personal experience lots of Ghilzais have small odd shaped noses compared to other Pashtuns. Although worth noting is my experience is limited to tribes in Zurmat/western Paktia and Katawaz/Sharan/Paktika near Ghazni. Also the thin eyebrows you mention are not too uncommon here. The people are usually Suleiman Khel or some other Ghilzai qawm to my knowledge.

I am from Zurmat/Paktia and have never seen noses that are small and oddly shaped. Most (like me) have a high-bridged aquiline nose.

[Azmal]

Most Pasthuns from Pakistan are slowly becoming Indianized. I don't think they care much about Afghanistan or the term Afghan anymore. they call themselves even Pathan (in 50 years Pathan and Pasthun will probably be considered different ethnicities lol), some are mixed with Shindis and Punjabis as well.

I wish people of Afghanistan wasn't so mixed in regards to ethnicities. It's one of the great tragedies of this nation that it cannot unite under one identity. I agree Afghan is really not a fitting identity for all people of Afghanistan since Afghan is originally a term for Pasthuns. besides the name Afghanistan implies that the whole country belongs to Pasthuns, which is false, since the other groups specially Farsiwans are as native to this country as Pasthuns are. Uzbeks, turkmen and hazara are the only ones who stand out as ''forreigners'' due to their East Asian looks.

It's sad that in a small country like Afghanistan people cannot find unity, where as in a continent like Europe, they are all united under one identity as European/Western/White despite living in 54 countries/languages.

and yet some wonder why European people are so much ahead of the rest of the world, it's because one thing they are clearly better than everyone is that they are inteligent enough to form this European unity. A Greek, Italian or Spanish looks nothing like a North European from Sweden or Norway yet they all identify as European/Western/White.

It's no wonder these people conquered and colonized most of the world, yet people in this comparitivy tiny nation still live in what Westerners consider stone age, and cannot find unity despite similar if not same culture, religion, physical appearance, and languages.

I wish Afghanistan's people had a common identity like Europeans do, instead of Pashtun, Nuristani, Farsiwan/tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turksmen, Baloch, etc.

Unity is strength. ''United we stand divided we fall'' are some very true proverbs. Also living in a Western country I noticed countries of one racial origin/ethnic identity work better. People are united and care about each other more. Afghanistan is very diverse in this regard. We have people who are very light with almost pseudo-North European look (light hair/eyes, although my brother has green eyes, but I never noticed until recently since I wasn't aware of such thing as race), we have people are very dark in skintone and others who can look Arab or Mongloid (hazaras, turksmen, ubek, and some farsiwans and pasthuns). I have also encountered some Pasthuns on the internet who think they are ''white''. I never heard ''white'' as a term for any person in Afghanistan, and I say this as someone who has many light haired/eyed people in my family.

Afghanistan as a country will never progress as long as there is disunity and as long as there is not a common/shared identity for all people living in this land. Also Afghanistan has too many enemies on all sides gaining from the disunity of this country.

What is " Farsiwans" I don't know any people that refer to themselves as Farsiwan!

[Forreigner]

What is " Farsiwans" I don't know any people that refer to themselves as Farsiwan!

Farsiwan, sometimes also Farsi or Farsi(za)ban means ''Persian speaker'' that is not Hazara, turkmen, uzbek etc. It's another name for Afghan Tajiks. Tajik is a name given to these peoples by Turks, which means ''non-Turks'' when Afghan parts of ancient Khorasan was conquered by Turkic forces.

I believe the word Farsiwan probably came to existence because Pasthuns cannot pronounce Farsizaban,so it became as Farsiwan. That's my personal theory. I remember back in Qandahar that was what Tajiks/Farsi speakers were refered to by Qandahari Pasthuns.