Hazara

American  

[huh-zahr-uh] / həˈzɑr ə /

noun

• Hazara,
  plural
• Hazaras
  plural

1. an Iranian ethnolinguistic group in central Afghanistan, north Pakistan, and Iran, most of whom are Shiʿite Muslims.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Hazara
  plural
• Hazaras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Hazara

From Persian hazār “a thousand, a military unit of a thousand soldiers,” from Middle Persian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Hazara Hazaras

Shia Muslims, primarily from the Hazara ethnic group, are a minority in Afghanistan they have been targeted in the past.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026

The city grabbed international attention in 2001, when the Sunni Pashtun Taliban authorities destroyed two large Buddha statues cherished by the predominantly Shia Hazara community in the region.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

For example, I advocate on behalf of a group of Hazara women who previously worked in the security sector.

From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2023

The Hazara Express was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when 10 cars derailed near the Sarhari railway station off Nawabshah, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 6, 2023

Across the stream, a group of local Hazara boys were picking pattles of dried cow dung from the ground and stowing them into burlap sacks tethered to their backs.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

All the Hazaras the BBC spoke to show the same frustration, fear and hopelessness.

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2023

The education center targeted Friday is in the Kabul neighborhood of Dashti Barchi, where many of the residents are Hazaras.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2022

But few Hazaras expect the Taliban to find the perpetrators, or to stop more attacks.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2022

Mohammad and his family are Hazaras, an ethnic minority that is overwhelmingly Shi'ite Muslim.

From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2022

For a lot of Hazaras, Iran repre­sented a sanctuary of sorts—I guess because, like Hazaras, most Iranians were Shi’a Muslims.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini