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

At least 11 carriages of the train, the Hazara Express, with at least 950 passengers onboard, fell off the tracks near the town of Nawabshah, local news media reported.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2023

There was a young light-skinned Hazara woman sewing a shawl in a corner of the room.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Pakistan's Commissioner for Afghan refugees Abbas Khan has also said any suggestion Hazaras were harassed by police was "fabricated".

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2023

The morning explosion at the center took place in Kabul’s Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2022

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

From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2022

The school was in a community dense with Hazaras, a Shiite minority, and the next day the bodies were brought up a steep hill at the foot of a mountain range.

From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2022

“And he’s fighting Hekmatyar, of course, who has the support of the Pakistanis. Mortal enemies, those two, Massoud and Hekmatyar. Sayyaf, he’s siding with Massoud. And Hekmatyar supports the Hazaras for now.”

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini