What is "hazarajat"

The Hazarajat (, also referred to as Hazaristan) is a regional name for the territory inhabited by the Hazara people, which lies in the central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Koh-i-Baba mountains and the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. Its physical boundaries are roughly marked by Bamiyan to the north, the headwaters of the Helmand River to the south, Firuzkuh in Ghor to the west, and the Unai Pass to the east. "Hazārajāt denotes an ethnic and religious zone rather than a geographical one—that of Afghanistan's Turko-Mongol Shiʿites."

Hazarajat is primarily made up of Bamyan, Maidan, Ghazni and Daykundi but also include varying parts of Ghor, Oruzgan, Parwan, Samagan, Baghlan, Balkh, Badghis and Sar-i-pul provinces. The region has also been known as Paropamizan. The name Hazarajat first appears in the 16th century Baburnama, written by Mughal Emperor Babur. When the famous geographer Ibn Battuta arrived to Afghanistan in 1333, he travelled across the country but did not record any place by the name of Hazarajat or Hazara people. It was also not mentioned by previous geographers, historians, adventurers or invaders.