I've already wrote about it in some thread, but it got buried.
Basically, it's not right to have non-Muslim Tajiks in 867. And right now there are Zoroastrian Tajik provinces. The word "tajik" itself came from Sogdian "tāžīk" meaning Arab. Over the time it begun to mean "settled Muslim of non-Turkic descent in Central Asia", but it was never applied to non-Muslims in the region.
To add to that, I don't think separate Tajik culture is entirely necessary. Tajik language as distinct variant of Dari emerged only in XIX century and is used only by Tajiks of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan they use Dari. Dari itself can be called a dialect of Farsi, and a special culture for every distinct Persian subgroup would be an overkill.
A melting pot where Islamized Sogdians, Bactrians, Khwarezmians and other Eastern Iranian peoples can become Tajik under Arab or Turkic control will work too.
Basically, it's not right to have non-Muslim Tajiks in 867. And right now there are Zoroastrian Tajik provinces. The word "tajik" itself came from Sogdian "tāžīk" meaning Arab. Over the time it begun to mean "settled Muslim of non-Turkic descent in Central Asia", but it was never applied to non-Muslims in the region.
To add to that, I don't think separate Tajik culture is entirely necessary. Tajik language as distinct variant of Dari emerged only in XIX century and is used only by Tajiks of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan they use Dari. Dari itself can be called a dialect of Farsi, and a special culture for every distinct Persian subgroup would be an overkill.
A melting pot where Islamized Sogdians, Bactrians, Khwarezmians and other Eastern Iranian peoples can become Tajik under Arab or Turkic control will work too.
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