Kite+Runner+-+Period+2

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=__**CULTURAL CAPITAL FOR KITE RUNNER**__=
 * Below you will find terms that you should know when reading this book:**

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Hazara is a group of people that are descendent's of Genghis Khan. The physical state of their inner body directly connects the Hazara's to the Mongolians of the Mongol Empire. The dominant religious believe among Hazara's is in the religion of Islam. Majority of the Muslim Hazara's are Shia's. The difference between a Shia and a Sunni is that they pray a little different and they believe in slightly different things. Today most of the Hazara's live in Afghanistan or as refugees in Pakistan. A few decades ago, before Afghanistan fought a war against the Soviet Union, The Hazara's served in the communities of Afghanistan mainly as the lower class. Very little if not none, were active in politics. The Hazara's were ruled under the Pashtuns. Today, almost all Hazaras adhere to Shia branch of Islam, live in poverty as they used to, and migrate to different neighborhood countries to find a better life.
 * __Hazaras:__**

Pasthuns are a religious group of people from Afghanistan. Most of the Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims and speak the language of Pashtu. Pashtuns used to make up 51% of the minority in Afghanistan back in 1978. Pasthuns were and still are some of the wealthiests groups in Afghanistan. Before the Russian invasion, Pashtuns controlled the government. After the Russian invasion, about 85% of the 6.2 million people that left Afghanistan were Pashtuns. During the invasion a group of pashtuns formed a group called the Pashtun Mujahadeen. This group worked to get rid of the Russians from Afghanistan and to form a strong government. As a result majority of the Russians were forced out of the country and the other groups beside Pashtuns were forced to move out of the wealth Societies. In this effort of ethnic cleansing majority of the men were killed, which left the womens and their kids by themselves. Since the women couldn't take care of the kids by them selves they dropped off the kids in orphanages.
 * __Pashtuns__**:

= = = = =**Government**= **__Mohammed Nadir Shah__** He was the King of Afghanistan from 1929 until 1933 before he was assassinated. Nadir Shah became a military general in Amanullah Khan's monarchy. During 1919 while the Anglo-afghan war was going on, Nadir Shah volunteered himself to be the military leader of the national army. While in charge he crossed the border, and left all the British forts on the other side of the Durand line so that he could capture them. Throughout this time he began to propose new ways to overthrow Amanalluh’s government, in order to take charge of the government by becoming the king. As a result of these conflicts Nadir was exiled, he went to India and then began to gain support from the British. Afterwards when he returned to Afghanistan with his new supporters he was able to take control of Kabul in 1929. He began to discuss a truce with Habibullah Kalakani who eventually gave in to Nadir. After he had accepted this truce, while arriving to one if Nadirs meeting he was shot and hanged and after that Nadir declared himself the [|Shah] of Afghanistan. During his reign thousands of Afghan intellectuals were assassinated.

During his reign he was able to create a 40,000 strong force. During his reign, Nadir Khan also reopened many schools. He established faculty of Medicine, which later became Kabul University with the addition of a few other faculties.

On November 8 1933 he was assassinated by a young teenager named Abdul Khaliq. He had been part of the Charkhi family who in the past had been supporters of Amanullah Khan. It was said that he might have been blackmalied to commit this offense but he was later captured and executed gruesomely. He was said to have been promsied the hand in marriage of the Charkhi’s daughter for having helped them.

= = =**Religion**= The major religion in Afghanistan is Islam. 99% of Afghans are Muslims. Out of the Muslims in Afghanistan, 80% of them are Sunni, and 20% are Shi'a. Even though the most dominant religion of Afghanistan is Islam, there are also many other religions that make up just 1% of the Afghan population. Some of these other religions include Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Jewish and Buddhism.

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=**Currency**= In Afghanistan the currency is also know as Afghani. Throughout exports $500,000,000 is made. Some of the things they export are opium, wheat, fruits & nuts, handwoven, carpets, tools, cotton, etc. With the imports, the cost is $5,000,000, which consists of food, textiles, & petroleums products. Even though there are many trades between Afghanistan and the other nations around the globe, Afghanistan's economy has been declining thoroughly for the last few decades.

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=Geography=

Afghanistan is located in the Asia. It has part of its territory in East Asia, Middle east, and central Asia. Afghanistan has made a relationship with all of its neighboring countries. The main and most relied upon neighbor is Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan share borders, which many people cross to get into the country. Afghanistan's capital till this day is Kabul. Kabul is one of the places in Afghanistan that has more resources then the other states. Given the fact that Kabul has more resources doesn't mean much, Kabul also lacks the efficiency in Economy and still faces poverty almost the same way the rest of Afghanistan does. In the year 1979, the total population of Afghanistan was 13 million, but the very current population is over 31 million.

= = = = = = = = = = =**Kite Festival**= A kite festival is a very well known festival that is celebrated in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is not the only country where the festival takes place but it is one of the places where it first started. A kite festival mainly is all about celebrating with your family. A common kite festival is usually between societies. So each society has it own festival in which everyone takes part in the competition of flying kites. The competition is to be the owner of the only kite left at the end of the day. In order to be the last one left, a person must cut all of his opponent's kites. To cut a kite, you must put some sort of a grapple around your opponents kite, and by making strategical moves, you must cut the line between the kite and its owner. Some festivals are all about competitions, but there are also some that are all about just having fun. A kite festival can also be a festival where families spent time together just flying kites and eating traditional food. A commonly used kite is made up of paper and two wooden sticks. The two wooden sticks are attached to the paper, one stick in a arc form, and the other one straight through the middle of the arch. To fly the kite a person must attach the kite with a wire. This wire is made up of just a strong thread (a cord assembled by twisting fibers like nylon together. The thread is coated by liquid with crushed glass in it, to make the thread sharp so you are able to cut your opponent's kite. Having a kite and the thread is all you need to take part in a kite festival.