Kuchis ("Those who are moving") are a tribe of Pashtun and some Baloch nomads in Afghanistan. Pashto speakers represent an estimated 6 million of Afghanistan's 25 million people. Kochis make up over half of the Pashtun population. They are also known as Koochee or Koochi, depending on location. The group has been identified out by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as one of the largest vulnerable populations in the country. Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai is their ethnic leader. The Kuchis were strong supporters of the Taliban regime. The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group consisting mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... The Baloch (Persian: بلوچ alternative transliterations Baluch, Balouch, Balooch, Balush, Balosh, Baloosh, Baloush et al. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, or UNAMA, was established March 28th, 2002 by the United Nations Security Council resolution 1401. ... The Taliban (Pashto: , also anglicized as Taleban) are an extremist, terrorist, and ethnic fundamentalist Sunni Muslim Pashtun movement that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1995 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by a cooperative military effort between the United States, Great Britain and the Northern Alliance. ...

Provisions are written into the Afghanistan Constitution (Article 14) aimed at improving the welfare of Kuchis, including provisions for housing, representation and education. The Constitution of Afghanistan became the official law of Afghanistan when the 2003 Loya jirga approved it by the consensus on January 4, 2004. ...

Kuchi means 'nomad' in the Persian language and they are mostly of Pashtun origin from the Durrani and Ghilzai tribes. They are not to be compared to the ancient people of Kushans who came from the grasslands of eastern Central Asia, in modern-day Xinjiang and Gansu, who were of Scythian origin. “Farsi” redirects here. ... Durrani (Persian: درانی) or Abdali (Persian: ابدالی) tribe is one of the Pashtun elite, and is also found in large numbers in western Pakistan. ... The Ghilzais (also known as Khiljis or Ghaljis) are one of two largest groups of Pashtuns, along with the Durrani tribe, found in Afghanistan with a large group also found in neighboring Pakistan. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... For the county in Shanxi province, see Xinjiang County. ... Gansu (Simplified Chinese: 甘肃; Traditional Chinese: 甘肅; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, Kansu, or Kan-suh) is a province located in the northwest of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ...

Trivia

• Traditional Kuchi dress, particularly the colorful textiles and silver jewelry (often made of coins), has gained popularity among the American Tribal Style belly dance community.

Tribal-style belly dancers Tribal Style Belly Dance or American Tribal Style Belly Dance (commonly knows as ATS) is a recent movement in the USA that has addressed the feminist philosophy of empowerment of women through belly dance. ... Raqs Sharqi dancer Chryssanthi Sahar Scharf, Heidelberg. ...

See also

• Kochari