Turkmens were one of the divided peoples in
Central Asia nearing the end of the 19th century as a result of
British,
Iranian, and
Afghan counteraction, as well as the halt of the
Russian expansion into
Turkistan and
Transoxiana. The original Turkmen groups arrived from the east of the
Caspian Sea into northwestern Afghanistan at various periods, particularly after the end of the 19th century when the
Russians moved into their territory. They established settlements from
Balkh Province to
Herat Province, where they are now concentrated; smaller groups settled in
Kunduz Province. Others came in considerable numbers as a result of the failure of the
Basmachi revolts against the
Bolsheviks in the 1920s. Though the majority of Turkmens are recent immigrants who crossed the Soviet border in the years between 1915 and 1940, the chronicles of the 18th and even 17th centuries show that large groups of Turkmens were already present in Afghan Turkestan.
Turkmen tribes, of which there are twelve major groups in Afghanistan, base their structure on genealogies traced through the male line. Consequently, senior male members of the family wield considerable authority. The following major
Turkmen tribes live in Afghanistan:
Ersari,
Teke, Alili,
Saryks, and
Salyrs. More than half of the Afghan Turkmens are descendants of the refugees who escaped
collectivization in
Soviet Turkmenistan in the late 1920s and early 1930s. ==Culture==