ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the work of several academics and ethnographers who have identified the Pamiris as a distinct ethnic group within the Tajik nation. It also examines the origin, development and evolution of Pamiri ethnic identity in Soviet and post-Soviet Tajikistan. The chapter argues that the Pamiri people have regarded themselves as Tajik even before the establishment of Tajikistan as a Union Republic within the Soviet Union. It shows that the evolution of Pamiri identity in post-Soviet, post-civil war Tajikistan. A common understanding amongst Davydov's sources is that Russian officers and scholars all confirmed that the Pamiri people called themselves Tajiks. Since the languages spoken in the Pamiri differ greatly from Tajik/Persian which is spoken in other areas of Tajikistan and Central Asia, the Pamiri accent of spoken Tajiki is quite recognisable. Many Pamiri people, like their compatriots from other parts of Tajikistan, go to Russia as migrant labour and send remittances back to their families.
